The Cambridge Diet – A Review

Before I give you a detailed review of my experiences with the Cambridge Diet, let me tell you a little about myself.

I am a 52-year-old female. I weigh 65.6 kg. I am a writer and I work from home. I have a maid who does all the housework and prepares the meals for the family. Therefore, my days are spent in front of my laptop or with a book. In other words live a sedentary lifestyle.

My body was not in the best shape and I was having problems with my knees. I was beginning to feel as if my body was just too heavy for my poor knees. I could walk about but staircases were the killers. It was so painful to climb up the stairs and it was worse coming down. The quality of my life was pathetic. I needed to do something.

I tried cutting the carbohydrates from my diet but things were just not working. I was still a little hungry and the snacking was difficult to control. This was the point when I decided I needed a structured plan to reduce some weight; at least to motivate me to make some changes in my lifestyle.

No fancy answer here. A family member had tried this and it seemed to have worked. She had the contact details of the Cambridge Diet distributor and I told her I was interested. That’s all. i had never heard of this diet plan before. I just needed something and this was available.

I did a little Internet search after inciting the meeting just to check on the side effects of the diet. There were no real issues and so I decided to give it a shot. This, by the way, is my first encounter of a diet plan. So everything was new to me.

My first meeting with the distributor was interesting. I was basically told about reasons for weight gain, how the body reacts, what the Cambridge diet was all about and what to expect.

I had to take my weight taken. Based on my height, weight and age, my BMI and body fat calculated.

I was asked about what my lifestyle was like and what kind of weight loss I was hoping for. This is to determine a suitable Diet Plan for me. We also spoke about my ideal weight. It was 55kg. Wow!

The principle of the diet is actually very simple. In a normal scenario, the carbohydrates that I eat are converted into glucose, which is my energy source. When I go on a low carbohydrates diet, for a length of time, my body will look for another energy source, my fat reserve. This turning of fat into fuel is known as ketones. The trick is to keep my body in a well-balanced state of mild ketosis. The milk shakes and soups are formulated to contain all the daily requirements of nutrition to allow my body to function properly. I have to also consume at least 2.5 l of water a day.

I had to decide how many of my three major meals I would like to replace and for how long I want to do this.

I decided to go all the way. Replace all three meals with the predesigned shakes and soups for 2 weeks. I just needed some weight off and make some changes in my lifestyle after this. This is my plan.

The Cambridge Diet works. I lost 5 kg in 14 days (2 weeks). I did not feel at any one time nor did I feel hungry. I could do whatever I had been doing previously without feeling that I need to take things easy for the duration of the diet plan.

But, it is not cheap. I paid MR450.00 (USD 137) for my supply of shakes and soup. Perhaps it is cheaper in other parts of the world or maybe I got it at a good price. I am not sure.

The diet itself is simple where I only consume a milk shake in the morning, a soup for lunch and another milk shake in dinner. The milk shakes and soups taste good and at no time during the two weeks that I was on the diet did I feel hungry.

The main issue was that after a few days, the food felt boring. Although I was given a variety of flavors to play around with, I was not looking forward to my meals. That, ‘What shall I have for dinner today?’ feeling was missing. Going out for family meals was not a problem as I was not hungry and therefore I was not miserable looking at others eating.

The diet is something I would recommend for those like me who have been trying to lose weight but found it difficult to get the first few pounds off. For me it was always a +1 -1 scenario and I believe not that I have got the ball rolling, I should be able to make more positive changes in my lifestyle.

Going on a structured diet plan is easy but the bigger problem would be in maintaining that weight loss and getting back into normality without gaining all the weight lost back. I am aware of this and I am determined to get my life back. My knees don’t hurt me now and I can do the stairs easily. I have to keep the way off. I don’t have a choice.