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Diet suggestions after 800 calorie diet

Suestevewil

Suestevewil

Newbie
Messages
4
Location
Gloucestershire
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Other
On week 6 of Gov 800 low calorie program, 6 to go then 4 weeks or food reintroduction, looking for recipes to keep weight off and readings low. Have lost 20kg so far and readings of 4-5 average. Is low carb or low fat or combination of bits from various sources ok. Am allergic to seafood so anything with fish is out
 
Low carb seems overwhelming to be the choice of most in here to a reach and then b remain in remission. Dietdoctor website has loads of info and recipes. Lots of other recipe sites too for low carb and keto meal ideas. Just google the food and add keto or low carb to the search. Then also explore the sites beyond the recipes searched.
 
HSSS said:
Low carb seems overwhelming to be the choice of most in here to a reach and then b remain in remission. Dietdoctor website has loads of info and recipes. Lots of other recipe sites too for low carb and keto meal ideas. Just google the food and add keto or low carb to the search. Then also explore the sites beyond the recipes searched.
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Thanks am looking at so many sites gets a bit confusing
 
Suestevewil said:
On week 6 of Gov 800 low calorie program, 6 to go then 4 weeks or food reintroduction, looking for recipes to keep weight off and readings low. Have lost 20kg so far and readings of 4-5 average. Is low carb or low fat or combination of bits from various sources ok. Am allergic to seafood so anything with fish is out
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What does your support team suggest?
 
Have a look at Mosely's Blood Sugar Diet book for recipes on 800 kcals if you get fed up of the shakes. My friends who use it find the food good.
When at the reintroduction stage, maybe consider testing bgs to see how much carbohydrates you can tolerate without raising post meal bgs and fasting bgs high.
Re introducing nutritious foods which don't jack your insulin resistance up may be more important than maintaining all the weight loss. IF your bgs are rising with reintroduction of more food then that would indicate the return of some insulin resistance that you've currently beaten by losing the liver and pancreas fat that drives type 2 diabetes.
If you can tolerate some carbs then the Mediterranean diet might be good for you. Plenty of above ground veg, chicken , beef or eggs with healthy fats in olive oil, avocado and nuts though easy on the pizza, pasta and Tiaramasu part!
The Dr David Unwin and Italian chef/diabetic l have done a good book which I will link here. I've used it and enjoy the recipes:
Mosely
https://www.amazon.co.uk/8-Week-Blo...02&hvtargid=pla-646446813792&psc=1&th=1&psc=1
Unwin et al
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Diabetes-Weight-Loss-Cookbook-life-changing-diabetes-ebook/dp/B07LFG5RXY
 
The confusion is due to competing hypothesis that are both right-ish, the calories in calories out model, where all calories are viewed as the same equivalent, and the carbohydrate insulin model, where different foods are said to impact the hormones in a manner that equates to either fat retention or burning (simplified versions).

For me you cannot eat unlimited calories and not put on fat, but at the same time a 1000 calorie steak will not put on fat like 1000 calories of candy floss.

I experimented on myself with a heavy plant based (whole lower to mid carb) diet supplemented with meat / fish. Some meals were entirely plant based. Then I reversed this to more meat and fish and less low carb veg / fruit (all picture documented over 3 years), On the plant based diet I could get 42/41 HbA1c's with 3 hours of exercise per day, on the meat based circa 38 NHS (35.5 medichecks), again all picture documented.

Results might be different in your case, but low carb / keto enables meals to be close to conventional, with no or minimal new fangled food-like science experiments, untested over centuries in big populations.
 
Suestevewil said:
On week 6 of Gov 800 low calorie program, 6 to go then 4 weeks or food reintroduction, looking for recipes to keep weight off and readings low. Have lost 20kg so far and readings of 4-5 average. Is low carb or low fat or combination of bits from various sources ok. Am allergic to seafood so anything with fish is out
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Many, many congratulations! You have lost so much weight, and are getting such good readings, that you may well have gone into remission from your diabetes already!
The critical thing is to keep the weight off. I would suggest you eat the same foods that you ate before the diet (because presumably you like those!), but in much smaller quantities. I think 2/3 of the portions you previously ate is the recommended amount following a very low cal diet such as yours, so as not to put the weight back on. Doesn't the protocol of the diet tell participants how many calories they can eat in the weight maintenance phase?
PS you may find that adding high fibre foods, makes your meals more filling.
 
