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Don't get me wrong though, I know that the key to keeping slim is to ensure you eat healthily and these diets are geared towards getting you used to smaller portions / good food, but do I want to spend 2 years getting rid of weight before I can afford to treat myself to that lovely ice ... Read review
Advantages: Quick weight loss - which can be permanent. Disadvantages: Relatively expensive and difficult if you have a family to feed
...friend of mine did the Lighterlife diet about 4 years ago and even though she was heavier than I am/was she dropped the weight and, more importantly, kept it off.
So, I opted to go for the Lighterlife option (I am in my 4th week).
This is not a diet for the faint of heart. It is expensive (relatively) and does take some getting used to.
I would admit that this is certainly an extreme way of dieting - you ... .../>
The idea of the Lighterlife diet is to take away your need to think about food for yourself (ok if you have kids or a husband that cannot fend for himself you may find it harder than I have but many people, my friend included, have managed so don't dismiss it).
In some ways it seems easier than the other diets such as Slimming World etc., because you don't have to weigh your food - you just eat the packs they give you - very difficult ... more
The thing about body weight is that it creeps on so much easier that it is lost. I don't know why this is (come on all you scientists tell us why!) So being somewhat middle-aged and slightly overweight (well more than 3 stone but I class that as slightly!) I finally got fed up with buying bigger and bigger clothes and decided to diet.
Now I have tried a number of diets over the years, as my weight did used to go down as well as up (though once past 40 it seems to have forgotten the downward movement), - Atkins, Slimming World etc (all you dieters probably have your own list similar to mine) and one thing they all seemed to have in common was the length of time it took to get rid of the weight.
Don't get me wrong though, I know that the key to keeping slim is to ensure you eat healthily and these diets are geared towards getting you used to smaller portions / good food, but do I want to spend 2 years getting rid of weight before I can afford to treat myself to that lovely ice cream or a good curry night out with friend - the answer is an emphatic NO!
I want results and I want them now!
A friend of mine did the Lighterlife diet about 4 years ago and even though she was heavier than I am/was she dropped the weight and, more importantly, kept it off.
So, I opted to go for the Lighterlife option (I am in my 4th week).
This is not a diet for the faint of heart. It is expensive (relatively) and does take some getting used to.
I would admit that this is certainly an extreme way of dieting - you are only allowed 500 calories a day (if you are a woman - not sure if there is a slightly higher amount if you are a man).
Now before you all stop reading - I will say that I have NOT felt hungry yet, neither has my hair fallen out, I haven't got rickets and best of all my Doctor has signed all the forms so if he is happy I guess that this diet is 'acceptable'.
The idea of the Lighterlife diet is to take away your need to think about food for yourself (ok if you have kids or a husband that cannot fend for himself you may find it harder than I have but many people, my friend included, have managed so don't dismiss it).
In some ways it seems easier than the other diets such as Slimming World etc., because you don't have to weigh your food - you just eat the packs they give you - very difficult to put an extra lettuce leaf on your plate when you don't have a plate!
The simple idea is - you get 4 packs a day. 3 of these packs are either soup or shakes, and the last 'pack' is a bar. Each pack contains a quarter of your daily requirement of nutrients and vitamins - so if you eat all 4 (which you should do) you will, probably for the first time in your life, be getting 100% of your RDA.
But this is not all it is about - there is a class, weekly, and after your weigh in you all sit in a group and indulge in some 'therapy'. Ok, ok, I know - I found it all a bit twee to start off with - being asked what colour I felt had me rolling about laughing - but some of my fellow dieters could relate to the question and when I listened to them I could see that they did feel that way (one woman was 'grey' and I think you can work out how she was feeling).
