Restarting and Making it Count this time

[Andrea5867]

I've been a fan of VCL Diets for a while having lost 4 stones on Cambridge and then a similar amount on Exante
I'm about to restart exante on Monday but want some advice from people out there
I know the diet will work. I know I wont feel hungry. I know I have the willpower to stick to it
My problem is what happens after the diet.....
Im a 'stressy' person and I comfort eat. My partners all but useless in supporting me. His idea of support is to put me down and say Im fat in the hope Ill lose weight - then theres a spiral of eating because Im upset and gaining even more weight so there has been a bit of a delay in restarting
Stress causes real problems too as I tend to eat when Im stressed to the max - in the past deaths, illnesses and being a carer have all triggered off eating to the point that I have gained the weight lost and more besides

Im trying to set some targets here... the first one to lose the weight and the second to maintain long term. Whats the average weight I can expect to lose and whats best to enhance weight loss
What bars and drinks do people find best to use whilst on the diet as I dont like the exante ones
And majorly whats the best way of dealing with post diet maintainance - I really dont want to go through another 6 or 7 months to undo all of that good work again. I am trying to focus on myself and having the future I deserve and being confident to chose who I want that future to be with but it all seems a long way away at the moment

Thanks
Andrea

 

[BijouHope]

I can't comment on VLCD diet products other than Exante's, because that's the only such plan that I have tried since a two-day flirtation with the Cambridge Diet in 1986, and I am sticking to Exante until I switch to a "real food" plan at some as-yet-undecided point.

But in response to your other questions, the amount of weight you can expect to lose depends on the plan you choose (total solution, working solution or simple solution in Exante, for example), your metabolism and the rigour with which you stick to the diet plan. Some people lose quickly, and others more slowly. You have done both Cambridge and Exante before, so you will already have an idea of your rate of loss. Regardless of the plan you choose, obviously the best results will come from sticking to it completely without allowing any deviation. And if you keep going for long enough, following all the rules, you will eventually reach your target.

As for maintaining the weight loss, well, the reason I am here is because I regained five stones that I lost on the Dukan diet two years ago. So I am definitely not an expert! This time, once I get the weight off, I am determined to do better at weight maintenance. For me, I have recognised that this means I need to make permanent changes to my eating habits, and I am trying to implement those changes now. I am also writing these "rules" down so that I can refer to them as needed and check that I am following them.

For example, even though I am on a total food replacement plan, I am only eating at the table, because if I eat or drink while sitting on the sofa, then I barely notice what is passing my lips and I end up overindulging. I plan to carry this forward into maintenance, eating only at the table unless it's some sort of special event that requires me to eat elsewhere (barbecue, entertaining and so on).

I have also acknowledged that I will never be able to eat exactly as I want to, because I am a greedy so-and-so with the metabolism of a three-toed sloth, so I plan to follow a fairly strict weight maintenance plan for at least several months, and I am already working out what that will entail. Beyond that, I am thinking of rules that I will need to apply forever and not just for a fixed time period. One example is that I plan to drink alcohol only at the weekend and on high days and holidays - so there will be no more casual wine consumption in front of the television on a weekday evening.

Because I want to try to change my behaviour and develop some strategies for eating more sensibly and coping with stress and comfort eating, I am also following the programme in "The Beck Diet Solution" by Judith Beck, although I can't yet say whether it is any good, because I'm still only a third of the way through. The book is focused on "dieting", but I just substitute "weight control" because the same principles will still apply once I am no longer officially trying to lose weight, and in my head "weight control" covers both scenarios.

Of course, I don't know whether all this will work for me, since I have never managed to maintain a weight loss before. But this will be the first time that I will have put any effort into weight maintenance, rather than carelessly (or even joyfully) lapsing back into my old ways, so I have high hopes.

You say that you know that a VLCD diet will work for you, and that you have the willpower to stick to it. This means that you will succeed! You have already got what it takes to make this happen! All it takes is a plan that takes you beyond the weight loss phase and into your future life as a slim person - and, of course, the determination to see that plan through even when the going gets tough Good luck, and I hope you achieve all your dreams.