Tannith said:
Many, many congratulations! You have lost so much weight, and are getting such good readings, that you may well have gone into remission from your diabetes already!
The critical thing is to keep the weight off. I would suggest you eat the same foods that you ate before the diet (because presumably you like those!), but in much smaller quantities. I think 2/3 of the portions you previously ate is the recommended amount following a very low cal diet such as yours, so as not to put the weight back on. Doesn't the protocol of the diet tell participants how many calories they can eat in the weight maintenance phase?
PS you may find that adding high fibre foods, makes your meals more filling.
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How’s that working for you?
From a previous thread I recall you mentioned you have gained back some of the weight you lost using this method??
 
Suestevewil said:
On week 6 of Gov 800 low calorie program, 6 to go then 4 weeks or food reintroduction, looking for recipes to keep weight off and readings low. Have lost 20kg so far and readings of 4-5 average. Is low carb or low fat or combination of bits from various sources ok. Am allergic to seafood so anything with fish is out
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Continue being led by your monitor. Its your body and that will tell you what you can tolerate Carb wise. Over time you will see exactly what you can and can't eat.
Most type 2s seem bested suited to a low carb, healthy fat (lchf) way of eating, for life. I am, have lost 3st and keeping it off easily, without hunger
 
Suestevewil said:
On week 6 of Gov 800 low calorie program, 6 to go then 4 weeks or food reintroduction, looking for recipes to keep weight off and readings low. Have lost 20kg so far and readings of 4-5 average. Is low carb or low fat or combination of bits from various sources ok. Am allergic to seafood so anything with fish is out
Click to expand...
This thread https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.26870/ has lots of excellent ideas and advice for you moving forward.

Monitoring my blood glucose levels with me own meter, and watching the amount of carbs i eat and the effect they have on my blood sugar levels has worked for me for a decade now. Finding and sticking to the foods which stabilise our condition is most of the challenge initially. Once you get into the swing of a new low carb way of eating, it becomes second nature.
 
Suestevewil said:
On week 6 of Gov 800 low calorie program, 6 to go then 4 weeks or food reintroduction, looking for recipes to keep weight off and readings low. Have lost 20kg so far and readings of 4-5 average. Is low carb or low fat or combination of bits from various sources ok. Am allergic to seafood so anything with fish is out
Click to expand...
If you need to know how many calories you can eat to maintain your new weight then you might like to try one off the online calorie calculators. This is one, but there are several. They tell you how many calories you, personally, need to maintain you weight without either losing or gaining.
https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
I used one of these following a fairly low calorie diet (in 2 bursts but that's another story), during which in total I lost a bit over 21% of my weight. It was a guide to how much I could eat without putting the weight back on, and on which I could base my recipes. It worked in the end and I now have FBG numbers of 4.5 to 5
 
Suestevewil said:
On week 6 of Gov 800 low calorie program, 6 to go then 4 weeks or food reintroduction, looking for recipes to keep weight off and readings low. Have lost 20kg so far and readings of 4-5 average. Is low carb or low fat or combination of bits from various sources ok. Am allergic to seafood so anything with fish is out
Click to expand...
Tried low calorie, simply didn't work and was hungry all the time. Wound up at diabetic levels. Low carb, on the other hand - blood glucose down to low normal in four months. No hunger. Steady weight loss - around 20 kgs so far. No hunger. T2 in remission. No hunger.

This is not a hard choice for me. Experiences may vary, but I couldn't recommend anything other than a low carb lifestyle.
 
KennyA said:
Tried low calorie, simply didn't work and was hungry all the time. Wound up at diabetic levels. Low carb, on the other hand - blood glucose down to low normal in four months. No hunger. Steady weight loss - around 20 kgs so far. No hunger. T2 in remission. No hunger.

This is not a hard choice for me. Experiences may vary, but I couldn't recommend anything other than a low carb lifestyle.
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Same here. I don't have to watch how much I eat if I keep my carbs low and my blood sugar levels under control.
 
In spite of the out-of-date diet beliefs that cutting calories is the only way, ironically it often works for T2 diabetes because going very low calorie means cutting carbs. But you can lose weight and drop blood sugars more easily by cutting out most of our UK style heavy-carb typical diet (and the Eatwell plate).
And you have lost of options for support - I used the lowcarbprogram (still available on 'prescription' from the NHS in some parts of the country) because it has meal plans, recipes, a simple carb/nutrient tracker, weekly teaching videos and expert support.
Best way to know how many carbs and how your body cope with specific foods is to get a blood sugar meter. Test first thing then before and 2 hrs after each meal.
The amount we can eat is very personal, I found I could have 85g carbs a day but no more than 30g in a single meal - others had to go lower.
 
