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'Newcastle diet' advice

I also find that a taste of carbs can be enough to push me back down that slippery slope. Best avoided, for me.
 
Dinner tonight - vegetable soup made with lean ham as stock, lean turkey casserole with lots of vegetables, strawberries and a small handful of mixed nuts (brazil, almond, cashew, walnuts, etc). All smallish portions. Making myself eat, though living off soup at the moment. I am having a real problem with smells - my husband made me a lovely pot of soup with cress and peas (@Pipp, I think you gave me the recipe, or was it @cold ethyl?) and I really enjoyed it the first day and it turned my stomach the next day so it all went into the freezer! Anyway, BS after one hour 6.3, after 2 hours 5.4. Will do it again after 3 hours but happy with that I think. Turkish Delight all gone! The vultures true to form demolished the box in record time.
 
Chicken... No not you (well may be for not even trying a single piece :P) - try a chicken sandwich in bergen or rye bread. Very light on the stomach - lots of chicken - Your body will need the protein
 
Andrew Colvin said:
Chicken... No not you (well may be for not even trying a single piece :p) - try a chicken sandwich in bergen or rye bread. Very light on the stomach - lots of chicken - Your body will need the protein
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Thanks @Andrew Colvin - will try that!
 
I had a nice walk yesterday and fell off the wagon a bit. Walked 2 miles down by the beach in the photo and into a Russian owned bar. My friend and I consumed a pitcher of beer & the walked back 2 miles to my car to drive home..All told about 80 minutes of walking. This morning I walked the dogs for an hour and then this afternoon I did cycle down to the end of the same beach this being about 100 minutes cycling all told. I avoided the bar and the pitcher of beer. I really wanted a glass of that pitcher of beer but I'll wait till I get down and stabilize around my target weight. We all have to keep ourselves honest as it were. After the bike ride and the shower after the ride I feel fantastic!

Current weight 212 lbs BMI currently 27.2
Most recent Cholesterol 160 Sept 2014
Most recent HbA1C 6.2 May 2014

As I am not on insulin but doing just Metformin and Gabapentin I've no meter.
I 'm going to get a blood check up this week.

We have meatloaf tonight & I can have as many brussel sprouts as I like! Yea!

JM
 
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Living-by-the-beach said:
I had a nice walk yesterday and fell of the wagon a bit. Walked 2 miles down by the beach in the photo and into a Russian owned bar. My friend and I consumed a pitcher of beer & the walked back 2 miles to my car to drive home..All told about 80 minutes of walking. This morning I walked the dogs for an hour and then this afternoon I did cycle down to the end of the same beach this being about 100 minutes cycling all told. I avoided the bar and the pitcher of beer. I really wanted a glass of that pitcher of beer but I'll wait till I get down and stabilize around my target weight. We all have to keep ourselves honest as it were. After the bike ride and the shower after the ride I feel fantastic!

Current weight 212 lbs BMI currently 27.2
Most recent Cholesterol 160 Sept 2014
Most recent HbA1C 6.2 May 2014

As I am not on insulin but doing just Metformin and Gabapentin I've no meter.
I 'm going to get a blood check up this week.

We have meatloaf tonight & I can have as many brussel sprouts as I like! Yea!

JM
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Can't help having a beer or two myself sometimes, but not when doing Newcastle diet. Never mind, you did well to avoid it the second time.

Can I suggest you get yourself a meter and test? How else can you keep track of progress? NHS docs are not providing them, but you are entitled to one, so could argue your case as it is conducive to you gained BG control.
 
@paulins I have a particular question for you. When you were going thru the dramatic weight loss that did your HbA1c come down gradually or was it more pronounced towards the end. I just got my most recent blood tests back and my HbA1c came in at 6.1% I've been actively working out but I was surprised that my reading wasn't in the "5's" .. I won't get discouraged but I feel upset. I can't tell you how many times I've cycled the 15 or so miles + done all sorts of other exercise that I feel should be showing better results..

