OT - LighterLife = NO LIFE!

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In my own personal view, any 'diet' that restricts what you eat/calories etc can be dodgy. With SW of course whatever things you can eat, you can have as much as you like (my fav bit of SW) :p

2 years ago I was at an all time low about my weight (& back then I weighed less than I do now) & for 3 months I was obsessed with exercise & barely ate. I was well on my way to an eating disorder. I tricked my own family into thinking I was eating properly, its not the same but then I was eating around 500 calories a day & thinking back that number is ridiculous. I don't know about LL at all but 500 cals a day is far too low.
 
Ok.....I have done both LL and CD. They are not good for you and your body is being starved, even though you are constantly told that from the shakes that you are drinking you are getting all the nutrients etc that you need.
I suffered badly with constipation and bad breath. I had migranes all the time. These were the reasons that I stopped, even with being so desperate to loose weight.
I dont think that this vlc plan would kill you alone. There have to be other contributors. Do I think that they are a good way loose weight? ...no.
 
I agree with Jaylou on the great diet debate in general, if it works for you, you will champion it, no doubt.

I just went for a look in the LL forum, I don't want to cause trouble there so I have said nothing other than post the link to the story. But the number of people there who are talking about being desperate for a salad and some simply cooked fresh meat, and whose consultants slammed the phones down on them because they wouldn't or couldn't pay £240 upfront for a month's supply of goop sachets is mind boggling.

Plus, that stuff is full of Aspartame, which when broken down, creates formaldehyde. Now I know that the FSA have ruled it a safe food, but really, how can a diet of that be good for you?

Lisa I know you've been upset about not losing at the moment, you've hit a plateau of sorts no doubt and are obviously getting down about it, but you do look gorgeous on all your pictures, not only that, but you are the picture of health.

I have never ever ever heard of anyone dying on the SW plan, whereas although LL gets the desired results for people who stick to it, the good and the negative press go hand in hand.

I don't wish to live like that, and I can only hope people will read this story and this girl's death won't be in vain, because she made a few people stop and think.
 
I am so sorry to hear about these losses, its so tragic. I think that it gives us something to think about regarding the amount we loose each week on what ever diet we follow, in so much as 1 - 2lb a week is healthy but anything more and you are loosing muscle tissue of which the heart is one, and that is deffinately not healthy. There is no quick fix to weight loss (as frustraiting as that is) but there was no quick fix to weight gain either. It is a slow steady inching forwards process where we hopefully learn about our weeknessess with food and can put a long term plan into action to combat our wrong eating habits. Be gratefull for the 1/2lbs and the 1lbs that we loose every week, at least its going to be fat and nothing more, and if SW is followed properly with lots of variety and fruit and veg its a healthy way to loose and live.

soap box put back in cupboard now lol.
 
KD said:
It's interesting to read this very good comment from a GP Dr Martin Scurr

"That is why the tragic death of Samantha Clowe seems unlikely to be the fault of the diet itself, but was down to some other problem. And as the Coroner indicated, this was probably due to her heart."
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When people are on crash diets don't the muscles around the heart weaken giving greater risk to heart attacks? I remember reading lots of stories where someone with anorexia has died from a heart attack as the muscles were so weak/thin from not eating/not eating properly...so if she was only taking in 500 cals a day wouldn't what the coroner said (about dying due to her heart) mean that the diet could be the reason for her death as surely that can't be enough (especially for someone her weight...)?

Isn't it so sad that someone just wants to look & feel better & does what they feel they can & ends up dying, so so sad :(
 
I've just been back in that LL forum and the people in there are all starving, talking about how the drinks taste awful and how they pad them out with MORE sweetner and coffee granules, or half and half the sachets, make 'poppadoms' out of them (what?! And I thought chickpea cake was a bit nuts!) No one is happy on that diet, but no one.

LL is nothing more than controlled induced anorexia IMHO.

And yep Lisa, a Home Office expert does say in that article that it is indeed possible that the VLCD attributed to her heart attack. You can't put 'died from LighterLife' on a coroner's report. She didn't have an 'underlying medical condition' as some have said.

The facts of the story are this:

She lived her life as an overweight girl. She did LighterLife for 11 weeks. She had a heart attack in the 11th week.

I should really stop going into that forum and posting about this now, I am really getting cross about it. I'm off for my lunchtime wander round the block now to chill the hell out.
 
I have just read this article & it is so sad for the family, I have tried crash diets in the past but just couldn't do without the food - the cost of this as well is hideous - £66 per week!! Most people (if they seriously stick to it) would probably lose close the the same amount on SW but it a healthier way to do it.
 
