The "Lighter Life" Plan- Starvation Diet?

I'm not sure whether or not this diet is a UK only thing, or if they have it in the US, but it seems to go against all the rules of healthy, sustainable weight loss.

This is a diet that is advertised on TV and in magazines and (from what I understand) Is very expensive. I combines a very low calorie diet (VLCD) with meeting attendance.

http://www.lighterlife.com

There are two programmes, one for people with a BMI >30 and another for people with a BMI of 25>29.9. It seems ridiculous as for 100 days you do not eat any 'proper' food- only water, soup sachets and milk shakes.

You have 550 calories a day!!!!!!

Yet the wesite says it's successful, and endorsed by the medical profession. How could this be so? And wouldn't people literally be starving the excess weight off? What about starvation mode and damage to the metabolism?

Am I being a bit stupid here, or does this seem like people are paying a lot of money to starve???

Has anybody had any experience with this? Or any opinions?

Yeah, I hate that advert on the tele! I couldn't believe it's only 550cals. This is awful. I understand from the adverts that you have to get your doctors go-ahead before you can join, and you need to be "severly overweight" but when you are bigger, you can eat more calories and lose anyway!! It's well stupid.

Have had no experience of it personally, but I'll say it again, I think it's well stupid!! ha.

Have you seen that programme on C4, supersize vs. superskinny? That's kind of the same principle, although I can see how swapping diets for a week, even if it is unhealthy, can help people understand where they're going wrong...

I fully advocate eating more to lose! It works!

What a disaster.

if you want to gain 30 lbs fast, try to eat 550 calories a day.

Once you start binging uncontrolably you'll understand how that can be.  When I was eating 800 I would wake up in the middle of the night and eat like a zombie and then pass out.  LOL

Just to play devil's advocate- it's possible that their special mixes are fortified with a ton of vitamins and stuff so that you are getting  "balanced" if not "Good" food.  Still sounds like crap to me though.

tealparadise - I get ya, also, I don't think you stay on the "starve yourself diet" for too long... from what I read, it seems that once you "learn" new ways to eat (not emotionally etc.) with help from your "special counsellor" you get to eat "normal" food again...

I too still think it's a load of crap.

There was a lady who was featured in Closer magazine....or should I say her grieving family were featured. She had been on this diet and died as a result. Apparently some of the advice given my lighter life is to drink tons and tons of water. Obviously good advice if done in a healthy manner but they had brain washed her so much into the drinking water thing that she sat and drank and drank and drank and drank.....until became so ill that she went into a coma and died. I can't remember what its called when you drink so much water that your brain swells. I know its very rare but thats what happened to her as a direct result of being on the diet. I can't believe they're even legal.....550 calories???

There's no wonder desperate people fall into these fad diet traps when they're advertised all over the telly 24/7. 'This was me 6 weeks ago!' Yeah and just wait until you fall off your stupidly low calorie diet and end up twice as fat! (obviously they don't advertise that bit....)

Original Post by linz78:

There was a lady who was featured in Closer magazine....or should I say her grieving family were featured. She had been on this diet and died as a result. Apparently some of the advice given my lighter life is to drink tons and tons of water. Obviously good advice if done in a healthy manner but they had brain washed her so much into the drinking water thing that she sat and drank and drank and drank and drank.....until became so ill that she went into a coma and died. I can't remember what its called when you drink so much water that your brain swells. I know its very rare but thats what happened to her as a direct result of being on the diet. I can't believe they're even legal.....550 calories???

 It's called water intoxication, and the site does say now not to drink too much at one time (probably beacuse of that ladies death).

Wow, check this link out.- Seems these LighterLife people don't care about their customers. Here is a snippet.

"Another former LighterLife dieter Paul Kendrick was admitted to hospital with water poisoning, having drunk too much in a bid to relieve constipation caused by the diet.  He asked LighterLife to warn people against drinking too much water but, counsellors told BBC researchers that it was "not possible" to drink too much water."

Anyways  tealparadise the site says the foodpacks provide 100% of all needed vitamins and such, so you were right about that. Bit it is way to extreme to me as well. I would much rather eat what i want and lose at a slower pace then this stuff.

