xxx

I see that Giles is the only recent contributor so am not sure how many of you are still on the diet.

Well done Giles, amazing loss that I can only aspire to!!! I have a lot of weight to lose and am on day 14 and still on phase 1 but have happily given up caffeine and bread and even cheese. There has to something in the whole food addiction thing!

Good to read that others find it easy but also that the weight loss seems to come and go. Have learnt a lot about my tolerances in these few days.

I am hoping for a miracle loss but just love this diet as I can eat veg which was so restricted on The Atkins.

The easiest, healthiest diet I have ever tried, here’s hoping

Have done the Harcombe since mid November 2011 and in the space of 7 weeks have lost over 2.5 stone. Thats quite good since was less than 14 to start with at over 6ft.However, for me the most interesting part is not having one single craving for anything whatsoever during the whole time, or feeling deprived at all although no caffeine in phase 1 sucks a bit. I dont normally drink alcohol and dont eat chocolate anyway, so my vice is a few cigarettes and coffee each day. Now, I do live alone so unless my children are with me there is only ever the food I want in the house- that possibly helps. It does also cost a bit if you go for really nice foods, but my reckoning is that we dont spend nearly as much on our foods as we should. This is the only diet book I have read from cover to cover (epage to epage;) 3 times and found refreshing. Zoe is clear, helpful and not patronising. It all makes sense to me and it works. I am within 7 lbs of target weight and kn ow I will have no trouble achieving that. Having had a day off on Christmas Day out of social necessity, and gained 3lb from that day alone (it would appear) I empaphise with those who get stuck without appearing to lose anything. In my first phase 1 I lost 3 lbs. As a result of Christmas gain, I decided to reboot and go back to phase 1 for 5 days. Reported weight loss in phase 1 2nd visit is 6lbs. I am actually staying on phase one for a further 4 days – so 9 in total to get near to target then try phase 2 and then 3.

For me the best part is feeling totally energised – it is so weird and I am not some prophet or employee of Zoe (haha)but a sedentary male who does bugger all exrecise part from a bit of walking and smoke a bit but have not felt so vitalised ever in my life. Have huge reserves of mental and physical energy and have not felt need to cheat at all. Eating and shopping for it is truly pleasurable (if expensive – spending £100 a week for 1, I am awake, everone is commenting and skin is smooth etc blah blah blah Ok u get the message ?

Do try sticking with it, it is amazing and a real diet for life. Well done Zoe
G

I don’t avoid carbs at all like some ppl suggest. I just try and vary things abit. I usually have porridge (made with milk) or bitesize shredded wheat for breakfast (bacon and eggs at weekends). For lunch I’ll have an ommelette with salad or homemade soup or a salad with tuna and then Natural Live Yogurt. For dinners I’ll have steak or pork chops and loads of veg or something like chilli and rice, butternut squash curry and rice etc. If I get home from work and am hungry I’ll have a banana or some other kind of fruit. But I do generally try to stick to just the 3 meals – which are filling. I drink alot of water but will have a couple of cups of decaf coffee.

The main thing that works for me is that I spent time looking at everything that I was buying. I can’t just buy any old bacon or ham. I have to check it’s ingredients and really watch out for hidden sugars. Even buying butter isn’t straightforward as some have a whole list of ingredients and so not natural.

If someone isn’t losing any weight on the diet then I would start by checking what you’re eating. I religiously followed the 10 day plan that you get for free from the harcombe diet website. I’ve read the book from cover to cover to understand everything I needed to do. And most importantly I don’t worry if I don’t lose weight. It doesn’t last for long. I also measure myself so normally I’ll get either inch loss or weight loss or if lucky both.

I’ve tried many diets and have to say this has been the only diet that I’ve seen myself able to stay on for the rest of my life – which at the end of the day is what we need to do isn’t it? I’m interested to find out at the end of my journey just what my natural weight is rather than aiming for an idealistic weight that might be impossible to achieve or maintain!