Need some advice please...thinking of changing diets

[looby1003]

Hi everyone, first of all I'll apologise in advance for the moan I'm about to have . Well last week was a bit of a disaster diet wise. I suppose I got a bit complacent (knew it would happen! ) and thought it wouldn't hurt to have 1 biscuit (waggon wheel ) and a drink of diet coke...wrong! Out of ketosis...Took me a couple of days to get back into it aswell ggrrr. This happened a couple of times so spent more time out of ketosis than in (hence the low loss last week) I've been really snappy at home too...fed up of cooking the tea for hubby and daughters and not being able to sit down and eat any with them.

Also, the cost of this diet is bugging me. With christmas coming up I need all the spare cash I've got (not much lol) and its going through me paying £36 every week. I never really spent cash on lunches etc on a daily basis so dont feel like I'm saving anything. To be fair, I did say to myself that I would probably only do the diet for a month max to give me a kickstart, which it has (and I never thought I'd get this far to be honest and probably couldnt have without the support of people on here ) I was really suprised at how easy it was to come out of ketosis and a 2lb loss considering the only thing I'd eaten all week is a couple of wagon wheels is scary! I guess its shook my confidence in the diet

Anyway, so heres the plan. I'm obviously still wanting to lose the weight so I was thinking of switiching to Adivlite mrp shakes for breakfast and lunch (cheaper than lt) with a very low carb evening meal. Eventually moving to Atkins or slimming world.
I do feel like a failure when you guys are doing so well and have been on it for so long. And who knows I might get a second wind and decide to do another week, but at the moment I just want to get through this week.
Sorry for the moan and thanks for the support I've had whilst doing lt
Lou xx

 

[looby1003]

Forogt to add, has anyone had Adivlite shakes? wondering how they compare to Lipotrim.
Thanks

 

[SandraB]

Lou, try the Exante offer that's on at the moment £24.99 (I think) for a whole month. I ordered it as 'back-up' and have used the products intermittently for the last few weeks. The soups are great and come in 4 flavours and there are 2 bars, chocolate orange and toffee and raisin. They're both quite chunky and taste fine, might be just the thing to stop you hitting the wagon wheels! It is amazing how little carbs it takes to muck up this diet....and it's soooo easy to do. I have had scrambled egg a couple of times lately but made sure to grease the pan with butter not a low-cal spread (that's got too many carbs in it) and not add any milk! Eating just protein doesn't seem to have any effect on ketosis plus it's very filling after just LT shakes.

I was looking at the Avidlite site yesterday and contemplating ordering some of their low-carb rice and pasta for when I finish LT. I like pasta and rice but they're so full of carbs, I thought that this stuff might be an option.....

And you are not a failure!!!! TBH I don't know where some people get their strength from, Daisy, Su - I'm talking about you here!!!!! I haven't had a 100% week for 2 weeks...no wagon wheels though! ps aren't they SMALL these days?!

 

[moomintrolljen]

Sandra are the exante bars nice? ive been toying with the idea of getting a few myself.

 

[looby1003]

LOL Sandra...not small enough obviously! . Thanks for your reply hun. I've thought about Exante as I really fancy the idea of being able to eat a bar now and again (and haven't tried lt ones due to the bad reports lol). The only thing I dont fancy is forking out £100 Good to hear you've tried eating low carbs and are still doing well. Thats given me hope Was reading the Atkins forum last night and getting some ideas for low carb recipes, and got some good tips. Oh well, going to try and get thorugh the next few days and maybe have a bit of chicken or tuna if I'm desperate then I'll order some Avidlite.
Thanks again Sandra

 

[looby1003]

Ooh just had a look at the Exante website and didnt realise you could order soups/bars individually? That sounds good to me! I tried ordering the Lipotrim chicken soup from my chemist but he didnt have any and then said he'd forgot to order them. Might have to order some as I'm really sick of strawberry/vanilla shakes :sigh: and might help me keep on track (for abit longer anyway lol)

 

[missy3]

**food mentioned.. not recommended, only my opinion**

I've done LT before and I had the same feeling, that if i ate something that was it all over and ruined and pointless and gave up. This time i've got to week9, which is a complete miracle for me! but i believe its because I haven't been thinking like that at all. If you really feel you need to eat, then go for some tuna in brine, plain chicken. stick to protein.. and i'm sure a little way into it, you'll feel sick and wonder what was the point.. cos it really isn't as yummy as you imagine it! but you have the choice to eat or not, its your diet. If you do, don't feel guilty about it.. cos that takes u off the wagon completely. I don't think i woulda got to were i am without the occasional bite of tuna.

 

[kirstabubble]

Hi Looby

Have you thought about joining slimming world?

I know it is VERY different to what you've been doing, and although personally, I'm terrified of VLCD diets, I completely appreciate that for some people, they're what works for them.

