Week on, week off meal replacement diet> work or not??
ashilda
Posts: 13 Member
So I've been on ww/ss/cal counting/sugar reducing etc etc, all sorts of diets over the last 12mths, no matter what I stick to I only lose a 4-5lb over 12wks odd. I do stick to the diet properly and always give it a few months, I get de-motivated by lack of progress and quit, the weight comes back super fast!
The only diet I ever lost weight on was a meal replacement diet, but I cant stick to that long term, I'm wondering if i do a week on meal replacement and a week of cal counting repeated would that work or would I just be gaining and losing the same few pounds, would it be torture getting into ketosis over and over?
Have a holiday booked and really really need to lose weight!!
The only diet I ever lost weight on was a meal replacement diet, but I cant stick to that long term, I'm wondering if i do a week on meal replacement and a week of cal counting repeated would that work or would I just be gaining and losing the same few pounds, would it be torture getting into ketosis over and over?
Have a holiday booked and really really need to lose weight!!
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Replies
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I don't know why you are unable to lose weight by counting calories. It sounds like a mental thing. But yes, if a meal replacement diet works for you, switching between that and counting calories can work, as long as you don't overeat during the week that you are counting calories.
What you might try instead is to figure out how many calories you are consuming when you are doing the meal replacement thing and then set that as your goal for when you are counting calories. If you still to the goal, you'll lose weight while counting calories.0 -
You would probably lose weight, but you'd likely gain it all back just as quickly once you were done. You should try and find something that is sustainable for your lifestyle so that once the weight is gone you can keep it gone. Doing something that doesn't prepare you for the after will keep you in the same cycle. My personal recommendation would be to get a food scale and log absolutely everything you eat or drink, making sure to keep at the calories MFP gives you. It's simple, but it works.0
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Read the getting started threads, weigh and log everything you eat. Meal replacements foods are not fun or tasty, food is fun and tasty! Your weight loss should be about a lifestyle change, a marathon not a sprint. So I'd advise trying to stick to calorie control and exercise, form some good habits rather than just focusing on the scale0
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If you cannot lose weight by counting calories, you are not counting properly. Meal replacements are helping you because someone else is doing the counting for you. Get a food scale, spend some time logging everything you eat, counting in weight, not guessing, and you will have the same results.0
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I've only been cal counting for 10 days, I've lost 1lb. I came to mfp from weight watchers where I had lost 3-4lb in a cpl of months, went to slimming world right before ww, where I lost 5lb in 13wks, Cal counting is more accurate a measure than ww points or sw style so I imagine I would lose a little quicker sticking as am eating much less than sw/ww (1370cal allowance for 1lb a wk loss). But I do find it hard to get cals that low when I am used to eating sw/ww where fruit is free to eat etc, I'm meant to eat 1200cal to lose 1.5lb a wk but cant get cals that low! 1600 seems to be a normal diet day for me.
I've tried meal replacement and lose really quickly, but then quit and go crazy! I have a holiday in 17wks so am thinking either wk on mrp ,wk of cal counting to 1370cals or maybe just 4 wks stretch on mrp then go back to cal counting....for a boost or kick start to weight loss, just unsure it will work. I dont want to lose a stone in 4wks mrp then spend another 4 wks cal counting to slowly gain back what I have lost.
Should point out, I'm only 5' so cal allowance really low and also have PCOS which makes gaining weight easy and losing very difficult. Cals on mrp are only 500 per day, thats the only reason I lose on it, I also quite like the taste of the milkshakes.
Wonder if anyone else has done mrp for only a month and kept it off or currently doing it 5:2 style or wk on wk off??0 -
Honestly sounds like a highway to failure to me
Sorry
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I've only been cal counting for 10 days, I've lost 1lb. I came to mfp from weight watchers where I had lost 3-4lb in a cpl of months, went to slimming world right before ww, where I lost 5lb in 13wks, Cal counting is more accurate a measure than ww points or sw style so I imagine I would lose a little quicker sticking as am eating much less than sw/ww (1370cal allowance for 1lb a wk loss). But I do find it hard to get cals that low when I am used to eating sw/ww where fruit is free to eat etc, I'm meant to eat 1200cal to lose 1.5lb a wk but cant get cals that low! 1600 seems to be a normal diet day for me.
I've tried meal replacement and lose really quickly, but then quit and go crazy! I have a holiday in 17wks so am thinking either wk on mrp ,wk of cal counting to 1370cals or maybe just 4 wks stretch on mrp then go back to cal counting....for a boost or kick start to weight loss, just unsure it will work. I dont want to lose a stone in 4wks mrp then spend another 4 wks cal counting to slowly gain back what I have lost.
Should point out, I'm only 5' so cal allowance really low and also have PCOS which makes gaining weight easy and losing very difficult. Cals on mrp are only 500 per day, thats the only reason I lose on it, I also quite like the taste of the milkshakes.
