OK, So we tried the Cambridge Diet.

The Cambridge Diet has been around since 1984 in one form or another. They reckon there are 3 key ingredients to the success of the diet:

Flexible solutions that match your needs

Nutritionally balanced formula food

Personal support from your Cambridge Counsellor

The diet is only available through specific counsellors, and although it is possible to buy some of the products on eBay etc, the Cambridge Diet don't recommend that anyone starts the diet without a fairly thorough check-up and questionnaire, as is may be unsuitable for some people.

On the 'Sole Source' diet you are allowed 3 (or 4 for a man) Cambridge meals per day, and nothing else, other than plenty of water. The meals consist of sachets of flavoured shakes or soups, porridge, low calorie bars or ready to drink Tetra-Briks. Mmmm, just 3 or 4 of those a day?

On the 'Sole Source Plus' diet, you are allowed 3 Cambridge meals and a 200kcal meal, or 4 meals and 200ml of skimmed milk.

The diet is basically a VLCD (very low calorie diet), with the sole source option coming in at between only 415 to 554 kcal per day! There are pretty strict guidelines imposed so that those who are nearing their ideal weight ARE NOT allowed to go on the sole source diet, other than under clinical supervision.

On such a low calorie intake, weight loss is practically guaranteed, as is hunger and a feeling of fatigue (to begin with).

The next phase is to stabilise the weight loss by increasing the calorie intake to 810-1500kcal per day, supplementing the Cambridge meals with selected foods.

When weight loss stops or the target weight is achieved, the diet moves into the Maintenance phase, where the calorie intake is increased to 2000-2500kcal per day.

The Cambridge Diet website is the first to mention one of the drawbacks of the diet, in that it doesn't actually change eating habits in the long term, and so may not help to maintain the weight loss. However, it does make the dieter realise that many fatty or high calorie foods just aren't necessary and can be cut from the regular diet altogether.

I tried the diet for a week, before could take no more! I found it very hard work and was usually quite hungry, despite drinking at least the 8 glasses of water a day that they recommend. I suppose it was 'weak' of me to give up so easily, but I did lose a surprising amount of weight in that week, and it did inspire me to try something else!

Overall I reckon the Cambridge Diet is a great place to start if you're serious about losing weight. The weight loss is so significant that it is very encouraging and really does prove that it can be done!