Why are people so negative about this diet???

[Iris]

But if you say you know this the only type of thing that works, then you've been on it before and it's worked? But if you've been on it before, and you're back on it again, it doesn't work, does it...?

If these diets worked for the majority of people I'd have no beef with them. And I do appreciate what you say about a little hair loss being worth it if you're currently killing yourself with food and need a solution, any solution. But it seems like the diet industry is just getting richer while people are generally getting fatter and more desperate.

Why is CD so attractive? Yes, you can feel safe, but it seems that the speed of it is the main pull, no? Why does it have to be fast? It's like there's an implicit assumption attached to a quick fix that it'll be over soon so life can get back to normal. But that can't happen. It can never happen if the weight's going to stay off, right? So I just get angry at people who line their pockets pushing quick fix solutions when long term weight loss and maintenance are lifelong challenges. There's no quick fix, so surely encouraging people to take it slow and steady would be more honest? I guess it wouldn't make the bosses as much money, though. SlimSteady wouldn't sell as well as SlimFast, right?

 

[lunar jim]

Thats a good point, but if the need wasn't there in the first place they wouldn't have to cater for it. What I don't like is the fact that over-weight people feel like they're not beautiful, have to be skinny in order to feel worth, can only be attractive if they're not plus sized and thats not down to the diet companies but down to society in general & being unable to change that we do the next best thing - lose the weight (or try to)[/QUOTE]

It's all in the eye of the beholder anyway. Personally I find the stick figure super-model look not only unattractive but unhealthy-looking too. I much prefer curves.

 

[lunar jim]

But if you say you know this the only type of thing that works, then you've been on it before and it's worked? But if you've been on it before, and you're back on it again, it doesn't work, does it...?

If these diets worked for the majority of people I'd have no beef with them. And I do appreciate what you say about a little hair loss being worth it if you're currently killing yourself with food and need a solution, any solution. But it seems like the diet industry is just getting richer while people are generally getting fatter and more desperate.

Why is CD so attractive? Yes, you can feel safe, but it seems that the speed of it is the main pull, no? Why does it have to be fast? It's like there's an implicit assumption attached to a quick fix that it'll be over soon so life can get back to normal. But that can't happen. It can never happen if the weight's going to stay off, right? So I just get angry at people who line their pockets pushing quick fix solutions when long term weight loss and maintenance are lifelong challenges. There's no quick fix, so surely encouraging people to take it slow and steady would be more honest? I guess it wouldn't make the bosses as much money, though. SlimSteady wouldn't sell as well as SlimFast, right?

Yes, for me the attraction is the speed of it...

Nearly 50% of the CD manual is devoted to post-CD healthy eating and keeping the weight off. CD isn't implying that you can just go back you your pre-diet unhealthy eating levels and everything will be fine. Whether people follow this after they've decided they've reached their goal is beyond the control of anyone but the dieter, one can't blame CD IMHO.

 

[LizS]

Edit: actually, you know what, I can't be bothered.

Horses for courses and each to their own. Your opinion is of course valid but I'll quote myself here: I thank you for your concern, but I am quite happy with my choices, thank you.

 

[KD]

If you're determined, you'll succeed at any diet you put your mind to,

I totally agree with that. If you really want to lose weight, you will do it, with whatever method.

In my case, I didn't want to enough. Yes, I wanted to be slim, but I didn't want to reduce calories because the cravings and the hunger (and yes..I was really hungry on anything under about 2,500 cals), was just too hard to put up with long term.

Reducing calories (which is the only way to lose weight really), is pretty unsuccessful whichever way you do it, because of leptin levels etc. Whether by healthy eating, CD or any other way.

I couldn't stand the plateaus any longer, and having to fight the cravings. And I didn't love myself enough to think it was worth the effort.

After all, diet on and off for years and years (not with a VLCD) and keep finding yourself failing, is destroying. There comes a point when you just can't see the point anymore.

But of course, I found my answer with CD, because the cravings and hunger were blunted, making it easier for me.

