Who's done a VLCD diet?

[Scantily]

Hello all,

I'm curious as to who has done or is currently on a VLCD diet. For those who've no idea what that is, it stands for Very Low Calorie Diet. There are various different companies offering them - Cambridge diet, Exante, Lighterlife & Slim & Save, they all work on the same principles, food replacement, 500-600 calories a day and low carb to induce ketosis.

My girlfriend wanted to do one of these as a friend had great results on the Cambridge diet, I was curious and decided to do it with her as I was a fat bd and wanted to support her also.

I've been dieting with Slim & Save for over 11 weeks now and have lost 4 stone. I'm 5'10 and started with a weight of 16st 5lbs, this week I finally got my BMI down to a normal 25. Ideally I want to get down to 10st 7lbs and have a deadline of December 13th to reach it by.

It's taken a fair bit of enjoyment out of life as I love food and cooking, but the quick results really keep you motivated and you don't really get hungry. It'll be worth it once I reach my target and I am no longer a fat bugger.

I'm interested to hear of other people's experiences.

[Hoofy]

It can work but the quick answer is "fat people" as most people who do VLCDs will go back to their old habits after denying themselves and hitting a plateau through which they cannot smash and feel thoroughly demotivated by. So to celebrate, they binge eat and then feel really guilty then throw in the towel.

It's not healthy, either.

For success, the question you need to answer is once the fat stops dropping off and your loss is crawling or at a standstill, what will you do to motivate you to continue until you hit your goal weight?

[Hoofy]

Another question: even if you manage it, how will you ensure you don't get fat again in 5 years' time?

[Victor McDade]

I know a few people who have done the lipotrim diet and they all lost significant amounts of weight whilst on it. So they do work. The problem is though, like all diets, if you complete the diet and then return to your old eating habits then within a few months you will be back to square one.

[Scantily]

Hoofy said:

Another question: even if you manage it, how will you ensure you don't get fat again in 5 years' time?

This is almost always the first thing people say when I tell them what I'm doing, and it does annoy me slightly, people are always so quick to be negative rather than saying something positive. I've had people tell me to my face that they think I'm going to put all the weight back on.
I haven't just rushed into this blindly thinking I can lose the weight and continue as I was, I know what was wrong about my diet and how I can improve it. Of course lifestyle changes will need to be made and I will be watching what I eat and using MFP to count calories etc.

Regarding you questioning my motivation, I'm not going to crack before my deadline. I'm well over halfway now, so if I've done the last 11 weeks then I can sure as hell do the next 7 even when it all starts to slow down. I have quite strong willpower so I'm not concerned about this.

[Hoofy]

Scantily said:

This is almost always the first thing people say when I tell them what I'm doing, and it does annoy me slightly, people are always so quick to be negative rather than saying something positive. I've had people tell me to my face that they think I'm going to put all the weight back on.
I haven't just rushed into this blindly thinking I can lose the weight and continue as I was, I know what was wrong about my diet and how I can improve it. Of course lifestyle changes will need to be made and I will be watching what I eat and using MFP to count calories etc.

Regarding you questioning my motivation, I'm not going to crack before my deadline. I'm well over halfway now, so if I've done the last 11 weeks then I can sure as hell do the next 7 even when it all starts to slow down. I have quite strong willpower so I'm not concerned about this.

It might annoy you but if they were to go to the bookies every time someone they knew went on a VLCD, on average they'd win. And there's not much to say that's positive about a VLCD apart from you'll lose weight in the short term to a greater or lesser degree.

If you've ever spoken to the permadieters, you'll know that their intake swings from VLCD to binge for decades, constantly moaning about how they ought to watch what they eat and feeling guilty any time they eat something that's actually enjoyable.

So you're doing the VLCD and then will change when you hit your deadline? It's certainly possible that you'll keep the fat at bay. The question is then what will you do because you've probably sussed out by now that healthy eating doesn't mean a slim waist?

[dangerousB]

I applaud your sentiment chap, but unfortunately calorie curtailment to that extent is not the way to go. It really isn't.

Look at the long term and focus on your body composition rather than weight . . . the path you are currently taking will harm any long term ambitions you have for looking good . . . and that I guess is what you're after?

Dietary measures alone won't sort it out, I will absolutely guarantee you of that. Continue on the dieting path and you'll always return to where you were when you started.

