One month on, one month off? UPDATE @ post 24

[Lord LuLu]

I plan to do Exante for a minumum of 4 weeks @ 100% no blips then re-assess. Although I'm not hungry I am craving foods so was considering doing 4 weeks Exante and then go on to do 4 weeks low fat/low cal (I like carbs too much to commit to low carbs aswell!) before switching back to another 4 weeks Exante and so on.

Do people think this would work? I didn't find it hard restarting so am confident I could restart Exante each month without too many issues. I have already lost 1st 5lbs on Exante (did 4 weeks last year too but then gorged because it was Xmas!) but I don't think I could stick to it for another four months, I've done low fat/low cal diets for a month before so know I could stick to that for 4 weeks too.

Another thing is that after the initial good losses on Exante in the first two weeks my losses tend to be 3lb which I'm confident I could lose on a low fat/low cal diet which is much less painful than Exante! Any thoughts?

 

[Blue Butterfly]

hhmmm I think doing that would be no good. Coming off exante you have to refeed over weeks and weeks so your body gets used to food again.
If you do exante for 4 weeks then eat on the 5th week 'normally' (low fat or whatever) I imagine you will gain alot of the weight back you've lost in the past 4 weeks, especially if you have carbs right away.

That's just my opinion of course, it's not something I think would work.

 

[Starlight]

I think it would be a bad idea. You'd be gaining weight every time you come off and having to get into ketosis every time you restart. You'd be all over the place. The cravings tend tompass but if you're struggling why not have a few WS days a week

 

[misscphillips]

I'd agree with starlight. If I'm craving I'm just gonna make it a WS day and move in the next day

 

[handbag-annie]

Only on day 11 but would agree with Starlight and Blue Butterfly, think you would put weight on and find it harder to restart. X

 

[Lord LuLu]

Thanks all, I'm not struggling as such - it's just that I can't see myself doing this for another four months solid. WS doesn't really appeal to me as I'm not thinking about chicken and veg, more like tomato soup and pasta - both things which could easily be incorporated into a low fat/low cal diet.

I appreciate I would put some weight on after stopping Exante and starting carbs but my losses on 4 weeks of Exante have been 7, 5, 3, 3 so 18lbs in one month. I can't see that all going back on if I'm eating low cal/low fat and I should continue to lose weight over the rest of the month if I'm eating low cal. I would then flip straight from low cal back to Exante and then hopefully have similar losses to previous times.

I have another 8 days of Exante to take me to 4 weeks solid @ 100% so have a bit of time to think about it. Despite all the good advice above I'm very tempted to try it and if it doesn't work then I will just have to commit to Exante long term.

 

[misscphillips]

If you're gonna do it then low carb is better for you than low fat.... It's glucose that makes you fat not actual fat.
If you don't want to stick it tho aren't u better doing WW or SW instead and keep it consistent?

 

[Starlight]

If youre struggling so much without food then Id say Exante isnt for you to be honest. You might be better just calorie counting or general low carbing... VLCDs arent designed for hopping on and off

Youve got 50lbs to lose, you could have that gone in a few months, isnt it worth just biting the bullet and sticking with Exante and getting rid of them once and for all instead of making things potentially hard for yourself.

Youve had an above average loss this month, but then first months usually are higher. You could lose 14lbs next month and regain anything up to half a stone when you introduce carbs and start eating again. I know I sure as hell wouldnt do Exante for losses of around 7lbs a month

 

[pinkandfluffy]

Its the glycogen stores that will go back on in the first week or so which could be several pound. So you may do your 4 weeks of exante and lose every week, then when you switch, have a gain on week 1 (glycogen), a stay the same on week 2 (glycogen still replenishing itself) and then 2 weeks of loss. I think you would be wasting 2 weeks out of eight by doing this but thats just my humble opinion

 

[FrostedLuckyCharm]

I'd give it a go and see what happens. Provided, on your month off, you're not exceeding about 2000 cals a day, the worst that should happen at the end of the 'off month' is that you have gain a small amount of weight. If you think this is a route to helping you get thin, I'd do it.

 

[Lord LuLu]

I will have stuck to Exante 100% no blips for two sets of 4 weeks so I definitely have it in me to stick to it.

If I did try the 4 on/4 off idea (haven't decided for definite yet) then it would only take one month for me to see whether it was going to work as if, in my first 4 weeks off, I didn't lose as much as wanted due to putting on post-Exante carb weight then I can just commit to 100% Exante for the rest of my diet.