I always knew water intoxication existed!  Nobody would believe me!  Ha!
But yes, it sounds like a terrible terrible thing, if only because I'd think there would also be some uncomfortable bloating involved.

I completely agree with what caloriecount.com says about starving and messing up your metabolism.  I would definitely expect to gain weight rather than lose. =/

My boss, who was 22 stone, went on the lighter life diet and lost 8 stone over some months, and a year and half later has still not put any weight back on. She did say, however, that she thought success or failure was totally down to the personal counsellor you had. During the dieting period she said that after a few weeks she got used to the feeling of not really eating and was doing plenty of exercise. Her impression was that it would work for very obese people.

Personally it seems a little extreme to me, but it worked for her.

There are many ways of losing weight, but not all are healthy!

Yes this diet probably does work, but you won't feel good for it, you won't have any energy and you certainly won't feel healthy.

One problem with losing weight is that it doesn't happen overnight.  Even on this starvation regime it takes 100 days.  If you don't see results right away, and your emotions rule over your common sense, you'll end up chucking a good weight loss plan in search of a "better" one.  Soup and milkshakes, cabbage soup, lemonade and cayenne, 0 carbs, whatever.  

Stand back and look at them for what they are: Monty Python skits!

Here Here!

I know the original criteria for joining was aimed at very obese people with a BMI of over 30 or more than 3 stone (42 pounds) to lose. But I know for a fact the heavier you are, the more calories you can eat!

The introduction of 'lighter life light' (or whatever it is called) is aimed at 'overweight' people with 14 or more pounds to lose, and seems equally extreme.

The plan stresses that people with receive 100% of their RDA of vitamins/minerals. But still- it would really interfere with their metabolism!!!

Hello Laura, and everyone else who's replied. 

I almost passed this page by, but then I thought I'd reply, as there's a bit of misunderstanding, and no replies from anyone who's done the LL diet.  I've done it, and I thought I'd tell you how I'm getting on.

To give you a bit of background, I'd started a fairly typical cycle of boom and bust dieting -- eating like a pig, then trying different diets, with varying amounts of exercise.  My weight went up and down, but each time it went up, it went up a bit more!  I found myself eating a lot, but never really being hungry.  Sometimes I would be full-up, and I'd still be forcing it in!

In December I had to buy new suits, because my current ones had got too tight, and I found to my horror that I'd reached the largest size at M&S. I realised that I was really at the end of the line -- I'd gone up to 18 stone, and honestly didn't know where to go from here. 

To cut a long story short, I was talking to an acquaintance of mine -- a big fellow, by any measure -- and in the course of conversation he mentioned that he had lost more than 8 stone with Lighterlife.  The program had in turn been recommended to him by an acquaintance of his, and he'd given it a try. 

I talked to him for ages about his experience on LL, and it became quite clear that this was very different to most diets, and I was impressed enough to find my local LL counsellor. 

The plan consists of food packs & counselling.  There's a weekly group therapy session, plus homework.  Food wise, you get food packs provided by Lighterlife, water, tea made from leaves, coffee, and tablet sweeteners.  There are also some water flavouring powders available.  You're also allowed salt (in limited quantities), pepper and Tabasco.

The food packs are either soup, milkshake, porridge or bars.  There are quite a lot of flavours, and I've tried them all!  Some are actually really lush, others are okay, some are not particularly to my taste.  I've found, though, over the weeks, that I've gone through phases!  The total calorie intake is about 750 calories per day. 

Each pack is supposed to provide a quarter of everything your body needs in a day, four packs providing the whole day's nutrition.  I have no way to judge if that's true of course, but certainly the list of ingredients (vitamins and minerals) is very comprehensive. 

The plan costs £66 / week.  My first reaction when my acquaintance told me that, was that it was quite expensive.  However, I did some sums and realised that I was practically spending that each week on snacks -- a pie here and there every time I bought petrol, or a chocolate bar here and there, sarneys, fizzy drinks, etc., not to mention our normal food shopping budget.  Of course, you also get counselling and excellent materials, and suddenly the £66 doesn't seem that expensive!