That’s the problem with those kinds of diets, you don’t learn how to prepare your meal plan.

if you’re above 30% body fat, you’ll do excellent just by following keto or carnivore and even better if you can add 30 minutes of walking per day.

I would start tracking your calories, just to establish your baseline intake. So you can make adjustments if you stall and still want to get leaner.
 
Tannith said:
I used one of these following a fairly low calorie diet (in 2 bursts but that's another story), during which in total I lost a bit over 21% of my weight. It was a guide to how much I could eat without putting the weight back on, and on which I could base my recipes. It worked in the end and I now have FBG numbers of 4.5 to 5
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That's a great result. Just curious, do you actively count calories now? Or have you developed recipes so that you know what you can get away with eating without needing to count? (Not a criticism, as a T1 I'm stuck with counting carbs, at least roughly, for the indefinite future.) Can you have cheat days?
 
Suestevewil said:
On week 6 of Gov 800 low calorie program, 6 to go then 4 weeks or food reintroduction, looking for recipes to keep weight off and readings low. Have lost 20kg so far and readings of 4-5 average. Is low carb or low fat or combination of bits from various sources ok. Am allergic to seafood so anything with fish is out
Click to expand...
Excellent work on the loss, and your readings look fab. As for what's next... There's just three macro-nutrients, and if you cut both carbs and fats, that only leaves protein... Which isn't very doable. Having done low fat and becoming morbidly obese as I went, -I was about as wide as I was tall!- and having gone low carb and having lost a lot of that excess weight and gaining blood glucose control, my vote'd be low carb. Don't overthink things too much, there's lots and lots and lots of sites out there with recipes that would confuse a science teacher. Just keep it simple. Base meals around meat, poultry, eggs, cheeses, (I ALMOST said fish, but I know that's out! :) ). Then add in low carb, above ground/leafy green veggies. Full fat greek yoghurt with some berries is fine, you know... Simple stuff. Real food. You can make things as complex as you want, but just be aware of the basics: low in carbs, high in healthy fats. Protein, middle-of-the-road. Build from there, and you should be fine. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ this might help some, but I can just see you rolling your eyes at yet another site. ;)
 
EllieM said:
That's a great result. Just curious, do you actively count calories now? Or have you developed recipes so that you know what you can get away with eating without needing to count? (Not a criticism, as a T1 I'm stuck with counting carbs, at least roughly, for the indefinite future.) Can you have cheat days?
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Mostly I don't need to count as I know more or less what the calorie count of my favourite meals is. But every now and again I check one exactly, in case I have got in the habit of, say, putting too much grated cheese on my baked potatoes or spag bol. Recently I started weighing the cheese again so my portion wouldn't creep up. I also weigh myself daily and though minor fluctuations in weight aren't necessarily crucial, this does serve as a guide to let me know when I need to count calories carefully again. And yes I occasionally cheat but rarely for a whole day. On very occasional evenings instead of having stewed fruit for supper I have chocolate ice cream with cream. Bearing in mind though that this was once my downfall!
 
Tannith said:
Mostly I don't need to count as I know more or less what the calorie count of my favourite meals is. But every now and again I check one exactly, in case I have got in the habit of, say, putting too much grated cheese on my baked potatoes or spag bol. Recently I started weighing the cheese again so my portion wouldn't creep up. I also weigh myself daily and though minor fluctuations in weight aren't necessarily crucial, this does serve as a guide to let me know when I need to count calories carefully again. And yes I occasionally cheat but rarely for a whole day. On very occasional evenings instead of having stewed fruit for supper I have chocolate ice cream with cream. Bearing in mind though that this was once my downfall!
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Out of curiosity - other than fbg - what diabetes metrics do you take (pre and post meal readings / hba1c?) and how have these changed from pre low calorie dieting and also and since you began maintenance rather than loss.
 
Thank you all for replying and giving advice and hints. still got 6 weeks on soup and shakes then start 4 week reintroduction. Some of the suggested recipes during reintroduction on the app i am using Oviva are very complex and fish based, so will look for similar calorie meals I can tolerate and make easier also as need to take at least 1 meal to work need something I can take with me. Have been looking at the low carb meal options as think this will help me to continue to loose/ maintain my weight. I use a sugar monitor so can track the highs and lows. Due a hb1c test about 4 weeks after reintroducing food so will give a good indication of how things are progressing. For now its just research for me to find enough easy to make low carb/low calorie meals so the good work done over the 16 weeks was not in vain. Weighed today and down another 2 kg so total 22 kg, 16 of which are since starting soups and shakes the other 6 i lost in 6 weeks while monitoring before starting the 800 calorie program.
 
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