Feelig a bit confused!

Hiya everyone

I have tried lighterlife before (twice) and lasted about 5 weeks at the most then gave up, needless to say I have put back on what I lost and more. For the last few years I have tried to do cambridge diet n and off but failed.

Decided to give lighterlife another go so rang my local counsellor and went this morning to rejoin a group. The group started 2 weeks ago.

There were 6 of us in the group -
2 of them were new ladies the other 4 of us had tried before, lost weight, gave up and gained more than we had lost in the first place, one lady had lost and regained 6 stone!!!

This has made me think is it that easy to maintain the loss when loosing it on a VLCD... I know there are plenty of success stories but I wonder what percentage of people actually keep the weight of for years after!

Not sure wether to bother putting myself through this again.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this.

Thanks

Hi there
losing weight with a VCLD is incredibly easy. Its the after that is the 'problem' - or challenge.
If you don't sort out your emotional issues/eating habits and return to your usual habits of food consumption then obviously you will put all the weight on again.

A VLCD is not a magic cure. It is fab for getting you to a place to start again but once you get there, whatever happens next is down to you and what you have learnt whilst in abstinence.

I have put back on 25 of the 60lbs i lost and its completely down to me going back to my old eating ways. However, I am now doing something about - and using LL as the tool to get me back to where i want to be. I will be re-reading my books and listening to the cds too.

I have struggled with my weight for 20 years - 4 months on LL will not sort my head out - its helped, but there is a long way to go.

i don't see it as failing - im learning to live as a slim person, and a couple of blips won't stop me.

i think if you can get your head round the emotional stuff then a VCLD is a fab tool to help you get to the starting point as it does so quickly - but you have to be ready for the hard work after - otherwise it is easy to blame the diet instead of looking closer to home

good luck if you decide to give it another go

daisy x

Noone said it is going to br easy Hun! Like you, I have done LL twice before and both times I put weight back on. The difference this time is that I know what went wrong before and I intend not to make the same mistake again. I.e. Not do the Management.
Losing weight on a VLCD is easy. It just drops off. IF you don't cheat AND take it seriously.
The real hard work starts after. The maintenance bit.
And also I need to point something out. If you don't see why you failed before and you're not prepared to learn from that and make sure you will never make the same mistake again you will not succeed. I call it a revolving door effect. You go round and round and round until you find your way out.
Just because you failed twice before DOESN'T mean you failed altogether. It just means you haven't learned enough the first two times.
I would urge you to have a good old chat with yourself and fund out why you want to do LL in the first place. Is it JUST to lose weight or is it to help you deal with the root of the problem.
You need to be fully committed in order to crack it this time. I know because it took me nearly a year of soul searching (and trying several stupid diets) to make that decision.
Trust me. Once you get your head right your body will follow.
All the best of luck!
Mags xxx

I would bet that the ladies as well as yourself had not completed RTM. You might ask them at your next class. Those of us who have maintained (coming up on two years!) all completed the full 12 weeks of RTM.

9 out of 10 times when someone comes back here, saying they regained weight - they did not complete RTM. I believe that is the key....or a very significant part of the key.

You really have to work hard at changing habits following the diet. There will be a bit of bobbing up and down for some - but most catch it right away and get it back down.

It is a great diet, but not a magic pill - we still need to put in the graff to put in to practice what we learn.

Good luck to you!

I agree with BL 100%. And I'm the perfect example. Hence why my mission this time is to do it. And do it for as long as I may need to.
Mags xxx

Some really good advice above.

There is no failure, just learning experiences which some of us have to take again and again before we finally 'get it'.

I think it's easy on the VLCDs to lose, and easy to see the few people who hang around and have maintained and to assume that keeing the weight off is 'easy' or 'natural', believe me it is neither of those things.

As Daisy said we spend years programming ourselves to over eat etc and to think we will suddenly become different people simply because we have lost a little weight is unrealistic. Everyone has to be aware of their weight (even super-fit athletes) and everyone has different points at which they take action, be that 1lb, 10 lb or 3 stone over their 'ideal' it really doesn't change the fact that the journey IS lifelong.

That said the lessons we learn in RTM are what really makes LL different from any other diet and can't be skipped if you are serious about your long term health.

I am really pleased to see this question (and the sensible answers!) as I was wondering about this one too. I am about to start LL for the first time (meeting tomorrow) and it's really good to get first-hand advice from people who know what works. Sounds like RTM is really important.