So, what's a typical day?  Today I've had:

• porridge for breakfast (porridge is a real life-saver, as it's a "normal" sort of meal, though quite small of course!)
• crispy raspberry & cranberry bar for lunch (another really nice item, and one I wish was generally available!)
• vegetable soup for dinner (this is quite a good flavour, nice and hearty, with plenty of vegetables in)
• Thai chilli soup for supper, spiced up with plenty of Tabasco!

On the water front, I've had about a litre of fizzy water today, with orange and lemon flavour (provided by Lighterlife).  I've also had four cups of cafetiere coffee (black, of course!), and a cup of earl grey tea.

Do I feel hungry?  No, not at all.  I feel full and quite content.  This might seem like a revelation, but it's not the thing that I'm most excited about...

The best thing about Lighterlife is the counselling.  The whole point of Lighterlife, if you like, is to help you identifying the issues you have with eating -- why for example was I stuffing my face with pies when I was full up already?  I didn't know back then, but I do now!  The counsellor and the materials they provide, explore lots of different mental facets of overeating.  Some of them are relevant, and some aren't -- but they're all interesting.  I've learned more about eating (and why we eat) than I ever knew existed!  Jealousy, boredom, control, anxiety, habits, friends, pressures, family, childhood -- there's a lot to learn.

So, the thing that I've valued about LL is that it's a mental journey rather than a physical one. 

I've done various diets before.  They took me from stuffing my face with pies to stuffing my face with bacon & eggs, or cabbage soup, or whatever.  LL on the other hand, forces you to face up to things: a bit of hunger (yes, being hungry from time to time is part of being slim), and some real choices -- you can quit Lighterlife at any time, and have a snack... but there are no free foods to fall back on -- when you decide to have a nice comforting cake, it affects your diet's progress.

When a part of me screams "give me chocolate", I now have to listen to the voice that says calmly, "you're not hungry, you're bored, and you're still going to be bored after that chocolate bar -- have a cup of tea and chat with someone for five minutes instead".

I do get cravings from time to time, and it's difficult sometimes to see people eating lovely foods, or to cook delicious suppers that I know I can't eat!  However, the things I crave now aren't cakes, or chocolate, or whatever -- they're decent things: avocados, walnuts, weird things like that!

Of course, it's all very well, having that theoretical control now.  However, I know it's working. I've had several periods of a few days "off" Lighterlife -- Christmas, for example, or when I've had friends coming to stay -- and it has given me a chance to really find out if my thinking has changed.  I've been able to eat in a normal way, and make the same normal choices that every slim person makes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's not going to be plain sailing at the end of it.  Lighterlife offers lifetime free support... and perhaps I'll need it from time to time.  But that's fine.  For the first time in as many years as I can remember, I feel in control of eating, rather than the other way around. 

As for my progress, I've lost about 4 1/2 stone so far, since early December.  I could have done it quicker, but, as I said, I've had various weekends here and there where I didn't do Lighterlife.  What that means in size terms is that I've gone from being an XL-size shirt to an M, and from a 40" waist to a 34".  My blood pressure has gone from about 160/110 to about 130/85.  My doctor's over the moon, and my 12 stone goal seems very achievable all of a sudden.  My aching knees and ankles have gone, and so has my snoring apparently!

Incidentally, I should state that the LL programme is only available for as long as you continue to go and get a four-weekly checkup by your GP, if you're on medication, or practice nurse, if you're not.  You also have to have a checkup and get a declaration from your GP before you start the programme. 

Physically, I've changed a great deal, but I also have so much more energy than I did.  I feel energised in a way that I didn't think was possible on such little amount of food.  They tell you that, of course, but I didn't actually think it would be the case.  I'm a lot more active than I was, and everything's easy.  Work, play, DIY, and, of course, sex!  Even walking around was tiring before, but now I just feel so much... lighter.  I know that sounds obvious, but it's the best way to put it.  I feel light! 

Funnily enough, the other day I bought ten litre-bottles of fizzy water.  I was carrying it through the supermarket in a basket, and it was really heavy.  It's 10 kilos.  It's quite an effort.  Not unliftable or anything, but not a weight you can carry without thinking about it.  It struck me that it's less than half of what I've lost (about 27 kilos?).  Imagine carrying around 27 litres of water all the time.  It's no wonder everything was such a struggle.

