Starting the Cambridge Diet on 17th Jan, any tips?

Hi everyone, I'm starting on the CD on the 17th of Jan. Very excited about this, as a friend of mine has lost 5 1/2 stone and looks flippin fantastic.
Bit worried about being hungry though and the demon breath and hair loss.
Any tips on getting through the 1st few weeks.


 
Stick with it - even on the days when it just seems too hard. Drink lots of water but space that out during the day - not all in one go. Do some preparation - start reducing your carb intake a few days before you actually start the diet and you will get in to ketosis faster. If you feel you HAVE to eat something, then have a bar, or a porridge, or an SS+ day, don't do something daft like eat toast or biscuits as they will throw you right out of ketosis and you then have to get back in!!!

Finally - be prepared. You WILL more than likely get a hell of a headache the first few days. This is a carb withdrawal headache, and (if you are anything like me who went from 2 litres of pepsi a day to none) quite possibly a caffiene withdrawal headache. It's normally controllable with paracetamol and will pass in a day or 2.

It's all worth it in the end - just keep your eye on the goal and watch the weight fall off :D
 
Thanks Starlit, did the atkins diet a while back and only lasted 5 days as had horrendous headahes, forgot about that. Will have to stock up on the painkillers. Also i'm a pepsi max freak, drink it day and night, hope the withdrawal from that isn't too bad.
No going back now though, my appointment is booked for 17th Jan at 9.15 am. Can't wait.
 
hey , my advise is be postiive :) you sound excited about the plan which is the best way to be , the people that fail are the people that see the diet as a negative part of their life
also drink lots of water , try all the shakes and soups and find some you love , come on here for support and advise whenever you can , and just remember that the first week is going to be hard , but also remember that if you push through this week then it gets loads easier and the weight just drops off :)

If I was you I would start swapping some of your pepsi max for water now so its not such a big shock , I used to drink tons of the stuff and think i found this the hardest thing to give up , if you start now then it will be easier when you start for real :)

Good luck :)
 
^^^ Great advice!

Welcome & good luck Xx
 
Having been on the diet (SSing) for a grand total of 4 days, I would say the hardest thing for me is the evenings when I was always prone to snacking, and also making sure you get enough water! I've been measuring mine out every morning to make sure I drink a FULL 4 litres, but often find that come 9pm I still have a full litre left! :(

For the evenings I bought a little tub of Marigold bouillon, I find a cup of that made with about 3/4 tsp powder really makes me feel like I've had something and gives me my savoury "fix". Only 1 or 2 a day though!

My Cambridge counsellor told me that hair thinning only happens in severe cases where the person has been on the diet for a very long time, and also probably isn't drinking enough water! So far I've had zero headaches (touch wood), and although I've had quite a dry/furry mouth I don't seem to be having much problem with bad breath (I THINK!!) - again, it should not be a problem if you keep drinking that water!!

Stay excited!
 
Im on my 4th day of ss and i havent had a headache yet, had moments of being extremely hungry but they pass when i down water. My CDC advised i could have 1 glass of Coke Zero per day, but tbh i dont normally drink fizzy stuff anyway, maybe thats why i havent had a headache (?)
Main thing is to keep urself busy and drink plenty water. Cant wait for my first WI on tues, i had a sneaky look and apparently ive lost 7lbs (in 4 days???) so not too sure about that but im looking forward to tues :)
Good luck to everyone, we can do it!!!!!!!!!! x x x x x x
 
Agree with all the advice above, but mainly water water water. And focus. This is the easiest hardess diet to do, but get through the first week, into ketosis and to your first weigh in and that should give you real motivation. Support, advice and motivation from Minis is also key. Good luck x
 
Wow, thank you all for your replies, i'm really in the right frame of mind for this. Wish I was starting earlier than the 17th, but I have my birthday coming up this week and have a few things planned.
It's really good to know there are people here that know just what I will be going through. I am sure I will be needing all your help and support over the coming weeks. :)
 
Oh and SacredSilence, you look amazing, what a fantastic weight loss :D

Thankyou x It`s taken me two years of doing a bit of everything to get that far! Last thing I tried was CD 810 plan and lost about a stone and a half but I took a break in the summer and am now back to lose the last of it. 2st to go :eek:

You`ll be look FAB in no time!! :D Xx
 
I keep my paracetamol extra at hand all the times, it helps me cope with headaches.

To be honest I probably have too much of it...
Hmm I sometimes think if I don't dietof being fat I will probably pass out from the medication lololol

Oh well, back to my porridge ;-)

By the way, is there an official thing about drinking coke zero?
 
Hi TripleWhopper (lol)

My CDC said it was ok to have a glass a day so i have been doing, only for a bit of variety, not that keen on it tbh.
Ur liver's gonna be knackered if u keep taking paracetamol, if i start to get a headache (which luckily iv not really had) i just down loads of water and its really helped, maybe thats why iv not had bad headaches, cos was expectin to have banging ones :)
Iv bought a couple of Tesco's own flavoured water, the strawberry is gorg. The apple ad strawberry ones are ok to have but the lemon and lime obviously has citric acid in it so stay well away :) STAY AWAY FROM THE WATER!!! :) The others have 1 cal per 250mls so not completely cal free but i just have 1-2 glasses a day and im still in ketosis.
Got my first WI tomorrow and really excited.
Hope that helps, i do struggle to drink loads of plain water so had a look round and thats what i found!

Take care and hope ur headaches subside :)
xx
 
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