Why do people leave CD to go onto other diets?

[Jaycey]

This is something that mystifies me. You see people doing really well on CD with great weight losses, and then they suddenly say, "I'll stop now and go and finish off at WW/Slimming World (or whatever)". Why?????

CD has a perfectly good maintenance programme (probably better than most VLCDs?), and you've got your own counsellor there to nurse you through the difficult times. I can just imagine the tut-tutting that goes in on in these other groups when an ex-VLCDer turns up! (And the preening of the group leader when she realises that that person has come over to her group!)

I've got no intention of abandoning CD at any stage: I'm only just over half a stone off my target weight now, and have to leave SS next week - but this is just the beginning of the difficult journey in my view. Eating only CD meals is easy, but eating food is hard for me - it always has been and it always will be. Only a CD counsellor could ever understand how to make the transition, I would never trust that to any other sort of diet advisor.

And going onto another diet isn't like packing up dieting altogether and going back to how you were - it's abandoning something that's been working, and going over to something that might not! (As my OH would say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!")

So come on, you 'turnabouts' - what's the reason, and why do you do it?!

 

[Caz]

I think there's a whole range of reasons why people leave. Financially it's a very difficult diet and for some people, especially those with families, they have to really consider whether they can afford it and sometimes that answer is no. Also emotionally it's quite a difficult diet and for some people at hard times it's actually just too much sometimes. Personally I don't want to give up on this diet, it's working too well. I'm lucky in that I have the support of everyone around me rather than them bringing me down. Not everyone is that lucky. But financially, I don't know how long I can keep doing this for. I'm a student and at the moment don't know how much money I'll be earning over the summer, or where I'll be earning it from! So I too may end up having to take a break from CD, even if only for the summer! :s

 

[eyeontheprize]

I have considered it a couple of times, and I still might in a couple of stones time. Multiple reasons, financial, personal etc. I really think it's up to the individual and is a very personal decision, obviously not one taken lightly by those who decide to leave CD! Those who do decide to leave aren't crazy or silly, they might just have a different set of circumstances than you. Not all are doomed to fail, some do very well!

 

[Watergirl]

I think it's because in an ideal world some people feel that they shouldn't have to do such an extreme diet.

If they were only 2 stone overweight they might do something like WW. However, if you're 4 stones+ overweight a lot of people feel that CD is their only hope.

However, once they get closer to goal they might want a more relaxed route to their journey

 

[Mrs Scoffalot]

I know everyones finances are different but I don't understand why people might find this diet expensive.

In my house there's me DH and DD. DH will eat mostly anything and DD is a vegie. Since I have started this diet my weekly food shop has come down by half maybe even 3/4 some weeks. And the alcohol has dropped to about £10 a week, obviously for DH, not me.

before CD you could say that our weekly food shop could be £100 a week containing alcohol. on top of that I probably would have spend another £20 on alcohol and I would have been out on friday nights too spending about £50. So thats £170 a week I would have spent on nurturing my fat.

Now I spend about £40 on the weekly shop and then £40 on CD. = £80 Saving me about £90 a week.

I must confess that sometimes the weekly shop does go over on occasions especially when toiletries and cleaning materials are needed.

So for me it is actually better for my finances.

 

[lisalulu]

For the last week or so, I have been contemplating leaving CD for WW or SW. For me it has nothing to do with financial reasons, purely emotional ones.

I'm nearly 5 weeks in and have had 3 TOTMs since starting. The mood swings that I've suffered have been unbelieveable- euphoria one minute, floods of tears the next. And I really do mean that my mood can change minute to minute. I can be a real beast to my h2b, but worst of all to my girls. H2b has told me he can handle it, but I really do have to re-evaluate what I'm doing when it affects my children. I have noticed a change in them since starting CD, they are always wanting to do things with my h2b instead of me- my 4 year old even told me she doesn't like 'Mardi-bum Mummy' I'm ashamed to say that I've even felt the urge to become violent toward my h2b, just a split second but I really wanted to give him a good punch. And why? Because he set the dishwasher on programme 2 instead of 3!

I'm constantly tired, moody, emotional and irrational. When my daughter was born I suffered post-natal depression which really rocked the family. I put them through hell and I know I'm on the verge of being that bad again.

I've decided to wait until my current spate of tonsillitis has cleared up to make my mind up about my dieting future, mainly because the CD food packs are a great way of getting the nutrition I need whilst I can't swallow very easily. CD has definitely given me the determination to succeed at WW if I chose to, my whole mindset toward food has changed. I've never felt as positive about being slim as I do now. It might mean getting to my destination takes a while longer, but for me and my family, it'll be a smoother ride. I wish more than anything I could make CD work for me, but I'm not sure right now that I can.

