Defatizing with Herbalife by Kenny

Kenny

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95
Hi. My name is Kenny. I am an accident-prone cartoon character with type 2 diabetes. Age 43, diagnosed 4 years ago, HbA1C 9.5 (coz i'm 'out of control'), peripheral neuropathy with significant numbness in feet, and loss of sensation now to above my knees.

Recently, my feet have been slightly swollen, and I've an idea it's due to poor circulation because of vascular damage.

Anyway, Professor Taylor of Newcastle University has given me hope! I'm doing the ketogenic diet 600calories a day using Herbalife. That means mainly 3 200cal shakes per day, plus herbalife supplements such as Gamma Linolenic acid, Chitosan, Multivitamins, Omega 3. There is also a Green-tea based beverage. I am also drinking 'Omija' tea. I live in South Korea and Omija tea is said to be an 'adaptogen'... it helps the body adapt to new conditions.

For those who don't know about Professor Taylor's work, he has concluded that a severely calorie-restricted diet forces the body to rapidly burn up fat deposits in the liver and in the pancreas; that fat deposits in the pancreas inhibit insulin secretion, and that this diet therefore restores the body to a pre-diabetic state. Insulin production was shown in the study to increase dramatically at 7 days, and gradually from then to the end of the study at 8 weeks. BS also normalized at 7 days, very close to non-diabetic. At the end of the experiment, and 12 weeks after resumption of normal diet, fatty deposits in the liver and pancreas had not returned, and 7 out of 11 test subjects passed an oral glucose tolerance test.

So! Diabetes is getting very serious for me. I'm fed up with it. I AM GOING FOR THE MAGIC BULLET. If anyone posts on this thread to tut tut and tell me what I'm doing is dangerous... I warn you in advance, I will ridicule you. This epidemic has to stop and it has to stop now. It's time for some real men to step up to the plate and do what it required.

For the benefit of anyone who would like to follow this diet, we wish to add that Diabetes UK, who funded the study, have advised against going on the diet without medical supervision:

Diabetes UK strongly recommends that such a drastic diet should only be undertaken under medical supervision.

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press.office/press ... 2-diabetes

Benedict
 

Kenny

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95
DAY 2

It might seem incongruous for a cartoon character to call himself a 'real man'. Let it go.

I have a very slight headache and a vague feeling of being unwell. I have weakened to the point where I am walking everywhere at half speed lol. Also, my tongue feels a little 'thick'.

Fasting blood sugar was 173 (9.6mmol) before I started this diet yesterday morning. It has often been in the 200s (over 11mmol), so I must have been avoiding sugar!

Anyway, I am married with a 2yr old baby daughter and my wife is pregnant with our second... so if I can't man up and destroy this disease then I am a ***** who frankly deserves to have his feet chopped off.

I'll be in touch.

[Mod edit to change units to UK mmol and remove inappropriate language]
 

viviennem

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Make sure you drink plenty of water, Kenny. Headaches are quite common at first on ketogenic diets as you "cold turkey" off carbs. I try for 2 litres of water a day.

Good luck, and keep posting :D

Viv 8)
 

Kenny

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95
DAY 3

It's lunchtime... which means a shake and a bit of boiled broccoli.

Woke up this morning feeling a bit sick, headache, aching legs. After breakfast shake, legs not aching any more but headache still there. Fingernails pale pink, indicating blood sugar is not high. I won't take an actual BS reading until day 8.

Surprisingly, I feel a little bit more energy. I think I might be able to function properly today.

One thing I forgot to mention is that I am 6 feet tall (182 cm) and weighed 120Kg at my maximum, 113Kg at the start of this diet. My weight this morning was 111Kg. I should weigh 97Kg after 8 weeks. My target weight is 76Kg. Man, that is a hell of a lot of weight to shift. It's going to take some time.
 

mehdave

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344
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Insulin
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Rubbish doctors who dont listen. Unclean hospitals
The headache and aching muscles reminds me of when I done lighterlife it was about 5-600 calories as well. God I was ill for about a week. It did subside though.
 

NewdestinyX

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205
Thanks for starting this, Kenny, and telling all the gory details as you're experiencing them. As Viv said I can concur - lots of water. When you start burning 'only' fat for energy as you probably are already -- the fat stores a LOT of toxins. So when they start being used in the body some of the toxins spread to muscles causing aches and the blood stream creating headaches.. Water is the universal 'detox' fluid.. Don't be afraid to take a couple aspirin or Tylenol - whichever.. Anything to get thru what's called "induction period flu". Most of us get it when moving into ketogenic mode for the first several days to a week or more.. It gets a little better -or- ALL better. Everyone's different.

