The Company | The Research | Programmes

Big league
People don’t have to be skinny but obesity and the cost of subsequent diseases to our health system is huge.
Sunday Telegraph 21/11/2004

The Diet Explained

What is The Cambridge Diet?

The Cambridge Diet SoyaSlim® has developed from its origins as a very low calorie diet (VLCD) and is now used in more than 25 countries as both a VLCD and as the foundation for a range of weight management programmes from just over 410kcal to 1500kcal per day: from preparation, through weight loss and stabilisation to long-term maintenance.

We believe it is the Perfect Diet
The Cambridge Diet SoyaSlim® is a nutritionally complete formula food which is available in a range of weight-loss programmes. The diet tastes good and comes in a number of different formats - as individual meals in sachets of powder which are mixed with water to produce soups and milkshakes; SoyaSlim® is available in a number of flavours, each representing a balanced meal of about 205 kcal.

Everyone who uses SoyaSlim® should follow the four stages of every programme:
preparation, weight loss, stabilisation and maintenance. This will help to ensure that you will successfully manage your weight - over the long-term.

Counsellors
Within Australia and New Zealand, the Cambridge Diet SoyaSlim® is only available through independent Cambridge Counsellors who provide a personal screening, advisory, monitoring and support service - a major factor in maintaining motivation and achieving success. The Counsellors are accredited after a period of training and they agree to follow a Code of Conduct when dealing with customers.

Your Counsellor will advise which programme is most appropriate for you:

The Four Stages

...number of calories burned in one minute by vigorous kissing: 26; banging your head against a wall: 2.5
number crunch, Good Weekend, 2005

Commercial diets are often accused of failing. This is based on the premise that great numbers of people are on a diet at any one time, and that many people regain some of the weight they have lost. But no-one knows how many people are trying to lose weight, because a proper survey has never been carried out.

The accusation that 'diets don't work' is unfair because most reputable, well-researched diets - if followed correctly - will help with weight loss. After that, people are on their own, and the fact that they regain weight is hardly the fault of the diet.

This is where the Cambridge programmes differ, because everyone who tries one agrees to join a four-stage process:

1. preparation

2. weight loss

3. stabilisation

4. maintenance

Stage 1 | Preparation

Your first meeting with a Counsellor will establish a number of important factors: whether the time is right - and the programme you should follow.

Timing
Although you may want to manage your weight, this may not be the time: your background – employment, family circumstances; weight history – will all have an impact. You will need the full support of friends and family.

Getting Ready
Use the preparation phase to reduce food intake gradually, especially if you will use ‘Sole Source’ to lose weight. Reduce the levels of carbohydrate, fats and sugar before you start.

Begin 1 or 2 steps above your weight loss programme. For example, if Step 2 (790 kcal) was going to be used for weight loss, start on Step 4 (1200 kcal) for three days, then move down to Step3 (1000 kcal) for four days before starting the weight loss proper.

Gradually increase the amount of water you drink - especially important for those who have a history of constipation.

This kind of structured preparation is far better that the common scenario of starting a diet at 7am on a Monday morning – after one last massive fling over the weekend! This is just about the worse thing anyone could do, because decreasing carbohydrate intake so sharply could lead to withdrawal symptoms, including headaches and can increase tiredness and hunger. It is also very unhelpful because it will load glycogen stores and delay real weight loss.

Get Serious
Making a serious attempt to manage your weight is a big undertaking and represents a huge change in lifestyle. Use this stage to pinpoint the causes of your overweight: record typical daily intake; levels of activity; type of lifestyle – whether your job keeps you confined to a desk, or a car etc.
Your Counsellor will help to identify those factors which can be changed, and will offer the support and motivation to help you decide that now is the time to change.

Stage 2 | Weight Loss

Losing weight is probably the easiest part of the weight management process. Having chosen the day, look forward to it with pleasure. Try and stick to the chosen Cambridge programme and the menu.

Sole Source (Step 1)
On the Sole Source programme, you will have three (or four if you are a man or above 176cm/5ft 8in) Cambridge meals every day – and no other food! You should also drink plenty of water (we recommend at least eight glasses per day). The first few days will be exciting, as you lose weight every day. It is highly motivating to continue. You will feel better and healthier than you have ever felt in your life because your body is receiving everything it needs.

You may feel hungry during the first three days, particularly during the evening. Either do something to keep your mind very occupied or go to bed early with a good book (or partner!). After a few days you will not feel hungry at all. Remember that if you do eat you will feel very hungry, because any extra food will stimulate your appetite. Make a commitment to lose weight and be determined!