It's as if they're hooked on the products because the company encourages them to feel it's the only way they can be truly safe around food.

I can't agree with that. I've never experienced any pushing of this type from Cambridge. Even when becoming a CDC, wasn't instructed to hard sell or make people feel it was the only way they would be safe around food. Far from it in fact.

Many times on the forum I've suggested that people don't go back to SSing, but to learn how to maintain on healthy eating.

After all, if they wanted people to stay dependant on the shakes, they could easily invent maintenance products.

So, I don't think it's the company. It's more the people doing the diet. Because they find their answer, it can be hard to let go. I guess Cambridge could be blamed for finding answers for folk

As for costs, well, I know the supermarkets get more of my money each week than Cambridge did when I was on the diet.

Like I said, hope I didn't offend anyone, and best of all possible luck on your chosen path!

Not offended at all, in fact I could have written a similar message a few years ago, before I became too desperate and found CD, not through heavy advertising, but by looking at research and seeking it out.

I was never pushed into the diet with a hard sell. I was never encouraged to use CD as a crutch, nor continue with it once the diet was over and the plans had led me to a sensible eating routine. And I saved a bit of cash in the meantime...which admittedly went straight into the pockets of the clothes shops

 

[sbridge7]

But if you say you know this the only type of thing that works, then you've been on it before and it's worked? But if you've been on it before, and you're back on it again, it doesn't work, does it...?

If these diets worked for the majority of people I'd have no beef with them. And I do appreciate what you say about a little hair loss being worth it if you're currently killing yourself with food and need a solution, any solution. But it seems like the diet industry is just getting richer while people are generally getting fatter and more desperate.

Why is CD so attractive? Yes, you can feel safe, but it seems that the speed of it is the main pull, no? Why does it have to be fast? It's like there's an implicit assumption attached to a quick fix that it'll be over soon so life can get back to normal. But that can't happen. It can never happen if the weight's going to stay off, right? So I just get angry at people who line their pockets pushing quick fix solutions when long term weight loss and maintenance are lifelong challenges. There's no quick fix, so surely encouraging people to take it slow and steady would be more honest? I guess it wouldn't make the bosses as much money, though. SlimSteady wouldn't sell as well as SlimFast, right?

I'm sorry, but I fail to see how CD can be seen as a quick fix. The first week is very difficult and a lot of people do not make it past. Therefore how can it be seen as a quick fix? CD does teach about maintenance..there are several steps for the reintroduction of food. People can calorie count and gain back the weight, just as people can do CD and gain back the weight. It's about making changes to your life. There is no point embarking on a diet, if you're not prepared to change the way you think about food after. CD eliminates food allowing people to face up to their demons with food. I would not say eliminating food is a quick fix, CD requires you to be mentally prepared.

 

[Rayven]

But if you say you know this the only type of thing that works, then you've been on it before and it's worked? But if you've been on it before, and you're back on it again, it doesn't work, does it...?

I'm personally back on it because i had a baby in December and i put a LOT of weight on during the pregnancy - once againg taking the eating for two rule a bit far! lol
So for me it does work. I'm back on it because i put weight on during pregnancy & the fact that i came off it before i'd lost all of the weight before. Don't ask why - i can't remember - think i had a lot of social occasions on and wanted to drink (which you can't do on ss)

SlimSteady wouldn't sell as well as SlimFast, right?

I've done slimfast (which i'm also able to stick to fairly rigidly) and its not fast at all if you follow the rules of 2 slimfast products a day with 2/3 healthy snacks and a healthy low cal meal - it is actually steady weight loss. As with any diet you lose more in your first 2 weeks but then it slows to about 2lbs a week (for me anyway) which is what i was losing on SW! As for the expense, diet product people getting rich off of their products - i actually find i spend less on my weekly food/products when doing slimfast or cambridge than my hubby does!!
I'm also with Sbridge in the fact that a lot of people don't make it through the first week doing ss. It is a mentally demanding diet when you go without food, but Cambridge isn't just about going without food. Some people don't do ss and go straight on a plan where healthy eating is involved.