However, following weeks have been a bit of an eye-opener as they talk about why we eat as we do. The idea that my parents are partially to blame didn't really strike me as true, originally, - I was never made to stay at the table and finish my dinner or eat all my vegetables before I could have dessert (which, apparently, can be a trigger to over-eating as your child may well be saving a bit of space for dessert but because you make them eat ALL their dinner they then over-eat because who can resist a nice dessert?). No, in my case, because I could pretty much do as I wanted I became spoiled (yes - hold my hands up) and therefore if I wanted to eat something - I did. Result: weight.
Understanding this has been a bit of a key towards my goal - I have the 4 packs a day and can honestly say I have never felt hungry (apart from the usual times - you know - Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner times).
What I have felt is, what I call, fake hunger - you know, when you see someone eating cheese on toast and think - yumm I fancy some. In the past I would have gone and got myself some even if I had just recently eaten. I find, however, that if I drink some water the feeling goes away and I am starting to recognise the difference between real hunger and the 'fake' hunger.
Anyway - enough of my evangelical zeal - back to the product.
Lighterlife food packs come as soups, shakes and bars and as stated earlier you have 4 of these a day (1 bar the rest shakes/soups). The only other things you can have are tea & coffee (black only) and water - not flavoured.
There is a good range of flavours in the packs Soups come in Chicken (my favourite) Mushroom, Tomato, Thai Chilli and Vegetable. The Shakes are Vanilla, Banana, Strawberry, Raspberry, & Chocolate. The Bars are: Peanut (my favourite), Cranberry and Raspberry, Fruits of the Forest and Lemon.
I am, what you would call a very fussy eater, so only eat the Chicken Soup (which is surprisingly creamy) and the Peanut bar which is surprisingly peanutty. Occasionally I have a vanilla shake - and you can pep this up with instant coffee and run it in the blender with ice - voila the Frappe.
I have also found that the soups do not taste as 'powdery' as normal cup-a-soups which is good, though I do find some of the bars quite sweet.
So far my weight loss has been. End of week 1 : 9.5 lbs End of week 2 : A further 4 lbs End of week 3 : A further 2 lbs (bit disappointed with this but understand that as I am not that much over the 3 Stone my weight loss will slow some weeks but pick up others. I am now into my 4th week (and eating a peanut bar as I type) - I have dropped over a stone in weight and a size in clothes (yippee) and am managing to stick to it without much problem.
Would I recommend this to others - yes - but make sure your mind is determined and your family/friends will support you. It costs £66 per week in the 13 'Foundation' weeks. After that you can go into 'Development' (which is further weight loss if you need to lose more) or 'Management' which is when you have reached your target weight and want to maintain your slimmer self. (I believe the Development phase costs £66 per week but the Management phase is less - just under £50 per week).
It seems a lot of money but think how much you spend on food per week for yourself (not forgetting the odd trip to the sweet counter).
One word of caution - if you have a mushroom allergy then talk to your councillor as some of the non-mushroom soups have mushroom powder in them.
One final thing. You have to get your doctor to sign a form confirming that you can start the programme and then every 4 weeks you have to have a health check / blood pressure reading signed off by a health professional.
Advantages: Fast weight loss, emotional support, simple to follow Disadvantages: Expensive, hard to be around food
Right, the first thing to say is that this diet will be different for different people.
For me, it has changed my life. I started weighing 18 stone, went down to 11-and-a-half and have now gone up to 14 stone again.
Let me first of all explain how it works...
You don’t eat conventional food. At all. That's right, no wine, no milk, you can't even have an apple. Because it's not just about cutting down on food its about changing the way you think. ... ...you give up food.