Current weight 209 lbs BMI currently 26.8
Most recent Cholesterol 160 Sept 2014
Most recent HbA1C 6.2% May 2014 / Sep 2014 6.1%
 
It reduced quite a bit at the beginning then slowed over the middle months then was quite marked again towards the end of the weight loss. My GP said to remember that we are not machines and lots of things can affect levels, so not to be in any way disheartened if it seems to go up for some reason.
After two reductions in medication I am now off all blood pressure meds (two lots) which can only be a good thing. So much healthier overall with losing all this weight. With the exercise do you build up a sweat and get fairly out of breath? I was told these were optimum conditions for losing the bad fat in the liver and pancreas. That fat is the last to go as it comes off in the reverse order to how it went on so that's why levels reduce more towards the end.
I have now lost 7st 11 lbs and am trying to stop loss now and stabilise and am gradually introducing foods to see what happens.
Best of luck.
 
paulins said:
It reduced quite a bit at the beginning then slowed over the middle months then was quite marked again towards the end of the weight loss. My GP said to remember that we are not machines and lots of things can affect levels, so not to be in any way disheartened if it seems to go up for some reason.
After two reductions in medication I am now off all blood pressure meds (two lots) which can only be a good thing. So much healthier overall with losing all this weight. With the exercise do you build up a sweat and get fairly out of breath? I was told these were optimum conditions for losing the bad fat in the liver and pancreas. That fat is the last to go as it comes off in the reverse order to how it went on so that's why levels reduce more towards the end.
I have now lost 7st 11 lbs and am trying to stop loss now and stabilize and am gradually introducing foods to see what happens.
Best of luck.
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@paulins my original meeting with the specialist endocrinologist didn't go too well especially when she prescribed me with statins. I refused to take them. My total cholesterol was just originally 202 or just over the upper limit of the threshold. I figured that as I'd been a total slug / couch potato the amount of exercise I was doing was going to alter and that my cholesterol would change (& it has) Its now 160 at my last test. One thing I didn't like was that (here in the US) the statin drugs have a warning on the label that they (the statins) can send a patient into T2 diabetes! No wonder I got upset with the Endocrinologist, (aside from her smug attitude too) Something I was trying to get away from, so basically I kicked that relationship completely into touch at the first go round.

Since then I had a free pre-diabetes checkup @ my Sunday church about 4 weeks ago. My resting heart rate is now 60/minute, it was 72+. My blood pressure was 111/68.(it had been 120/79). So blood pressure wise I 'm much improved in my health. Since posting my question to you I've re-read part of the forum where you mentioned you are doing 5-6000 yards (or meters) / day running. My knees won't allow me to run. So what I've been doing is the cycling. & Lots of it. I got my neurologist to keep an eye on me and to prescribe me my medicines. When I went in for my checkup 4 weeks ago he was very pleased with my progress. I have been guided too by Phil http://trailjunkie-phil.blogspot.fr/ with my exercise regime. Yup I'd say I've been working up more than a mild sweat. Every evening I come in I am drenched with sweat from the bike ride workout or what ever exercise I've done that day.

I had contact from Dr Roy Taylor and he said either hard core Newcastle diet or just make sure to diet to move all the weight off. Over the last 20 years I've lost 2" in height. that negatively affects my HbA1c in that I need to lose another 12lbs. So to get down to a BMI of less than 25 I've got another stone to go. I think while I am at it I may lose up to 20 -25 lbs just to really rid my pancreas / liver of the fat and get everything working as it should again. Its funny about my avatar that is where I cycle to everyday. & I am blessed in that here the weather is more amenable to getting exercise. That's gotta help in the longer run over people living in the UK and winter weather. Typically the weather here is very mild in the Winter. One of my cousins also a diabetic lives in Toronto Canada. She's lost some weight but also lost the desire too to get fit and lose the remainder of the weight needed to combat diabetes. It has to be tougher there than in the UK as Winters in Canada can be bitterly cold, think -10C in the morning, and not getting over freezing point all day.
 
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Living-by-the-beach said:
@paulins my original meeting with the specialist endocrinologist didn't go too well especially when she prescribed me with statins. I refused to take them. My total cholesterol was just originally 202 or just over the upper limit of the threshold. I figured that as I'd been a total slug / couch potato the amount of exercise I was doing was going to alter and that my cholesterol would change (& it has) Its now 160 at my last test. One thing I didn't like was that (here in the US) the statin drugs have a warning on the label that they (the statins) can send a patient into T2 diabetes! No wonder I got upset with the Endocrinologist, (aside from her smug attitude too) Something I was trying to get away from, so basically I kicked that relationship completely into touch at the first go round.

