I have just came back from my Hospital appointment with the obesity Clinic.
They also suggested that I go on the 8 week, semi skimmed milk only diet.

I am just not sure if I will be able to hack that kind of extremity.

I have had success in the past following the Atkins diet, but always struggled with that in the long term and ended up piling the weight back on.

I am also confused as the doctor was very scornful of my previous low carb Ketosis dieting and said it was dangerous and yet they are now recommending that I go on a milk only diet, does not really make any sense to me.

I have a lot of weight to lose, I am at my heaviest @ 21.5 stone and I am 6ft2
I need to lose 9 stone.

Would really appreciate the thoughts of others, especially would like to hear from people who have also been on the Hospitals 8 week Milk diet, what results they got and how difficult it was to follow

Hi, welcome to 3FC I moved your thread to our UK forum because you might be more likely to find someone that has heard of this program. It's not something we would recommend, for obvious reasons. If I understand correctly, from a little googling, this is a carefully monitored program that is done before weight loss surgery, is that correct or am I wrong? Do they give you supplements? Does your hospital have a group support meeting you can attend with others going through this?

Thanks for your reply.

This is not something that they wanted me to do before surgery, it was a program that they wanted me to start now for 8 weeks. In order to detox, kick start weight loss and especially lose fat from the Liver as one of my blood test results indicated that I had the start of Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

The diet consisted of 4 pints of semi skimmed milk a day and 2 Cups of drink made from a bovril cube (for salt) plus a daily vitamin tablet

And that's it.

No support group, I was just to attend the hospital once a fortnight to be monitored whilst on the diet.

After I completed the 8 weeks on the milk diet they would then start to introduce a low fat, low calorie diet for a year.

After I had completed a year on this diet, they would then consider me for weight loss surgery.

I would hope that after spending 2 months drinking nothing but milk followed by 10 months of a restricted low fat / calorie diet, I would have lost enough weight not to have to undergo surgery anyway.

I just do not think I would be able to do 8 weeks drinking just milk anyway.
A) I do not particularly like milk and never drink the stuff in either beverages or cereal lol
B) I am not sure I would cope with the huger pains and the monotonous of it, I struggle with the low carb restricted foods long term on atkins diet.

Would really like to hear from anyone who has been through this NHS milk diet, whether it worked and whether it is hard to do as it sounds.

Many thanks

I think this would be very difficult and you would become weak and unhealthy at the end, if you were able to stick with it.

According to the NHS literature, the NHS milk diet is a pre-op diet to be followed 2 to 4 weeks before surgery. It's not intended as a weight loss diet. It has a specific purpose and that's to shrink an enlarged liver to make bariatric surgery safer. If someone is recommending you follow this for 8 weeks, it's my opinion that they need to have their medical license reviewed.

From your post, I get the impression your gut instincts are telling you not to attempt this diet, and someone misguided is pushing you in that direction.

If you are interested in improving your liver as well as your overall health and kick starting your diet, I would strongly suggest a diet of lots of fresh vegetables, some fruits, limited proteins, and limited whole grains. Eliminate all added sugar, artificial ingredients, and processed foods. Increase fiber naturally with the right food choices. It's so much easier to stick with. You will feel a million times better in 2-3 weeks. Detoxing simply means to stop putting bad stuff in our bodies, and start putting good stuff in.

I wish you the best of luck on your journey. Weight loss can be frustrating at times, but it shouldn't be dangerous. Follow your instincts

If you are still looking for someone who is or has gone through this, I don't think you'll find that person on our forum. Maybe they can direct you to a FB group or something similar through their service.

Thanks Suzanne for your reply.

You are right the milk diet is what the NHS normally use for people before surgery to shrink the liver, however the Dr that I saw wanted me to go on the diet for 8 weeks even though I was not having surgery in order to as she said, kick start weight loss, detox and shrink my Liver.

I was not comfortable with it as it seemed so extreme to me and as someone who does not handle failure very well I was reluctant to embark on something that I already thought was going to be near on impossible to do.

I still can not understand for the life of me why she was so critical of the Atkins and Low Carb diet, telling me how dangerous Ketosis is because it can lead to Ketoacidosis. It made no sense to me that she was saying this stuff then goes on to recommend that I go on a 8 week diet program of just semi-skimmed milk.

I have decided not to follow the NHS diet and I have gone back on to Atkins, so far so good, I lost 11 pounds in the first week ( i know that most of that would be water weight) I am really going to try and persevere with it. I lost 4 1/2 stone last time I did the Atkins so I have to try and keep reminding myself that I can do it.

Thanks again for your replies, appreciate it

Matt