VLCD's and metabolism, fat and all that jazz..

[laurenmay]

I've tried doing some research online into the question I'm asking you all.. but there's loads of contradicting evidence & I'm not sure what's correct and what's not.

What I'm wondering is do VLCD's actually cause you to lose fat.. or is it just a lot of water that you'll regain once you come off the VLCD?

I've heard things such as a VLCD will screw up your metabolism and cause you to regain the weight once you start consuming more calories..

Obviously I don't want this, and if all the hard work of SnS will just cause a lot of water weight & nothing else then I don't see the point really.. I'd rather start off calorie counting at a normal calorie amount & lose slower.

Help?

 

[RebekahR]

I think don't look for problems where there aren't any

Lots of our long standing guys like weasey and deezer have lost huge amounts on plan

I've only lost a small amount (65lb) but I can't believe that's water weight!

You can expect a 7.lb water gain when refeed and your weight to stabilise. If you go back to your old habits you will regain its simple. Same as any other plan, its about learning healthy habits with food

Sure the experts will post at some point today. But don't make excuses not to do it hun, if you want to do it, go for it, nothing to loose but pounds.

Xxxx

 

[laurenmay]

I think don't look for problems where there aren't any

Lots of our long standing guys like weasey and deezer have lost huge amounts on plan

I've only lost a small amount (65lb) but I can't believe that's water weight!

You can expect a 7.lb water gain when refeed and your weight to stabilise. If you go back to your old habits you will regain its simple. Same as any other plan, its about learning healthy habits with food

Sure the experts will post at some point today. But don't make excuses not to do it hun, if you want to do it, go for it, nothing to loose but pounds.

Xxxx

It's just all so frustrating and confusing when there's so much information out there that all contradict each other..

I have.. *gets calculator*.. about 85lbs to lose, and I was getting on well with CC and lost 9lbs in my first week, but then got fed up & regained half of it back within a few days.

I find myself not really wanting 'healthy' food at the moment, I get bored & after a long day at work the last thing I want to be doing is cooking a meal.. which is why I chose SnS for a while, as there's no preparing meals or planning calories & I can just make up a shake, meal pack or porridge quick and easy & have that and know the calorie amount and that I'm getting all my vitamins & minerals.

I'm not sure how long I'll follow SnS for.. it depends on how my losses are. If I manage to lose well each week & get to goal then that's great and I'll then follow the refeed plan and maintain with calorie counting... but if my losses slow down drastically after the first initial few weeks & I end up having more STS and 1lb weeks then I'll refeed early & calorie count to goal..

I just want to know that I'm losing FAT and not just things like water etc. I wish there were more inspirational success stories and pictures on these boards to solidify my faith in SnS! xxx

 

[RebekahR]

Check out the inspirationional photos section

You've done cd before right?? So you know what vlcd are like

You have to do what's right for you hun, I know for me I needed to loose fast for surgery and its done that so I'm happy.

Sure you'll come to the decision that's right for you Xx

 

[laurenmay]

Check out the inspirationional photos section

You've done cd before right?? So you know what vlcd are like

You have to do what's right for you hun, I know for me I needed to loose fast for surgery and its done that so I'm happy.

Sure you'll come to the decision that's right for you Xx

I tried CD before but gave up easily tbh.. on the slim and save boards there's only 4 inspirational photos threads?

I don't need to lose fast but I'd like to.. I have 6 stone to lose and I'd like to lose the first 2-3 stone quickly as I feel really unfit and unhealthy & it's becoming depressing and uncomfortable xxx

 

[RebekahR]

Search for weaseys diary she made an amazing transformation!! Deezer also

Xx

 

[WelshJojo]

Also there are stories on the Slim & Save website

Sent from Jo's iPhone using MiniMins

 

[Caz]

Some of it will be water, a small percentage will also be muscle but the majority will be fat. The water loss is in the first week. There are people who have lost huge amounts of weight using VLCDs, no-one has 1, 2, 3, 4, 5+ stones of water to lose!

Yes they can mess your metabolism slightly but so does calorie counting. If you follow the re-feed programme you'll have no problems at all. Yes some people put all the weight back on after but that's the same with calorie counting, slimming world, weight watchers, anything. It's about your frame of mind and choosing to stay healthy and stay in control.

 

[weasey]

I lost 130lbs in total - that can't have been water weight else I'd have been sloshing like a water bed before I started!

