Anyone doing cambridge diet?

Is it expensive to do? I'll check out the website. I've not been doing very well over the past few weeks. I've still lost 2 stone but I'm going up and down every week. Am only managing to get the gym twice a week. I'm at the point of just cancelling it.

I'm due to start fertility treatment June or July. Depending when I get my blood tests back.

I'm not doing it but maybe you can answer me a question ? How do you manage to loose so much weight? Are you loosing water, muscle or fat?

I've always been under the impression that 2lbs a week is a good rate to go at as it's slow and steady and more likely to stay off, although you still have to adjust your eating habits in the long run.

I have been tempted with it to get loads of weight off but it seems expensive and I think I'd be starving all the time ?

The initial weight loss (like with most diets) is water, however, doing a VLCD puts your body into a state called ketosis, which is where Ketones are released as your body breaks down fat. I'm really lucky as I get into ketosis usually by the end of the second day of the diet, so I know I'm losing fat. I do occasionally get the odd hunger pang, but for the majority of the time I don't feel physically hungry. Mentally it is really hard though. I crave food a lot of the time, for the last few days I would have killed for a chicken salad ?

It costs about £40 a week, but then you aren't buying any other food. Constipation is a real PITA (pardon the pun). You need to drink at least 2.25 litres of fluid on top of the diet everyday, so you get your exercise running backwards and forwards to the loo!

I know long term that VLCDs aren't the answer, but if I don't do it initially through a VLCD then I don't think I'll do it at all.....

That reminds me of the Atkins diet ? Which scarily enough I did enjoy as I lost weight and never felt hungry...but I'm afraid the lure of chocolate scuppered that ?

Hi Ruthg,

I fully understand your reasons for doing this diet and 'usual'diets not having quick enough weight loss to keep you motivated as I too am like that.

I started Cambridge last July as I was desperate.I lost 12lbs in the first week and in total I lost just under 2 stone,I needed to lose 4. However I was excellent and did not cheat at all for 3 weeks,after that I cheated regularly,slowly putting the weight back on.And here I am nearly a year later and heavier than when I started.

I don't mean to put you down especially as at the moment you are doing well, but I would use this diet with extreme caution and beware about when you start to reintroduce food as that is when it went down hill for me.

I wish you the best of luck and I genuinely hope it is successful for you.

Kate x

You have to do whats right for you, but just some musings/questions from me? I am also a DTCer, had to stop fertility investigations a couple of years ago because of depression, and my weights was going up and up, not down, like they wanted

You say you have a lot to loose, how much is it? I started at 18 stone 2lbs with my BMI at 41, the maz weight for a healthy range for me is 11 stone 1 lbs, so at least 7 stone (since october 1st starting ww at 17 stone 12.5 lbs I had lost 51.5 lbs by the time i went on holiday 4th may)

You say you have tried SW/WW and the results aren't quick enough to get motivation up, how much were you loosing? I am loosing 1.5 lbs a week on average, and just getting a silver 7 every month or so keeps my spirits up, and my leaders praise!!

Were you tracking honestly and all the time? Were you also excercising?

Be careful doing a VLCD for a second time, some (only from word of mouth i have heard this mind you) medical professional say that if you gain again after a 2nd VLCD it can really mess with your metabolism,

I did CD for 6 weeks last year, the only reason I came off it was due to a back injury, I was really really focused on it up until that point. Although I've been tempted to eat, I haven't because I know the guilt would just consume me, I know how much I need to get this weight off. I'm only doing it for a relatively short period and then intend gradually re-introducing food and then back on to something like slimming world. When I was doing SW before I did track honestly, but I was much more easily tempted with it. I think once I've got the first 3 or 4 stone off I'm likely to stick with it and keep going, I just got so disheartened with the slow losses on SW and not seeing any difference.

I know you came looking for support, so I'm sorry for this, but I feel obliged to comment.

I've done CD before, and it messed my body up, and I only did it for about 6 weeks. My hair falling out in large quantities was one symptom. So, I'm thinking, I know you need to lose weight for the fertility treatment, but have you considered that this method might hamper your chances of success when you do get the treatment?

The other thing is, as you know, even if you're doing well with ELMM, you will put weight back on when you start eating properly again. That's surely not going to be very motivating to the ELMM plans you have.

Is minimins still around? If you really want to do this, and want support, you'll get it there. I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you.

Hi Disco, thank you for your wonderfully patronising reply, it's very much appreciated, however, I don't think that I've mentioned anywhere in my posts that I've come on here for 'support', so not getting any support from you isn't an issue.

Firstly, I have previously done CD, with no horrible side effects, so in that respect I know what I'm letting myself in for.

Secondly, I have discussed doing CD with my fertility specialist, and he didn't raise any concerns, so I think I'll stick with their advice.

Thirdly, I know I will put some weight back on (maybe half a stone maximum) but as I've already said, i'm going to be re-introducing food gradually. As for putting the weight back on, yes, this will happen if you eat the same stuff you ate before starting the diet, but isn't this the case with all diets and not just CD?

I don't think her reply was patronising, you came on here asking about it, and she has given you her experience of it. Just because after the 6 weeks you did it for it didn't give you any negative effects, doesn't mean it won't do.

You still haven't said how much you need to loose,

As you mentioned Ketosis, I looked it up on dictionary.com , as a neutral site, and it certainly doesn't sound a healthy thing to be putting your body through

I felt very patronised by her reply, it was as if she was talking down to me like I had not given the CD any real thought.

I don't really want to put my weight onto a public forum, but it's enough for me to want to do CD ? I'm thinking the effects of ketosis for a relatively short period, compared to being so overweight for a long time are preferable. I've tried SW/WW etc and I'm not strong enough to stick with them. I've found something that works and has worked for me. As I've previously said, I'm not intending on doing CD for a long time, only 12 weeks and 5 more days (not that I'm counting....) If I dont get this weight off this way, I don't think I'll be able to do it any other way other than surgery, I'm just not strong minded enough to be happy with the 1lb a week weight loss route when I've got a huge amount to lose.

I know that CD isn't highly thought of on here, but I also know that there are/were some people doing it, and wondered if they were still around, that was my only reason for posting.

Obviously go with what you feel right doing, but bear in mind, if you have that much to loose, you may still find after loosing for 12 weeks on the CD that ELMM is slow slow that you struggle will power wise.

Do you get a coach with CD like you do with LL? If so, see if there is anyone they can put you in touch with that did CD for a shorter period and then moved onto somelike like ELMM and kept loosing, so that they can give you suggestions.

However if it is your will power re how much weight you have to loose and feeling it is too slow, it may be something that you will continue to suffer with (I have been the same in the past). I would really reccomend counselling, because it really helped me, and something just clicked, maybe you could do this alongside CD so that when you finish it and go on to ELMM the transition is sucessful?