My own VLCD with real food (no meal replacements)

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Hi guys,

So I haven't posted that much lately, I was doing CD but had a problem: I couldn't drink the shakes or eat the bars without throwing up. I was gutted because I really thought I could train myself to like them.......but it didn't happen and it made me ill.

Anyway, I visited my GP to ask to put on the waiting list for gastric bypass surgery on the NHS and now I have to jump through a load of hoops to be eligible for that, however, whilst I'm waiting I'm still going to try my best to lose weight so hopefully it won't come to needing the surgery.

Anywho....the Dr prescribed me Xenical for the second time as I have to try it properly before he can refer me for the surgery and when I was in his office he was very interested about the VLCD that I had asked him to sign a form for a few months before.....so I told him all about it and he remembered reading up on it before he signed my form and we were talking about the main principles of a VLCD and how I could do it without throwing up.

We were saying that a VLCD is basically a diet consisting of:
  • 450calories
  • 40-50g of protein
  • 20-40g of carbs
  • atleast 10g of fibre (the Dr didn't like they included this little fibre)
AND most importantly 100% of your GDA of all vitamins and minerals

So together with the nurse at my surgery I am going to devise a diet plan for myself which follows those principals, it should be interesting, we've already managed to source a high quality multivitamin and I will be taking a fibre supplement also.

I would NEVER consider doing this if I didn't have the full support of my GP as I would be too worried about not getting everything I need and becoming unhealthy...but I will going for regular 4 week appointments where she will be giving me a full MOT such a blood pressure, blood sugar, weight etc and will also be doing blood tests regularly also. I will also be using ketostix too as ketosis should be achieved similarly to any other VLCD.

Foods included on the diet at the moment are salmon, turkey, leafy greens like spinach, carrots etc.

Has anyone ever done this before...or something similar?
 
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i would be very interested in this as i need to lose weight quickly and have done LL but i wasnt very keen on the shakes and bars


good luck to you

keep us posted
 
Best of luck, and keep us posted on your progress.

I will be really interested on how it all goes.

Yeah maybe you could now make a fortune devising your own plan!!

Best of luck

xx
 
I agree with all that's been said. It will be quite interesting to see how this works and whether it will be as effective as SS. Let us know.
 
I think it is admirable that your GP is taking such an interest in helping you to lose weight. It will be interesting to see what kind of meal plan you come up with but I think you might have to up the calories to around 800 which should still give you good losses. As well as the foods you have listed I would look at including eggs, low fat cottage cheese, tuna and avacado.

Can I ask if the vitamins you will be taking are in a powder supplement form? I have been doing a little research into this and apparently most of the commercially avaliable vit/mineral tablets cant be absorbed properly and are of little use.

Good luck with it all

Jac
 
I would be interested to see what you come up with for your diet plan too.

I am trying to stick to under 1000 calories a day because I want to shift the weight quickly.

I don't know what ketosis is can you explain or is it really complicated?

Also did your GP say anything about exercise and if you would be able to do it on a VLCD?

Good luck
 
Sounds interesting. I had BIG trouble with a lack of fibre last month which led to a week of pain and being too ill to visit the hospital for an appointment. You will need to drink a lot of water ,too. I agree with upping the calories to 800 odd.

Good luck!
 
I too would be interested to see what plan you come up with, as I struggle with the idea of manging to get 100% of your RDA of vits and mins through conventional foods with having so little calories; not saying it can't be done though!

The fact you've got your GP behind you is a very good move.


Lind said:
I don't know what ketosis is can you explain or is it really complicated?

Ketosis is the medical term for "fat burning mode".
Basically, having less than 500 calories each day would normally put the body into Starvation mode where it holds on to every bit of fat is can and begins to digest muscle and other organs for energy (the big reason why VLCD's have to be monitored and carefully planned, to avoid this!) which is very bad, and the reason why the old-fashioned so-called "starvation" diets don't work properly, as fats are retained and vital body tissues are what is actually lost which provides the apparant loss of weight.

