VLCD/ketosis confusion/other plans outside of Exante? HELP please :)

[bye-bigun!]

Hello, I will try and keep this brief! I have done LT before and planned on switching to Exante purely for cost reasons and due to pharmacy being so far away. Anyway, had an op as some of you know so had to do re-feed.. so I am not following any diet as such now and i was going to continue this way and be sensible. I have now changed my mind and fancy hitting a different target but I dont know which one to follow. I dont mind if I do TFR or do one with an evening meal.. really not fussed. I have been using the Tesco bars as my brekkie since I stopped LT purely for convenience and I like them so I bought 2 tubs of their shake mix too. Now, could I follow this plan and have the same success as WS for instance? The cals are appr 212 per meal (bar or shake) on tesco/Asda.... BUT their carb content is higher than LT so I think it would not allow in to ketosis, even if I had an evening meal and avoided all carbs... the cal intake would be similar to exante from what i can work out so in theory my mind tells me i could expect the same loses????

Ketosis may not occur with this diet which didnt thrill me, but then I read it makes no difference to weightloss anyway.. which had me quesitoning WHY we shell out £30 or £40 a month for a diet thats similar in cals when you can get it for £12 in Tesco??? Am I missing something? Yes ketosis may not affect weight loss amounts... is it just that you wont get as hungry???

I guess what I am asking is - do you know of anyone that has followed the Tesco/Asda food replacement diets?? And if so how have they done?? from a money point of view its fantastic which is why I am tempted as money is tight with 3 kids.. but then if I will get better results with exante or LT again then I may be swayed to shelling out, as much as it would hurt me! LOL!

What do you think the pros and cons are? Today I have had a raspberry bar for brekkie and I have just had a LT shake left over from my stocks in the cupboard. I also have some maintenance products that I ordered when I was doing re-feed... if I am not worried about ketosis is there anything stopping me mixing and matching what I have got until they run out???

What would you do? I have deffo decided to do SOMETHING, I just dont know which one as yet.. my lt peeps wont allow me back on officially as its only 2 weeks post op but my GP has given me the all clear. this will mean me going to a lt pharm even further away so exante may win on that pointer...????

why is this so difficult to decide?? LOL!!!

Thanks for any help!!! Starlight?? where are you when I need you LOL!!! xx

 

[foodjunkie10]

I do know someone who has done Tesco shake diet with aam at night but she really struggled with hunger in the day as she wasnt in ketosis.
IMO i would prefer to do something along the lines of exante or cambridge as when you are in ketosis your not as hungry and your body burns fat quicker than when your not in it.

 

[cloud*]

I did 2 weeks of Tesco but hating having the meal at night because I was so hungry by then that I started to add slightly more & more. IMO Tesco/Asda etc are fine for losing a few lbs briefly but Exante or other are better if you are planning to do it longer. Others may have a different opinion but this was just my experience xo

 

[bye-bigun!]

Thanks for the info!! See, the whole ketosis confusion kicks in again for me!!! There was a few posts on the board where people had questions ketosis and it was agreed that it makes NO difference to your losses and that its the cal defecit that causes the weightloss - NOT the ketosis.... it just makes it easier on your body as you dont get as hungry..?? Aww brain ache!!! LOL!!

I think I would like to lose another stone at the most.. so not much really in the grand scheme of things. ... part of me thinks go Exante and get it sorted in a month.. but then I think I could spend £150 doing that... or go Tesco and spend£48 and do it in a similar time but maybe be a bit hungry...???

Does anyone know the carb amount daily to remain in ketosis by any chance?? with the 2 meals I would look at abou 60 or 70g carbs if I completely avoided carbs in an evening meal... would that push me over? xxxx

 

[foodjunkie10]

Why dont you do atkins if the money is a problem hun?

 

[Starlight]

Problem with Tesco etc is theyre not VLCDs so for one thing you wont get the same losses on them. Ketosis doesnt seem to affect weight loss results but I sure as hell wouldnt want to be without it. Could you bear the constant hunger etc??

I think the Tesco/Asda ones are like SF which have losses pretty much on a par with WW/SW (something which has always puzzled me lol) but they say youll lose about 2lbs a week. Youll lose almost double that on Exante, even doing WS youll still lose more

If youre doing Tesco/SF your shakes are cheaper but you still have to have meals as well so really the £25 a week for Exante is still probably the best in terms of value

 

[Starlight]

Oh and sorry I took so long - I was in the shower lol

 

[Princess_Ames]

OK ... i have done the Tesco one before. I spent so much money on food because by evening i was starving.

With Exante i have spent £25 a week and so far... i am NOT hungry.

