CD initially great but!!!

minibuses11

New Member
I started cambridge diet sept 2008 lost 6 stone3lb in 3 1/2 months came off it in jan 2009 which was great and i was happyish at the weight, but it was due to the effects on me i came of it, my personality totally changed for the worse, i became depressed, aggressive and plain unbearable to live with, also my hair fell out in handfuls i used to have fine but very thick hair and lots of it, even now it is fine and thin, you also get constipated. the main problem is since i came off it i have eaten nothing but a sandwich at lunch and salad with low fat meat or fish in the evening ( even sunday lunch ) and fruit / yoghurt for a snack and did a lot more exercise than before. i have put back on nearly half the weight i lost making me more unhappy than i was before i even went on the diet. after talking to a dietician and doctor the problems with these diets is that your metabolic rate drops exceedingly low when you are on 500 cals so when you start eating food you metabolic rate stays low, making you put on weight you will also put on about a stone and a half in fluid, as fluid builds back up around your organs to its normal level. I talked to my counsellor she basically blamed me for everything and implied that the diet was the best thing since sliced bread.
After xmas i am starting diet chef it is still low calorie 1200 cals but it is actual food and there are loads of choices so it shouldn't mess with my head .
I wish you all the best luck and hope you don't go through what i did. i read lots of negative reviews and chose to ignore them. i am telling you as it is.
 
Gutted for you :( I take it that you didn't do the plans to restore your metabolic rate and glycogen levels as Cambridge advise?

Also gobsmacked that both your doctor and dietician seem unaware of how diets works in terms of metabolic rate and if there is any hair loss. That's awful. I know they can't be an expert at everything, but they should know the basics :mad:

Personally, I've been fortunate with my doctor, who read up about the diet and supported me all the way. Such a shame you haven't had that level of support.

Anyway, best of luck with diet chef :)
 
Scientific research over the last 40 years proves that on the Cambridge Diet the metabolic rate does not slow significantly and picks up if the stabilisation and maintenance plans are followed. The stabilisation plan gradually increases the calorie intake from very low calorie up to 1500 calories and beyond in a controlled way to limit weight regain. Of course not everyone chooses to follow the stabilisation plan and weight regain can happen as a consequence. I'm not saying that's you, I'm just saying that from my experience as a Cambridge Counsellor.

I am sorry you didn't enjoy your experience on Cambridge, however unlucky for you, but lucky for us, thankfully your experiences are not the same as everyone else's. Many people successfully and happily lose weight and maintain a lower weight with Cambridge.

Good luck with Diet Chef in the New Year.
 
Thanx for sharing suppose everyone is different i lost 2 stone on CD and 1 stone with WW between july to september and have only gained 1 lb since then.

CD is the best diet ever and i know i will never gain 3 stone again, im returning back to CD friday to loose a bit more. You did so well to loose 6 stone that's so much weight to loose.

All the best on diet chef.x
 
Sorry you had bad experience with cambridge diet and good luck with diet chef...but i've seen far too many success stories to believe everyone who does cambridge diet will put all the weight back on. you lost an incredible amount of weight in 3 1/2 months but i'd rather see success stories... Look at Kd she has maintained her weight for so long. So she herself proves cambridge diet rocks :)
 
I'd never say anything against CD, it's changed my life, but it is really hard to keep the weight off afterwards, Stabilization or not - that is just a fact
 
I think a common misconception when you're overweight is that when you get slim, all your problems will just go away...

They don't. Sure, things generally improve. You can buy clothes from 'normal' shops, not just Evans. You don't feel half so self-conscious about tucking into a burger and fries at McDonalds. The water doesn't get dammed up behind your bum when you have a bath. :D

But a lot of what you thought might change doesn't. You don't suddenly develop a truck load of self-confidence, have attractive men swooning at your feet, get that promotion at work you've been longing for. But a lot of us kid ourselves that the only thing standing between us and all that is the fact we're overweight.

On Cambridge, it's possible to lose a lot of weight very quickly. So it stands to reason that you might think the other changes you're expecting might happen quickly.

I've been very fat and I've been slim-ish. I didn't magically become a different person when I was slim - I was exactly the same, just wearing smaller clothes. That can feel pretty disappointing. :) I know that in the past, I've blamed feeling depressed on being overweight. Turns out I was depressed, full stop. The extra weight didn't help - but losing it didn't fix the depression. That still needed to be dealt with.

Hmm. It kind of made sense when I first starting writing this post to waffle on like this... :D Hopefully there's someone out there who might understand what it is I'm trying to say!

Incidentally - for anyone who's reading this and worried - hair loss can happen on any weight loss program. It generally grows back pretty quickly. And as for CD stuffing up your metabolism, it doesn't. No more that doing any other weight loss diet.
 
Not waffling and I understand, all too well unfortunately. :(

Me too!

