VLCD - My long journey to health

[tweepypie]

Two months ago, (22 June 2013), I began a low-carb diet. After initial teething problems, and subsequently lowering my calorie intake, the pounds started to come off. They didn't fall or tumble. It was hard work. Plus, I have that problem that for two weeks of the month, I cannot lose weight. So it took two weeks, then I went from 154 kg (!!!) to 148 kg within two weeks. Over the next two weeks, my weight went back up to 150 kg. At that time I was on less than 40 g of carbs and between 1500 and 1800 kcal.

I could have continued, of course. I'm sure I would have continued to slowly lose weight. I mean, I felt great. And I went down to 148 kg again quickly.

But all the time I realized that at my weight, feeling healthy was an illusion. Also, my goal was 1500 kcal, but more often than not, my consumption went up to 1800 kcal. I needed something drastic. I was in the right frame of mind to lose weight. I was committed. Why wouldn't I take advantage?

So I read reviews on various VLCDs, and picked one. In the second month, I went from 148 kg to 143 kg. actually, I lost all that within a week, but as I mentioned, that's how I lose weight: nothing for a while, then kilos melt away in weeks. Mind you, kilos. My measurements have not really changed yet...

Of course, the true test will come once I enter my dark weeks. Will I lose or gain?

Initially, I complemented my 600 kcal/day with olives, or an extra meal, but I've got to the stage where I NEED to make myself eat. That's good. Also, I realized that all this debate between Cambridge or Exante or any of the others is irrelevant. Who says I can't mix and match?

What I've found is that the problem with shakes is that they're sweet. Too sweet. I'm more of a savoury girl. So I keep the shakes for mornings, and instead go for soups or meals. And if I want a handful of grated cheese on my 200 kcal bolognese, it's just an extra 90 kcal. If I feel like "real food", I reach for a packet of Applewood-smoked ham at 135 kcal. The reason I can do this, is because I no longer crave food.

I'm now quite happy to carry on. I will take a break from VLCD every 10-12 weeks, and for two weeks continue the low-carb food plan I was on before. After all, it was the plan that made me feel good.

Now comes the big butt. Oops, I mean BUT. What if I can't stick to it? A few weeks of VLCD hardly makes me an expert, and I don't want to get complacent. This is what this post is for. Also, should I ever feel like needing to fall off the wagon (weddings, barbecues, etc.), I will want to do it the low-carb way. That way, I'll stay in or near ketosis, and the damage will be minimal.

Also, I would like to invite others to share their stories with me. Inspire me. Have you lost a significant amount of weight? How do you cope with temptation? Do you have any dark weeks, where the weight simply won't come off? Do you have a lot to lose, like me, and feel daunted? Share your stories with me.

There are many great posts, but many are about which diet to choose, or about losing that last stone or two, rather than two-thirds of your weight. I want to be in that exclusive club of people who only have a stone to lose. But I'm a long way off that dream. To get there, I'll need help and encouragement.

Tweepypie

Week 1: 154 kg
Week 4: 150 kg
Week 8: 143 kg

 

[firelass]

Hey,

I have dark weeks. I try to do the best I can. So at a bbq I just have grilled chicken, If I have a night out I have to eat some carbs. I tend to go all out and have a day off so I go for cheesy garlic bread. but then that week I put 3lb on. Though the next week I loose it again. I go straight back on the diet the next day.

The shakes are measured out so you get your vitamins, the issue with mixing and matching is that you might not be getting 100% of everything you need. However depending on what your diet was like before ( mine was really bad) even one shake is an improvement in my vitamins lol

I add things to the shakes, so with cambridge, I add coffee to the : chocolate, vanilla and butter scotch shakes. I also have them for breakfast. This makes them way less sweet.
I sometimes add herbs to the soups, and a bit of pepper.

It does get hard. There is a post on this forum with reasons we are doing this. I made my own list as well. So after a birthday night out or something when I want a fry up. I look at my list. I was unfit and unhealthy, I looked horrid in pictures, no nice clothes fitted me. I hated being naked, I hated pictures. I was so unhappy, I had to hold my breath to tie my shoes or bend over. I got sore and tired so fast.

