If you want to wear a bikini this summer.... head for Cambridge. (The Cambridge Diet)

Member Name: HonestBob

Product:	The Cambridge Diet
Date:	15/06/09 (1858 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to prepare 'meals', no calorie counting nutritionally balanced meals.

Disadvantages: Breath of a thousand Demons

In April of this year I had a life/wardrobe crisis. After a half-term of overindulgence on Easter Eggs I tried on my trousers for work and discovered that only one pair of trousers fitted, and even they had a button missing, a hem hanging down and gave me a really attractive muffin top. To cap it all they were a size 22, the largest I have ever been. I jumped (with great enthusiasm.... not) onto the bathroom scales and discovered I had reached 16st 2.5lbs. That's a stone heavier than two years ago when I was 9 months pregnant with littlest HonestBob (and he was 9lb 9.5oz of that!).

Clearly something had to be done. This wasn't just a wardrobe crisis, this was a life (or death) crisis. Weighing that amount at 5ft 1.5 inches is plain stupid. I know the dangers of obesity. I am not a stupid woman, so why had I let myself pile on so many pounds?

Pondering over the reasons why was pointless, this situation required action, and urgently. I could go out and buy new trousers (size 24 :( no thanks) or I could pull up my socks, bite the bullet and commit myself to dieting. I chose the latter.

I'd been feeling rough for a while. Walking up the stairs at work left me breathless, my knees were killing me, I had dreadful heartburn and even putting my shoes on was becoming an effort. Plus I was finding it difficult keeping up with littlest HonestBob, and that's just not on.

So on the 15th of April (2am to be precise) I sent an email to the lady next-door-but-one, who just happens to be a consultant for the Cambridge Diet. I'd spotted an ad on the rear window of her car a month or so previously and actually spoke to her about it.... saying I would never go on the Cambridge Diet. I'd tried it 22 years ago and it was foul, the shakes only came in 3 or 4 flavours at the time and they were lumpy no matter what way you made them. Funny how attitudes change isn't it!

My email explained that I was now quite desperate and it was the Cambridge Diet or surgery. I'd turned down an invite to a school reunion because I didn't want to be the fattest there and I didn't want to become a social hermit just because I couldn't fit into my clothes. I was also having nightmare visions about fitting the seatbelt on my next flight to London, so much so that I'd booked a train ticket instead.

On the 17th of April I had my first Cambridge Diet consultation. My weight was stilll 16st 2.5lb. I thought I'd be embarrassed having my neighbour weigh and measure me, but actually it was a relief. Getting those numbers down on paper (OK, yellow cardboard Record Card) heightened my resolve to do something about it. She measured my waist, hips, chest, arm and a thigh (oops, wore a skirt to that consultation, but have worn trousers ever since!). She usually takes a photograph during first consultations and presents that to the dieter but I didn't need one, I had a particularly 'attractive' shot of me taken at a gig a week or so before (all part of my wake up call).

After weigh-in and measurements she explained the Cambridge Diet to me and gave me a couple of pamphlets to read at home. I'd already researched the diet on the website www.cambridge-diet.co.uk so had he gist of it in my head already. She then helped me select my 'food' for the week and I also bought a shaker to mix the shakes and soups in. I booked a consultation for the following week and then left for home (a whole two doors away!). The whole first consultation took about 30-40 minutes and each subsequent consultation has taken 15-20 minutes.

The Diet
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There are six steps to the Cambridge Diet, with the first step being divided into A and B:

Step 1: A Sole Source:
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This consists of 415-554 calories acquired from 3 or 4 shakes or soups per day (depending on how fast you want to lose weight, your gender and your level of willpower). No other food is consumed although you should drink a minimum of 2.5 litres of water.

OR

Step 1: B Sole Source Plus:
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This consists of 615 calories and involves either 3 soups/shakes plus a 200kcal meal OR 4 shakes/soups plus 200ml of skimmed milk.

Sole source should be followed for a minimum of 1 week and a maximum of 12 weeks as it is a very low calorie diet (VLCD).

Step 2:
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This consists of 810 calories and requires the dieter to consume 3 shakes/soups plus additional protein rich foods, skimmed milk and some vegetables.

Step 3:
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1000 calories from 2 shakes/soups plus skimmed milk, breakfast, salads for lunch and dinner.

Step 4:
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1200 calories from 2 shakes/soups plus skimmed milk, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Step 5:
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1500 calories from 1 shake/soup plus skimmed milk, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack.

Step 6: Maintenance
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1500+ calories from healthy diet plus your choice of using shakes/soups or not.

I am currently in week 9 of A Sole Source. I am chuffed to be able to say that I haven't 'cheated' once (oh OK then, I 'forgot' and licked the spoon whilst making cakes for the kids on two occasions.......... that confession feels good!). I had one day (the London work trip) when eating normal food was unavoidable, but I discussed it with my counsellor first and she told me to stick to salad and chicken if possible (I ended up with ratatouie and salad) and I still managed to lose weight that week.