I thought I was a miserable git becuase I was overweight, I lost the weight and I'm still a miserable git :rolleyes:
 
6 stone 3 in a little over 3 months wow!!!!
 
The nutrition book I'm reading says my Base Metabolic Rate for my weight, height and age (11stone 11lbs, 5'8", nearly 30) is just over 1500 cals.

I'm trying to boost that with exercise but the cold hard truth is - we don't actually need very many calories!
 
That's a cheery email. Thanks for that.

I prefer words of support - and considering how many users on this forum sucessfully lose and keep the weight off, unfortunately, i think you may be in the minority.

Mind you, if I was eating just what you were eating and put on all that weight back on - I'd be gutted too.

Did you actually work through the steps? Maybe that's where the trouble lies.

Would love to hear a response back from you.

Lynne
x
 
For me the Cambridge Diet is a quick tool to get slim! It is nothing more or less than that, it certainly isn't a lifestyle choice anymore than it is the cure to all the worlds problems.

I reduced my weight by just under 12 stone some 4 years ago now using Cambridge Diet and thought the world was a happy place, but a few months after getting to goal I realised it was WHY I was overeating that was the problem and now WHAT I was eating.

I then went off the rails, got written off work, split with my wife, got put on loads of pills and told to stay at home...

Because a diet is just a way of losing fat...it didn't help with my real issues of self-asteem, comfort, boredom, loss, guilt and anger.

In fact food was the solution to my lifes problems and not the problem itself.

It took me to reduce the weight, fall to bits and then put myself back together to realise diets do work as a way of getting rid of calories in your body! and that is it. A diet cannot keep you slim!

For me it was when I dealt with my real baggage and beliefs about myself that now I just eat normally and don't diet anymore because I don't need to.
 
For me the Cambridge Diet is a quick tool to get slim! It is nothing more or less than that, it certainly isn't a lifestyle choice anymore than it is the cure to all the worlds problems.

I reduced my weight by just under 12 stone some 4 years ago now using Cambridge Diet and thought the world was a happy place, but a few months after getting to goal I realised it was WHY I was overeating that was the problem and now WHAT I was eating.

I then went off the rails, got written off work, split with my wife, got put on loads of pills and told to stay at home...

Because a diet is just a way of losing fat...it didn't help with my real issues of self-asteem, comfort, boredom, loss, guilt and anger.

In fact food was the solution to my lifes problems and not the problem itself.

It took me to reduce the weight, fall to bits and then put myself back together to realise diets do work as a way of getting rid of calories in your body! and that is it. A diet cannot keep you slim!

For me it was when I dealt with my real baggage and beliefs about myself that now I just eat normally and don't diet anymore because I don't need to.

Possibly the post of the century.

The other thing is that I do think that the 2000 and 2500 guidlines are not 100% right and should only be used as a guide. If I (as a 6foot man) eat 2500 calories a day I gain where my brother who is the same height would probably lose. Difference being I work sat on my rear while he's out on his feet all day. :)
 
I love cambridge but it isn't the right solution for everyone.

I have taken control of my life with cambridge i ate for fun happy sad whatever i was greedy and out of control. Cambridge has made me realise that chicken and salad tastes far better than a bar of chocolate and a packet of crisps and the thought of eating 6 or 7 packets of crisps as i used to makes my stomach (now incredibly smaller) churn. I have reevaluated the reasons i had such terrible issue's with food. I am a better person my skin and hair are better and i have a confidence i never had before.

I still have a small way to go but i will work up the plans and reintroduce food the recommended way. I also plan to buy a really nice pair of jeans i am going to use these as my guide as soon as they feel a little tight i will rein it in again though i don't ever ever ever plan to have the same relationship with food again.

X
 
I would suggest that loosing 6 stone in 3andhalf months is way to quick even on CD!! Considering the average achievable weight loss is 1st a month, that was doubled in this case. It suggests that metabolically there are issues here. This may explain why so much was put on after coming out of ketosis? and it also sounds very unlikely that the steps were followed..
As for hair loss, it happens to some people on any diet. Everyone is different when it comes to side effects of any weight loss programme.
 
How long has it been since you came off the diet Big H?

This time round (and this is my 7th time) about 10 weeks. I eat about 2000 cals per day, do an hour in the gym 5 mornings a week and either cycle or run on at least 3 of those days aswell, just to maintain my weight.
 
I would suggest that loosing 6 stone in 3andhalf months is way to quick even on CD!! Considering the average achievable weight loss is 1st a month, that was doubled in this case. It suggests that metabolically there are issues here. This may explain why so much was put on after coming out of ketosis? and it also sounds very unlikely that the steps were followed..
As for hair loss, it happens to some people on any diet. Everyone is different when it comes to side effects of any weight loss programme.

I stone per month is for woman. A guy that has a BMI of over 40 will probably lose 6 pounds per week. I lost 100 pounds in 93 days, my brother lost 12 stone in 6 months. 6 Stone 3 in 3 months is not unusual
 
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