Anybody NOT put the weight back on and had to restart? Any long term success stories?

WiiMii

Member
I'm coming across a lot of people who are 'restarting' or who "did this diet x amount of years ago, but need to start again now...". I'm wondering if everybody on VLCDs end up back at the starting line sooner or later? It's making me nervous as I'm one week into Exante and the last thing I want to do is ever have to do week 1 again!

Can any long term successes share their stories, please?

How long have you been maintaining? What steps have you taken to ensure you never get back there? Do you do calorie counting / high protein - low carb / any other 'diets' to maintain? Have you significantly increased your activity to account for the increased calorie intake? How long did you take to transition from soul source VLCDs to eating meals and no packs? Do you still use the packs as part of your diet?

Please share your positive stories of long term success so that we can see that these diets CAN work to bring about long term change?

Sorry if this is brief or blunt - I have my twins on my lap so hard to type.

Thanks :)
 
Anyone?
 
Kept the weight off and lost more! However at a price! It has totally messed with my head and would say I am border line eating disorder! Trying to move to weight watchers pro points to eat normally again but can't ever get it into my head that I don't have to diet anymore!
 
Kept the weight off and lost more! However at a price! It has totally messed with my head and would say I am border line eating disorder! Trying to move to weight watchers pro points to eat normally again but can't ever get it into my head that I don't have to diet anymore!

Eek! Well done on the weight loss but do take care of yourself :hug99: If you're finding re-feeding really hard or it goes on for too long and you're concerned, could you pop along to your GP to discuss if there is any way that they can help you? Perhaps they can refer you for some cognitive behavioural therapy (I stand by this treatment 100% having gone through it myself for different reasons). CBT can really help to re-map your mind and sounds like you might need something like that to help your brain catch up with your body. The last thing you want is to work really hard to get here and then end up at the other extreme and have to work back up. :hug99:
 
Well I was a sucess story up until getting pregnant and piling 5 stones on ( which will be lost by December so lets not worry about that), I was on the Cambridge diet for roughly 6-7 months. I was a ever so 'slim' 336 pounds ( 24 stone ) and a size 28 trousers, I had more rolls than the Michelin man and even game with two front air bags that I called a double chin. After willpower, determination and a slight bit of self-hate for my reflection I managed to get down to 182 pounds (13 stone) and a size 12 pair of skinny jeans with room to squat without tearing. So yes it's possible to keep the weight off, there's no secret to it... Stop thinking because you are slim you can eat what you want, that's why people put the weight back on. If you don't fight the 'fat-mentality' as I call it, you will forever be battling with diets... I was a blubber whale from 13 right up to my 20th then one day I thought let me actually start loving myself, stop staring at celebs and eating because I haven't got their body. And I did it....Fair enough i've put 5 stone on during my pregnancy but MEH, with the right mentality, willpower and passion to get what I want, i'll be back to my weight by December. In fact my goal is even greater than that i'm aiming for 140 pounds by December. I'm almost 252 with two weeks left of this pregnancy and it will be done.... People NEED to change the way they see food or else we'll always be yo-yo's on an uphill battle. It takes determination and life changing adjustments NOT relying on the 'magic shake' to do that for you. ( sorry if i sounded rude lool )
 
If you go to SW or WW or any non VLCD forum you'll also see loads of 'I'm back' threads.

VLCDs are every bit as successful long term as other diets. if people do put weight back on it's not down to how they lost the weight. It's what they did once they lost it
 
My first few weeks, I ate 1500-2000. As my nutrition increased, and my digestion got more effective, I got less hungry. Now 12 weeks in, I think I am eating maybe 1200? It's hard to calculate because my supper green veggie juice is a huge amount, but the fiber is taken out. So not sure how many calories. But it's working for me. A diet should not be about your weight, but health and anti-aging. I look so much younger now that I'm stuffed nutritionally.
 
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i kept my weight off for 2 years and int he last 3 months have only just crept back on, so restaring on a different brand of plan!
 
I'm coming across a lot of people who are 'restarting' or who "did this diet x amount of years ago, but need to start again now...". I'm wondering if everybody on VLCDs end up back at the starting line sooner or later? It's making me nervous as I'm one week into Exante and the last thing I want to do is ever have to do week 1 again!

Can any long term successes share their stories, please?

How long have you been maintaining? What steps have you taken to ensure you never get back there? Do you do calorie counting / high protein - low carb / any other 'diets' to maintain? Have you significantly increased your activity to account for the increased calorie intake? How long did you take to transition from soul source VLCDs to eating meals and no packs? Do you still use the packs as part of your diet?

Please share your positive stories of long term success so that we can see that these diets CAN work to bring about long term change?

Sorry if this is brief or blunt - I have my twins on my lap so hard to type.

Thanks :)


I absolutely LOVE this post! Especially the title lol. Made me laugh out loud.

I lost ten stones, three of them on CD, and until my father died last winter I had kept all of that weight off for thirteen years by maintaining on vegetarian Atkins.

I am now dealing with a two stone regain - no way can I allow myself to gain more.

People tend to go back to carbs way too soon, and in too great a quantity, after a VLCD. Those are the foods that got us fat in the first place and old habits die very hard.

I think food has to be very slowly and gradually reintroduced after TFR diets, or regain is inevitable.