Since then I had a free pre-diabetes checkup @ my Sunday church about 4 weeks ago. My resting heart rate is now 60/minute, it was 72+. My blood pressure was 111/68.(it had been 120/79). So blood pressure wise I 'm much improved in my health. Since posting my question to you I've re-read part of the forum where you mentioned you are doing 5-6000 yards (or meters) / day running. My knees won't allow me to run. So what I've been doing is the cycling. & Lots of it. I got my neurologist to keep an eye on me and to prescribe me my medicines. When I went in for my checkup 4 weeks ago he was very pleased with my progress. I have been guided too by Phil http://trailjunkie-phil.blogspot.fr/ with my exercise regime. Yup I'd say I've been working up more than a mild sweat. Every evening I come in I am drenched with sweat from the bike ride workout or what ever exercise I've done that day.

I had contact from Dr Roy Taylor and he said either hard core Newcastle diet or just make sure to diet to move all the weight off. Over the last 20 years I've lost 2" in height. that negatively affects my HbA1c in that I need to lose another 12lbs. So to get down to a BMI of less than 25 I've got another stone to go. I think while I am at it I may lose up to 20 -25 lbs just to really rid my pancreas / liver of the fat and get everything working as it should again. Its funny about my avatar that is where I cycle to everyday. & I am blessed in that here the weather is more amenable to getting exercise. That's gotta help in the longer run over people living in the UK and winter weather. Typically the weather here is very mild in the Winter. One of my cousins also a diabetic lives in Toronto Canada. She's lost some weight but also lost the desire too to get fit and lose the remainder of the weight needed to combat diabetes. It has to be tougher there than in the UK as their Winters can be bitterly cold think -10C in the morning and not getting over freezing point all day.
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I run 5/6 kilometers every day - not yards or metres. Sounds absolutely the right thing to do to get rid of the endocrinologist - I hate smug medics! And your exercise routine also sound just fine. Keep going - that last stone is really hard, but so worth it! I am having to take steroids at the moment as was warned they can push up BS levels, so not really worried that mine are a bit higher for a while. They will come back down. Had a liver scan for something else recently and there is now no fat in my liver. Nearly asked the doctor to do a quick scan of the pancreas while he was at it!
 
@paulins Yet another great day out biking. The weather is a tad cooler than it has been of late. I did cycle about 16 miles today & I feel knackered. I hopped into the shower and I now feel brand new! I had already walked the dogs this morning so I've put in three hours of exercise today. The endorphins that one gets after a run or hard workout are wonderful. I checked my weight this morning and I'm now down 43.5lbs from worst level. I've not heard lately from my neurologist doctor who is guiding me through this process but I think he knows he's due an email with a photo of my belt and it being 4 notches in.

I've been good about the Russian bar too, I will go back for some bonhomie but probably not for another week. I've a friend who's coming to town and yes some times I'll allow myself to cheat. (Well you're not cheating) but just sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

I hope everyone is doing well on their individual goals..

JM
 
@paulins I did another bike ride today 3/4ths of the way thru the ride I started feeling weak so I stopped & had Chinese spring roll. I didn't want to get hypoglycemic but since I've read your pieces about running 5/6Kms every day I am trying to cycle 12-15 miles / day.

I am not dieting Newcastle per se but having cut a great deal of starches out of my regular diet I don't get the nauseous hunger I used to have. & Yes I do get a good sweat on and I do feel exhausted after I've had my shower back at home. I have to say that where we are, we are blessed with decent weather to get healthy! Most importantly I do want to thank you for continuing to inspire people to lose the weight and get their health back! Thanks!

