elljak

I did the Lighter Life diet about 2 years ago - It wasn't easy and I only managed 9 weeks, but lost 35 lbs in that time. It was great - at the time!! I've managed to keep about half of it off, but am still at 238 lbs, and it seems to have affected my metabolic rate.

I have talked to others who have done it and quite a few have had the same problem.

I do loads of exercise - cardio and weights and am fairly fit (relatively speaking!). It worked fine at the time but I am now struggling BIG TIME!

Have others had this problem with VLCDs, and does anybody know how to kick start the metabolism???

CoeyCoey

Hi Elljak,

The best way to lose weight and keep it off is a lifestyle change. Any "diet" will just be a temporary solution until you decide to stop the diet and return to your lifestyle.

I tried every diet in the book and eventually gained more weight then I lost. I slowly ballooned up to 240 pounds. When I switched to a whole foods plant-based diet, which is my permanent lifestyle, the weight came of quickly and has stayed off for years. At present, I am working on getting my six pack to show which is something I never thought I would have.

rpmcduff

elljak;

Others have had success with carb cycling or Zig Zag dieting. The idea is that there are low carb days and high carb days. Since the body is still getting the nutrients it seeks on a regular basis it does not need to slow down to acheive stasis. Search the forums here on Fitday or google carb cycling if you are interested.

I agree with CoeyCoey that the best diet is a lifestyle change. Good luck.

bobbienne

Did you take HCG with it? I have been reading that the hcg accompanied by vlcd prevents the metabolism from slowing down and helps to keep the weight off...I never tried it personally though.

Lizzycritter

I have heard this too, and yet people keep coming back for "another round" of HCG. Personally I don't buy it, and coming from a medical background I don't believe it's possible to absorb enough HCG orally to do much of anything. I think it works because people "Believe" it works. It's a placebo effect. I think HCG diets are medically sanctioned anorexia. You can't deny anorexia works, doesn't mean it's a good idea. That's just my opinion, and I try very hard to stay off the HCG posts because I know if I read them I'll just get pissed off and post something not so nice

changeisgood29

I am very much with Lizzy on this one and I'll leave it at that.
I wrote just the sentence above, and then decided to share a bit more of my perspective on this...
I was anorexic (and skinny) many moons ago as a young adult (16-17 y/o) and doing so only gave me more food/weight/body image demons, as if that were possible! Now, for the first time in my life, food is not my issue. I am losing weight slowly, but I'm losing weight and feel better than I have in years despite still having a long way to go.
I don't know if being anorexic (I "lived" like that for a bit over a year before my family intervened) screwed up my metabolism or not; I'm 29 and it's harder to lose weight now than it was when I was younger, but I think that's just the nature of getting older.
So... just my 2 cents from my experience - unless you are under constant doctor supervision because you could literally die at any moment from being morbidly obese, I hardly think "VLCDs" (I think 'anorexia' is the more apt term) is a good idea.

LisaAnnie

Elijak, 4 things you can do to boost your metabolism:
1) strength train, build more muscles,
2) cardio with HIT (high intensity intervals=short burst of intensity mixed into the workout),
3) eat frequent small high fiber meals,
and 4) drink plenty of water.

lordmage

agreed and ill add one more routine you can consider some call it portion control. i call it "Push-away's" they go hand in hand with Push ups. the trick is to eat till your about 80% of good foods. do that only as needed not any more. in other words push away from the table if you think you have not had enough. usually the stomach is on a slow curve to the brain. by that i mean eat slower while eating (good foods) and only eat about 80 % of what you could eat.