It didn't work for me.. I never got back enough energy to do vigorous working out when I did it early on. Even after 6 weeks - (though I'd killed several food cravings in that period of time that have never returned and lost about 20 lbs) - the 'energy never came back' and my brain stayed foggy. As soon as I moved back to about 1500 calories at least and at least 70-100g of carbs I got my life back and KEPT losing weight and started needing less and less insulin to the point now where I'm off basal and just use a little bolus with a carbier meal. So I'm achieving my goals via a different path than constant ketogenesis.

But MANY people I've read report that they don't have any energy loss issues after the induction period and some don't even experience the flu symptoms like you're reporting AT ALL. My experience taught me to try not being 'too active' in the induction period -- treat it somewhat LIKE a 'flu' for a couple of days.. And then slowly increase activity. When I did Herbalife™ 15 years ago I lost a LOT of weight and had great energy but it wasn't a 500-600kcal program then. I LOVED their Thermogenic Tea - worked great.. But that was also when MaHuang and all those stimulant herbs were still 'legal' in the US. They're not anymore.

You seem to have a lot of motivation to make this happen -- so you CAN make it!! Hopefully you'll be one of the ones that can 'thrive' on super lo carb even after you reach your goals. I never could and I'm just glad that super lo carbing isn't the only way to fully control diabetes and also meet your BMI goals.

We're pullin' for ya!!!!!!!!!! Go -- KENNY!!!
 

pianoman

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332
Not wanting to stray too far off topic but I'm confused by this talk of "ketogenic", "low-carb" and "induction phase"... surely the overriding quality of this diet is the extreme calorie restriction?

Yes it is low-carb: with the Optifast shakes (IIRC) being around 70g carbs plus whatever carbs are in the vegetable allowance, but again IIRC the induction phase of Atkins (<= 20g per day) or Bernstein is lower than 70g carbs per day?

At 600 calories it is low everything!

And significant calorie restriction like this will lead to burning fat stores to a greater degree than usual with resulting higher levels of ketones -- so it might also be called a diet high in saturated animal fats...

BUT if the motivation for this diet is to induce either a ketogenic or low-carb state, then surely these can be achieved without starving yourself?

I'm not willing to sit back while we get more nay-saying blaming a "low-carb" diet for lack of energy when the more likely culprit is an extreme calorie (energy) restriction.
 

mehdave

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344
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Insulin
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Rubbish doctors who dont listen. Unclean hospitals
Hi kenny I done lighterlife for while and it was before I was diagnosed. Just ended it as was too expensive.
 

bowell

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With non-starchy veg adds 200 Kcal so its really a 800Kcal Diet

From study
Meal replacement with Optifast (3 sachets each day) – this provides a total of 600 calories and
the necessary daily vitamins and mineral requirements

Eat up to 3 portions of non-starchy vegetables each day (total of 250g each day) (for fibre
content) – this will provide another 200 calories

Drink - 3 litre of water or calorie-free beverages each day
During the 8 weeks of the diet;
* No poultry or fish or meat
* No bread or pasta
* No dairy products (even full skimmed milk!)
* No root vegetables like potato, sweet potato, turnip
* No pulses
* No fruits
* No alcohol
During the first few days of the diet, you may experience some symptoms like
- headache
- dizziness
- tiredness
- hunger
- cold
These are expected as your body adjust to using your fat store as energy source.
The symptoms will improve after 2-4 days. It is important to keep up your fluid intake and


Ps
The ketogenic diet (KD) is a high fat, low carbohydrate, controlled protein diet that has been used since the 1920s for the treatment of epilepsy.
Ref:
http://www.epilepsysociety.org.uk/A...etogenicdiet?gclid=CNDQ_euQmKoCFRQKfAodX0rhxQ

Lets leave this space for the 600/800 kcal dieters and supporters

less of the Attention seeking
 

NewdestinyX

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Messages
205
pianoman said:
At 600 calories it is low everything!
Agreed - but........

And significant calorie restriction like this will lead to burning fat stores to a greater degree than usual with resulting higher levels of ketones
That's one of the main points. It will still be ketogenic in nature. --

BUT if the motivation for this diet is to induce either a ketogenic or low-carb state, then surely these can be achieved without starving yourself?
All ketogenic diets 'starve' a human in the strictest sense - but that's a semantics argument. Fat isn't converted as efficiently into energy as carbs are - though I will acknowledge that's more important for an athlete than the average person trying to do better for themselves with D. But 'lesser/greater efficiency' does matter when it comes to your perceived needed/desired energy level.

I'm not willing to sit back while we get more nay-saying blaming a "low-carb" diet for lack of energy when the more likely culprit is an extreme calorie (energy) restriction.
Except that the fat we eat is never available as immediate energy. Only carbs can provide this - which is one reason you rarely if ever see a major athletic training association on record as promoting the low carb method.