Wonder if anyone else has done mrp for only a month and kept it off or currently doing it 5:2 style or wk on wk off??
Move more to earn more calories
So you have 1200... Take a 40 minute brisk walk and you get an extra 200 or so0 -
So I've been on ww/ss/cal counting/sugar reducing etc etc, all sorts of diets over the last 12mths, no matter what I stick to I only lose a 4-5lb over 12wks odd. I do stick to the diet properly and always give it a few months, I get de-motivated by lack of progress and quit, the weight comes back super fast!
The only diet I ever lost weight on was a meal replacement diet, but I cant stick to that long term, I'm wondering if i do a week on meal replacement and a week of cal counting repeated would that work or would I just be gaining and losing the same few pounds, would it be torture getting into ketosis over and over?
Have a holiday booked and really really need to lose weight!!
Ashilda:
Do you weigh your food?
Do you log everything you eat?
Do you ensure you are accurately calculating your intake by doing your own research and reading packages?
The only required to lose weight is a calorie deficit, and you can do it eating food you love.0 -
I have PCOS. I have lost 1st10lb in 99 days using the CICO method. I am 5ft2.
You need to be accountable for the fact that you are eating too much. We cannot blame our condition for the rest of our lives. Our ovaries do not force foods in our mouths. We do.
Sounds harsh but I've become accountable. Accepted I had an unhealthy attitude to food and have now changed my life around.
Meal replacement diets do nothing good. Yep massive weight loss in short space of time but you have said it yourself. You put the weight back on because you don't eat well with normal food.
Add me if you'd like some support. Happy to keep you motivated
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SLLRunner yep, counted points on ww, found diet quite easy as fruit was free to eat endlessly, points were enough for meals and snacks, stuck to 100%, same with sw, followed their rulles religiously....if I add up an average day of sw/ww then I am going way over my 1370 mfp cal allowance for 1lb a wk loss, so no surprises I wasnt losing! Counting cals may be best way of losing weight if I can wean myself off sw/ww way of life and eat a bit less!
Yes Aimee I am accountable, I've said I eat too much, not hugely too much mind! I cant ignore that pcos does make it difficult for me, not an excuse just a fact, If I stuck to ww/sw without pcos then I am certain I would be a whole lot slimmer now, watched those diets work wonders for other people who were doing just the same as me.
I'm happy to calorie count but with just 17wks till our holiday I am panicking and dont want to waste another 3mths on cal counting like I feel I have wasted time on sw/ww since January. I KNOW I will lose weight on meal replacement as have done in the past, what I havent done in the past is come off it sensibly, hopefully lesson learnt and I would this time!
I've read stories of people who have got to their goal weight and stayed there through meal replacement diets, I understand the dislike of them, but think I am going to give it a go. If it doesnt work then I've wasted 4 wks...no big deal I've wasted the last 4mths!0 -
I don't see what your problem is? You are losing weight and that's excellent! You need to get it out of your mind that you need to lose 1+ lbs per week, you are doing just fine. You said the only diet you ever lose weight on is on meal replacement right AFTER you spoke about losing 4-5lbs in 12 weeks while not on meal replacement. Stop being so hard on yourself, any weight loss is an accomplishment, you don't need to lose 10 lbs in 10 weeks to be successful at it.
Just keep working on your calorie deficit and don't be discouraged by slow loss, instead be encouraged by any loss at all! You need to stick to it and stop jumping ship every time something doesn't work as fast as you want it to, because you jumping ship just appears to be you putting the weight you lost back on and starting from scratch again. Don't focus on the holiday and instead focus on changing you and creating a more healthy, sustainable lifestyle for yourself. You can have fun on a holiday while you are overweight, you don't need to be fit to enjoy your vacation.
Meal replacement isn't going to work, because you are going to lose weight quickly (a lot of it will be water weight) and then as soon as you start eating real food again - whether that be on your vacation or right before your vacation - you will probably see a very quick gain of 5 lbs or so.0 -
You're right Nicole, hard not to compare to other people, I think thats why I jump ship, I got fed up of people at diet clubs assuming and suggesting I was cheating as other losing far more than me.
Had plenty of holidays at this weight and doesnt bother me greatly but this holiday is Florida and will be tonnes of walking in humid heat, I need to be fit and slimmer so I dont slow dont the kids!!
Maybe I will give cal counting a few wks, but try much harder and exercise too, see how that works before I commit to buying any mrp products, just the easy way to guaranteed loss which looks so tempting right now.0 -
is the 500 kcal diet medically supervised? If not, it needs to be.
I think tighten up on your counting (with PCOS you probably need to be even better about weighing everything, not eating out much, etc. than the average person).
It's normal to compare yourself, but generally the opposite of helpful. You've been on a merry-go-round, what are the downsides to deciding to take it slow in a way that you could see yourself doing long term? What good could come from that approach?0
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