Anyway - my original point being that why can't people just accept what you choose to do & stop being so negative? If its too expensive and you think that people are making extortionate amounts of money from overweight people going on these diets then thats your opinion (which you're fully entitled to) but why do people have to bad mouth this (or any other diet) when all we're trying to do is gain control of our food & be healthier, happier people. Why bring us down? And Iris i'm not talking about you in particular, you were just replying to my thread. But I've had people who have seen i'm excited to be going on CD try and put me off it, tell me its a bad diet, tell me its unhealthy.....whatever happened to supporting your friends/family in their decisions?

 

[Rayven]

So I just get angry at people who line their pockets pushing quick fix solutions when long term weight loss and maintenance are lifelong challenges.

I never saw this diet advertised anywhere, i hadn't even heard of the diet (and i'd been on every diet going! lol) i didn't even know diets like this existed until a friend of mine told me about it. So i don't really think CD is pushed on people anyway.

 

[LizS]

Rayven, I completely agree and understand. Thing is, if we accept that everyone is entitled to their opinions, then its a simple fact that there will be people that disagree with CD as a diet or the very existence of VLCDs. That's fine. What isn't fine is said people deciding that they know better than you and that it is their duty to try to dissuade you or tell you all this stuff that for some reason they assume you haven't already heard about, researched, discarded.

Remember that many people are just concerned for you (us); they've heard horror stories, haven't got a balanced picture, and are convinced of their position. I suppose its a bit like someone coming along and asking for support to take up smoking - something we all know is bad for you. You wouldn't, would you. To some people, this is similar. Its drastic, anecdotally 'bad' for you, etc. Plus all the other objections Iris and others suggest: money, hair loss, doesn't stay off, etc. Everyone's convinced of their position - hell, I'm convinced of mine - and gets evangelistic about it.

Fine. Hold the opinion. That's your right. Please don't try to 'educate' us with it. Its insulting. I also have a right to make choices and have opinions, and if I'm not hurting you with them, then I have a perfect right to pursue them without being vilified.

So I say, again, and I will keep saying it - I thank these people for their concern, but I'm quite happy with my (reasoned, reasonable) choices, thank you.

 

[debkat]

Just going to say one point. If it was that bloody bad for you it would be illegal!!!!!!!! Rant over!!!!

In the meantime, next time anyone says anything negative to me, who knows nothing, has not tried it, and really does not understand how it Can be EXTREMELY successful for people, Im going too use the below.

A polite 'thank you for your concern, but I'm quite comfortable with my choices' should deter them. And if they persist I'll have no trouble at all just saying that this is, after all, MY choice, and they can butt out now, thankyou SO much.

I may be a little more colourful than lizs if they carry on tho. lol

 

[LizzMB]

this subject always makes me chuckle a bit but slightly frustrated!

Its only CD you hear about people "piling" the weight back on and more, never WW/SW...neither of which train you to eat healthily either...i know that on WW you can have 7 Cadbury's flakes, Point Free soup and veg's in 1 day if i so wanted to...healthy? NO! Within points? YES, and i would probably still get my 5 a day, so that is completely within the scope of the "diet"

As for CD being a short fix, that is coming from someone that obviously doesnt know enough about it.
CD isnt a quick fix, a quick 10 weeks and then your skinny for the rest of your days....?? Wishful thinking!! I have never been more aware of calories, fat, carbs and protein in my life...AND I DONT EAT! I knew that when i undertook this diet, that is wasnt for 10 weeks, it would be for the REST OF MY LIFE one way or the other!

There is no difference between CD/SW/WW/etc...
All of them will make you lose weight if you stick to them 100%, but people instantly judge CD becuase its VLC.... and its such BS!!! Who am i to judge if someone CHOOSES to do WW/SW/etc?? So what on earth gives people the right to judge me!!!!!