 

[Caz]

The diet isn't saving everyone money though. Personally I'm a student, living at home, food cost me very little. I didn't spend much on alcohol at all. And so this is a big extra cost, and I'm sure it's the same for a lot of other people.

 

[Jaycey]

I'm interested in the TOTM angle - why do you think changing to another diet would make this any better?

I used to have that trouble myself (and used to ingest huge amounts of evening primrose and starflower oil to try and get over it - and suffered from v heavy painful periods, so had to load up on mefenamic and transexamic acid too!) and the OH just used to keep out of my way and treat me with kid gloves. BUT I don't have any kids - that's the big difference.

I wonder if any medical people out there could tell us if there's any connection between diets and hormonal/PMT symptoms - I've never heard of it before (and would have thought that the PMT should be treated as a separate issue?).

 

[Mrs Scoffalot]

Well I guess for people who do spend less than £40 a week on food might find it difficult......

 

[KD]

I think there is a number of reasons. Don't go much on the financial one as these days SS and a healthy diet aren't much difference in cost.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned which I think is a biggie and that is 'fear'. Scared of getting to goal and what issues it bring up.

 

[lisalulu]

I'm not entirely sure what the connection is Jaycey, something to do with the hormones released from the fat cells or something. I'm sure there was a post by KD about it quite recently, but it is also something I've discussed with my CDC. I know I'm not the only one who has suffered with 'messed up' TOTM's on CD. I would hazard a guess that the reason CD affects us so much is the speed that the weight is lost and the hormones are released. I have never suffered like this on any other diet, including WW and SW.

Whilst TOTM does make my moods worse, they are still pretty unbearable between TOTM too. So even if the TOTM could be controlled somehow (the contraceptive pill was something CDC and myself have discussed) I'm not sure my mood would improve much anyway. Maybe when I'm feeling better I could speak to my GP about it.

As I've said, I have not yet given up on CD, I REALLY want to stick with it if I can find some way of controlling the moods. I can't help but worry that I will slip back into depression, but I'm being monitored by my wonderfully supportive GP so hopefully we'll work something out.

 

[Jaycey]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned which I think is a biggie and that is 'fear'. Scared of getting to goal and what issues it bring up.

You don't have to remind me of that, KD - I'm scared to death! Which is WHY I'm sticking to CD - who else is going to possibly understand the CD/food issues? I'll be holding my CDC's hand even more tightly than before (and all of yours here too!). But I would be more scared of going to another diet or diet group (with the distinct possibility of being sneered at due to having been on a VLCD) than I would to stay here!

It can seem weird how other people think - but that's what makes the world go round I guess!

 

[DappyMare]

I wanna say that cambridge is not for everyone....for people that have done well i congratulate you but you're all very bias on the forum which you should be as doing cd, but for me cd brought up to many issues, Constantly getting colds, being run down,being a mardy b**ch:cry: lol.nowt to do with money etc.....since starting healthy eating my weight losses are exactly the same if not more than cambridge and I'm so much happier.
I do agree with kd tho that once you reach goal there is the fear of eating again, I had a bad week when i came off cd as felt guilty eating even a bit of fruit/salad, and my friend who is on ll is binging now as to scared to come away from her weekly councellor meetings, So everone is different and want different things for when they finish cd, I'm not slating cd just not for everyone

 

[Jaycey]

As I've said, I have not yet given up on CD, I REALLY want to stick with it if I can find some way of controlling the moods. I can't help but worry that I will slip back into depression, but I'm being monitored by my wonderfully supportive GP so hopefully we'll work something out.

Would anti-depressants help, do you think? I'm on Citalopram for my hot flushes (yes, it's an accepted remedy and it does work!) which probably helps with any other depression problems which may have kicked in, although I might not have realised it. Citalopram doesn't suit everyone (made my OH feel like a zombie) but it's fine for me.

 

[lisalulu]

Would anti-depressants help, do you think? I'm on Citalopram for my hot flushes (yes, it's an accepted remedy and it does work!) which probably helps with any other depression problems which may have kicked in, although I might not have realised it. Citalopram doesn't suit everyone (made my OH feel like a zombie) but it's fine for me.