First Weeks
After a few days you will not feel hungry at all. In fact, you'll feel wonderful. But losing weight can be frustrating and your Cambridge Counsellor can be a great help and may make the difference between success and failure. If you have any problems or want advice, it is part of the Counsellor’s job to help you.

You can indulge in all your normal activities but you don't overdo it. If you feel tired, then take a rest. You should weigh yourself every day at the same time, usually in the morning. You will be delighted with your progress and be very excited with it. This is the real motivation that makes you want to continue.

You may experience several days when you do not lose weight. Do not become discouraged. It is very likely that you are losing fat but retaining water; this is a process known as plateauing. You may be losing girth faster than weight, which is why we recommend that you use a tape measure to record your vital dimensions in addition to your weight.

Have faith in the diet because the weight-loss will restart once you lose the water you have been retaining.

Stage 3 | Stabilisation

The higher-level Cambridge programmes - from 820 to 1500cal - can be used for stabilisation as well as weight loss.

In Stabilisation, you will supplement Cambridge meals with selected foods. This will help to ensure long-term weight maintenance, but will also prevent short-term weight regain. This stabilisation builds towards the final level of energy intake required to achieve a long-term stable weight.

Stabilisation should not be hurried. A minimum of a week should be spent on each Step – two weeks is better. The basic plan is to start stabilisation on the step above that which was used to lose weight. For example, if you used the Sole Source programme (Step 1) to lose weight, you should start stabilisation with ‘Add a Meal’, then move to Step 2 – 820 kcal and so on. The longer you spend at this phase, the more successful you will be in achieving a long-term stable – and maintainable – weight.

If the recommendations are followed to the letter then you should continue to shed a little more weight during this period of stabilisation. For this reason, there is no need to go below target weight to allow for rebound weight-gain as there will be none once weight loss has stopped.

Stage 4 | Maintenance

Maintenance usually begins when weight loss stops, and can start at about 1500 kcal per day. However, it will vary because the recommended daily energy intake figures are 2000 kcal for women and 2500 kcal for men, so some people may still lose some weight if their intake is below these levels.

The real danger is – after the ‘exciting’ weight loss phase – that all the old reasons for being overweight could return. The Cambridge four-stage process helps you to understand the reasons for your original overweight, and the stabilisation adds selected healthy food choices. In the maintenance stage, you can continue this healthy eating and increasing the levels of activity. Many people continue to use Cambridge once or twice a day – not only to control energy intake but to carry on getting the benefits of good nutrition.

Keep a regular check on your weight. When your body weight is increased by more than 1.5 kg above your ideal weight, it is time to take prompt action. This can be done by cutting out a conventional meal and having a SoyaSlim® meal instead. As time goes by, people who have been plagued by being overweight for most of their lives become slim, and attain great confidence. The Cambridge Diet SoyaSlim® is a very powerful tool with which you can control your weight.

Cutting Down on the Calories
• Avoid fat
• Restrict salt
• Eat fibre
• Restrict sugar
• Restrict Alcohol
• Avoid Fast Food
• Eat Healthy foods

A Permanent Change
One of the most severe criticisms of the Cambridge Diet made by some psychologists and hospital dieticians, is that it does not change people’s eating habits in the long term and is therefore useless, particularly for maintaining weight-loss. To these armchair critics it is just another fad diet. Nothing could be further from the truth as anyone can vouch who has used the diet as a sole source of nutrition for several weeks. For the first time one realises that vast quantities of food are not indispensable to life. It trains you to live without having food continually on your mind and the experience has a beneficial effect on most people. There is ample proof that the Cambridge stabilisation and maintenance plan achieves excellent results in returning the dieter to long-term healthy eating principles.

Six Steps to Success

Approaches to Losing Weight

Consume fewer calories than your body uses.

This is the only way to lose weight. You can add to this rule that excercise tones up your body and provides other health benefits. But every diet in the world boils down to this simple reality. The difference between them is not what they do for you - but HOW they work.

The Cambridge Diet SoyaSlim® is a flexible product that can be used as the Sole Source of nutrition for fast, predictable weight loss with nutritional assurance; with conventional food for more gradual weight loss; or with food for weight maintenance or nutritional supplementation.

Sole Source of Nutrition
If you decide to use the Cambridge Diet SoyaSlim® as the sole source of nutrition, it is essential to take no fewer than three full portions (Note 1 & 2 below), and to drink at least 2 litres of calorie-free liquid each day (Note 3 below) in addition to the water used to mix your SoyaSlim® meals.

You are allowed to follow the Sole Source programme for a maximum of four weeks at a time (Note 4 below).