Will ponder over it over the next few days and if I do decide to do it I'll update the results here so people can see if it was in fact a rubbish idea or whether it worked!

 

[misscphillips]

Be interested to see your results for sure so keep us updated

 

[misscphillips]

I've already decided once I hit my goal using exante I'm going back on Atkins as my maintenance plan. I'll never go back to eating pasta rice bread and potatoes as staple diet it's gonna be low carb all the way

 

[Blue Butterfly]

Doing 4 weeks on exante which is low carb then going on to eat carbs (you say you're not doing low carb just low fat/cal) means you'll probably gain weight quite fast as you're not refeeding properly like you're supposed to after a vlcd.
So every month you're off exante you'll gain weight and spend the rest of that month trying to lose the weight you've gained in the first week and could possibly end up gaining more.

Feels like it would just be 1 step forward, 2 steps back if you do it.

 

[girlygirl1]

I totally echo what others have said. To spend one month on a low calorie - low carb plan and then spend the following month not only off-plan but also eating carbs sounds to me like a recipe for a diet disaster of major proportion.

If you decide to go ahead with the month on-month off idea then the off month will have to be low carb. It would be far better for you, right now, to add a bit of low carb food every day or, perhaps, stick to Exante for the second month but THEN have extra food each day.

I strongly suspect that switching from a month TFR to a month off with carbs will just land you right back where you started. Or worse. Bear in mind that, when you are including carbs, you will lose ALL the benefits of ketosis. Your hunger will come back big time as will all the old cravings.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do x

 

[Thisisit!]

It's not really the same, I know, but I have been on and off exante since last year. Not with a set plan in mind, like you, just lack of willpower I think. I just wanted to post to say that I ended up doing exante for a few weeks, then coming off it (but not going mad), then going back on it.

All I can say is I am exactly the same weight as I was 9/10 months ago! I keep kicking myself and thinking if only I'd stuck to it, I'd have all my weight off by now etc etc. As I say, I know it isn't quite the same but just wanted to echo the people who mentioned it was a few steps forward and a few steps back as that is exactly how it has been for me.

I am hopefully going to stick to it this time, think my strategy is to see if I can find a local buddy or maybe join a class or something to try and help me keep on track. Anyway, good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[rainbow brite]

I can't really add to anything that's already been said so I'll just throw in my two cents.

I don't think it's a brilliant idea hun, honestly to me it sounds like you will be inadvertently making your life that much harder.

If you can do four weeks on TS 100% it wouldn't surprise me if you jumped headfirst into the next four weeks 100% too - knowing that you can stay on the diet is half the battle after all.

 

[Lord LuLu]

Thanks for all the input, I honestly didn't start this post with the intention of ignoring all the good advice but I'm going to give it a go

I am still very much commited to Exante and I'm going to buy the next months supply ready so there will be no choice but to go back on it (I'm not wasting 100 quid!) and I am definitely continuing Exante for the next 7 days so that I will have done 4 weeks @ 100% TS. I hear what people are saying about carb regain but I'm confident I can still have reasonable losses on a low fat/low cal/small amount of exercise regime.

If the worst happens then I have 'only' lost a month and can step back on Exante. If it works then I think I will have cracked my personal solution to getting the weight off once and for all.

I promise to update with the outcome, good or bad!

 

[rainbow brite]

Well then good luck sweets! I hope it works for you!

 

[spottydoris]

Good luck.

I know sometimes facing 4 months (or 6 in my case!) is daunting, and I too looked at ways of cheating (obviously convincing myself I was in control and it was an educated 'adult' decision - but it was basically "cheating" my way around it); partly through rebellion and partly because I was bored senseless with TS.

In the end I stuck with it for 5 months, lost 5 stone and felt so good for it. Was tough at times, particularly weeks 5 and 7 from memory!

I think eating carbs is a mistake - particularly if it's down to "I fancy pasta and tomato soup rather than low carb"... which is essentially a craving and probably the reason you've eaten what you fancy until now, and have 50lbs to lose. It mustn't be about what you feel like, but what your body needs to be healthy and lose weight (if that's your goal).

Sorry to sound brutal - I've been exactly where you are, and my advice (like absolutely everyone else that has replied) is this won't work and will set you back... but you already know that, because you've done low cal/low fat and you're in this position.

Spotty xx