Guidance please on long term weight loss plan

Hi I wonder if I could get some guidance please. I have 8 stone to lose to be within my healthy BMI. I realise this could take 8 months based on the recommended stone a month. I am only on day 3 and feeling very strong and positive but I have concerns about managing a whole 8 months and don't want to blow this. So rather than biting off more than I can chew (bad phrase for TFR I know!!) I have thought about breaking it into 3 phases aiming for some key targets as follows.

Phase 1 12 weeks
Started September 14th (18st6) to December 8th aim for 3 stone loss then start refeed 8th December for xmas.(15st6)
Start phase 2 for another 12 weeks Jan 4th aim for another 3 stone
Start refeed 30th March for Trip to Paris in April (12st6)
Phase 3 12 weeks start again May 3rd
Start refeed July 27th for my birthday
August 22nd be 10 stone something.
I have a colleague in work who has gone off and on the programme in a very planned way and she had less to lose and has acheived it all.
Have based the 12 week thing on NICE (National Institute for health and Clinical Effectiveness) who recommend a person should not follow a VLCD for longer than 12 weeks.
Please let me have your views on this, I really would appreciate it.
Thanks
Angie x

Hi hun, it can be quite hard to get back on again once you have had a break, but I have also known people who have managed this so it sounds like a plan.

You have the same amount of weight to lose as I had at the start and I have lost 1lb short of 5 stone in 15 weeks. I would say that if you follow the plan exactly then you will lose more in the first month than a stone and will average a stone after that, so you could be very pleasantly surprised by your progress by the time of your first refeed at week 12.

Good luck with it and I will be interested to hear how your plan goes x

Thanks Tara it helps to get others views, especially someone similar weight to me at the start.......we even chose similar trackers

i had roughly same to lose, and yes the first month is a massive booster, cos you'll lose loads more than a stone (fingers crossed..!) I have done 4 and half stone in 12 weeks, and although it's great to stick to a plan, it may feel very hard to get back into the swing of things once you have a break. try it for 12 weeks and seeif you think you can keep going...i have done that amount of time now and i feel as if i keep doing this forever... honestly it's not too bad!

wow bean that is inspirational god if I did that I would be so pleased well done and thank you x

I started round the middle of July, roughly the same weight and have had a number of major events over the summer including a 3 week holiday and for me the weight loss has been slower however I don't feel I've missed any signifigant occasions. I also think as a vintage dieter (one such occasion was my 50th birthday) the weight loss is slower than someone 20 - 30 years younger.

I've not found it to much of a problem stopping for odd days and then re-starting but I think if i went back to eating for a period of several weeks I'd panic about my weight gain and find it very difficult to start again.

My advice would be try to stick to it but plan in advance if you want to have a break. My chemist's philosophy is because I have a long way to go ( I want to lose about 10 stone) that it's better for me to lose it slower and keep to it than drive myself to distraction by thinking I'm missing out and then stop .

However I will add to Bakedbeans advice that it does get so much easier once you are out of the food and into the LT

hey hun. i did 24 weeks total food replacement and lost 8 and a half stone in that time, i never once had a break, i knew that if i had stopped i wouldnt be able to get back into just the shakes but the thing is i never once wanted to stop, no matter what the occassion, i just wanted to crack on until i reached my target and i was so determined, you may find that you also feel that way once you have been on it for a few weeks and see the lb's coming off ! just see how you feel...

good luck xxxx

I would say its best to stay on for as long as you possibly can before taking the refeed option. You might surprise yourself at how easy you find it as time goes by. And besides, refeeding at Christmas is entirely the wrong time of year to do it, and we all know why!

It is much harder to get back on, and the so called experts say there should be at least a 6-month gap, although many go back into ketosis much sooner than that. So IMHO the gap idea is not the best.

Hiya
Speaking from someone who has now stopped LT (hopefully temporarily) I reckon its totally up to you if you get to the 12 weeks and think you can stop for a week or two and are motivated to get back on LT then you should do it , if you think by stopping you wont get back on then dont stop.

I am now technically following NICE guidance and am having a 3 month break from LT but thats my health and my weight loss and no one elses so im not going to promote it one way or the other. It may be great for you to carry on for months at a time like Gaz, and Nicki did its all personal and down to willpower and health. One thing i will say though is if you do take a break keep the food you eat as bland and boring as possible and itll be easier to get back on track because you wont be craving that curry you had last week when you start again. Right now if my health would let me id be back on LT like a shot and id be at it for the original 24 weeks I had planned. Even though i have eaten this week i could go back on it as i have kept myself mentally motivated to lose weight so if you can do that on your little planned health breaks then you will be sorted but if you cant then just carry on till you get to target. Its your weight loss , your health and your decision

Good look on your weight loss journey keep it up and you will see the results

Gen xx

Thanks a million all of you just getting your opinions is a big help, there isn't many people you can talk to about this so they are all appreciated...will keep you all posted as to how I get on x

Ihave been on LT for almost 7 months now and got very near to my goal. I did not take any breaks in that time. I did have a couple of special occasions in that time (family weddings) and I stuck to the shakes/flapjacks rather than eat... it is amazing how much you learn about yourself and your relationship to food by doing that.
I have found that these past 7 months have just flown by and I definitely do not regret sticking so rigidly to the LT diet.