Notes

1. To be sure of obtaining your complete nutritional requirements, you should take four portions if you are a woman over 173cm (5ft 8in) tall or a man.
2. A portion can be a drink or soup sachet, or a Cambridge bar. No more than one meal per day should be a bar.
3. Water, black coffee or tea; add a further 200ml for each Cambridge bar you use instead of a sachet.
4. Your Counsellor will advise you how to proceed if you have further weight to lose or if you are ready to maintain your new target weight.

With Conventional Food
Part of the attraction of The Cambridge Diet SoyaSlim® is that it is part of a flexible range of programmes which allows it to be used with conventional food in a series of Steps (820 kcal, 1000 kcal, 1200 kcal or 1500 kcal). These help the user to stabilise after weight loss and to gradually increase the intake of conventional food and move back to a normal eating pattern.

These steps are also important if you begin with the Sole Source programme: once you have reached BMI 25, you move up to Step 2 - 820 kcalories.

You may also use SoyaSlim® together with conventional food to lose weight more gradually.
In any of these cases, you should follow the eating advice which your Counsellor will give you.

Six Steps to Success | Step 1

410 to 615 kcal per day

Sole Source of nutrition

Step 1 is a nutritionally complete formula food (often referred to as a very low calorie diet, or the 'sole source of nutrition') which can be ideal for those who prefer a period of time away from the temptations of conventional food.

Sole Source is suitable for those above BMI 25, with at least 6.3kg to lose.
On this programme, the dieter takes two-three SoyaSlim® meals in place of conventional food. For men, or women above 1.7m, three SoyaSlim® meals should be taken. In addition to water used to mix the diet powder and cups of unsweetened black tea or black coffee, it is advisable to drink at least 2 litres of water per day.

Using the 'Sole Source' programme is not advisable when certain medical conditions are present. We say these conditions are 'contra-indicated'. There are also a number of medical conditions with which 'Sole Source' may be used with special precautions.

Cambridge recommends that the Sole Source programme is followed for no longer than four weeks at a time. At that point, if target weight has not yet been reached, the dieter should have an 'Add a Meal' week.

Step 1 Add-a- Meal

This variation of 'Step 1 Sole Source' is most suitable for those, who might find it difficult to stay on Sole Source due to their lifestyle or type of work.

The ‘Add a Meal’ menu is also used as a natural break after four weeks on Sole Source, and is also the first part of the stabilisation process once target weight is achieved. Sometimes referred to as the ‘green and white’ meal, this menu introduces selected lean protein and vegetables to supplement the Cambridge meal options.

• 2 or 3 SoyaSlim® meals
• 80g portion of white fish
• 80g poultry meat (without skin or fat)
• 80g tofu
• 80g skimmed milk cottage cheese
• 2tbsp ‘white or green’ vegetables (cooked or raw) such as spring greens, cauliflower, lettuce, mushrooms, cabbage, broccoli, celery, cress, zucchini or cucumber.

Continue to drink at least 2 litres of water per day, and as much unsweetened black tea or black coffee as you want.

Six Steps to Success | Step 2

820 kcal - Add a meal

The ‘Add a Meal’ menu is used as a natural break after four weeks on Sole Source, and is also the first part of the stabilisation process once target weight is achieved. Sometimes referred to as the ‘green and white’ meal, this menu introduces selected lean protein and vegetables to supplement the Cambridge meal options.

• 2 or 3 SoyaSlim® meals
• 80g portion of of white fish
• 80g poultry meat (without skin or fat)
• 80g tofu
• 80g skim milk cottage cheese
• 3tbsp ‘white or green’ vegetables (cooked or raw) such as asparagus, brussels sprouts, spring greens, bok choy, spinach, string beans, cauliflower, lettuce, fresh mushrooms, cabbage, marrow, broccoli, celery, watercress, zucchini or cucumber.

820 kcal

This weight loss programme combines nutritionally assured formula food with a healthy meal every day. It is ideal, for instance, for those who are unable to use ‘Sole Source’ for medical reasons. It is suitable for: those above BMI 25, or those below BMI 25 who may need a limited weight loss within a specific time scale (eg for a holiday or social event).

• 3 SoyaSlim® meals
• 150g portion of poultry meat (without skin or fat)
• 250g portion of white fish
• 250g tofu
• 250g skimmed milk cottage cheese
• 1 cup ‘white or green’ vegetables (cooked or raw) such as above
• 225ml skimmed milk

Continue to drink at least 2 litres of water per day, and as much unsweetened black tea or black coffee as you want.

Six Steps to Success | Step 3

1000 kcal

This programme adds fruit and carbohydrate to the 820 kcal meal described above. It is suitable for those who prefer to lose weight more gradually or those whose lifestyle makes it impossible to avoid conventional eating.