Thanks for this post! I wish you all the best with Exante x
 
The issue is whether or not you can make the mental adjustment once you have lost the weight. I think thats the hardest thing to do and why so many dieters will always be on a diet of one form or another.

And maybe thats the key, we all know we shouldnt think of it as a 'diet', it has to become your normal way of eating. But deep down I know that my 'normal way of eating' is to stop off at mcdonalds on my way home from work in the afternoon, and then cook when I get home and pick at bits and pieces all evening. And never count a jam sandwich, its a slice of bread with butter and jam on it, not a 'real' meal so it doesnt count does it. Sigh.......

Im too new at being thin to say im a success story, besides ive spent 35 years losing and gaining weight, so im not sure at what point I can ever look back and say 'look at me, I did it'. Because tommorow or next week or next month, or in 6 months I could be on that slippery slope again.

So, I am on a diet. Im not losing anymore weight, I dont need to. But I am on a diet, because my brain is hard wired to what was my normal eating. I always be on this diet if im to keep the weight off. I can accept that now and im not unhappy about it. Im in control, but every single day I am on a diet, and long may it last.
 
I'm worried about regain too, my problems are portion control and greed!

Have bought Rosemary Conley portion pots, the rest has to be will power!

 
Im hoping if i do regain this time i will have the will power not to go past a stone, but have to loose 10 to get to that stage.
 
i lost 3 stone last year on a VLCD. I havent put the weight back on though I have had a few stops and starts at getting back onto a VLCD. It depends on your frame of mind, you are either in the 'zone' so to speak or you arent. I am back in that zone again and trying to lose the rest of my weight. I want to lose 6 stones in total so I am half way there. I am pleased with maintaining as I now feel more confident for keep slim once all my weight is gone.

Theres no guarentee for any diet that you will keep the weight off, if you finish at your goal weight then go out and eat all the wrong foods it will come back. If you stay determined and even think about the amount of time and effort it has taken to get to goal then you will probably manage to maintain okay. Of course it is a lot easier said than done, losing weight is not easy there is no magic pill. Keeping it off isnt easy either, every single day you have to make decisions and its those decisions whether good or bad will influence the outcome.
 
Hi WiiMii
Excellent post from Starlight. If someone regains the weight they lose on any diet it won't be caused by the diet they did.
It will be because they haven't changed their relationship with food long term.
I think the word "diet" is they key. If you see it as a diet that starts, you do it and then at the end you just go back to your old ways of course anyone will put weight back on.
Maintaining is the challenge however you lose the weight. The hard part is achieving the balance, maintaining without becoming obsessed.
Everyone finds their own way. There are many success stories on this site and don't forget - lots of people who are successful don't come back here!
"If you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got!"
Good luck.:)
 
You could look at it a different way
What about the people who lost the weight and have kept it off , they are not likely to come back here a year later just to say "hey guess what !!! Im still thin"
most people that have remained successful wont use the forum anymore , they are busy getting on with their life and dont need it
The ones that do regain some or all of it most likely will come back on here if they found it useful the last time they lost
Im hoping to lose 4 stone , sign off and never come back , so if you see me here back at square one you have my permission to shoot me ha ha !!
 
Totally agree with the other comments, its not the diet that leads to regain, it's the mental attitude to food. I lost 7st with LL in 7 months during 08/09. I'm now on my second day of CD SS trying to lose the 2st I've regained.

I think I was kidding myself that I was 'cured' when I had lost the weight and I was fine for the first 18 months, but lately I have slipped into my old habits :(

I did take on one piece of good advice that was get rid off all my big clothes and I refuse to buy anything in a bigger size - it's just a shame that a lot of my wardrobe doesn't fit now lol! BUT, this is really a sign to me to get back on the wagon and sort it out!

The hard thing for me to come to terms with is that I think I will be on a diet in one shape or another for the rest of my life, which I find depressing! I just need to come to terms with this and work out a plan for maintaining when I am back to being slimmer again.... The journey continues! x
 
I lost 20lbs in 4 weeks on Exante, then panicked and put it all back on!

I now feel VLCD have spoilt everything diet wise, as now I will never be happy with slow weight loss, but am too scared by the fast weight loss!

It also made me crave food so much, which although I have eaten too many calories to get fat in the first place, it was never nothing like after the VLCD! I have never put on weight soquickly either!
 
What a shame Divster.
That for me is the difference between LL and Exante, the psychological help.
You didn't put the weight back on quickly because it's a vlcd, I think it will be because you hadn't got your head round it or re-introduce food gradually with control.
Whatever diet you do you will always put the weight back on if you go back to what you did before.
Sorry if it sounds like I'm preaching.
Good luck whatever you decide next. You are here and you'll find what suits you.
Good luck.
 
The thing is though, I am part way through my long journey, I have maintained what I lost for 4 years! So I havent put on weight like this until I did the VLCD

It really did create a kick-back for me, I really lost all control around food, in 4 short weeks!

I will probably go back on Exante:rolleyes:, when I have control over my eating back, 4 months later I still haven't.

I know I am not the only one like this, and yes vlcd are fab, but they also have a very dark side, and leave some of us in a dark place with food, that they wouldn't have been in if it wasn't for trying the vlcd
 
I'm lucky it wasn't like that for me. I do always say when people ask me that everyone has to find whatever suits them best.
Hope you get back on top of it soon Divster.
Well done on keeping it off for 4 years, that's great.
 
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