Hopefully this gives you a good insight as to what it's all about.  I suppose it's all rather biased, because I've had good results!  However, people are very keen to jump on the slightest bit of bad news about a diet -- not just this one, but any diet.  We're a nation that likes to find the worst in everything!  There was a story about someone who died during, or after, doing this diet, but it doesn't seem that surprising to me.  I expect lots of people die jogging, or going to the gym, or overeating bacon, or broccoli for that matter.

I suppose it's quite "extreme" in a sense, and there are all sorts of people telling me that!  It's interesting to find out how many people are telling me that it's not healthy, but not one of them mentioned to me how unhealthy it was to be carrying around 5 or 6 stone of extra weight.

For my part, I'm very happy with the help that I've had from my counsellor, and my fellow group members (a constant source of amusement and support!), and I'll leave the Lighterlife programme a changed man. 

Sorry to make it such a long post.  I've not written anything like this before, and it just sort of flowed!  If you have any other questions, I'll try and answer them.

James

Hmmm.

Perhaps it's me, after all I am in marketing. But the above post from Modeef, (No. 13), sounds a little too much like an advert.

The sort of speil that rookie salesmen are taught using the feel/felt/found principle:

I know how you FEEL, I FELT the same, but I FOUND.....

Classic yet totally uninspired marketing, either from a Lighter Life counsellor, or a Lighter Life employee, perhaps?

Well, that was an hour of my life I won't get back!  I've not written anything about my diet progress before, and I've not really spoken about it much to anyone either.  When I started writing the other night it took ages, and it was quite cathartic.  I tried to set out a comprehensive and honest appraisal of my experience and the results I've had so far.  Perhaps there's so much "feel", "felt" and "found" in there because of my experiences over the past three months. 

For you to come back and say that it is "classic yet totally uninspired marketing" misses the point entirely.  Your accusation is facile.  I have nothing to do with Lighterlife, FYI -- not that my protestation will carry any weight with you, I suppose.  All you've achieved is to sully my open review, which doesn't really benefit anyone. 

I'm sorry, Modeef, if you really are genuine - but your post did sound very much like the marketing pieces that you get on the internet. And the fact that is was your only post made me even more suspicious.

FYI, I am well aware of the Lighter Life diet, and all the other diets out there. In fact I work in the health promotion business. I have a BA in Marketing, and a BSc in Psychology, and a MSc in Health Promotion. I worked in a marketing environment for many years, before retraining in psychology and health psychology, and using my knowledge of marketing to promote healthy eating behaviours.

The counselling side of the LL diet is the part that works (although cutting calories drastically by any method would result in fast weight loss) - my concern is that the counsellors are trained by Lighter Life, and are not fully trained counsellors (do correct me if I'm wrong), therefore leading to a bias towards their own methods.

I'm glad it's worked for you, and hope that over the next few years you will keep up the psychological changes necessary for continued weight maintenance. Although research is against that happening, a small minority do still achieve it.

Just on a side note, the last person I came across who had done the Lighter Life diet, had, after 2 years put 3/4 of the weight back on (but was reasonably okay with that). What she was very unhappy with is that her daughter is now classified as anorexic, taking the lead from mother to lose weight by not eating. Did your counselling take into consideration the psychological effects that the diet may have on others?

Be well.

That's okay.  Perhaps I have a promising future in marketing...

I don't normally bother reading or posting on forums, because they tend to be full of misinformation and whatnot.  The web is full of Fors and Againsts of just about everything, which isn't particularly helpful.  Perhaps I needed to write that particular message for me! 

The particular issue you mention is an important one, and one that has taken a lot of dealing with, as I have a son who is at an impressionable age.  Keeping this from him has been important, I think, though others might not think that lying to family is particularly healthy! 

Despite my obesity, I've been very keen, during his life, to give him healthy eating habits -- in terms of behaviour, pressure, dietary content, and so forth -- and he seems to be growing up as a normal well-adjusted eater, with a wide diet, and a fondness for cooking and trying foods of all kinds.  I hope it continues.  I'm also amazed by the amount they learn about food and nutrition at school.  He knows stuff as a teenager that I've only just learned!

