Why do VLCD's fail?

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Replies

  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    I've read a lot that they always fail, but I'm wondering why?

    They don't "always" fail - they usually fail.

    As does every other form of dieting, including "calorie counting with moderate deficit".

    Failure rates are high because it is hard for humans to self-restrict in the presence of large quantities of affordable, tasty food.
  • roeroe5
    roeroe5 Posts: 27
    VLCD for an extended period of time damage the body, reduce lean body mass and affect brain and body function.
    This statement is far too broad. I feel like someone who weighs 500lbs could go on a year long VLCD and see FAR more health benefits occur than health problems. There is a time and place for a VLCD, and they will work better for some people then a slow and steady weight loss.
    ^^ THIS !!! ^^
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    because we're descended from millions of survivors of food shortages, and the changes that our bodies make in response to a severe or prolonged food shortage are exactly the things that we *don't* want happening when we're trying to diet.... like burning muscle to reduce the body's daily energy demand and make fat stores last as long as possible...... like binge eating (imagine a half starved Homo erectus when they finally get a decent amount of food... he or she will survive best if he or she eats the whole lot as quickly as possible)..... like obsessing about food (again, imagine a Homo erectus in a food shortage... the more mental energy they devote to finding food the more likely they are to actually find some and survive the food shortage);;;; we've inherited these characterisics so that.s how our bodies respond to a big calorie deficit. And it's not what you want to be battling with while dieting.

    Instead, it's better to emulate a mild and short lived food shortage, where you're successfully hunting to get more food, i.e. do strenuous exercise to maintain your muscle mass (used muscle doesn't get burned off in a mild food shortage because used muscle is needed to hunt/gather food, at least in our evolutionary ancestors whose genes we've inherited) while eating just a little less, for slow and steady fat loss, because this increases the likelihood that what you lose will be pure fat...

    that's pretty much why... I'm sure some people will go into the biochemistry of it in a bit more detail, but the bottom line is that our bodies are adapted for surviving food shortages, not for having ripped abs while surrounded by an excess of food in a society where you can telephone for pizza and have it delivered through the living room window directly to your sofa.
    Fat storage is not a vestigial thing, some leftover function from times when going hungry was common.

    People continue to starve to death today because there is no food.

    Here on this board, we are lucky enough to have the opposite problem, but it is happening right now. No need to think about ancestors.

    I didn't say that fat storage was vestigial. Our bodies work the same way our hunter-gatherer ancestors' bodies work, by and large, and all of what any organism inherits are the traits that helped their ancestors survive. People seem to expect their bodies to work in ways that would result in rapidly dying in an actual food shortage, i.e. that they can go on a starvation diet and do x minutes a day workouts and rapidly burn off all their fat while their muscles get bigger.

    But yeah, you're right, for many parts of the world, surviving food shortages is still an issue, so I take your point on that, which is your general point I believe.
    Yes, that was it. We are still hunters/gatherers, just some of us have a much easier time and do our hunting in grocery store aisles, while others are out hunting and fighting in the wild for their food.

    We are all one plane crash, kidnapping, act of war or illness away from having to depend on our fat to get us through...but many people live a hunter/gatherer life now,

    As a species, fat storage is still vital. :)

    That's all I meant. Sorry if it didn't seem that way. :)

    that's cool :) and you're right :)
  • TestingFun01
    TestingFun01 Posts: 89 Member
    Can someone please post a kitty gif already??? :laugh:
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    Can someone please post a kitty gif already??? :laugh:
    Was that your purpose for asking the question or is that just to bump it? Because you know you can google 'kitty gif' and go to town and spare the readers the scrolling, right? :ohwell:
  • TestingFun01
    TestingFun01 Posts: 89 Member
    Can someone please post a kitty gif already??? :laugh:
    Was that your purpose for asking the question or is that just to bump it? Because you know you can google 'kitty gif' and go to town and spare the readers the scrolling, right? :ohwell:

    Yeah but on the first page (I think) they said the kitty gifs will start, and they never did. :ohwell: The kitty gifs was a LIE!
  • BornxVillain
    BornxVillain Posts: 79 Member
    Simple, because all diets you submerse yourself into are not diets at all- they are lifestyle changes and should be able to be maintained even after you have finished losing all of the weight you needed to lose. If you starve yourself of proper nutrients, as well as macros, your body grows weaker and more inable to burn these calories. So, persay when you want to jump back up in calories, you will most likely shoot up in weight also. Your body needs sustainability, which is why fad diets do not ever work.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    Can someone please post a kitty gif already??? :laugh:

    no kitty gifs. Just Homo erectus

    350.jpg

    8557318152_5ca59ab2cc.jpg

    medium_Homo_Erectus.jpg?0

    okay maybe a pleistocene kitty gif then....

    sabre_toothed_tiger.jpg
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Can someone please post a kitty gif already??? :laugh:
    Was that your purpose for asking the question or is that just to bump it? Because you know you can google 'kitty gif' and go to town and spare the readers the scrolling, right? :ohwell:
    I think the OP has been bumping the thread.
  • TestingFun01
    TestingFun01 Posts: 89 Member
    Can someone please post a kitty gif already??? :laugh:

    no kitty gifs. Just Homo erectus

    350.jpg

    8557318152_5ca59ab2cc.jpg

    medium_Homo_Erectus.jpg?0

    okay maybe a pleistocene kitty gif then....

    sabre_toothed_tiger.jpg

    Whoa...
  • 3wdl
    3wdl Posts: 45
    VLCD's often fail because the people doing them don't take the time to address the underlying issues that got them where they were in the first place. It takes more than just meal replacements, it takes a willingness to address psychological issues, and dietary issues combined - if these aren't addressed then the subject will just go back to old habits and the weight rebound is inevitable.

    I'd agree completely with this. For what it's worth I am 4 weeks into a VLCD called Lighter Life. I started at 300lb and have lost 31lb so far, with the overall aim of losing 125lb by the time I go into maintenance. The reason that I picked Lighter Life was because of the weekly group sessions that do go into the underlying issues and you also have to complete an 8 week management plan to slowly get you back onto food and ensure that you make the right choices once you have finished.

    I guess we'll wait and see if

    a) I am able to keep it up for a long time
    b) I reach my goal
    c) I am able to keep it up afterwards

    I also plan on using MFP once I have finished to help maintain and monitor what I am eating, etc.

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