I took Citalopram for my post-natal depression and it worked wonders. I shall defo speak to my GP about it when I next go see her, which should be sometime next week. Thanks for the advice Jaycey

 

[Wabbitt]

ok at the risk of being shot down in flames can I suggest an alternative treatment.............or should I say a compliment to any medication. How bout seeking out a Reiki Practitioner in your area and getting some hands on healing that way, wonderfully relaxing and certainly helps balance you out, also can I suggest you look for someone that does EFT (Emotional Freedom Therapy) in your area. Google it and read up on it cos its a very powerful (drug free) therapy. xx

 

[Lily]

Interesting thread, Jaycey - with some truly enlightening responses.

Like others here, I've found we've saved money with me being on CD - but I had already suspected that the reason some find it expensive is that those individuals don't usually have to buy their own food...

As for the moodiness, PMT issues, heck, let's go for it, depression...

Eating masks a whole host of problems. It fills time. It fills emotional 'holes'. One of the things that struck me most about my latest restart was the realisation that I must have spent an awful lot of my time simply filling my face. At times, I just haven't known what to do with myself whilst on CD. The whole process of eating, preparing meals, thinking about what to eat, what to buy from the supermarket - for heaven's sake, my whole life seemingly revolved around thinking about what the next meal would be.

Eating can be a pretty effective cover for not dealing with the other things that are wrong in our lives, it seems. So when we're not eating, suddenly we're forced to deal with them. Because what else is there to do?

There's no doubt that the release of oestrogen from shrinking fat cells probably has something to do with those changes in mood, but I'm not convinced that's the whole story here. Those mood swings surely must have a lot to do with suddenly having the time to re-evaluate our lives. Where are we going? Do we like where we're going? Do we actually like our jobs, our family lives...?

It's pretty scary stuff, isn't it? I miss eating. I can fully understand why it's easy to persuade yourself that things would be better if you were eating something - heck, I've done it. Back in February I tried doing SW for 3 weeks. Surprise, surprise, I actually gained weight. Now I have no doubt that it would've started to come off again - slowly - but I suddenly realised I didn't want to have to wait any more. I want to get to my goal weight as fast as possible, so that I can get on with the hardest thing of all - staying at my goal weight.

It's been a tough lesson to learn - but finally, I'm actually starting to believe that maybe, just maybe, I can get there now.

 

[Ibizamad]

I have just recently stopped CD and moved to Slimfast/my own thing this week.

I have had a great time on CD, and it and these forums have really helped me focus on the fact that I DON'T need huge amounts of calories on a daily basis. I am really pleased with my results to date and CD has motivated me big time.

I was doing SS+ . I felt I needed to still have some food as the diet can be overwhelming to abstain completely and SS+ just gives you a reality check and helped keep me on track.When I did lighter life a couple of years ago (was unable to see it thro to maintenance due to travelling and cost) the weight just came straight back on as I had not changed my relationship with food at all.

This time, I have a completely different mindset and am scared in some ways to eat the wrong things as I cannot go back to old ways. CD has given me that impetus which is great.

However, it does cost a lot on top of a weekly shop for 3 others(HB, a teenage son and a growing 11yr old son) who eat loads! I haven't found that my weekly shop has reduced as a result of me not eating as I have still had chicken and veg to buy too for my evening meal. I don't think my family would have eaten chicken every evening for 5 weeks!

We are all different on this journey and for some the time is right to go on to goal on CD and for others CD is the springboard to other forms of weight loss.

I also don't feel I have had much input at all from my CDC - in fact she didn't even reply to my text saying I was stopping. a nice enough person but I just didn't get the support and information I was expecting and that I see others get. My first apt lasted about 5 mins!

Anyway, my journey now is continuing on my own version of Slimfast and am totally focussed on losing a lot more weight. If I find that my focus is drifting then I may reconsider returning to CD, but at the end of the day I have to learn how to eat sensibly without foodpacks.

I fully support CD but for now I am hoping to still succeed in other ways.

Hope all this makes sense!

Sarah
x

 

[Berryred]

This is something that mystifies me. You see people doing really well on CD with great weight losses, and then they suddenly say, "I'll stop now and go and finish off at WW/Slimming World (or whatever)". Why?????


So come on, you 'turnabouts' - what's the reason, and why do you do it?!

TBH I find this post a bit harsh

We all have different reasons for following which ever journey or plan and comments like this may make some people feel :sigh:

I am following ss+ and have about 14lb to lose to goal and am really thinking hard about what I will be doing, because once food is re-introduced then YES cost will become an issue, my food bill is already high, then cd on top, then food for this

Emotional I am stable in myself which I know is a huge help, but please please think about how your comments have come across, normally I just these types of posts but today it got me.

 

[*Shanny*]

Hello im on day 5 at the moment okish today i was on ww since last year and now im on CD for a couple of months and will then return to the old ww core plan!
CD