ode to the cambridge

i have just rejoined and read through my previous posts. i found this poem that i wrote and it has inspired me to do well again and to thank you all for your support then and now....

Really nervous, Oh, what a day,
startin the diet, the cambridge way,
week 1 is over, and eleven pounds off!,
Stuck 100% - I did not scoff!

week 2,3 and 4, now this is better,
although not following CD to the letter,
Cheating a bit, its so hard to resist,
so i'l write it all down, make a list!

Week 5 is over, now its week 6,
I am not going to fall into my old tricks,
This week I will do it, just like week one,
And I WILL follow CD until I am done.

Here we all are, all learnt our lesson,
Posting on the forum, which has been a blessing,
Swapping tips, and moral support,
So back to bad eating we do not resort.

Thanks for the tips, the photos look great,
All helping each other,before its too late!,
Im off for my lunch now, albeit a bar,
Thanks everyone, for helping so far

Great poem lol - and the message it contains is universal and could be applied to any diet.

Glad you are in your stride now. I personally doubt that any more than a tiny percentage of Cambridge dieters are ever truly, literally, totally, 100% over a period of even one week. Either milk in tea or coffee, or an extra pack, say, or a weensy nibble of chicken or whatever - even a few illicit fizzy drinks! - seem to be sneaked in by the vast majority of CD-ers, with no real ill-effects.

Like everything else, it's a question of degree. A wee bit of chicken or ham, for example, is one thing; two roasted chicken drumsticks (plus skin) is another. Eating protein is way less potentially harmful than eating carbs in any form. It all depends on whether the individual dieter can limit themselves to the smaller amount without later losing control and bingeing.

I also think that many VLCD-ers of all types surrender from time to time and slip or even binge in a major way. This seems to be part of the diet cycle because we are used to large amounts of carby food, all day long, seven days a week - and then, suddenly, we are expected to live on 3 or 4 mealpacks and water. Cravings, if only for the oral satisfaction of eating the stuff we have always loved, are bound to happen and when they do they are also bound, on occasion, to get the better of us!

Whatever diet we are on, it is sticking to it most of the time, longterm, that counts. And importantly when VLCD-ing - to not become so used to, and addicted to, very fast weight losses that we start to think a loss of 1-2lb per week is 'crap'. Any loss is good and almost everyone who is on SS or SS+ will tell you that losses always vary from week to week. A bigger than expected loss at one weigh-in often means one or two lower losses to follow. That's how the body loses weight. It's never linear or predictable.

Thanks again for the poem and for your positive message. Keep on going x