Doing a proper program like CD or LL means that, by having the specialised food-replacement packs instead of any other food, you get 100% of your vitamins and minerals each day, which tricks your body into thinking that it is not starving as it is getting very good nutrition, just that it needs some additional calories for energy, and to get them it uses the fat stores, which is why you lose fat so quickly while on a VLCD.

The other benifits of Ketosis is that you do not feel hunger, and generally feel like you have more energy than when you were eating conventional foods before!
 
Gosh you are lucky to have sucha supportive GP ! Makes me realise just how bad mine is. Charging me for consent form to go on LL , moaning about the money slimming clubs make but expect GPS to monitor our health for free! Cheek !I wanted to say that Obese Patients who dont do anything pro active about losing weight were costing the NHS Millions and he should jolly well be glad I was doing something to help myself , but I bit my tongue.
Good Luck, it sounds as if you will have lots of support so I feel sure you will do very well. Please keep us posted and perhaps share some of the details once you are established and all is well.
 
I too would be interested to see what plan you come up with, as I struggle with the idea of managing to get 100% of your RDA of vits and mins through conventional foods with having so little calories; not saying it can't be done though!......................
Doing a proper program like CD or LL means that, by having the specialised food-replacement packs instead of any other food, you get 100% of your vitamins and minerals each day, which tricks your body into thinking that it is not starving as it is getting very good nutrition, just that it needs some additional calories for energy, and to get them it uses the fat stores, which is why you lose fat so quickly while on a VLCD.

The other benifits of Ketosis is that you do not feel hunger, and generally feel like you have more energy than when you were eating conventional foods before!

Just a thought: I regularly see both clients and Counsellors mentioning that a proper vlcd has 100% of vitamins and minerals. While this is correct, it's not the most important bit of the story.

A vlcd such as Cambridge is a TFR - total food replacement - which contains a balance of ALL the nutrients required, most importantly protein, carbohydrate and fat. It took many years of research and development to get Cambridge Diet to a legally approved protocol, and I think that's why formulating an ad-hoc vlcd will be difficult.

But I do look forward to learning more about it, and wish you all the best.
 
Seem to remember Mikey on the LL forum trying to devise a similar plan, maybe you could do a search for his thread and share ideas

Good luck with it

Carol x
 
I don't want to be one of those people who criticise everything and people wish would just shut up...BUT...this will almost certainly lead to major muscle wasting. CD and LL etc took years to get right and I don't know what your GP is thinking encouraging you to do this.

When there is a major deficit in calories your body will look to its protein stores and not the fat that it will believe will be needed in the future due to the 'famine'. The fat will be the last thing the body goes to.


Good luck if you do this and feel free to come back and tell me I was wrong if it works :)
 
I don't want to be one of those people who criticise everything and people wish would just shut up...BUT...this will almost certainly lead to major muscle wasting. CD and LL etc took years to get right and I don't know what your GP is thinking encouraging you to do this.

When there is a major deficit in calories your body will look to its protein stores and not the fat that it will believe will be needed in the future due to the 'famine'. The fat will be the last thing the body goes to.

I so agree.

Good luck if you do this and feel free to come back and tell me I was wrong if it works :)

Assuming people would know if there muscles were wasting, but I guess many people assume that if the weight is going, then it must be working :(
 
J2Blue said:
I don't want to be one of those people who criticise everything and people wish would just shut up...BUT...this will almost certainly lead to major muscle wasting. CD and LL etc took years to get right and I don't know what your GP is thinking encouraging you to do this.

When there is a major deficit in calories your body will look to its protein stores and not the fat that it will believe will be needed in the future due to the 'famine'. The fat will be the last thing the body goes to.

I agree as well, this is what I was trying to say in my posts before but I couldn't find the right way of putting it without trying to sound negative to someone who sounds so positive; however, when it comes to such an extreme form of diet, it is very important to get it right, otherwise your health could really be put at risk.


Swangirl, fair enough that CD didn't work for you, but is there any reason why you couldn't try one of the other "proper" VLCD's such as lighterlife, lighterlife lite (cheaper and you get a meal, similar to CD's 810 plan), Lipotrim or W8?
 
