diet bars -sugar content

[Guna108]

Hi. I have been following the Exante diet for just over 2 months now. I eat one of their diet bars in the morning, then have a shake for lunch and soup sachet in the evening. I do have quite a bit of weight left to lose, but am more concerned with getting my BG to non-diabetic levels. Most of the bars are about 200 cals and have 18g carb of which 7.1g are sugars. Is this too high? Would it be better to eat a lower carb home made breakfast?

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Short answer: Yes.
Slightly longer answer: You'll have to transition to real food sooner or later. The less carbs, the better, and that bar sounds pretty sugary.... I eat less than 20 grams of carbs in a day, myself. Besides, while it's probably easier to go for a bar, an actual meal is usually more enjoyable/satisfying/pleasurable.

 

[HSSS]

I’m guessing the bars and shakes etc are along the lines of the Newcastle diet and aim to work by being very low calorie and shifting the fat from your organs thus improving insulin resistance.

But you can’t do that forever. What do you plan to do afterwards? What long term methods of control do you plan as sadly it’s unlikely to have been cured in the sense you can return to eating how you used to eat, otherwise it’ll just happen all over again

Others in these forums have gradually ditched meal by meal from very low cal to low carb. I’m sure a search or post about it will answer some questions

 

[Guna108]

I’m guessing the bars and shakes etc are along the lines of the Newcastle diet and aim to work by being very low calorie and shifting the fat from your organs thus improving insulin resistance.

But you can’t do that forever. What do you plan to do afterwards? What long term methods of control do you plan as sadly it’s unlikely to have been cured in the sense you can return to eating how you used to eat, otherwise it’ll just happen all over again

Others in these forums have gradually ditched meal by meal from very low cal to low carb. I’m sure a search or post about it will answer some questions

Yes, it is very similar to the Newcastle diet with the same goals. I had planned to finish my sachets- around 2 weeks' worth and then replace one meal a day for a week at a time until I go to around 800 cals. I then wanted to do 3 low cal/low carb meals (800 cals) for 2 months and then gradually move up to 1000 cals, but low carb, per day and stay at that level until I have a normal BMI. Luckily for me I like green veg and tofu!

 

[HSSS]

Yes, it is very similar to the Newcastle diet with the same goals. I had planned to finish my sachets- around 2 weeks' worth and then replace one meal a day for a week at a time until I go to around 800 cals. I then wanted to do 3 low cal/low carb meals (800 cals) for 2 months and then gradually move up to 1000 cals, but low carb, per day and stay at that level until I have a normal BMI. Luckily for me I like green veg and tofu!

Wow so 6 months at 800 cals all told then only 1000 ongoing !

No way would I personally do that without a lot more research. I’d be afraid of shutting down my metabolism by eating so little for so long and far prefer the idea of eating low carb to such low calories. It seems to have better long term results from what I’ve read. I’m also more concerned with my blood glucose levels and when they came into line my weight did anyway.

 

[Guna108]

Wow so 6 months at 800 cals all told then only 1000 ongoing !

No way would I personally do that without a lot more research. I’d be afraid of shutting down my metabolism by eating so little for so long and far prefer the idea of eating low carb to such low calories. It seems to have better long term results from what I’ve read. I’m also more concerned with my blood glucose levels and when they came into line my weight did anyway.

100

There are several testimonies on the Exante website where people who have had to lose a lot of weight did this. The 1000 calories would be until I reach normal BMI then I would be able to increase. Every 3 weeks on the diet I have increased the calories for a 'break week'(with an additional low carb meal) as the diet plan instructed and it has worked so far. Am a bit embarrassed to say what my original weight was, but I need to lose half my starting body weight and the Dr was ok with doing it this way. I have an appointment with the diabetes dietician at the end of August. I have been reading posts on this forum and different low carb diet books/Dr Fung and will use a regular vegan low carb diet once I have reached my target weight. I think I will stop the diet bars after the advice on here and maybe try the greek yogurt and seeds that several posters recommend for breakfast. Thanks for replying to my post

 

[Resurgam]

You could have a large salad full of vitamins and minerals and lots of different flavours and half that carb content - I know which I would prefer to eat....

 

[HSSS]

100

There are several testimonies on the Exante website where people who have had to lose a lot of weight did this. The 1000 calories would be until I reach normal BMI then I would be able to increase. Every 3 weeks on the diet I have increased the calories for a 'break week'(with an additional low carb meal) as the diet plan instructed and it has worked so far. Am a bit embarrassed to say what my original weight was, but I need to lose half my starting body weight and the Dr was ok with doing it this way. I have an appointment with the diabetes dietician at the end of August. I have been reading posts on this forum and different low carb diet books/Dr Fung and will use a regular vegan low carb diet once I have reached my target weight. I think I will stop the diet bars after the advice on here and maybe try the greek yogurt and seeds that several posters recommend for breakfast. Thanks for replying to my post

Good luck and just be prepared to reassess at any given point. Be mindful of your overall wellness and energy and hunger and happiness. I think real, unprocessed food has always the be the goal in the end, of whatever label (low carb/vegan etc)

 

[Guna108]

Good luck and just be prepared to reassess at any given point. Be mindful of your overall wellness and energy and hunger and happiness. I think real, unprocessed food has always the be the goal in the end, of whatever label (low carb/vegan etc)

Thanks so much for your good advice.

 

[pixie1]

For your original question on the sugar content of your bars, at 18g of total carbs are far too high.

 

[kaym]

Homemade meals are always better and healthier!

 

[moraccomoo]

Hi. I have been following the Exante diet for just over 2 months now. I eat one of their diet bars in the morning, then have a shake for lunch and soup sachet in the evening. I do have quite a bit of weight left to lose, but am more concerned with getting my BG to non-diabetic levels. Most of the bars are about 200 cals and have 18g carb of which 7.1g are sugars. Is this too high? Would it be better to eat a lower carb home made breakfast?

All these soup satchets, shakes and bars sound too processed to me. Switch to real home made food. There is no magic pill or miracle diet for weight loss or diabetes management. Cut the root cause (processed carbs, high sugar) and our body can recover itself with lifestyle changes (less stress, more sleep, clean diet, exercise).

Rest all sound sham and/or unsustainable. Sorry of I sound blunt

 

[sue512]

I understand that you want to achieve substantial weight loss, but I started low carb high fat with goal to reduce my blood sugars and to achieve diabetic remission if my body was willing. I’d given up on weight loss as only ever managed just over a stone before I started shutting down and weight plateauing. I’d become cold and tired etc. this means I’ve pretty well ignored weight loss and concentrated on low carb and healthy diet so you can imagine my shock when my weight is shooting down. I only needed to lose about 5 stone to reach healthy bmi and am currently just in obese zone which I’m hoping to get out of in a few weeks. I’d even ditch calorie counting and join low carb program, it’s liberating