At LL, we've discussed this particular subject at length, and deciding how to approach the logistics of the diet has been interesting for everyone I think, especially those with children. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not entirely comfortable with the whole LL thing.  I don't know how it works for the membership at large either.  At this point, I don't really care that much.  I know that sounds brutally callous, but it has worked for me.  I honestly think that it has been a great discovery, not just because it has improved my physical health immensely, but because it has armed me with a lot of information and tools for the future.  For you, a mental health professional, with nutritional knowledge, you might find it all laughablly simplistic, but it's just what I needed.  The long term might prove different, but somehow I don't think so. 

I'm not even sure that the tools they provide are necessarily the most important aspects.  I've found that what I've discovered about my psyche, the relationships I have with different people, and, frankly, rediscovering a physical self that was buried beneath inches of fat -- a heartbeat that I can now feel, hunger that I can now register, bones that I can see, and so on -- are the things that have done me the most good.  Ha!  I'm sounding like I'm away with the fairies (or the other marketeers...).  I hope it makes sense!

Incidentally, as someone who's embarking on a new business venture -- can you suggest any marketing resources?  Ironic...

TIA.

James

I agree James, marketing may be your future - you certainly did well in your first effort! 

I'm glad that your son is healthy, and I hope you have discussed with him why you went on the diet, and the importance of him looking after his own health, so he never is in the position your were in.  I am also interested to hear that LL counsellors discuss the effects that the diet can have on family members - although I am not sure all counsellors do (perhaps you had a good one).

I think one of the greatest issues we face with regard to health as a nation is to clarify the message of 'how to eat': it's a message that is generally transmitted by the food industry selling us something, and there is rarely a clear message coming from an independent source. For example everybody knows that milk is the  best source of calcium - the Milk Marketing Board has made sure of that. The truth is somewhat differentbut who cares about truth when there is a profit to be made, huh?

I am not totally against VLCD's - in fact I use them with a certain group of people myself - people who need open heart surgery but are too obese for the operation to be safe. But our LCD's focus on FOOD - e.g lots of fruit, vegetables and pulses, no meat, and no milk.  In my eyes, it is a far better way of losing weight on a LCD than Lighter Life is (but then weight loss companies would go out of business if we did things my way!). Do check out the China Study and Dr Joel Fuhrmans work, for a healthy, maintainable diet to keep you slim.

Re - marketing advice, not sure if I can help, but PM me, let me know what you're doing, I'll do my best.

I'm sure you're right about the alternative approaches.  I've had periods of being very able to maintain a level weight, with a healthy diet and approach to food and exercise.  Unfortunately those times have been sandwiched between periods of boom and bust, as I mentioned.  I think I now have a better insight into the various mental states, and behavioural issues, that have caused these though. 

Some of this is down to Lighterlife counselling, some the LL "abstinence", and some of it is down to I don't know what -- the self awareness that comes from age, or just being p'd off with the futility of certain relationships or situations I suppose. 

I think that all of this stuff will be much easier when I'm not doing it from a position of panic, which is where I was.  Panic isn't a great state to be in while making decisions, and for that reason LL is fab -- it picks you up, puts you in the nurturing environment of a counsellor, and other LL in-mates, and gives you everything you need to start turning things around.  It's great for that panic about being "out of control" to go, and it has given me time to look at the future.  In any case, frankly, when you can't eat normal food for three months, it does focus the attention internally somewhat!  It's an interesting area when you start to look at it, as we have, albeit cursorily. 

You're right about the various LL counsellors.  I'm sure that some are great and some are probably just okay.  Aside from the core topics covered by the LL materials, much of what's discussed is driven by the various dieters in attendance. 

James

I don't know..some medically supervised diets are extremely low calorie..500-800 calories, but I think doctors only put patients on them short term, and/or before/after a surgery or some such. I don't think they would ever recommend it for the typical dieter who just wants to lose weight, and instead use it for dangerously obese patients with few other options.

I'm sure it does cause weight loss..how could it not? but..seems like a pretty drastic measure, and something you'd have to be bed bound to do. I doubt you'd have much strength on so few calories or be able to do it for more than a couple of weeks or something.