I will acknowledge that overall calorie restriction to this level is going to add an even 'greater' lack of energy that an Atkins-style low carb approach. But even when eating higher fat (more calories) for satiety's sake it's the drop in carbs that robs us of energy (initially for many/not all and not necessarily forever - please don't 'add' to what I'm saying).
 

Kenny

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95
pianoman said:
I'm not willing to sit back while we get more nay-saying blaming a "low-carb" diet for lack of energy when the more likely culprit is an extreme calorie (energy) restriction.

I am a 43 yr old with a 2yr old baby and another on the way. I have peripheral neuropathy and now swollen feet due to vascular damage.

I DON'T GIVE A **** ABOUT LACK OF ENERGY. I COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT HEADACHES. I AM FINALLY MANNING UP AND PUTTING THIS WRETCHED DISEASE INTO PERMANENT REMISSION.
 

Kenny

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95
bowell said:
With non-starchy veg adds 200 Kcal so its really a 800Kcal Diet
Yes, that's right - it ends up being 800cals. Yesterday I boiled up some broccoli (cooked it perfectly, 5 minutes in boiling water) and fried it in a little olive oil with chopped garlic. There was so much stalk that I didn't use I decided to boil it in the water I used to cook the florets and blended it to make soup. I put a bit too much pepper in the soup but I was amazed at how tasty it was. Broccoli soup, made with only the stalks, is really delicious! In the evening I also took a tiny sliver of cheddar cheese and two cherry tomatoes to shut my tastebuds up who were complaining bitterly. Did the trick.
 

Kenny

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95
DAY 4

Woke up this morning with light pink fingernails, but I didn't eat for two hours... I think I got a liver dump coz my fingernails turned redder. I then had a herbalife shake. I'm having trouble with the herbalife shake. The first time I drank it I thought it was delicious. I now dread having to drink it. It's sickly sweet and I actually feel slightly nauseous drinking it.

Drinking lots of Omija tea and Kerkade (Hibiscus tea) which I got in Egypt this summer. Omija is an 'adaptogen' and apparently Kerkade lowers blood pressure and helps the venous system.

RESULT! The swelling in my feet has disappeared. My feet actually look normal, apart from some residual mottling which was the result of all my uncontrolled sugar and chocolate and pasta eating.

Pleasant morning, no headache, but headache has returned this evening. Stomach slightly upset. But I'm pushing through!
 

Patch

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Messages
2,981
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Insulin
Keep it up, Kenny! Great news about your plates. I had my first Optislim shake today - I DID find it VERY sweet, and I'm sure they'll start to taste quite sickly after time. But, like you say, I'll just have to push through!
 

sugar2

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833
Good luck Kenny. I suspect you will not "cure" your diabetes, but hey, if you get a massive improvement, then that will be fantastic.
 

Kenny

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Messages
95
DAY 5

sugar2... I am CURING my diabetes. I refuse to hear anything else. Just watch me.

This morning felt terrible, headache, body aching, lethargic. Went back to bed and slept/tossed & turned until 2pm. For breakfast I had a tiny bowl of bran flakes with milk. Managed to down a herbalife shake for lunch using soymilk instead of dairy (much better).

Evening now, and interesting development. Headache has subsided, still aching a bit, but much more energy. Man, I actually contemplated cleaning the shower. Didn't actually clean it, but contemplated it!

Evening meal: hohoho... delicious!!! No herbalife shake for me, oh no... get this:

sliver of mature cheddar cheese, four small cherry tomatoes, four slices of red pepper, slice of raw onion, four green olives... with a smidgeon of Balsamic vinegar. Delicious! And I'm pretty sure it comes in at less than 200 calories. Tomorrow I think I'll have broccoli soup again, but I'll sprinkle a bit of freshly grated parmesan cheese on it to jazz it up a bit.

With this renewed energy, I'm very hopeful for tomorrow and following days.
 

Patch

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2,981
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Insulin
Kenny said:
I am CURING my diabetes.

Right on! Stay positive. Right there with you!

Kenny said:
This morning felt terrible, headache, body aching, lethargic.

I'd see this as a good thing. Once the fat starts disolving, the toxins held in that fat (fat is a great storer of toxins) will be released into your system - and you're gonna feel it. I'll be looking at this as PROOF that fat is being disolved.
 

bowell

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Dont want to pee on your fire Kenny and i don't know if you wish to keep to study diet as near as poss

Cheese?

And Optifast mix uses water not milk ?

Soy milk prob is better than milk if water will not work with your mix

During the 8 weeks of the diet;
 No poultry or fish or meat
 No bread or pasta
 No dairy products (even full skimmed milk!)
 No root vegetables like potato, sweet potato, turnip
 No pulses
 No fruits
 No alcohol
Still good on you for trying this

[Mod edit: inappropriate language]