July 13, 2008
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You will find that if you go on a very low calorie diet it has phases. The reason for this is to give you a quick successful start followed by trying to help you maintain you weight loss.
The biggest problem with very low calorie diets is that if you lose the weight you have to find a way of keeping it off. The way you have lost the weight will not have been normal eating so you have not re-educated you mind and body as to how to eat in the future.
On my lighter life diet the most helpful thing for me after the crazy weight loss phase was the counseling for how to maintain the weight loss. I have been off my diet now for 3 months and have kept my weight off due to this counseling.
The three phases for very low calorie diets are usually:-
Phase 1: Very quick weight loss phase to shed a pile of weight in the quickest way possible.
Phase 2: Re-introduction of normal foods over a few weeks to help you body adjust to a new way of eating.
Phase 3: Maintaining your weight loss.
The phase that all the diets advertise and major on is the quick weight loss phase. This is obviously because they want you to buy into their diet and all the associated materials. I would check the other phases before you commit to any diet. If you need to lose a lot of weight quickly you have an issue with food and eating so you need good support for phases 2 & 3.
Other diets that show you how to lose weight a few pounds a week do not need these phases as their diet is a diet for life. For some people this is ideal but for very obese people it is too slow. So you need these phases to start with a very low calorie diet and then move over to a normal diet for the rest of your life.
If you get a chance, check out weighins.com. It’s a supportive close-knit community for people wanting to lose weight. With a free membership you can join a weight loss challenge (like the Biggest Loser tv show). You also get a free calorie counter and a personal diet journal. I like it much better than sparkpeople.