Does the Lighter Life diet work?

In a nutshell, yes, Lighter Life does work. Anything that low in calories is bound to shed pounds... even without exercise. Of course you didn't ask for how long it works...

One can't help but be impressed by the recent before and after pictures of actress Pauline Quirk. She's lost a whopping 6 stone (84lbs) in just 6 months by following the strict liquid diet regime. How long she keeps this svelte silhouette will depend on how much Lighter Life has taught her about healthy eating, moderation and fitness.

A few years back I must confess that I did get in touch with  LL representative to find out more. After all, when you want rid of something - particularly weight - you want it done quickly...at all costs. For me, the costs were prohibitive as I was knowingly aware that I'd most likely have to keep repeating the plan over and over for long term success.

While I congratulate Pauline on her hard work and weight loss success story and wish her the best at sustaining her new figure, I can't help but think we'll see a much curvier Pauline reappearing in the next year or two.

Over the past week I've been thinking about my weight loss so far, particularly my 1.5 lb loss over the past week. I'd be a liar if I said I didn't want all the weight gone now or if I thought it was all going so much slower than it went on Atkins Diet, the Cabbage Soup Diet, Weight Watchers or any of the other diets I have tried over the years. 

But that's my emotions going into overdrive. Removing them from the equation, I can see that each pound I'm losing is one which I am weighing bye-bye to forever. I don't ever want to creep into the 19 stones again just as I am sure that - in a few weeks - I'm never going to want to creep into the 18 stones again. While I'm here though, I'll enjoy the ride and the slow descent into health.

Yes, I'm eating less but I'm also not living in denial (I had cookies today!!) and I'm actually enjoying exercise. I never thought I could say that when I was trying to lose weight.

Tomorrow is weigh in and I'm really quite keenly pursuing that 1 stone award. It would really mean a lot to get that now. But if I don't, that's ok as I know I tried and - more importantly - I won't have gained - rebound weight or otherwise.

Could a vacation from food work for you (and me)?

Liquid diets have long been effective - at least in the short-term - at reducing the pounds.  But they've had a bad rap in recent years over malnutrition. In some cases dieters have died following a stint on a liquid-only regime.

But is there anything we can learn from them?

For one dieter, sticking to a liquid diet for 12 weeks gave her weight loss the jump start it needed. In six months she has lost 80 lbs! Of course this has been backed by teaching herself about healthy eating and making real lifelong changes.

Motivation is hard to come by at times for dieters with more than 3 stone to lose. Like the girl who just needs to lose a stone, we want results quickly... even if we know that it will take at least 18 months to reach our weight loss goal at a rate of 1 to 2 lbs per week.  Perhaps a quick loss over a fixed period backed by a sustainable eating plan is the way to go forward.

Last week my GP offered to put me on Weight Watchers - it isn't Lighter Life but it's a fixed regime that can get my weight going in the right direction with support. Strongly considering it!!