..::Losing weight on Cambridge Diet ::..

nicoletia · 03-16-2010, 06:12 PM

HI!

I'm new on the forum and I want to say hello to all dieters

I was desperate to lose weight so I chose CD (don't criticize me, I know what I am doing

).

I really need your support. My biggest problem is maintenance- last time I shed nearly 20 kilos but afterwards I couldn't stop eating things that I missed most (junk food)

I love cooking, my husband is skinny and we are working together so he can put on weight - unfortunately, it doesn't help me as I want to lose it

I am going to weight-in everyday - I hope it helps me to get to know with my body.

mandalinn82 · 03-16-2010, 06:25 PM

Hi there, and first off,

I'm glad you've joined!

Quote:

I was desperate to lose weight so I chose CD (don't criticize me, I know what I am doing).

I really need your support. My biggest problem is maintenance- last time I shed nearly 20 kilos but afterwards I couldn't stop eating things that I missed most (junk food)

The following is just my opinion, based on my own experiences and what I see here in other members.

One of the things that contributes to successful weight maintenance is picking a plan that you can really do for the rest of your life. If you "go on" a diet, especially a very restrictive one like Cambridge which is very low calorie, then when you "go off", of course you're going to gain weight back! And part of that will be because such restrictive plans don't teach you how to integrate your healthier lifestyle into your every day life, forever. To maintain weight, in my opinion, you need to make permanent changes. Unless you're going to stick to Cambridge forever, it's going to be harder to successfully maintain.

So if maintenance has been a problem for you in the past, maybe you should consider shifting your focus from losing quickly at any cost (which is what Cambridge is about) to losing at a more moderate rate using changes you can stick with. It's not that you can't lose weight on Cambridge...obviously, that's possible, and I'm not criticizing your choice of plan if all you want is to lose weight. But if your goal is long-term maintenance, there are ways of losing weight that will better support THAT goal.

It is possible to lose weight on a plan that doesn't make you feel deprived and that you can stick to forever, making maintenance a much easier thing to acheive long-term.

Just my thoughts. Stick around and keep posting - can't wait to get to know you better!

ValentineNicole · 03-16-2010, 06:49 PM

I don't know what the Cambridge diet is, but I'm here to commiserate. My boyfriend is 6'7 and 160 pounds. He needs to eat 3500 calories a day to gain weight. I'm helping him and also working to lose weight and eating 1200-1400 calories. I keep thinking it's "not fair", but truthfully it's hard for him too. He can barely keep weight on with basketball. He hates eating when he's not hungry, and hates "good calories" because it's so few calories and so filling to eat them. We all have our struggles!!

nicoletia · 03-16-2010, 07:03 PM

Mandalin I am the one who hates waiting for the scale to move on. I know that all diets slowed my metabolism down but I can't maintain a healthy lifestyle for longer than a month. The slow weight loss really annoys me and birthdays, parties and holidays always make things worse because I usually gain 5lbs each time.

Valentine CD is a weight plan which gives you only 415 -600kcal a day plus all important vitamins and microelements so you don't feel tired

mandalinn82 · 03-16-2010, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Mandalin I am the one who hates waiting for the scale to move on. I know that all diets slowed my metabolism down but I can't maintain a healthy lifestyle for longer than a month. The slow weight loss really annoys me and birthdays, parties and holidays always make things worse because I usually gain 5lbs each time.

The problem is, if you're looking to maintain, you HAVE to maintain a healthy lifestyle for more than a month. Even if you do lose weight on a very low calorie diet, you'll have to maintain that loss, right? If you go back to your old habits, you will regain (which is what you said you wanted to avoid).

KforKitty · 03-17-2010, 09:09 AM

I heard a definition of insanity that rings true for me with weightloss. "Insantiy is doing the same thing and expecting different results" You've said yourself that you've lost weight before but can't maintain it. Why will this time be any different. Unless you have a plan to make it different, it won't be, you'll get the same results as before.

If you like to cook why not use that skill to make meals that are healthy, filling, low in fat and lower in calories. Get a good low fat recipe book or figure things out for yourself by substituting lean meats, low fat dairy, adding veggies etc to your favorite recipes and watch your portion size. Yes it might take you twice as long to lose the weight this way but its a lifestyle you can follow for the rest of your life. Believe me, I've been there and finally stopped the insanity of yo-yo dieting.

Kitty

nicoletia · 03-17-2010, 10:05 AM

I want to believe I've got a plan and every time I diet I promise myself that I change my lifestyle but it does not work

What is more, I am tired of cooking two different meals because my hubby needs more than I do and I can't let him eat non-oily, steamed food all the time because he finds it difficult to put on weight anyway.