The are horror stories out there, as there are with any diet. The truth is that all diets reduce your metabolism. Partly that's because they should be reduced. Contrary to popular believe larger people tend to have high base metabolisms because they need more calories to do their daily activities, as you lose weight your base metabolism will reduce (as it should). However, your body also adjusts for lower calories coming in and it compensates by extracting as many calories as it can from everything you eat. This means that you have a lower metabolism effectively at the end than someone of the same weight who hasn't dieted. This is true of all diets - irrespective of how you lost the weight. Dukan has a good explanation of this in his book. This phase (Dukan says) lasts for 5 days for each lb that you lost - for me that's almost 2 years. That means that you have to be extra careful for this period after you lose the weight.

I measured by body fat % at the end of the diet and it was 22.5%, which is in the fitness range even though at that point I hadn't started exercising.

 

[laurenmay]

I lost 130lbs in total - that can't have been water weight else I'd have been sloshing like a water bed before I started!

The are horror stories out there, as there are with any diet. The truth is that all diets reduce your metabolism. Partly that's because they should be reduced. Contrary to popular believe larger people tend to have high base metabolisms because they need more calories to do their daily activities, as you lose weight your base metabolism will reduce (as it should). However, your body also adjusts for lower calories coming in and it compensates by extracting as many calories as it can from everything you eat. This means that you have a lower metabolism effectively at the end than someone of the same weight who hasn't dieted. This is true of all diets - irrespective of how you lost the weight. Dukan has a good explanation of this in his book. This phase (Dukan says) lasts for 5 days for each lb that you lost - for me that's almost 2 years. That means that you have to be extra careful for this period after you lose the weight.

I measured by body fat % at the end of the diet and it was 22.5%, which is in the fitness range even though at that point I hadn't started exercising.

You've done amazingly well, and tbh you're the success story that does it for me when it comes to slim and save! and to know you're maintaining extremely successfully too also gives me hope.

There is horror story based information out there, and I guess I have a habit of reading too much into everything & then confusing myself with what knowledge to believe! I know I carry a lot of water when I gain weight, so I probably will have a big loss the first week which will be mainly water weight but I hope to lose lots of fat too!

I'm starting SnS tomorrow, and I'll stop reading all the contradicting information out there & just have faith in the diet and myself.

 

[JanBow]

I think that's all you can do, as you say there is so much contradicting evidence out there & I think at the end of the day you have to do what feels right for you. Whatever diet you do you can find evidence for and against, there are so many studies and it is hard to believe what's right and what's wrong. I view all VLCD's as a quick way to lose weight, to get that awful "diet" bit over & done with as soon as possible and yes, you will lose fat & plenty of it, but the hard work with any diet is to keep it off afterwards, but you certainly won't put it all back on straightaway. I lost 3½ stone with Cambridge and kept that off fairly easily for over 2 years, but then bad habits started to return and I slowly put it all back on, but that was my fault not the diet.

Best of luck with it, if it feels right to you then go for it

 

[willowmcg]

The way I look at it is the first week is mainly water loss and the rest is a bonus! and people have gone on to lose amazing results! Just carry on and you may well be surprised!
Have been on Exante and have lost a few pounds, do feel a bit lighter, lol and have lost couple of inchesd which I am hsppy about!
Going back to 100% tomorrow!
Goingon holiday in just over two weeks and hoping not to gain all the weight back but will get straight back in there in time for christmas!

 

[laurenmay]

I think that's all you can do, as you say there is so much contradicting evidence out there & I think at the end of the day you have to do what feels right for you. Whatever diet you do you can find evidence for and against, there are so many studies and it is hard to believe what's right and what's wrong. I view all VLCD's as a quick way to lose weight, to get that awful "diet" bit over & done with as soon as possible and yes, you will lose fat & plenty of it, but the hard work with any diet is to keep it off afterwards, but you certainly won't put it all back on straightaway. I lost 3½ stone with Cambridge and kept that off fairly easily for over 2 years, but then bad habits started to return and I slowly put it all back on, but that was my fault not the diet.

Best of luck with it, if it feels right to you then go for it

Yeah you're right.. when I was calorie counting there'd be loads of contradicting information on the net regarding just how many calories a person should consume, and all the nonsense about starvation mode and BMR and BMI etc and it became so confusing and frustrating.

That's what I wanna do, lose all the weight as quickly as possible & then maintain with calorie counting and throughout my slim and save journey I'll plan my maintenance plan and deal with my food issues and not regaining the weight once it's gone..

Thank you! & all the best to you too x