If you find a class near you, you can always get in touch with the consultant and ask her if you can visit, and have a chat with her before you commit to joining. You seem to want to lose a similar amount of weight to me, and I've found SW so easy. I did consider Lighterlife but due to health reasons, I'm not able to do that sort of diet. The weight does come off more slowly (I'm averaging about 2lbs a week), but if you're in no massive rush to lose the weight, it could be worth considering.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me

Kirsty x

 

[looby1003]

Thanks Kirtsy. I've done Slimming World before (a few times!) and have always lost something (the most was 18lbs but it took me a long time). I am hoping to do it agagin eventually (love the recipes, no pint counting etc) but I just daren't do it yet as if I even have a sniff of some carbs the weight will go back on. I have already sussed ot where/when the classes are and thought about going next week, but I think I need to stick to low carb for a while yet (besides-any food will do at the minute lol) I was worried what the consultant would say if I was putting on weight instead of losing it lol.
I started Lipotrim as I need to lose some weight fast to get me motivated, and when I can have "treats" on ww or slimming world, one always leads to another. With this diet I can't have anything at all and it has (almost!) broke my habit of snacking on crisps/biscuits.
Thanks hun

 

[SandraB]

Sandra are the exante bars nice? ive been toying with the idea of getting a few myself.

Well I like them! They're like rice crispy bars. Even better I like the Be-YU bars though they're a lot smaller. Sometimes you just have to chew!

 

[moomintrolljen]

Thats what im after Sandra - something to get my jaw working!

 

[SandraB]

Much as I would love to 100% all the time and see 4lbs drop every week I just can't do it.......I have hideous pain at the moment (all the regulars will know what a bore I am.....) and just have to have extra-strength painkillers which make me sooooo dizzy that it's scary but takes away the pain.....so that's when I've had a bit of ham or a couple of scrambled eggs. I have to say that I haven't actually enjoyed any of this as for some reason it just didn't taste like I remembered!

In addition, I am so cold all of the time, unless I'm in bed, in the bath or wrapped up on the sofa in my electric blanket! So I find that having a cup of bouillon or an Exante soup warms me up no end and helps me get through the day. In addition I travel a bit between here and my house in France and still like to 'eat, out, so it's not always convenient to have a shake and I only like them blended with loads of ice, can't stand then shaken and luke-warm, so then I have a bar instead of a shake. I also have low cal squash in my water as otherwise I can't stand to drink enough of the stuff.

Ok so it's not 100% LT but does it matter? Previously when I did LT back in 1997, I stuck it out for 7 weeks and only had one little cheat. This time I wanted to be the same but found that I couldn't. But I refuse to give up so I've found what will work for me and as long as I keep losing around 3lbs a week then I guess that I can stick with it, at least for the next few weeks until my op.

Sorry about the length of this post but I guess that what I'm trying to say is that it really doesn't matter if you have a blip or even if, like me, you make little alterations, as long as you make it work for you! In which case you're likely to stick with it and, eventually, get to goal. It will probably take me a couple of weeks longer than it would have had I been stronger......not a big deal!

 

[looby1003]

Good post Sandra, I think you've taken a sensible approach to the diet. Its better than giving up and you're still seeing good results (might have to take a leaf out of your book ).
By the way, what are BE-Yu bars? Are they something different to Advilite? They sound goood

 

[*honey]

Personally i'd say go for Slimming world.......... i don't know how anyone can live on the meal replacement. I might have got slimmer quicker, but i'd have been thoroughly hungry which would = extremely miserable.

Slimming world maybe a slower way of loosing weight, but it is VERY healthy, and EASY to stick to. Its not a diet at all, more a healthy eating plan that has a side effect of losing excess lbs

you can eat REAL food and not feel deprived at all.

If you do swap, from your meal replacement to SW, you may well find that for the first few weeks you gain. Currently your body is not used to receiving actual food, so when you eat again it will show up as a gain. But push through that, that will always happen at whatever point you return to eating food.
SW actually works best when you eat MORE. Your body knows your going to keep supplying it with food, so is happy to shed the stored excess. I lost 2lbs a week every week and in 16 weeks 2st 4lbs was gone, and 5months later its still off with little effort. My husband has now lost nealy 5 1/2st since Jan.!
This is a thread with some of my syn free or low syn meals
http://www.minimins.com/slimming-world-recipes/173489-honeys-recipes.html

and this a plan of my weekly meal plans
http://www.minimins.com/slimming-world/165322-weekly-meal-ideas.html

and CARBS are not the enemy. I eat lots of potatoes, rice, pasta.

