Smart Feeder - Light sensor values

[Tiggy]

has anyone tried it? does it work, is it worth the expense? what do you all think?

[jlo]

I know that Penguinmad had a huge success story with it. If you look her up, she has a blog. I haven't seen her on the forum for a while though.

[Space Chick]

A girl who lives on my street lost a lot of weight on it, but once she went back to eating real food put a far bit back on.

 

To me, any diet that stops you eating conventional food can't be right

[Griffin]

A friend started off doing it but switched to Cambridge because it's cheaper. She lost about six stones and has kept it off.

[Tiggy]

I've got a couple of stone to shift before I have surgery on my knee, I've cut out booze - all over christmas & new year & didnt lose an oz I haven't been so mobile for the last 2 years so the combination of that & a few courses of prednisilone for my horrible asthma havn't helped at all, I suppose drastic dieting is not good but Im just going to get bigger & bigger after the op if I dont try something soon. Its crept up on me

[Lesley]

I read a report recently about the owner of LL - a very large woman apparently, which I find a bit worrying

[Tiggy]

I read a report recently about the owner of LL - a very large woman apparently, which I find a bit worrying

 

 

dosnt sound good

[chelsea]

I think there are some pro's to it if you can stick to it and can afford it

 

I have read of some side affects though that you may want to consider.

 

I did Slimfast last summer and did very well (would not recommend this for long term ) but is an excellent "kick start" to weightloss and I lost over 2 stones. Am starting it again next week combining with a regular exercise routine. Once I am on the way with regular weight loss again I will ween myself off the SF.

[Tiggy]

middle age is not fun at all, up until a few years ago I could eat whatever I liked & stayed size 8-10, then everything went haywire, a friend is now 68 and had exactly the same thing happen to her, then at 55 she gave up work, went to the gym, moved to Devon got a dog started walking every day & is back to her normal slim self - so there's the answer give up work & get a dog OK but who's going to pay my mortgage, its official work makes you FAT

[Seagazer]

My OH is on it. He went on it last year and lost a lot of weight, he looked really gaunt and not at all well. People kept asking him if he had an illness Trouble is he is a comfort eater and as soon as back on normal food puts it all back on again. He's back on it now, he's lost a couple of stone and he wants to lose a couple more but I think its too much.

 

He is always, always cold. I've just been out in the garden, fox came in the garden, came back in, we've had a chat. His hands are freezing, he's been inside all the time.

 

Also you can get smelly breath on this as well - not too pleasant.

 

I would advise you to just cut down on your food or use a diet that uses 'normal' food. I don't agree with his lighter life diet at all. I've told him that but we have to differ on it. I'm sure as soon as he's finished it this time his weight will start to creep up again.

[Tiggy]

its difficult, we all want a quick fix, my common sense tells me if probably isn't a good idea, a few weeks may be OK for a kick start. Im just not burning up much at the moment, & I love my food OH cooks beautiful meals but has no idea about portion sizes

[Willow]

I used it for a little while a couple of years ago to shift some extra weight that went on when I was immobilised after an op. It was very effective very quickly but I've put that weight back on over the last year due to stress eating

I wouldn't do it again unless I was desperate to lose weight very quickly for any reason. I know sensible eating is the way to go

[docsquid]

The problem with all rapid weight loss solutions is that you lose more lean body mass than fat because a severe energy restriction will lead your body to adapt as if to starvation. And it is lean body mass that burns up energy when you are at rest - fat doesn't burn much at rest at all. So when you put weight back on, it will go on as fat. You will weigh the same, but you will have more fat and you will require less energy to maintain your body weight, making it harder to shift next time.

 

That is why dieting of any kind is bad for you.

 

Your best solution if you have a knee operation is to eat a healthy diet. Five portions of fruit and veg, plenty of wholegrains, and mono-unsaturated fat rather than saturated fat. Always eat breakfast and drink plenty of water.

 

And keep active. Believe me, going for a walk on crutches will burn up a lot of energy! I spent much of last March/April/May at a wildlife site cutting back brambles by hand while on crutches and it really is much harder than being able to walk! Also, you can do some resistance exercise for the upper body - crutches are good for this too! Builds up your arm, back and shoulder muscles!

 

As soon as you are cleared to weight-bear after the knee operation, undertake a structured walking programme aimed to increase your activity to minimum 30 minutes per day.

 

Lighter life and any meal replacement program is an unsustainable dieting strategy that is almost guaranteed to make you gain weight in the longer term unless you also make changes to your normal way of eating and levels of activity.

[Egluntyne]

My OH is on it. He went on it last year and lost a lot of weight, he looked really gaunt and not at all well. People kept asking him if he had an illness

 

A colleague of mine has lost nearly 6 stone in the past year whilst on this diet.

 

Trouble is, she looks absolutely terrible. Lined, shrivelled and her teeth seem to be too big for her face now. She looks jaundiced too.......and is always complaining of the cold. Even in the Summer (remember that?) she had a cardigan and even a scarf on some days.

 

I'd try another method if I were you.

[BarbaraJ]

My OH is on it. He went on it last year and lost a lot of weight, he looked really gaunt and not at all well. People kept asking him if he had an illness

 

A colleague of mine has lost nearly 6 stone in the past year whilst on this diet.

 

Trouble is, she looks absolutely terrible. Lined, shrivelled and her teeth seem to be too big for her face now. She looks jaundiced too.......and is always complaining of the cold. Even in the Summer (remember that?) she had a cardigan and even a scarf on some days.

 

I'd try another method if I were you.

 

That would scare me enough not to do it, sounds very dodgy to me!

 

I know how to loose weight: eat better, eat less and exercise worked for me to loose 2 stone but have put some back on because i'm not doing those 3 things i don't exercise because the only thing i really enjoy doing is walking, did loads with the kids in the summer but have lapsed with that and didnt really enjoy the gym which i used to loose it the 1st time.

I honestly dont think theres any special way (my opinion i hasten to add) i eat too much and don't exercise enough at the moment so i have put on weight!

[Alis girls]

friend lost a lot of wt on it but spent a lot of time weeing due to fluid intake. she didnt put too much on but had a lot of bruises whilst on it and I insisted she get bloods checked. need regular blood pressure checks whilst on it and dr permission

[Clur]

I'm looking into Tesco Diets at the moment as I need to lose 3 stone and want to do it sensibly. They claim you can lose 1 stone in 8 weeks, but as always there are a few caveats. Is something like that any help to you?

[docsquid]

Any diet that claims you will lose a lot of weight quickly will NOT lose fat, it will lose lean body mass, and that is the last thing you want to do. The faster you lose weight, the more you will lose lean body mass and the faster weight will go back on once you stop the diet. You really should aim for developing healthy eating habits and activity levels that let you lose no more than 0.5 to 1 lb a week (you may lose up to 2lb in the first week, but much of that is water associated with stored muscle glycogen).

 

Any faster than this and the body puts itself into starvation mode, storing fat and losing lean body mass because the latter uses up energy which the body knows it doesn't have. That is why repeated dieting is prone to make you fatter. You can mitigate the loss of lean body mass by exercise including muscle-building weights exercises, but you can't prevent it completely.

 

But then if you think about it, it takes a long time to put weight on, so you should aim to take a long time to lose it again. Slow loss of weight without dieting but by gradually changing your food choices for healthy ones and increasing your level of activity is the best way.

[Jools]

Never a truer word (or lots of words!!) spoken