 

[Princess_Ames]

Think of it in terms of washing up liquid... You could buy the value brand that WOULD wash your pots in a fashion OR you could buy Fairy that really DOES wash your pots properly

 

[tealight23]

It would be useful to compare the various options (exante/CD/LL vs supermarket options/Biggest Loser) in terms of nutrient/calorie content, ketosis likelihood etc and make it a sticky as this comes up every week. I'm just as confused bigun and have bought some tesco bars as I'm not too keen on the exante ones, but so far am not going to risk not being in ketosis as that's what makes it all bearable. I've tried slimfast and would personally avoid the supermarket stuff if it's the same thing in a different package.

Does anyone know the carb amount daily to remain in ketosis by any chance??

Could probably work it out by adding up the carbs in your 3 shake/soup/bar allowance. I don't have the info at hand, but an Atkins-dieter would probably know.

Best of luck whatever you decide.

 

[Starlight]

The thing is though theyre not comparible as diets, the Asda/Tesco ones arent meant as TFR the way Exante etc are. You wont get into ketosis on them, nor are you meant to. Theyre meant to be followed differently to Exante/CD/LL etc.

Theres no hard and fast rules for how many carbs get you in/out ketosis, it varies from person to person.

Replacing ONE bar a day with your Exante bar wont affect ketosis, honest, Id say the majorite of people on here are now using Tesco/BL bars and we're all very much in ketosis

 

[bye-bigun!]

Thanks so much for the advice Much appreciated! And yes, it hit me in the face like a lead balloon when I realised that although Tesco is cheaper I will also have to BUY FOOD!!! LOL! Why I didnt think of that myself is beyond me!! Blonde indeed to the core!! LOL!

I am 99% sure that I am going to do Exante.. shelling out £100 in one go seems criminal but I also know it works out cheaper in the long run! I just feel that I really want to get down to my ideal goal in size as its not about the weight for me and never has been... I have always said I will stop when I feel comfy and I have done that throughout and then changed my goal once I 'settle in'..... I am desperate to be able to buy a size 12 in everything I wear and rather than it take a couple of months or so I know I can knuckle down and get it done much quicker with this method.. When I did LT before I had to also add in some protein as I am on a lot of heavy medication... it caused a few demons for me in that I knew I could eat so i took it to the extreme, skipping shakes, eating some protein meals and in the end I was nibbling everything but just enough to remain in ketosis. It wasnt good. I have to try and completely avoid that this time so I am going to see how I go on 100% and take it from there.. I lived in the fridge more when on LT than I ever did before! that cant be good! Thankfully it stopped as soon as I was off the diet and I got my sensible head back on!

I dont like soup as a rule really and I am too in love with the Tesco bars to even comtemplate buying some I wont like... I have loads of maintenance stuff here from LT that I had from before and i tried a bar last night and ended up feeding it to the kids rats! OMG evil and some actually really like them! So, that being that I am thinking shakes are the only way to go for me... bumper pack..???

LT Was also VERY strict in drinks and suchlike and on here I notice you can be a little more relaxed which can only be a good thing eh!

So, all being well I should be ordering in the next few days and then look forward to getting to know you all - although I Have been reading this forum for months so pretty much 'know' you all on the surface anyway!! LOL!

Thanks so much!!! xxxx

 

[dolphin10]

Thanks for the info!! See, the whole ketosis confusion kicks in again for me!!! There was a few posts on the board where people had questions ketosis and it was agreed that it makes NO difference to your losses and that its the cal defecit that causes the weightloss - NOT the ketosis.... it just makes it easier on your body as you dont get as hungry..?? Aww brain ache!!! LOL!!

I am not an expert but I believe ketones and calories play a part together. For us to lose weight there has to be calorie deficit meaning less input more out put.
I think the presence of ketosis in ones's urine sample merely means that our bodies are using fat for energy. If we start eating carbohydrates then less likely to be in ketones because energy is being derived from carbohytrates. If we are in ketones we are less likely to feel hungry so I understand.
In the absence of carbohydrate, our bodies turn to fat for energy. I use ketostix from Lloyds to test the level of ketones, the higher the concentration of ketones in the urine, the more pink the sticks will turn. I hope this helps

 

[Bellerine]

Hi Donna

Do get the Exante bars. They are very nice. I prefer them to the Tesco Ultra Slims ones. And the soup on Exante is very nice - esp the thai chicken I think.

Best of luck with it anyway - Its a great deal nicer than LT.

Belle

 

[Skinniminx]

Its funny how we all have different tastes. I can't stand the Exante bars but love the Tesco ones. Good luck and hope to follow your progress when you start xx