Anything done excessively is dangerous whether it be exercise or dieting. 500cals is definitely not healthy by any stretch of the imagination.

Did anyone see the tv prog about 2 journalists who experimented to see if they could get to size zero? They both did it, but their health suffered and one actually developed an eating disorder.
They both needed medical help to get back to eating normally. Ditto the Gail Porter prog in a similar vein.

I'd rather plod along taking off 2lbs one week and then putting on 1lb the next!!!! There is no quick fix solution

My heart goes out to the family involved.
 
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Brookend said:
Did anyone see the tv prog about 2 journalists who experimented to see if they could get to size zero? They both did it, but their health suffered and one actually developed an eating disorder.
They both needed medical help to get back to eating normally.
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I saw that, very interesting. One journalist couldn't carry on & had to stop, think her Dr told her it was too dangerous if I remember right.
 
I don't particularly think that the VLC diets are healthy, or a good way to go. HOWEVER, they've been medically approved.

Also, maybe we should think about how someone on these forums who's on the LL programme would feel if they came here and read all our posts slating their diet :eek:
 
May I just give my two cents worth. At the age of 52 and weighing 30st 3lbs I was informed of another similar very low calorie diet called Lipotrim - again it is 500 calories a day, consisting of shakes and flapjacks - under the same Company umbrella as Lighter Life and Cambridge Diet, or so I believe.

Being housebound with that weight and on benefits at that age and that weight was of course very difficult. Lipotrim gave me a kick-start, and I lost 4 stone in 9 weeks and then went on to a sensible 1500 calories a day controlled diet losing another 7 stone in 8 months.

I lost the plot somehow at 19 stone and regained, but that is another matter!

The only way these very low calorie diets should be used, in my opinion, is as a kick-start and for a very short period of time. They should, by obesity guidelines, only be used for a maximum of 14 weeks as well. I stopped at 9 weeks. It was by far the easiest diet I had ever done, and had I not tried it - I did Lipotrim between Oct 06 and Dec 06 - I would easily be 35 stones or more now - or much much worse.

These vlcds have their place, and are often just a quick fix. They are not teaching you about healthy eating. They can be supplied to anyone with only one stone to lose, but again are not training people and lots do regain the weight lost.

I am now in the right place in my head and on 1800 calories a day, and finding it easy. As my weight was creeping up, and at the age of 55, I knew I had to do something.

1 or 2 lbs a week loss, which are advised by health professionals, slimming clubs, is slow, but it is still something like 7 stone a year which is not to be sniffed at.

Well done to all of you for doing so well, and well done for not going on those vlcd threads - it must take a lot of self-restraint.
 
What if people see their diet being slated? GOOD! IMHO it’s a terrible terrible plan and no right minded person should be on it unless they are in severe risk of death by obesity, like our friend above has mentioned, and then they should be followed carefully, regulated properly and only done as a kickstart moderated by a doctor or other health professional.

Also, they have an abbreviation - RTM! This stands for Round The Middle - people who are losing weight from everywhere but this region. Now correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't that the very region where dangerous fat levels are recorded? People with excess fat round their middle are more at risk than overeight people with less fat round their middle. True, yes? What is this diet making you lose if you lose it from everywhere but round your middle??

£66 per week is an extortionate amount to take from a person who is miserable about their weight. I’m as much for live and let live as the next person – until someone dies. :sigh: Then the soapbox comes out in full effect.

I haven’t gone on the LL forums and caused trouble about this, I am just incensed by the report in the paper, wanted to vent and came here. I shall stop as I think everyone knows my opinion on this subject by now, heh! :p

Thanks for listening.
 
LisaC said:
When people are on crash diets don't the muscles around the heart weaken giving greater risk to heart attacks? I remember reading lots of stories where someone with anorexia has died from a heart attack as the muscles were so weak/thin from not eating/not eating properly...so if she was only taking in 500 cals a day wouldn't what the coroner said (about dying due to her heart) mean that the diet could be the reason for her death as surely that can't be enough (especially for someone her weight...)?
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Actually, no. Not with the main prepared VLCDs. In fact, they protect lean mass better than many other diets.
 
jaylou said:
For KD, CD worked and still works on maintenance. For us SW works and it rules IMO!!

Those on WW will say how fabulous it is and probably how rubbish SW is.
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Hopefully not on minimins. This forum is part of a larger community that respects each others choice of diets. People may say that other diets don't work for them, or that they couldn't do other diets, but hopefully they never say the diet itself is rubbish.

I'm saddened to see such venom from some people on this thread against choices that other have made on this forum (remember this is just a subforum for the whole of minimins).

