Why I don't do TF anymore...

I use to be on the TF diet, which really does work - it definatly helps you lose weight, and faster than many other diets.

However, I'm no longer doing it.

Why? I was diagnosed with depression at the age of 15, and battled it for many years.
For the past few years I have been fine, no medications, no depression, getting on with my life.

I have tried the TF diet 3 times, the first for 6 or so weeks, the second for around 8 -10 weeks and recently for 3 weeks.
Each of these times my depression returned, and each time I went off the TF diet, my depression went away. Coincidence? No.

I was curious as to why a diet could cause such a difference in my moods. I am aware that at any stage in my life depression could return, but could a diet really be the cause of this?

I researched my suspiscions, and discovered that restricting carbs can mess with your serotonin levels therefore causing mood disorders - which, to the normal person is a simple mood swing.
But, to people who have had issues with serotonin levels in the past, it can be hell.
I'm not saying this happenes to everyone, I was just unlucky. And I'm definatly not saying that the TF diet is bad, because I think it is a great diet - just not for me.

Although I don't follow the TF shake diet anymore, I still do follow a lot it's rules. I try to still limit my carbs, sugar, salt but I don't restrict my carbs quiet as much. I have learnt a lot from the diet, and occationally I replace a meal with a shake. I still do not have any carbs with my dinner (or very rarely), I stick to the 'allowed vegies', watch carbs and fat in sauces, among many things.

If you're on the TF diet or considering it, and you've had depression or any mood disorder, keep an eye on your moods. Don't let what happened to me deter you from TF - it really is a great diet. Keep in mind the first couple days, everyone feels like crap - it's your body detoxing and going into ketosis, you may feel crap for a week or two, but generally you'll feel great after a few days. If you've been on the diet for a month or so and notice your depression coming back (and I don't mean depression over not eating carbs or chocolate, I mean real depression!), then see your doctor and discuss your options with them.

Anyway, I am going to share what I do and some recipes with anyone out there whos interested, and also some recipes for those who are on maintenence.


Q: What do you do now you're not on the TF shake diet? Are you still losing weight?!

A: Almost every day for breakfast I have some Toast (Burgen Soy-lin or Tiptop 9 grain) with poached eggs & pepper, plus a Lady Grey Tea for breakfast. The rest of my day is fairly low in carbs, as I use the Empower Power Wraps with my lunch instead of bread. I have a snack of yoghurt everyday too. Dinner, is almost always free of carbs (generally a meal that is TF friendly). I eat lots of vegetables (see allowed list above) and drink 2 or 3 litres of spring water every day (sometimes with diet cordial). Diet soda I restrict to a max of 2 glasses a day, but generally I just have one glass with dinner. I'm not much of a fruit person, I have a mango or some grapes less than once a month, but you can have 2 pieces of allowed fruit everyday as a snack if you wish (again, see list above)

I workout on the treadmill daily, and also use a fitball and handweights. But really, anything you enjoy is great - I'd love to get into kickboxing when I'm fitter, and also pilates.

Exercise is really important, when you've lost weight you have to keep exercising to keep the weight off, also it feels amazing to be fit. A little bit of muscle and tone will help curb the fat creeping back (as well as eating healthy for life), This is more a change of lifestyle than a diet.

I've only been doing my new diet for 1 week, but so far I've lost 1.2 kilos. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

Feel free to send me any questions you may have, and I'll try my best to help.

Hope you enjoy!