What I like about CD is that its helped me deal with my own issues with food...like "treats", "holiday eating", "emotional eating, etc.....this is something i have been able to work though on CD....NEVER would that happen on WW/SW...as you have SINS/Points etc to allow these situations to happen!! How is that changing your attitude to food?

I have lost a fair bit of weight so far but this is the start of the rest of my life so i really REALLY resent it being said that this is a QUICK FIX!

Education is the only way forward....

Off my soap box now! lol
x

 

[MissPinky]

Reading this thread with interest - a good, frank and relevant debate so far from all.

I may be in a minority, but I've been open with people in my life about CD and I have had nothing but support, encouragement, interest and no negative opinions. Not even from my dad, who can rarely ever help himself from saying "you should be careful, X can happen/Y will happen/you don't want to do it like that - do it like this" etc! The closest I got to negativity is from a colleague who's a nurse - and that was "crikey! [shocked expression] - you look well on it but I'm always a little sceptical of these kind of diets - how is it working for you?" - and the conversation then continued positively as I explained to her.

It wasn't pushed on me - I had contact with people who have done well on CD and it 'clicked' for me. With every day that goes by (in week 8 now) CD is changing my life, my self image, my outlook and my attitude to my body, health and future eating habits. No other plan or practise has done that for me, or motivated me for a sustained period of time. I look forward to maintenance, and to my healthy eating, and I sincerely hope that I won't need CD again - because then it will have worked as I understand it should. But I have a part to play in that too - and am getting my head 'right' for that as I progress.

Someone described CD to me (with a kind of respect in their voice, not critical at all) as 'wow - that's hardcore' - i.e. serious dieting. I guess to some people it is - and that's probably where their fear and the scepticism comes from. People tend to lash out at things that startle or surprise them instinctively - it's quite 'human'.

Not sure how I would respond to someone being negative to me - at a guess it would be my usual 'live and let live'.

 

[Lily]

I've actually had people say to me in the past, "Ooh, you're doing Cambridge? Isn't that dangerous?" and then in the next breath say, "Have you ever considered having a gastric band?"

Hmm...

For me, CD is the only diet that's got more than a stone off me. Every other diet - and I think I've probably done just about all of them - I've got to the one stone mark and then promptly lost the plot. When you're really overweight - as I was - it just takes far too long to lose weight via the conventional route of reduce calories a bit and move more. Because to do so takes up far too much of your thinking, far too much of your life.

Plus, I suspect that doing CD is about the closest you can get to giving up an addiction to food. You can't give up food entirely, it's not like giving up cigarettes. But through CD, you can discover that it's possible to get through a traumatic day without reaching for a bar of chocolate. You have to learn alternative coping strategies...

Hair loss can happen on any weightloss diet, not just VLCDs. Stopping a VLCD because you're losing hair is actually pointless because the event that triggered the hairloss generally happened 3 months earlier than when the hair starts falling out. It's to do with the 'shock' to your system when you reduce calories and some people cope better with that 'shock' than others, that's all. It isn't permanent, and the hair will grow back - thicker and healthier than before, if my own hair's anything to go by.

Think I'd better stop ranting too now.

Just smile at the nay-sayers, folks. It's astonishing how so many of them have never even been on a diet...

 

[kikuka]

Just to put in my twopenneth
I did CD SS for a while, finishing at the beginning of last Autumn, having lost about 7st. I am back now doing CD1000 having kept all but 4-5lb of it off over 4 holidays abroad, Xmas, my birthday and numerous other special events. I know I have gained a bit, that is ok. I am now ready to return to CD, albeit on a higher plan to lose another stone, to get to my final target weight. The only way I could have maintained this is by healthy eating, which I have done. I didnt lose any hair, excercised regularly, felt great and am looking better every day. WW and SW didnt suit me - I needed time out from eating to sort out my head. It worked. CD was my success. So often I heard 'its not good for you' when what they meant was 'I couldn't do it'. Of course they couldnt, you have to really want it, it is hard. What they implied by saying this is that i was stupid for risking my health. I pointed out that I may be many things, but as will most of my minimins colleagues, stupid is NOT one of them. FAT was. I applied my brain to the best solution to me and solved my problem. I am back now to 'gild the lily' as my lovely mum said. CD is hard, wonderful, and safe if followed properly. So says me, and my doctor, and my health nurse and the people who have taken the time to research this diet. Can't we celebrate the fact that there are so many ways of achieveing our goal, and that with a little support we can all do it - no matter how we travel?