I too would be interested to see what plan you come up with, as I struggle with the idea of manging to get 100% of your RDA of vits and mins through conventional foods with having so little calories; not saying it can't be done though!

The fact you've got your GP behind you is a very good move.




Ketosis is the medical term for "fat burning mode".
Basically, having less than 500 calories each day would normally put the body into Starvation mode where it holds on to every bit of fat is can and begins to digest muscle and other organs for energy (the big reason why VLCD's have to be monitored and carefully planned, to avoid this!) which is very bad, and the reason why the old-fashioned so-called "starvation" diets don't work properly, as fats are retained and vital body tissues are what is actually lost which provides the apparant loss of weight.

Doing a proper program like CD or LL means that, by having the specialised food-replacement packs instead of any other food, you get 100% of your vitamins and minerals each day, which tricks your body into thinking that it is not starving as it is getting very good nutrition, just that it needs some additional calories for energy, and to get them it uses the fat stores, which is why you lose fat so quickly while on a VLCD.

The other benifits of Ketosis is that you do not feel hunger, and generally feel like you have more energy than when you were eating conventional foods before!

Thanks Pete for explaning that. Your photos are fab by the way. :D
 
I'm doing a LCD (well, 800 cals a day so not sure if it counts as a VLCD) on my own without support from one of those weight loss companies. I think it is possible to do and can be healthy with the right planning! :)
 
I feel I need to add my two pence on this one, as I think there is a lot of confusion about muscle wastage and vital tissues.

The body is incredibly efficient at burning fuel, and is the reason why people are fat in the first place. This is a survival mechanism which means it stores fat for leaner times.

When food is scarce (be it through famine or diet) then the body can convert this fat source into fuel to keep the vitals well supplied. This fat is the first energy source that goes, not muscle and certainly not vital organs. If this was the case, human beings would have died out a long time ago. It's a ridiculous notion that the body would prefer to burn muscle and organs (both needed to hunt and forage for food) but keep hold of fat supplies.
There's no such thing as 'starvation mode' when you're carrying 100lb of excess fat. You'll use the fat, and then starve.

Very low cal diets force the body to use this fat up first.
 
It's true that the phrase 'starvation mode' is much misunderstood and less likely for a very overweight person.

As for protein. Protein is essential for life.

The word protein is a greek word meaning 'first' as it's the most important macronutrient for human nutrition.

When we lose weight, we lose some lean...regardless of how overweight we are. Admittedly, the more overweight you are the less lean you lose compared to fat, but you still lose lean mass to some degree and need protein to help preserve it as much as possible.

You can manage for short periods without carbothydrates or even fats, but if you don't get enough protein, there will be more loss of muscle and deterioration of major organs.

Some protein can be made by the body, but there is no storage facility for it, and many of the amino acids from protein have to come from diet alone (the essential nutrients).

If this was the case, human beings would have died out a long time ago.

Not true. Man would have done a big hunt, and very quickly learnt how to preserve meat. In the mean time, he would have eaten nuts, seeds, fish etc. And if sources of protein were unavailable for long enough, he would have died. Those who learnt how to preserve meat, and find protein stores elsewhere would have survived. I should imagine millions died....and probably millions since through starvation. We continue as a race regardless.

The Last Chance diet was advertised as a high protein diet, which it wasn't. It was a feeble attempt, using very poor quality protein (crushed bones etc). It killed something like 58 people and most of them suffered from heart attacks. It's believed the lack of good quality protein was the cause.

There's also plenty of other cases where people have died with major organ failure long before they have lost all their excess fat due to the lack of protein.

There was a lady not too long ago who died whilst in the healthy BMI range with major organ failure whilst doing her own VLCD which lacked good quality protein.

The first consideration for any decent diet is to set protein first and work out how you are going to do everything else.

Obviously in famine situations, this might not be possible, but in the western world we have many choices. Do it sensibly, or risk your health.

With the availability of food, and the vast amount of information on nutrition given out for free in research documents etc IMO, there is no need for anyone to take risks in pursuit of fast weight loss.

It can be done healthily. But never mess with a VLCD. Do it properly or don't do it all.

Life is too short and too precious.
 
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