Need info about LL.

paul1978

DO NOT QUIT !
With the LighterLife program, I have heard of people having various degrees of side-effects such as hair falling out. What, if any side effects have you experienced ? What is roughly the average weekly weight loss ? What is the price, per week ? (I heard its £66, if ti is, I cannot afford that, as I will still need to buy normal food for my OH who I live with.)
Please can you give me your experiences with this program, how long you have been on it and how much you have lost so far (if you dont mind) ? Thanks.
 
hi i started on the 8th may, ive lost 5 1/2 stone, its the best diet ive ever done. Yes it is £66 per week but you get 2 hours conselling with that which helps i think.As for hair falling out yes it does happen but you dont go bald it just thins out for a while.I struggled with the money side of it but im glad i did.Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
Hi Paul, I lost 3stone 10lbs on LL and then switched to Cambridge and have lost another 2 and 7lbs so 6stone 3 lbs all in all in around 20 weeks. Both are great programmes. Initially I found the LL counselling helpful but switched to CD for more flavour choice. The price difference isn't huge, £66 for LL and £50 for Cambridge. (it's cheaper than that for women under 5 8" as they get fewer packs). If you actually have issues around eating I think LL is better but just for quick weight loss without much support Cambridge is fine too. Whatever you decide, I hope it works for you...it has been a life changing journey for me. Incidentally, I'm eating again now and I am still losing weight but haven't noticeably lost hair!
 
Hello Paul - I'm just about to finish my first 100 days on LL. You sign up for this as a minimum, and you can expect to lose about 3 stones - more for a man. I've lost about 3 1/2 stone now, and I will carry on in abstinence into Development, where you just keep going until you reach the weight/size you want to be. Then you start gradually introducing real food, noticing how the different foods affect you and learning what to watch out for in the future so you don't regain the weight.

I haven't done CD, but tried most of the 'real food' diets out there, and what I would say about the experience with LL is that I haven't felt hungry or deprived, and I have seen the weight come off about as quickly as it is possible to achieve. It has been so easy! I've also enjoyed just not thinking about food - it's quite a luxury as an 'always fat' person to know that I can just eat the foodpacks and I will lose weight. I don't have to worry about what I'm eating, and I have no guilt!!! Personally I have found some of the counselling unneccessary, though my counsellor is very good, and some of the people in my group have had quite complicated issues around food which she has helped them to clarify and deal with.

LL takes the attitude that we overeat because we are addicted to food, or have some psychological dependence on food - i.e. we are using food to fill some need other than nutrition, and the counselling is supposed to help you identify and deal with the underlying need so that you don't have to rely on food once you are eating 'normally' again.

As Dancing said, if you can't afford it, go for CD, but if you think you need more support in cracking your food habit and staying slim for good, LL might be a better investment for the future.

Whatever you decide, I would encourage you to:
start soon
don't cheat
keep going until you get to the end
know that you are doing the best thing for yourself and those who love you
get on with the rest of your life without this fat burden!

Best of luck, and keep us posted!
 
Paul , cambridge diet is much cheaper , and more choices , but you dob't get the weekly meetings , but your CDC does spend time with you , plus LL you need the form signed which was going to cost me in April 95 pounds but CD you don't , I think you need 4 packs aday as being male which would cost around 48 pounds a week . But i think they say they are both made by the same company , something like that , same weight loss too i think , have you thought about that ?
 
People on LL how much choice is there
On CD there is sachets Banana , butterscotch , cappuccino, choc, choc mint, choc orange , fruits of the forset, strawberry, toffee and walnut, vanilla , soups broccoli and cheese, chicken and mushroom, mushroom lactose free , oriental chilli , spicy tomato , vegetable . BARS caramel, choc, cranberry crunch, orange, peanut crunch, toffee , and not forgetting tetra briks already made banana bliss , choc velvet , and water flavourings savoury veg , summer berry , sunshine orange . also mix a mousse , but they say bars and mix a mousse and water flav dont use them for at least two weeks after being on Shakes .
 
Hello Ms JMC. As far as I can remember:

Shakes - vanilla, chocolate, toffee, raspberry, banana
Soups - chicken, vegetable, Thai chilli, mushroom
Bars - chocolate, toffee, nut crunch, lemon, crispy peanut and crispy cranberry and raspberry
Water flavourings - forest fruits, St Clements (citrus) and savoury

I bet there are a couple of others, but I can't remember.
 
Hi Paul, As others have already mentioned LL is £66 per week. It is a lot of money so perhaps CD would be a better choice for you. I'm on LL myself and haven't regretted going on it at all. I'm about to finish my 100 days of Foundation in the next couple of weeks and have so far lost 44 pounds, it's just got easier the longer I've been on the diet, and the difference to my health and general well being has been immense. Whatever your choice just try your best to stick to the diet and the weight will fall off. Good luck.
 
If money is not object you can pay for balanced meals to be delivered to your door. You need the will power not to cheat though and if you had that already a normal diet would do it for you.

If you Google lots of alternatives will come up.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.
 
Dear Paul

You might want another guy's perspective on LighterLife - here's a great blog:

Guinea's Blog

Lots of people have responded with as much information as you need; I wish you luck with your decision. Even though I am going through an off-piste phase, I can honestly say LighterLife is one of the best things I have ever done and I never thought I could survive without eating 'real' food.