Shutting up now

 

[TraceM]

You can pile the weight back on with any diet if you go back to old habbits. My auntie lost nearly 6 stone by following the heart foundation eating plan and seeing a personal trainer twice a week. Two years down the line she has put all of it back on and more. most diets work if you stick to it 100% but as hard as CD can be it's sometimes harder to keep it of when we've finished.

TraceM

 

[devonbabe]

each to their own i say. if you want to take your time so be it. if you want fast results, so be it. if you want to slog out in the gym, fine then do it. we all have our preferentail way of losing weight.

we all work in different ways. our bodies all respond to dieting in different ways. and our brains tell us different things. were all indivdual, so let people do what they want to do without critacising how they acheive their goal.

ive known people do all types of dieting, some keep it off, some dont. dosent matter what diet you do. in order to keep the weight off and remain at goal you will have to constantly monitor your eating plan probaly forever.

with referance to vlcd.. is it safe. yes some people do have some side effeects, but dont we all have different reactions . the hair loss if you do get it will probaly nominal, and its because your body is changing. ever get spotty at totm. or had hair loss or excess hair whilst pregnant. each person is going to respond differently

let people live and diet how they see fit for them. its no one elses buisiness other than the person on the diet.

i would never dream of having surgery, but for some that suits them.

i chose a vlcd. and it worked and i lost 91lbs

when i chose to stuff my face and totally pig out and not give a damm about how i look or what i shove in my mouth i put weight back on

when i eat sensibly and sparingly and do loads of excecise it comes off again

if i get desperate i do vlcd again

if were prone to being fat and we want to do something about it, then its a continual battle. or 'management programme' if were being all 'pc' about it.

live and let live... do what ever makes you happy.. or happier.

and dont let others knock you for what you decide

 

[Iris]

Crikey, I feel like the lone atheist who's wandered into a church. Like I said, not my intention to offend anyone at all - just offering a viewpoint. You know the funny thing? I considered CD many moons ago while at the end of my rope and in the grip of a six month chocolate binge. I decided to do some reading on it because I get geeky tendencies at times, and in the end it was one lone article that put me off the prospect completely. An old article, admittedly, from the NY Times, but it wasn't the outdated scientific worries that stalled me, it was simply this paragraph:

'The real issue, however, is not the effectiveness of initial weight loss (almost any diet can do that) but the long-term success in keeping off unwanted pounds. Relying on a diet formula does not teach people how to eat normally. Dr. Howard himself reported that within 15 months after going off the diet 62 out of 72 patients in one group and 53 of 62 in another group had regained at least half of the weight they lost. ''Whatever the reason,'' Dr. Howard reported, ''the maintenance of weight loss remains a major problem in this type of therapy, as it does for those undergoing complete starvation.'''

That's what made me decide no. And it's what makes me still so angry about any company offering any diet system which makes money from products that don't work in the long term for most people.

It makes me wonder if there really is more money for the company in failure, and repetitive failure at that. Give people the products, give them advice, but know that the stats say the majority will eventually fail and come back for more or just toss it in altogether and get even fatter. Couple this with the damage that any kind of yo-yo dieting can do to a person's body and mind in the long term, and bleedin' heck, it makes me positively bloody wrathful. I start to wonder if dieting itself isn't actually the real enemy, the thing that is making people fatter and more miserable in the long term.