 

[SandraB]

Good post Sandra, I think you've taken a sensible approach to the diet. Its better than giving up and you're still seeing good results (might have to take a leaf out of your book ).
By the way, what are BE-Yu bars? Are they something different to Advilite? They sound goood

Lou, Be-YU is another vlcd, you can google it and find out all you want, in addition they've got a 20% discount offer if you 'like' them on Facebook. I'm going to use them as my fall-back when I get to target for the odd meal here and there. I'm not soo keen on their soups though, not as good as the Exante ones, but as with LT it's all down to personal taste......

 

[SandraB]

Personally i'd say go for Slimming world.......... i don't know how anyone can live on the meal replacement. I might have got slimmer quicker, but i'd have been thoroughly hungry which would = extremely miserable.

Slimming world maybe a slower way of loosing weight, but it is VERY healthy, and EASY to stick to. Its not a diet at all, more a healthy eating plan that has a side effect of losing excess lbs

you can eat REAL food and not feel deprived at all.

If you do swap, from your meal replacement to SW, you may well find that for the first few weeks you gain. Currently your body is not used to receiving actual food, so when you eat again it will show up as a gain. But push through that, that will always happen at whatever point you return to eating food.
SW actually works best when you eat MORE. Your body knows your going to keep supplying it with food, so is happy to shed the stored excess. I lost 2lbs a week every week and in 16 weeks 2st 4lbs was gone, and 5months later its still off with little effort. My husband has now lost nealy 5 1/2st since Jan.!
This is a thread with some of my syn free or low syn meals
http://www.minimins.com/slimming-world-recipes/173489-honeys-recipes.html

and this a plan of my weekly meal plans
http://www.minimins.com/slimming-wo...ve the time! So it's LT for me every time!

 

[looby1003]

Hiya Honey, as I said in my other post, I've done slimming world a few times in the past. The most I lost was 18lbs but it took me 4 months and I was a lot lighter than I am now so there was no rush. I've lost 16.5lbs in 3 weeks on Lipotrim so its definately given me a kick start, and broke my habit of eating crisps/choclate in an evening. Liek Sandra said, after the firstfew days, you rarely feel hungry-its amazing lol! I'm just wanting to start eating something in the evening now (for a while, anyway) but once my body has adjusted to carbs again, I will probably switch to slimming world. If I did that now, it would be a disaster in terms of weight gain. There is a medical reason why you have to gradually introduce carbs (cant remember/explain the full reason though lol). Thanks for your advice though
Lou x

 

[kirstabubble]

I think each to their own...I eventually plan to lose around the four stone mark, and haven't felt the need to go for a VLCD - yes, I thought about it to begin with, but being realistic, it doesn't teach you to eat properly, it's expensive and the fact you need pharmacist's supervision suggests that it's not healthy at all. But if you're happy with how it works, then fair enough.

Losing weight is going to be tough enough. Whatever method you choose, you need determination and perserverance. Hope whatever you choose goes well for you Looby

Kirsty x

 

[moomintrolljen]

the fact you need pharmacist's supervision suggests that it's not healthy at all.
Kirsty x

I think this is a bit unfair - the diet was first used for people who needed to lose weight for operations etc and used by doctors and hospitals so can hardly be deemed to be unhealthy.
Unless you have had actual experience of the diet you can't really comment on whether or not it is a good or bad thing in my opinion.
For many people who have struggled with weight for a long time this is the perfect solution and they then go on to keep the weight off and lead healthier, happier lives.

 

[Starlight]

Personally i'd say go for Slimming world.......... i don't know how anyone can live on the meal replacement. I might have got slimmer quicker, but i'd have been thoroughly hungry which would = extremely miserable.

Slimming world maybe a slower way of loosing weight, but it is VERY healthy, and EASY to stick to. Its not a diet at all, more a healthy eating plan that has a side effect of losing excess lbs

you can eat REAL food and not feel deprived at all.

Oh and as for money.... Im saving a fortune - £100 for a months supply!

yes, I thought about it to begin with, but being realistic, it doesn't teach you to eat properly, it's expensive and the fact you need pharmacist's supervision suggests that it's not healthy at all.

At the risk of sounding rude myself I really quite object to the sentiments in these. Ive tried WW very successfully and for personal reasons put a lot back on. I tried SW and it just didnt work at all.

Believe me, doing a VLCD sint an easy option, its damn hard but hte results are what keeps us going. When youre in ketosis youre not hungry at all, so no were not all sitting miserable wishing we were eating.

LT is done at a pharmacist the way SW is done at a class, for weighing. CD is done at a with a councellor and Exante is done online so NO theyre not medically unhealthy and most doctors back people on them.

People on a VLCD dont just stop a VLCD and go back onto full meals, the plans are very carefully structured so you go up the plans and build up your intake over a couple of weeks. People on a VLCD are no more likely to gain their weight than someone on SW.

Its what you do when you come off these diets that matter, same as any diet.

Its good you enjoy SW and it works for you but one diet does NOT fit all and personally I feel your comments were incredibly negative to those of us who have for whatever reason felt a VLCD is a last resort!!!