[Slink]

I don't know anything about you OP, but now you've lost quite a bit of weight, what I would do if i was in your boots is, eat normally but relatively healthy (like a cheat day once a week, or instead of that a couple/3 treats a week(but only like a bit of cake or something)

BUT

I would go down the gym 5 days a week, and do stuff like, arms monday, back tuesday, legs wednesday, chest thursday and core friday,.

that way, your gaining muscle&strength and loosing weight rather than just loosing fat, you weight may go up a bit, but it will be health weight.

[Hoofy]

Chest... Thursday??? Are you insane??? Monday's is International Chest Day, dontcha know!

But defo agree with body recomp vs avoiding food and turning into a baggy sack of bones and tummy fat.

[Terminator X]

500 cals a day and weight loss ... Hardly Earth shattering news

TX.

[Gwagon111]

I dropped my BMI from 30 to 19 in one year, by doing a crash diet a few years back.The first year after you hit your target, is the hardest. The problem with doing a crash diet, is that it doesn't give your mind time to adjust to a totally new eating regime. A lot of people get the required result, then pile the weight straight back on. It does take a while to get your mind to work in union with your body. If you can keep the weight off for a year after you make your target, you'll actually find it difficult to go back to your old ways / weight. Your stomach will have shrunk, and if you've been sticking to a clean diet / lifestyle for that long, you wont find the stuff that made you fat appetising anymore (I certainly found this). If you want to motivate yourself during the inevitable 'plateau' phases, during the weight loss part. I found it helpful to buy some nice clothes which were a size or two too small. Then set a goal to be able to fit into them comfortably, by a certain time. I have managed to keep the weight off successfully thus far. Even during 'party season' I don't gain more than 3 or 4 Kg's. I'm about 6ft 1 and currently weigh in at 68 Kg's. According to my BMI scale I should be between 69 and 85 Kg's to be in a healthy weight band. I dropped as low as 64 Kg's at one point last year. I actually found it quite difficult to get up to where I am now. Good luck with it anyway . As has also been mentioned, You may want to make sure you get your composition right as well. I've ramped up my weights over C.V. during workouts recently, it's made a big difference. I haven't gained much weight, but I look much more 'normal' now.

Edited by Gwagon111 on Thursday 31st October 00:45

[Scantily]

Thanks for the advice chaps, I realise that this method is quite an extreme one and that the best way of losing the weight would be via a sensible diet and exercise. However, this is the path that I have gone down and I now intend on following it until my deadline. Following that I will start going to the gym to regain some muscle and look like a normal person, and not like I've just escaped from a prison camp.

Gwagon111 said:

I dropped my BMI from 30 to 19 in one year, by doing a crash diet a few years back.The first year after you hit your target, is the hardest. The problem with doing a crash diet, is that it doesn't give your mind time to adjust to a totally new eating regime. A lot of people get the required result, then pile the weight straight back on. It does take a while to get your mind to work in union with your body. If you can keep the weight off for a year after you make your target, you'll actually find it difficult to go back to your old ways / weight. Your stomach will have shrunk, and if you've been sticking to a clean diet / lifestyle for that long, you wont find the stuff that made you fat appetising anymore (I certainly found this). If you want to motivate yourself during the inevitable 'plateau' phases, during the weight loss part. I found it helpful to buy some nice clothes which were a size or two too small. Then set a goal to be able to fit into them comfortably, by a certain time. I have managed to keep the weight off successfully thus far. Even during 'party season' I don't gain more than 3 or 4 Kg's. I'm about 6ft 1 and currently weigh in at 68 Kg's. According to my BMI scale I should be between 69 and 85 Kg's to be in a healthy weight band. I dropped as low as 64 Kg's at one point last year. I actually found it quite difficult to get up to where I am now. Good luck with it anyway . As has also been mentioned, You may want to make sure you get your composition right as well. I've ramped up my weights over C.V. during workouts recently, it's made a big difference. I haven't gained much weight, but I look much more 'normal' now.

Thanks for replying, it's nice to hear from someone that has slimmed down and kept the weight off, good job buddy. Were you gymming throughout the diet or just afterwards? And yes definitely plan on doing more weights than cv.

[Hoofy]

Gwagon111 said:

I'm about 6ft 1 and currently weigh in at 68 Kg's.

Wowsers. I weigh the same and am only 5'8! Maybe I should go on a diet.

[skibum]

Hoofy said:

Gwagon111 said:

I'm about 6ft 1 and currently weigh in at 68 Kg's.

Wowsers. I weigh the same and am only 5'8! Maybe I should go on a diet.

I hear there is this great one where you eat 500 calories a day through replacement shakes...

[Hoofy]

skibum said:

Hoofy said:

Gwagon111 said:

I'm about 6ft 1 and currently weigh in at 68 Kg's.