JM
 
@Living-by-the-beach - I'm so pleased to see you are continuing to exercise and getting your BS levels down. It is definitely worth all our hard work. I live in Scotland and we therefore do NOT get regular decent weather - hence I have the treadmill in my bedroom! This year I am planning to venture outside and train for a 5k or 10k charity run. I do worry that I am getting ahead of myself, but think the support of others will help me to keep going. Yesterday I was out with an old friend who spent most of the time telling me I was now too thin, and looked ill and haggard. I am not, and I don't. She is very overweight, and was telling me she is wheat intolerant, (though not diabetic), and was eating a large toasted raisin bun with butter and preserve at the time. I think she is in complete denial and saw myself 10 months ago. Denial is a powerful thing, I know, and I think we who have faced our demons and been honest with ourselves are all really brave. It doesn't matter if we use the Newcastle diet or simply really cut down to lose the weight - what matters is that we do something and take control.
Very best of luck fellow dieters! We can do it! My new real struggle will be to maintain the weight loss and keep myself fit and healthy. BUT!!!! I have to say that I like being fitter, able to do things, able to run, able to get back into nice clothes, and able not to worry too much about the horrible things that could happen to me if I was still getting high BS readings and was still so overweight. My doctor is now considering taking me off my blood pressure medication (which has been reduced twice now), (117/61 this morning) and my resting heart rate is now 59/60. We will also discuss the statins.
Keep posting and let us know how you are all doing.
P xx
 
paulins said:
@Living-by-the-beach - I'm so pleased to see you are continuing to exercise and getting your BS levels down. It is definitely worth all our hard work. I live in Scotland and we therefore do NOT get regular decent weather - hence I have the treadmill in my bedroom! This year I am planning to venture outside and train for a 5k or 10k charity run. I do worry that I am getting ahead of myself, but think the support of others will help me to keep going. Yesterday I was out with an old friend who spent most of the time telling me I was now too thin, and looked ill and haggard. I am not, and I don't. She is very overweight, and was telling me she is wheat intolerant, (though not diabetic), and was eating a large toasted raisin bun with butter and preserve at the time. I think she is in complete denial and saw myself 10 months ago. Denial is a powerful thing, I know, and I think we who have faced our demons and been honest with ourselves are all really brave. It doesn't matter if we use the Newcastle diet or simply really cut down to lose the weight - what matters is that we do something and take control.
Very best of luck fellow dieters! We can do it! My new real struggle will be to maintain the weight loss and keep myself fit and healthy. BUT!!!! I have to say that I like being fitter, able to do things, able to run, able to get back into nice clothes, and able not to worry too much about the horrible things that could happen to me if I was still getting high BS readings and was still so overweight. My doctor is now considering taking me off my blood pressure medication (which has been reduced twice now), (117/61 this morning) and my resting heart rate is now 59/60. We will also discuss the statins.
Keep posting and let us know how you are all doing.
P xx
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Yes, do beware the pitfalls once you have BG and weight, and BP under control. The pitfalls I found were; the removal of the fear of complications of diabetes; not recognising that getting the good control of weight was not just a 'one off' thing; other people (even casual acquaintances) telling me I looked too thin, ill even; some not too helpful people on forum encouraging me to test limits on how much carb food I could eat without spiking BG. All of these made a hole that I fell right into, and I am still trying to climb back out.
 
paulins said:
@Living-by-the-beach ................. It doesn't matter if we use the Newcastle diet or simply really cut down to lose the weight - what matters is that we do something and take control.
Very best of luck fellow dieters! We can do it! My new real struggle will be to maintain the weight loss and keep myself fit and healthy. BUT!!!! I have to say that I like being fitter, able to do things, able to run, able to get back into nice clothes, and able not to worry too much about the horrible things that could happen to me if I was still getting high BS readings and was still so overweight..............................
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Once you have taken true control though, it does tend to stay with you, so hopefully it won't be too much of a struggle.
Certainly after buying a new wardrobe, there's also a great incentive not to have to chuck it away again and upsize. (I've binned all my old clothes)
I also like the fact I'm not having the piggy back the equivalent of one of my kids all the time, and that the gym isn't an embarrassing battle any more. I've also taken up hobbies I wouldn't have considered doing before, so I'm not going to give those up if I can help it.
 