• 2 SoyaSlim® meals
• 150 kcal breakfast of fruit
• 3tbsp salad from ‘white & green’ vegetables listed in Step 2
• 1 main meal from the protein choices listed in Step 2
• 1 portion of carbohydrate from
SoyaSlim• 40g wholewheat pasta
SoyaSlim• 40g noodles
SoyaSlim• 40g rice
SoyaSlim• 150g boiled or baked potato
• 50 kcal fruit dessert
• 225ml skimmed milk

Continue to drink at least 2 litres of water per day, and as much unsweetened black tea or black coffee as you want.

Six Steps to Success | Step 4

1200 kcal

This weight loss programme adds more selected conventional food to the daily menu. It is suitable for those who prefer to lose weight more gradually, or those whose lifestyle makes it impossible to avoid conventional eating.

• 2 SoyaSlim® meal options
• 150cal portion of fruit for breakfast
• 300kcal lunch; such as:
SoyaSlim• slice wholemeal bread,
SoyaSlim• low-fat spread,
SoyaSlim• shredded lettuce,
SoyaSlim• 75g lean ham,
SoyaSlim• sliced cucumber,
SoyaSlim• tomato and
SoyaSlim• spring onion
• 300 kcal main meal; such as:
SoyaSlim• 225g white fish, served with
SoyaSlim• 2tbsp rice
SoyaSlim• 50g poached mushrooms

Continue to drink at least 2 litres of water per day, and as much unsweetened black tea or black coffee as you want.

Six Steps to Success | Step 5

1500 kcal

This weight loss programme adds more selected conventional food to the daily menu, whilst retaining a SoyaSlim® meal for nutritional purposes. It is suitable for those who prefer to lose weight more gradually or those whose lifestyle makes it impossible to avoid conventional eating.

• 1 SoyaSlim® meal

• 150 kcal fruit for breakfast

• 350 kcal lunch; such as:
SoyaSlim• 2 slice wholemeal toast
SoyaSlim• 150g sugar-free baked beans
SoyaSlim• 25g grated low-fat cheddar
• 50 kcal fruit

• 400 kcal main meal; such as:
SoyaSlim• 2 chicken breasts, skinned & grilled
SoyaSlim• 100g spinach
SoyaSlim• 40g brown rice
SoyaSlim• 50g poached mushrooms
SoyaSlim• 2tbsp tomato & chilli relish

• 150 kcal fruit dessert

Additional calorie allowances are made for snacks and desserts.

Continue to drink at least 2 litres of water per day, and as much unsweetened black tea or black coffee as you want.

Six Steps to Success | Step 6

1500+ kcal

Anyone who has been on a diet knows the most important thing there is to know about diets: there are no magic solutions to losing weight.

The weight maintenance formula is very simple:

(From Four Stages; Maintenance)
Maintenance usually begins when weight loss stops, and can start at about 1500 kcal per day. However, it will vary because the recommended daily energy intake figures are 2000 kcal for women and 2500 kcal for men, so some people may still lose some weight if their intake is below these levels.

The real danger is – after the ‘exciting’ weight loss phase – that all the old reasons for being overweight could return. The Cambridge four-stage process helps you to understand the reasons for your original overweight, and the stabilisation adds selected healthy food choices. In the maintenance stage, you can continue this healthy eating and increasing the levels of activity. Many people continue to use Cambridge once or twice a day – not only to control energy intake but to carry on getting the benefits of good nutrition.

Keep a regular check on your weight. When your body weight is increased by more than 1.5 kg above your ideal weight, it is time to take prompt action. This can be done by cutting out a conventional meal and having a SoyaSlim® meal instead. As time goes by, people who have been plagued by being overweight for most of their lives become slim, and attain great confidence. The Cambridge Diet SoyaSlim® is a very powerful tool with which you can control your weight.

Cutting Down on the Calories
• Avoid fat
• Restrict salt
• Eat fibre
• Restrict sugar
• Restrict Alcohol
• Avoid Fast Food
• Eat Healthy foods

A Permanent Change
One of the most severe criticisms of the Cambridge Diet made by some psychologists and hospital dieticians, is that it does not change people’s eating habits in the long term and is therefore useless, particularly for maintaining weight-loss. To these armchair critics it is just another fad diet. Nothing could be further from the truth as anyone can vouch who has used the diet as a sole source of nutrition for several weeks. For the first time one realises that vast quantities of food are not indispensable to life. It trains you to live without having food continually on your mind and the experience has a beneficial effect on most people. There is ample proof that the Cambridge stabilisation and maintenance plan achieves excellent results in returning the dieter to long-term healthy eating principles.

Information Gathered from the Cambridge Diet Website