The list helps. But I often cheat. I can loose 3lb a week, or just after weigh in I can have a treat and only loose 2lb that week. Its really bad, but I have taken to eating the cooked chicken from the rotisserie counter in tescos. A few times I have had fast food. I go for tea not juice and side salad not fries. Also try and not have a massive burger with cheese and bacon. They do salads!!

I'm on week 15, and I have lost ( on cambridge ) 39lb. I think that is awesome, I could have done the same on a good diet and exercise. But would I have? Having the shakes means I know I'm getting everything I need. I need to work out or swim on top to loose weight, if I overeat I make my self work it off.

at this point, with only just over a stone to loose I have moved to step three where i get more food options and more calories. Hoping this will curb my cravings for bad
foods.
A vlcd gives you a massive kick up the ass, it helps to reevaluate what we eat and why we are eating it, while also loosing weight. The hope I guess, the outcome that we all want, is to have lost the weight and to be able to keep it off. The only way of keeping it off is not to go back to what we did before.
That is one thing I have learnt, I have been on the Vlcd 15 weeks and nothing bad has happened. Only good things. So now I know, I don't need to eat anywhere near what I was before, and now I can't eat that much.
I would like to say I can stop when I'm full, but if food is tasty I still want to eat it all.
On dark weeks I drink more water that seems to help.
I no longer eat for emotional reasons, because I know it will make me feel worse not better. However I do eat for the love of eating and the love of food.

I tell you what though, IT IS WORTH IT. I'm not single, but I have had soo much interest! hehe, its nice though. For people to say I'm looking good. And I know, I don't just look thinner I am healthier. I can hoover without having to stop for a rest, I can tie my shoes, I don't need to worry about holding my arms up and my top coming up as well.

I'm the healthiest I have ever been as an adult, therefore less likely to be disabled like my mum and it feels epicly awesome. 15 weeks without has done me good
Now I see I can't have two burgers and fries for tea one nice and a massive homemade lasagna the next. I will pay much more attention to what I put in my mouth

I wish I had got to a stage where I had to force my self to eat. At some points I have felt like I was in a cambridge prison, because I could only eat the food on the list. So most nights I have 170g of chicken and 80g of the veg from the list, and that is it plus the shakes... It was making me a bit sad. Step three is better
I hope that it helpful

 

[tweepypie]

Thanks for sharing. I recognized a lot of myself in what you wrote. The search for yourself among the unattractive shell. The search for the right reason to choose VLCD over traditional diets. So why am I doing it? Because I have to.

Like most of us, I've tried just about everything out there. I never had the staying power. To my surprise, VLCD works. I've just been on holiday and "supplemented" my VLCD with plenty of treats. I didn't lose any weight (a pound), but I didn't gain any weight either. Plus, we're moving into my dark period, where I usually put on weight anyway. Staying at my current weight until next week makes me happy, because it means I'm beating the trend. Hopefully I'll then continue dropping some more weight.

Most of all, it's easy. The choc bars are too sweet for me, but I love the 200 kcal meals and some of the shakes. I always thought it's weird when people say they don't feel hungry. Since when do you need to be hungry to eat, right? I mean, hunger was NEVER the reason I used to eat. But my VLCD takes away the desire to eat completely. Not every day or all the time, but on those days I simply have an extra shake or a soup.

I'm glad you managed to lose weight and gain some measure of happiness. I hope I can let your story inspire me. Thank you!

 

[tweepypie]

I forgot to say: well done on losing such an awesome amount of weight.

 

[weasey]

I lost 9 stone on a combination of LL and SnS. For me it was important to stick to the diet without any extras. I needed to give up food and come up with a new relationship with it. For the first 6 months I did 4 packs a day and nothing else. For that last 4/5 months I did 3 packs plus a protein meal. I finished in June 2012 at 10 stone. After that I cast around trying to find what would work for me from a maintenance point of view. I found this really tough as there's very little advice out there. I started doing lots of exercise and tried lots of different eating approaches as well as personal therapy. I did put on weight - and was at 12 stone by the November. However, I've stayed at the since then and am now finding it easy to maintain. Now that I've worked out how to do that I'm back on SnS for 4 to 6 weeks to lose a stone as 11 stone is where I'd like to be moving forward.