paulins said:
@Living-by-the-beach - I'm so pleased to see you are continuing to exercise and getting your BS levels down. It is definitely worth all our hard work. I live in Scotland and we therefore do NOT get regular decent weather - hence I have the treadmill in my bedroom! This year I am planning to venture outside and train for a 5k or 10k charity run. I do worry that I am getting ahead of myself, but think the support of others will help me to keep going. Yesterday I was out with an old friend who spent most of the time telling me I was now too thin, and looked ill and haggard. I am not, and I don't. She is very overweight, and was telling me she is wheat intolerant, (though not diabetic), and was eating a large toasted raisin bun with butter and preserve at the time. I think she is in complete denial and saw myself 10 months ago. Denial is a powerful thing, I know, and I think we who have faced our demons and been honest with ourselves are all really brave. It doesn't matter if we use the Newcastle diet or simply really cut down to lose the weight - what matters is that we do something and take control.
Very best of luck fellow dieters! We can do it! My new real struggle will be to maintain the weight loss and keep myself fit and healthy. BUT!!!! I have to say that I like being fitter, able to do things, able to run, able to get back into nice clothes, and able not to worry too much about the horrible things that could happen to me if I was still getting high BS readings and was still so overweight. My doctor is now considering taking me off my blood pressure medication (which has been reduced twice now), (117/61 this morning) and my resting heart rate is now 59/60. We will also discuss the statins.
Keep posting and let us know how you are all doing.
P xx
Click to expand...

@paulins I've been checking my BP and it was 111/68 with resting heart rate of 60. So I know I am on the right track. 1/2 way thru one bike ride on the bike path I met a woman eating a waffle cone & ice cream. I looked at it (Ice cream was a passion) and said I think it looks nice but that because I am diabetic I can't do that. She was over 14 stones easy, so as gently as possible I asked was she aware of T2 diabetes. Oh sure she said her brother had it but had gotten rid of it by diet and exercise. Denial is a word that describes this.

Here in America one person in two will get diabetes. Its out of control. I frequently talk to my overweight sister via Skype and I can't even get her to get a blood test to check her A1c! I still get the diabetic neuropathy in my feet from time to time and it is that that really spurs me on to educate my sister. She is the lynch pin in so many peoples lives around her but I can't get her into the GP for a blood draw! Denial is incredibly powerful. We must help our fellow man and woman.

As for statins don't get me started. My mum has dementia that (I think) was because of statins. I refused to go on them. This website will tell you of the danger of statins. http://www.spacedoc.com/. Let us all keep up the good work..

JM
 
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whatdoesthisbuttondo said:
@paulins Well done on getting so far, its been great to read your, and others stories. You have been in my mind as you mentioned that week 2 of the ND was hard. I have just completed it and I agree, it was a lot harder than the first week!!
Im finding there are only so many ways you can play with vegetables!
But my morning readings are in the 5's (from 7-8 previously) and the weight is dropping off so things are going in the right direction for me.
Please keep posting, I'm almost fantasing about LCHF (or whatever works for me) when I complete the diet, so it would be good to see what you have done to stabilise after doing it for such a long time.
Im going through tons of test strips though, and although I have one bottle of 50 prescribed every year, Im having to go to ebay to buy loads more!

Tanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread, it has made for a very informative read.
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As an update, I stopped the ND at the end of week 5 as my BG was more or less constantly in the 5s on waking, and 2 hours after eating. Blood pressure had dropped to 100/65.
I considered that to be sufficient to be able to eat again!
So for the last couple of weeks I have followed a LCHF way of eating and the numbers have remained the same. As for weight, I lost 12% of my body weight and now have a BMI of 26 (from 30) during the 5 weeks and although I have put a kilo back on since starting to eat 'normaly' Im on the right track to continue losing weight in a slower pattern.

To summarise, the diet was a 'quick start' to the changes I had to make as I am the sort of person who loses interest if I dont see results fast!
It has made me realise that I can take control myself, and that I missed swimming, as I now swim half a mile three times a week after work.
The next HbA1c id due at the start of November so I should have some good refernce figures this time around!
 
@whatdoesthisbuttondo well done on the progress. I've adopted just cutting out as many carbs as possible. What I call the ABCDF diet.

No Alcohol
No Bread - pasta potatoes rice (sometimes full wheat / brown bread bun for a burger)
No Cereal
Light on Dairy (milk) full fat / Half and half (or full fat cream) for coffee and tea
Light on Fruit avoid pineapples bananas and similar but have blueberries strawberries raspberries (in a smoothie)

I am winning the battle. 209.5 lbs this morning. 43lbs off worst weight level.
I'll hit the weights room this morning too.

JM
 
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