The 'food':
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The Cambridge Diet is a primarily a liquid diet consisting of shakes and soups. I won't lie to you and say that it's tasty. Some of the soups are, frankly, disgusting, and some of the shakes are much too sweet, but it is tolerable and my tastebuds got used to the flavours after the first week. It is trial and error as to which flavours you may prefer. I have tried most of them apart from banana flavour, which I despise in all things. As well as the shakes and soups there are two porridge flavours, plain and cinammon and apple flavoured. Apparently these are really popular, but I found them very floury and too thick so I just stick to the shakes and soups. There are bars too, but I have yet to try these. I'm worried that eating chewable food may set me on the path to ruin so will resist these for a while yet.

The flavours:
Shakes can be mixed with hot or cold water. I prefer mine as hot drinks. The flavours I have tried, with my own preference ratings are listed below:

Chocolate 4/5 If left too long this gets a thick skin on top which is not nice.

Cholcoate Mint 4/5 Also develops a skin. The mint is very subtle and quite artificial in flavour.

Chocolate Orange 3/5 Much too sweet.

Strawberry 3/5 Best cold. Very sweet but no mistaking the strawberry flavour.

Butterscotch 2/5 Much too sweet and smells artificial.

Cappucino 2/5 Like many of the shakes, very sweet. Apparently this is better made hot and mixed with coffee. I haven't tried this though as I don't take sugar in coffee.

Soups:
Spicy Tomato 4/5 takes a little getting used to. Has herbs added but I sieve these out. I like my soups either smooth or with big lumps of veg in so the herbs just irritate me.

Cheese and Broccoli -2/5, Yuk, yuk, yuk. Smells like baby posset and doesn't taste much better either.

Vegetable 3/5, quite creamy but has a strange artificial smell. Blindfolded I would not know this was vegetable, but am not sure what I would think it was either!

Lactose free Leek and potato 3/5, this was my favourite but now when I have it I am overwhelmed by the saltiness. Mut be a sign of my tastebuds changing.

Chicken and Mushroom 4/5, this comes with tiny slices of mushroom in it. I sieve these out for the same reason I sieve out the herbs in the spicy tomato.

I'm sure I've missed some of the flavours out, but you get a general gist.

As well as the packet soups and shakes that you must mix for yourself (add hot or cold water) there are also tetra boxes of ready made shakes. These come in Banana, chocolate and strawberry flavours. I take chocolate and strawberry tetra boxes to work as it saves the hassle of mixing and sieving during my lunch break. These are slightly different in flavour to the shakes that you mix yourself. They are thicker and smoother and it is recommended that you increase your water intake if using the boxes. I certainly find them less filling that the packet shakes, but that is partly because there is less in them than the shakes I make at home.

The cost:
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Only the 'food' is charged or. There is no membership or consultation fee. Consultants can set their own prices but there is unlikely to be much variance. My consultant charges £1.80 per soup/shake packet, £2 for porridge and £2 for tetra boxes. I pay around £39 per week. Yes, it's more than I would pay for 'normal' food per week, but it's a hell of a lot cheaper than buying a wardrobe full of size 24 clothes would have been.

The results
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At my last consultation, after 8 weeks on the diet, I had lost 38lb. I'm wearing size 18 jeans (and they are loose). I've lost 14.5 inches from various bit of my body (not just my boobs for a change!!). After an initial surge of weight loss (7lbs in the first week, 5.5lbs in the second week) I have settled in to losing a steady 3lb per week.

The drawbacks
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* I have food dreams nightly, even lettuce dreams!
*My breath is foul beyond belief. I brush my teeth half a dozen times a day and chew gum (not recommended on the diet though) and suck breath freshening mints constantly with little relief. This is a consequence of Ketosis. The diet works by placing the body in ketosis so that it eats away at its fat stores. Do not use the Cambridge Diet if pregnant, or planning to become pregnant as research shows that prolonged ketosis can cause mental retardation that may not appear until the child is 2 years old.
*Socalising is a nightmare. Any meal consisting of 'normal' food has to be planned for. I'm going out for a three course meal in ten days time and am doubting my digestive system's ability to deal with that quantity of solid food after such a long time on liquids.
*This diet should be undertaken under medical supervision and only by those who are severely overweight where the risks of the diet are considered in relation to the risks of remaining morbidly obese. It should not be seen as a long term diet but as one to kick start weight loss or to rapidly reduce BMI where there are considerable dangers associated with remaining so overweight.
*I still have no trousers for work.......... only this time it's because every pair I have swamps me :)

Summary: Willpower required, especially if you have a family to cook for, but the results are worth it.