Cambridge Diet Drinks/Soups

I went on the Cambridge diet last summer and lost 3 stones. I was once 12 st 12 & I went down to as light as 9 st 9, which is a really healthy weight for my height (5 ft 5).

I'm currently studying at university & since my exams began, I've put on weight again. I put on about a stone!

This diet was really good though, but not the healthiest diet so I wouldn't recommend you go on the sole source of the diet unless you SERIOUSLY need to lose weight. What's sole source? You eat virtually nothing. It consists of 3 or 4 Cambridge diets depending on your gender and height (I will explain this later once I've explained what you can eat).

One thing that I liked most about this diet is that there are different stages of weight loss. Once you reach your goal, you can go up the stages of maintenance. When I was maintaining my weight, I started losing a lot of hair and it was scaring the hell out of me! I went to see my doctor about it. He said that it was because my immune system wasn't too good and I'm not eating enough vitamins & stuff. I told him about the Cambridge diet that I was on. He said that it could be that that effected my immune system because it wasn't very healthy and it was quite artificial. But didn't the Cambridge diet contain all nutrients and minerals that you need everyday? I'm not sure if this hair losing thing was happening to everyone. Maybe my health wasn't good enough to start with. Who knows...

I continued the maintenance stages because this wasn't what caused my hair loss. You'll find out a little bit later what I though did.

Another thing I liked about this diet was that you lose weight really quickly. On the 1st week of it, I lost 10 pounds. 6 pounds the second week and about 3-4 pounds on the weeks after.

To start the Cambridge diet, you need find a diet counsellor first. You can find one from this website: www.cambridge-diet.com and find one in your area. Arrange a meeting with them and talk about starting the diet.

Not EVERYONE needs to start at sole source. You can start on any stage of the diet. Not sure which stage is suitable for you? Discuss this with your Cambridge Diet counsellor at your meeting. I don't recommend the sole source thought because this is what caused my hair loss. I don't want this to happen to you guys... The hair loss might not happen to everyone though but I don't want you to take the risk... Not a very nice thing to go through...

You need to drink at LEAST 2.25 litres (or 4 pints) of water. You can also have black tea or black coffee - NO MILK and NO SUGAR, but a calorie free sweetener tablet may be used. The stages of the Cambridge diet are of different calorie intake. Once your goal weight is reached, you will go up each stage - each stage is for 2 weeks except for the Add-a-Meal step (this is still part of stage 1). The stages of the Cambridge diet:

STAGE ONE - Around 450 calories per day (for people with at least a stone to lose):

1 chocolate coated bar (This is not allowed in the first week in which you start but is allowed from the second week).
2 packets of soup OR milkshake OR one of each (This comes in a powder form and you mix it with water, which can be warm but NOT boiling hot! As this would ruin the nutrients of it).

You go on this for at least 4 weeks. After this, you need to use the Add-a-Meal step for ONE week. On this step, you will continue to have your usual 3 packets of Cambridge diets. In addition you can have a meal which is made up of one food of one protein and a number of green vegetables. If you have more weight to lose, you will go back on the sole source again. There is one thing I forgot to say: 3 Cambridge diets is for women under 5 ft 8 and 4 packets is for all men and women who are over 5 ft 8.

STAGE TWO - Around 790 calories per day:

3 cambridge diets
293ml (half a pint) skimmed milk (which you can add to your tea or coffee
3 tablespoons of vegetables or salads
One portion of protein rich food
At LEAST 2.25 litres of water (4 pints)

This stage is quite similar to the Add-a-Meal week except the portions are bigger and milk is allowed. What foods can you eat? I don't have the complete list with me but if you are wanting to start the diet, you can ask your diet council for the Cambridge diet eating guide, which contains ALL the information you need for each stage of the diet. It also has recipes, which I really like! Remember, if you are on maintenance, this is only for 2 weeks before you move onto stage 3.

STAGE THREE - Around 1000 calories per day

2 cambridge diets
half pint of skimmed milk (can be added to your teas or coffees)
One 150 calories breakfast
Green salad for lunch
A dinner of 400 calories
1 piece of fruit of 60 calories

I loved it when I got to this stage! I could eat 'food' again! Again, I don't have the complete list of the exact foods you can eat, but the guide book contains some delicious recipes you can try out. I remember eating this very nice pasta. Your diet counsellor will go through this with you. 2 weeks on this stage if you are on maintenance.

STAGE FOUR - Around 1200 calories per day:

2 Cambridge diets
Half a pint skimmed milk (can be added to your tea or coffee)
At least 2.25 litres (4 pints) of water
Breakfast of 150 calorie AND lunch of 300 calories OR breakfast of 250 calories and lunch of 200 calories
Dinner of 300 calories
Fruit of 70 calories

This stage was also exciting! You could eat so much more! You could eat things like a quorn burger. Ask your diet counsellor for the guide book full of recipes. 2 weeks if you're on maintenance.

STAGE FIVE - 1500 calories per day:

1 Cambridge diet
426ml (3/4 pint) skimmed milk (can be added to your teas and coffees)
At least 2.25 litres (4 pints) water
Breakfast of 300 calories
Lunch of 350 calories plus 50 calories of a portion of fruit
Dinner of 350 calories plus a dessert of 150 calories
A snack of 100 calories

This stage was the last stage and also the best!!! I enjoyed all my foods. What I did differently from the guide book was that I didn't follow the recipes, which was stated. I went to buy those weightwatchers ready meals for dinner. If you do this, MAKE SURE that it is around 350 calories. I also bought those weightwatchers frozen desserts e.g. there were these banoffee cake things, which was about 146 calories (it was around 150 calories for dessert but a tiny bit more or a tiny less was okay). Remember, 2 weeks if you are on maintenance.

Since I put on a stone, I'm going to go on the "3 day diet" and see how that goes. If you asked me, I wouldn't do this diet again. I dunno what made me do it. I was probably too impulsive. I enjoy food too much and its a waste of money. Oh, I forgot! Each Cambridge diet costs £1.55. So, that's £32.55 a week on sole source. Quite a lot of money don't you think? I would recommend this diet ONLY from stage 3 to stage 5. Definitely NOT the sole source (1st half of stage 1)!

If anyone is on this diet or is thinking about going on it, let me know!