I am going to move on with CD and see how it goes. I hope I receive support from you and finally learn how and what to eat.

stellarosa27 · 03-17-2010, 10:26 AM

Here's the thing - unless you plan to eat 600 calories a day for the rest of your life, you're not going to be able to maintain on this. The minute you up your calories, your body is going to get excited that its not being starved anymore and just start adding on the lbs.

That being said, instead of making two different meals, why don't you just cook MORE food and your husband can have double the portion size, or (here's a novel idea) have him cook his own food. You're being supportive of him needing to put on weight, why can't he be supportive of you trying to lose weight?

nicoletia · 03-17-2010, 11:36 AM

I know, I know... but as I said I hate waiting to see the results and I know people who maintained on CD as well so it is possible. I live in a very fast pace and I don't have much time for cooking, shopping, selecting healthy food... I know that what I am doing is not good for my body but I can't look in the mirror anymore, I feel sick

that is why I need to lose my weight faster.

KforKitty · 03-19-2010, 09:23 AM

I hope you don't take this the wrong way but I'll be frank - your using your husband as an excuse for why you can't do this properly. Not a reason an excuse. I used to do it all the time but my excuse was my children. It wasn't fair on them restricting their diet, not buying desserts, cakes, biscuits etc. But what I eventually realised is that those things as well as being no good for me were also no good for them. They might need calories to grow but they don't need meals high in satuarated fats, simple carbs, overly processed etc. What is healthy for me is also healthy for them.

Yes your husband may need double your portion and to supplement meals with say additional complex carbs (bread, rice etc) but he doesn't need high fat, high sugar food.

I know you will do the Cambridge Diet regardless of what I and others say and that is your choice but I'll ask the question again - what will be different this time that will help you break the dieting yo-yo?

Kitty

dietcokeaddict · 03-19-2010, 09:06 PM

I also feel that it may be more important to address you "feeling sick" when you look at yourself. If you can not accept yourself, it is not possible to move forward. You are more important than what you look like.

5factorgirl · 03-22-2010, 01:24 PM

Kitty I love your quote "Insantiy is doing the same thing and expecting different results"! It really does fit in this situation! I know sometimes it's hard to hear. But you know what...it's true. These crash diets are very hard on your body and instead of getting you results you end up gaining a little more weight each time. You really need to find a diet on here or outside of here that is a LIFESTYLE CHANGE instead of a diet that you can maintain for the rest of your life. As soon as you go back to eating normally or even more calories than your on the Cambridge diet YOU WILL GAIN THE WEIGHT BACK! Leading you to yo yo diet and continue to put on weight. As much as it sucks...there is only one weigh to lose weight! You need to eat healthy low fat meals and work out. As much as it sucks it does require work but it's the only way to really go about loosing weight.

Now that being said it's your life and your choice. So you need to make your own choice and whatever it is it's you who needs to live with it. I just hope you learn sooner rather than later that these yo yo diets are not going to work.

AndreaMarie · 03-22-2010, 01:32 PM

Good Luck with it. I do know some people who have managed to take their weight off following a very restricted calorie and carbohydrate level, so I wish you luck with it, it's not my pesonal way of things but to each their own!! Welcome!

MistyRain · 03-26-2010, 07:08 PM

Hi

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicoletia

I really need your support. My biggest problem is maintenance- last time I shed nearly 20 kilos but afterwards I couldn't stop eating things that I missed most (junk food)

It's really important to do the stabilisation plans after Cambridge, so that you get a chance to get into healthy eating habits before you are let lose

That's what I found anyway.

The diet is great for the head stuff. You get to find out what really prompts you to eat when you aren't hungry, but the stabilisation plans give you a chance to practise what you've learnt.

The diet did give me a chance to step back and assess what was going on. What was driving me to eat inappropriately. And of course, it's is safe and approved and follows the NICE and COMA guidelines, so was certainly better for me than other diets I had done where I was 'allowed' to make very unhealthy choices.

Anyway, I hope it's going well for you and you find away to manage maintenance when you get to your goal.

MistyRain · 03-26-2010, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stellarosa27

Here's the thing - unless you plan to eat 600 calories a day for the rest of your life, you're not going to be able to maintain on this. The minute you up your calories, your body is going to get excited that its not being starved anymore and just start adding on the lbs.

Just adding here

You aren't supposed to do this for the rest of your life. In fact, you wouldn't be allowed to as you have to increase the calories as you get towards goal.

After goal the Cambridge way is healthy eating, low GI

I know a lot of people don't realise this and think it's just milk shakes and then you're down, but that's just one plan out of the six, and you can only do that for a while before you have to step up onto low GI higher calorie foods

Lots of people do Cambridge and never go lower than 1200kcals a day.