Especially since most of the comments show they have little understanding of the diet and the research that has gone behind it...along with it's acceptance as a very acceptable way to lose weight, assuming it follows the NICE guidelines, which I know Cambridge does, so probably LL too.
 
Vixxster said:
Also, they have an abbreviation - RTM! This stands for Round The Middle - people who are losing weight from everywhere but this region. Now correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't that the very region where dangerous fat levels are recorded? People with excess fat round their middle are more at risk than overeight people with less fat round their middle. True, yes? What is this diet making you lose if you lose it from everywhere but round your middle??
Click to expand...

Rtm stands for Route to Management and is a stage of LighterLife
 
Ok - but I did read a post about people saying they are having trouble losing weight RTM and then SAYING 'round the middle'.

Anyway i've had enough. I've said my peace.
 
KD said:
Hopefully not on minimins. This forum is part of a larger community that respects each others choice of diets. People may say that other diets don't work for them, or that they couldn't do other diets, but hopefully they never say the diet itself is rubbish.

I'm saddened to see such venom from some people on this thread against choices that other have made on this forum (remember this is just a subforum for the whole of minimins).

Especially since most of the comments show they have little understanding of the diet and the research that has gone behind it...along with it's acceptance as a very acceptable way to lose weight, assuming it follows the NICE guidelines, which I know Cambridge does, so probably LL too.
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Absolutely (see my post on page 2)!!! :clap:
 
KD said:
Hopefully not on minimins. This forum is part of a larger community that respects each others choice of diets. People may say that other diets don't work for them, or that they couldn't do other diets, but hopefully they never say the diet itself is rubbish.

I'm saddened to see such venom from some people on this thread against choices that other have made on this forum (remember this is just a subforum for the whole of minimins).

Especially since most of the comments show they have little understanding of the diet and the research that has gone behind it...along with it's acceptance as a very acceptable way to lose weight, assuming it follows the NICE guidelines, which I know Cambridge does, so probably LL too.
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Quite correct, I would not go on the WW forum and say that I don't like the plan and how fab SW is but if someone anywhere asked me which plan is best,either on here or in the wider world, I would say SW for the reasons I explained in my post - it worked for me!

Perhaps "rubbish" is an unfortunate choice of wording but the rest of my post said that the other diets did not work for ME and that other diets worked for others. It was my personal opinion. I cannot comment on VLC diets, and have not done so other than to say 500 cals a day is not healthy, and that is my opinion. There was also no venom in my post. :(
 
KD said:
I'm saddened to see such venom from some people on this thread against choices that other have made on this forum (remember this is just a subforum for the whole of minimins).

Especially since most of the comments show they have little understanding of the diet and the research that has gone behind it...along with it's acceptance as a very acceptable way to lose weight, assuming it follows the NICE guidelines, which I know Cambridge does, so probably LL too.
Click to expand...

Very well said KD :0clapper: No subforum is an island (ok, mangled that saying a bit but you get the drift) and if people on VLCDs were having a go at SW for allowing you to eat 'all that you want' of something then the same comments would be made for them.

The death of this woman is incredibly sad, and my prayers go out to her family.

Hopefully we can get back to the process of supporting each other in our individual choices of diet plan - in the end, we all want to lose the weight however we do the journey.
 

Ok this is getting out of hand so…

  • I unreservedly apologise to any LL members who consider anything I have written here today to be ‘venomous’ about them and their plan. You have mistaken my anger at this girl dying whilst on the LL plan for venom against users of the plan personally, and that is incorrect.

  • I have my opinions and you have yours. The fact is that this girl was alive and considered by a doctor to be healthy up until she spent 11 weeks on the LighterLife plan, which, at it’s most basic, restricts calorie intake to 500 calories a day or thereabouts. I have pointed out that I have noted that health professionals have not listed LL as the DIRECT cause of her death, because there is no way to prove that. A Home Office official has voiced his opinion that it is indeed possible that her heart attack could have been caused by her VLCD.

  • I have not personally written anything bad about any one person on this plan or their opinions but I am angered further by people whose consultants slam the phones down on them for not handing over £240 in one go for a month’s supply of LL, or people who are ‘longing’ for some salad and a piece of chicken. They are being encouraged to starve themselves and I do not think it is healthy.

  • Congratulations to anyone who has had success on a diet plan, it takes guts and determination to follow. However, it still remains that LL has been in the news on more than one occasion because it’s members have dropped dead of heart attacks. I have not read any stories about dieting members of other slimming clubs dying in a similar way.

  • Continued good luck to all embarking on a weight loss journey. I hope you make it and learn how to maintain it in a healthy, safe and nutritional way.
 
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