What would you do?

[sugar_lipswales]

I've been on Slimming World for over 2 years and I've done really well but now I think it's time for a change as I feel I've got just too much choice and I want a break from having to work out different menus and try to fit them in around life. It can be exhausting!
I'm thinking about the Tony Furgusson Programme but have read some very negative things about it online, that it's a fad, it'll mess up your metabolism, you have to give up caffeine, you can get really bad headaches in the first couple of days and that I'll pile weight back on when I come off it. I do need more structure and I think it would mean I don't have to think about food so much but I'm still umming and ahhing about it! It's £30 a week, not including fruit and veg and the one protein based meal you're allowed a day, which would cut my food bill in half.
What would you do? Try and stick to the diet you know inside out or do something new to give yourself a boost?

 

[Lynn_]

I personally think that Exante is a better option for a meal replacement diet, I know that slimfast for instance has sugar in it, so you woud need to check the ingredients on the Tony Ferguson plan. Exante works out cheaper too at £25 per week if you buy a months worth.

Exante is designed as a VLCD total meal replacement, but ive never used it like that. Ill have days where I will have just Exante all day then ill have days where I may just have one for breakfast as its easy and quick to make and get down. Its very filling too. Its been a real life saver for me when I cant or dont want to make food.

However, any meal replacement diet will work if you follow it strictly. Maybe you could try TF for a week to see how you get on, but i think they require you to buy the book which is £15 I think.

 

[sugar_lipswales]

I've just been to my local Boots and you have to buy the book for £15 and they insist you buy 2 tubs of vitamins at about £8 each (60 tablets) and a tub of fibre powder at around £10 (30 servings so a weeks worth) THEN you have to buy the shakes and soups! So I'd need to part with £70 upfront which is a bit more expensive than I thought it'd be and I'd need to buy a tub of fibre powder every week too which would take it up to £40 a week and still have to buy fruit and veg on top of that! Bugger me!

 

[Lynn_]

Ouch, thats worse than I thought, I thought the only requirement was to buy the book. I think its a bit much that they insist you buy vitamins, after all arent they supposed to be in these meal replacements already? And £10 for a weeks supply of fibre is just outrageous.

 

[sugar_lipswales]

Very very disappointed! I thought the meal replacements had everything you'd need, vitamins and fibre and stuff not that it'd be extra! Think I might just devise my own little programme and replace maybe one or two meals a day with something like the soups or shakes, as a boost rather than a proper diet.

 

[chocolatecat]

I personally don't think you should go down the meal replacement path as you've done so well without the need for it!

I can't offer any other advice than keep eating real food... you may mess up your metabolism with it...

Google Ketosis, that's what state your body goes into for these diets to work & it's really good for people with a lot of weight to lose but you've only got just over a stone left & it's not really necessary.

I hope I haven't spoken out of turn, it's just that you've obviously done so well by eating real food & I'd hate to see you gain any of it if the meal replacement didn't work out

 

[sugar_lipswales]

No, I'm glad for the input and to be honest I'm probably just looking for ways to lose the weight I've got left in the easiest way possible and to avoid getting tough on myself! I think I need to have a big word with myself and find out what I really want to do about it all.

 

[Circes]

Too much choice in foods? I see that as a plus rather than a negative.

If you find menu planning a chore (I only take 10 minutes or so once a week to do mine) why not write down the menu plan and keep it each week. Then if you hit a week where you don't want to do it you can just pull one out of the box and you are good to go.

 

[sugar_lipswales]

I've decided to replace 2 meals a day with the Biggest Loser shakes/soups/bars and keep some of the basics of Slimming World like unlimited fruit and veg and a HEXA and HEXB every day. It's day 2 and so far so good, I won't use it as a permanant weight loss solution but I feel I just need a change and a boost along with just a little more structure.
What I like about them is they're nutritionally balanced and have the vitamins and minerals the body needs in them, unlike the TF plan where you have to buy them seprately which really pushed the cost up! It's scary to not know exactly what I'm doing yet but strangely freeing because I only have to think about one meal a day!