No one wants to believe they'll be one of the unlucky regainers. But if the stats are to be believed and the odds of regain are so overwhelmingly high - it makes you question whether the emotional and physical investment in a potentially dangerous diet is worth it, and more to the point, whether it's morally justifiable for a company to make money out of it knowing its probable long term success rate.

How is it ethical for anyone, not just Cambridge, to make money out of that kind of misery? If you believe a diet system will genuinely help people to lose and maintain that loss long term, then why not attach a money-back guarantee to it? Get a company to prove they're not just in it for the massive profit margins attached to cyclical yo'yo failure.

The diet industry, in general, makes me sick.

 

[herewego]

'The real issue, however, is not the effectiveness of initial weight loss (almost any diet can do that) but the long-term success in keeping off unwanted pounds. Relying on a diet formula does not teach people how to eat normally. Dr. Howard himself reported that within 15 months after going off the diet 62 out of 72 patients in one group and 53 of 62 in another group had regained at least half of the weight they lost. ''Whatever the reason,'' Dr. Howard reported, ''the maintenance of weight loss remains a major problem in this type of therapy, as it does for those undergoing complete starvation.'''

Hi Iris,

Well you can't really post on a CD forum and expect us not to be in favour of CD! We wouldn't be here if we didn't believe it worked. 6 months ago I would have had exactly the same opinion as you. I was smugly against VLCDs and diets in general really (I'm not suggesting you are smug btw) and for the past 2 years I've been trying to lose weight using Intuitive Eating. I must have read 10-15 books on the subject as well as many other books relating to diet psychology etc. During this time I put on a stone . However much I wanted to eat intuitively I simply couldn't for very long and would end up with an empty tube of Pringles and an ice cream tub hidden under some paper in the bin (so that OH wouldn't see what I'd done ). I even read the Lighter Life board on Minimins revelling in horror stories of hair loss and putting 5-6 stone back on again etc. I couldn't believe that anyone would put themselves at such risk.

So what changed? Well for a start I did some proper research one night when I was bored. I found some good studies that suggested that VLCDs might be a good way of losing weight and that the common perception that you put the weight back on at the rate that you lost it is just not true. I also realised that I wasn't prepared to pretend to be happy with my obese body anymore. Before I started I tried SW one last time and managed 3 weeks and then couldn't do anymore. That's when I decided to try CD for a couple of weeks to see what it was like.

I really and truly expected to last a couple of days and then decide it wasn't for me, but I'm now on week 5 and am feeling great. The weight loss is of course brilliant, but I've also found that I don't think about food 24 x 7 now. This is completely new to me as I have been obsessed with all things food since I was 15 (that's 20 years)! Finally I am able to think clearly without cravings haunting me and food calling me - I am gently planning my maintenance and trying to prepare myself for a life of new healthier habits. This is something I have never been able to do before as I have been consumed with thoughts of all the delicious food I want to eat once I get to goal (or before).

VLCD certainly isn't for everyone and I still have conflicting emotions having been firmly against it for so long. I suspect I will not be 100% convinced until I've lost the weight and maintained my new weight for some time. BUT (and it is a big but ) I have never before in my life felt more sure that I will lose all the weight and maintain.

Sorry for the long message - I always intend on being concise...must try harder

PS Forgot to say that I agree with you about the diet industry! The food industry in general actually. All that food in the shops labelled as healthy when it's packed full of sugar - it's criminal!

 

[Lily]

Whoa - Iris, I just spotted your BMI? Is that right? A BMI of less than 18 really isn't healthy, hun.

Did somebody say something about the diet industry making you sick...?

 

[LizzMB]

not to pick or anything, but i have to say i noticed this bit too
"off and on since January 2007"....
Just goes to show its not just CD where people fluctuate..

Just to add though so its not like we're all ganging up on you Iris, i think its always good to hear the flip side or what people think and why....
I know that a lot of the people that dont think i should be doing CD have similar opinions so now i know what to say back at them...although when i'm 10 and a half stone, i cant imagine i will have to say much at all to shut them up! lol

xxx