Instead you have four foodpacks. The options are soups (mushroom, vegetable, Thai chilli and chicken), shakes (raspberry, caramel, vanilla, chocolate and new strawberry and banana) and bars (nut, lemon and fruit). You can get a recipe sheet which gives you suggestions of what to do with these packs but basically the soups are like cup-a-soups and in my opinion to make the shakes edible you need to buy a blender too and whisk them ...
bexlefort 07.06.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Lighterlife
Advantages: fast weight loss, group sessions Disadvantages: price, support, time
...I will say is that Lighterlife is very very very effective if you are looking for fast weight loss, especially for those who have 3 stone or more to lose. I saw one woman in my class drop from 20 stone to 11 in less than a year. However, money wise it is VERY expensive compared to the other weight loss programmes, and although it helps you to recognise why you over eat, it does not help you to eat healthily. Many people who finish the management ...
the_diva88 31.10.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Lighterlife
Advantages: You will lose weight Disadvantages: It is hard work
LIGHTERLIFE
IF I CAN DO IT ANYONE CAN
The Lighter Life Programme is a weight management programme for those who have over three stone to lose or a body mass index over 29.
It is a medically monitored programme which involves cutting out food totally in order to achieve weight loss!!!
The object of the programme is to move you away from daily foodstuffs which contribute to your excess weight. Sounds crazy but it really works.
I started Lighter ... ...programme uses wholly nutritional food packs which contain all the vitamins and minerals required for a healthy lifestyle. You consume 4 food packs a day, which come in a selection of soups, shakes or bars. Along with the food packs you should also drink at least four litres of water a day.
Sounds crazy, impossible, will never work, dangerous almost!!!
All these thoughts ran through my head but the desire to lose weight intrigued me so I gave it ...
Helenofellon 22.05.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Lighterlife
Advantages: Fast weight loss Disadvantages: Expensive, too many meetings
Hi all,
i started Lighter Life back at the start of January 2009 and just finished the diet last week 9/04/2009. When first started i weighed 15st and 6lbs and i was only 5ft 2. I've just finished and i now weight 10st and 7lbs, i still need to hit my target weight of 9st but have decided to be sensible now and have a normal no carb diet and do plenty of exercise which is easy now as i don't have the hunger feeling anymore but that doesn't mean ... ...salad in the morning, my homemade soup for lunch and i salad for dinner. When i started in January i started paying the £66 a week cost and went to my first meeting, to be honest i have a supportive family so the meetings didnt really interest me as i have there support but you have to go anyway, from the meetings i collected my meal plans which contains shakes, soups and bars, which i must say the shakes arent the nicest but u get used to them, ...
fionausher1125 22.04.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Lighterlife
Advantages: rapid weight loss Disadvantages: keeping the weight off!!!
...lost nearly 9 stone on lighterlife , it was the most difficult diet i have ever done , the prospect of not being able to eat for x amount of months is daunting beyond belief !!!
however the idea of losing so much weight a week keeps you strong and encourages you to stick to it .
for me the diet was not the issue , keeping the weight off is the problem ! for myself as a competitve rugby player who trains up to five days a week ,i still find it virtually ... ...!
i fundimentally agree that lighterlife is great diet if you have a substanicial amount of weight to lose , but it does not address the absolute desire to eat everything in your path once u can eat again ! even through the maintance programme ! when being able to eat again your brain automatically tells you to consume everything in sight because it subconciously feels that might starve it again !
i would not do this diet again purely because i ...
peggi 12.12.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Lighterlife
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with you, which are available in Chocolate and also Banana.
I highly reccomend this diet, it's amazing and gives such fast results and if you follow through the plans that your CD Counsellor will tell you about then there is NO WAY you can put the weight back on- Unless of course you go back to overeating and making bad food choices.
It can be expensive, although cheaper than its rival LighterLife. It costs around £32.50 per week, although this depends on whether you have a money hungry counsellor!!
For more information go to www.cambridge-diet.com, or to find out about a trained counsellor in your area call, 0800 161412 ...
Advantages: Great diet & good for people on the go! Disadvantages: An aquired taste!!
you go back to overeating and making bad food choices.
It can be expensive, although cheaper than its rival LighterLife. It costs around £32.50 per week, although this depends on whether you have a money hungry counsellor!!
For more information go to www.cambridge-diet.com, or to find out about a trained counsellor in your area call, 0800 161412 ...