Wowsers. I weigh the same and am only 5'8! Maybe I should go on a diet.

I hear there is this great one where you eat 500 calories a day through replacement shakes...

Could I just not eat?

[Gwagon111]

Hoofy said:

Could I just not eat?

If you want a host of Victorian ailments, brought on by malnutrition, then yes. I hear that limes are good for preventing scurvy .

[Gwagon111]

Scantily said:

Thanks for replying, it's nice to hear from someone that has slimmed down and kept the weight off, good job buddy. Were you gymming throughout the diet or just afterwards? And yes definitely plan on doing more weights than cv.

When I was in the 'freefall' phase, I was taking in about 650 calories a day, and burning about 3500 a day, with a mixture of cycling and gyming. I wouldn't recommend going that far. It was bloody awful. It did the trick though .

[mattikake]

Scantily said:

Thanks for the advice chaps, I realise that this method is quite an extreme one and that the best way of losing the weight would be via a sensible diet and exercise. However, this is the path that I have gone down and I now intend on following it until my deadline. Following that I will start going to the gym to regain some muscle and look like a normal person, and not like I've just escaped from a prison camp.

What you're doing is essentially a starvation diet, and the key point is in the bold. No-one who came out of a prison [concentration] camp was in good health. In fact most were already close to death. It's not just the lack of bodyweight/fat that kills you, it's the lack of essential vitamins, minerals and eventually the fact that your body digests it's own organs for energy. This is what happens long before death when you send your body into panic "starvation mode". When you die of starvation, you die of organ failure, not lack of energy.

It hasn't been proven but starvation diets have got to be taking years off your life. Even 1500kcals a day is close to starvation to a human. 500 is just plain stupid, IMO.

As soon as you start eating normally again, your body desperately tries to pile on the bodyweight because it now thinks famines are common in your environment. It won't even let you use your food for energy, so this means it's very difficult not to let the weight come back through exercise, as the food energy will not be used for that. It can be done, but your metabolism, organ dysfunction and muscle wastage will be so extreme that this would be ultimately more pain and effort than simply selecting a good exercise and diet lifestyle that you can maintain forever, in the first place.

Patience is certainly a virtue...

To avoid repeating myself fully read these:-
http://www.mptp.info/pages/articles/thereisnodiet....

http://www.mptp.info/pages/articles/dontfalltofads...

Edited by mattikake on Thursday 31st October 13:43

[Terminator X]

Scantily said:

Thanks for replying, it's nice to hear from someone that has slimmed down and kept the weight off, good job buddy. Were you gymming throughout the diet or just afterwards? And yes definitely plan on doing more weights than cv.

I dropped from 15st to 12.5st (6ft tall) over the space of about 9 months just by eating a bit less (tried to stay <1500 cals a a day) and exercising more (bootcamp rather than gym); have managed to keep it off for a few years now. I'd like to get down to 11st 10 however that seems a lot more difficult to do!

TX.

[Scantily]

mattikake said:

What you're doing is essentially a starvation diet, and the key point is in the bold. No-one who came out of a prison [concentration] camp was in good health. In fact most were already close to death. It's not just the lack of bodyweight/fat that kills you, it's the lack of essential vitamins, minerals and eventually the fact that your body digests it's own organs for energy. This is what happens long before death when you send your body into panic "starvation mode". When you die of starvation, you die of organ failure, not lack of energy.

It hasn't been proven but starvation diets have got to be taking years off your life. Even 1500kcals a day is close to starvation to a human. 500 is just plain stupid, IMO.

As soon as you start eating normally again, your body desperately tries to pile on the bodyweight because it now thinks famines are common in your environment. It won't even let you use your food for energy, so this means it's very difficult not to let the weight come back through exercise, as the food energy will not be used for that. It can be done, but your metabolism, organ dysfunction and muscle wastage will be so extreme that this would be ultimately more pain and effort than simply selecting a good exercise and diet lifestyle that you can maintain forever, in the first place.

Patience is certainly a virtue...

To avoid repeating myself fully read these:-
http://www.mptp.info/pages/articles/thereisnodiet....

http://www.mptp.info/pages/articles/dontfalltofads...

Edited by mattikake on Thursday 31st October 13:43

These diets don't put your body into starvation mode, all of the food on my diet for example is high in protein, fibre and each item contains at least 25% of all necessary vitamins and minerals (I have 4 items per day) and daily protein intake varies from 50-60g. If the diet didnt contain enough of these nutrients then you are quite right that a person would be horribly under nourished.