I lost two pounds shy of 5 stone and no other diet has ever given me such life-changing results.

Take care.

Mrs Lxxxxx
 
Just had a call from LL counsellor.

Just had a call from my local LL counsellor after completing the form on the website. And after reading Guinea's blog, all I can think is wow. The counsellor said the amount of weight I wanted to lose, I could do it in time for xmas. Trouble is, I have my works xmas do in December which is a big meal. Another worry, is the price on LL. On normal shopping, I dont spend £66 every week, whereas I would have to on LL. When you sign up for it, do you sign a contract for a certain number of weeks ? The counsellor has told me to go along Saturday to see if Id like it. I may go along just to see.
 
Hi Paul, there is no contract written in stone, you do sign that you will abstain from food for 100 days but there is a large percentage of fall out of people who just cannot do it. My LLC did not charge for missed weeks but others did I think it all depends on your LLC. THe groups are open for the first 3 three weeks to enable new faces and drop outs after the 3rd week they are closed and that is then your closed group who hopefully all support each other for the 100 days. Good Luck I lost 5 stone in 4 months then switched to Cambridge, Life changing it was, and still the best decision I ever made.
 
Dear Paul

As Nike says...just do it!!! Go along, see what you think and then make a decision. You are under no obligation and if it's right for you, you will know from the introductory session. Glad you liked Guinea's blog; it gives you a different perspective.

I decided LighterLife was for me from that first (introductory) session but the LLC was definitely NOT the one for me! I liked the idea of recognising comfort eating as...addictive eating. It just made sense to me. I then shopped around to get the right LLC for me; it means a 7 hour round trip, minimum, but worth the effort.

Without sounding patronising, one meal won't break you (your concern about the Christmas meal)! The second thing is, if your LLC is good, then £66 for food and counselling is fantastic VFM (value for money). You will read on here that the counselling is hit and miss, which is a) true and b) very sad. I am very lucky; my LLC is the business - she is simply fantastic.

Whatever you decide to do, I wish you well. Please go to a no-obligation session, at least, because then you can make an informed decision. As my LLC says, LighterLife is hardcore (and therefore not for everyone).

Please let us know what you decide.

Take care.

Mrs Lxxxxx
 
Sorry for all these questions Ive asked on this thread, some of them do seem silly. Can I chew chewing gum whilst on LL (because obviously you dont swallow the chewing gum) ?

No you can't have chewing gum because it has sorbitol in it which can stop you going into ketosis.

Despite popular belief, chewing gum isn't calorie free, not even the sugar free kind. Have a read of the side of the packet, you'll be surprised!
 
Hi

I have been on LL since Feb this year, and as you will see from my ticker I have lost over 8 stone now. (In fact as of last night it is 8 1/2, but not updated yet!)

It is the both the easiest and the hardest diet I have ever done. I have not always been fully abstinent, however with the support of my LLC and the great help of the folks on Minis I have been able to pull it together. The volume of water we need to drink is a shock at first, (4l) but after a while you will find you are used to that amount and that you actually miss it if you dont have it.

MY worst side effect has been chronic constipation, for which I have tired many "cures". I have followed the LL advice of more water to no effect, so now I regularly take dulcolax as a preventative. I am not happy about this, but this is the only solution for me as the psyllium husks had no effect at all. My hair has, luckily, always been very thick, and despite some shedding it is still that way!

I did consider swapping to CD as a financial benefit, but as my LLC is so good (& I understand that this can vary wildly!!) I preferred, in the end, to see this through with LL. I found the stage after Foudation , called Developement, as bit vague and wishy washy to start with, but as I said my LLc is excellent, and she has really pulled us all through. We have other "events" going on around the LL office, such as skin care evenings, aromatherapy and she is hoping to arrange for a trained lingerie fitter (who sells Rigby & Peller) to come in and advise/help us with our new size underwear!!! We also have a prof photographer coming in this weekend, to take portraits of us for Xmas!!

I have no regrest at all about starting LL, save for the fact I didnt do it sooner!! It has been tough and will be again, I am sure, as I have a way to go yet, but it IS th best thing I have done for myself.

Good luck in whatever you choose to do, just make sure you are ready & it is the right thing for you!!

Keep in touch!
xx
 
Paul , I think slimming world for you if you will miss food , its best not to start CD or LL if you will miss food , because you will start and within say 2 two of a headache and horrid taste in the month then go back to eating within a week , so why put yourself through that , look into slimming world you can eat so much or WW don't think you can eat as much on that its points . On here there are people doing both of them diets but you weight loss might be good for the first week with either diet then think you will lose say 1-2 or 3 pounds aweek
 
I disagree with the point about WW or SW being better if you miss food, although I think it depends on your personality and your will power. I miss food a lot of the time and get big carbo cravings but I know that LL is the better choice for me. It wasn't just about the taste of eating, I would inhale food so quickly just for the buzz it would give me. I was basically addicted. The only way to break that addiction for me is abstinence and to then slowly learn to enjoy food properly.

I found it easier to cheat on WW or SW and they didn't really deal with my cravings for carbos as I could basically use up all my points with that type of thing. LL doesn't give me that "leg room" which works best for me.
 
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