Diet Doctor Low Carb Challenge

maglil55

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I'm following the Diet Doctor 2 week challenge and the carb intake is 20g or less per day. My main motive was to get my BG back to where I wanted to be and it was certainly doing that until I fell victim to this stinking cold (although BG has not risen as much as it usually does when I am ill. )
However, I have only lost 1lb. Prior to this I'd lost 17lbs on a moderate LC diet (about 40 - 50g carbs). Lowering BG is the priority and I'm happy with how it's going. However, I do want to lose more weight. I know Diet Doctor say you don't count calories on their keto diet but I've checked some of their recipes now and the daily total is around 1800 calories. I intend to give the VLC another couple of weeks to see if I can get my BG back in the 4's but after that I think I have to tweak the Diet a bit to lower the calorie intake as I really don't think I will lose anything much on 1800 calories a day.
Does anyone know if the full nutritional information for the Diet Doctor recipes are lurking anywhere on the net or am I just going to have to plod on putting the recipes into my Fitness Pal? (Some were there already but were a bit dubious).
If anyone wants to know what the 2 week challenge is like it is surprisingly easy. I have never been hungry, if anything it is too much food. The shopping lists do help because you only buy what you need. Hubby mostly ate the same as me although I add carbs for him as he won't eat the quantity of greens I get through. You only cook once a day as one day's dinner becomes the next day's lunch (I don't count breakfast as cooking as scrambled eggs only take minutes). Talking of eggs you get through loads of them!! Recipes are very good and some are Really good (don't think I would have found Diet Doctor without this forum).
 

Chook

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I think it's amazing that you have lost anything at all on 1800 cals a day. Well done!!! :) :) :)

So... which of the recipes were the really good ones?
 

Resurgam

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For me calories are pretty irrelevant - I am sure that I must eat about 2000 some days - the ones with the roast chickens in them, but after decades of low carbing I have no fear of fats - people almost faint when I put double cream into my shopping trolley - lots of it. I eat it with berries and put it in my coffee, but I can't eat grain, most legumes and most fruits. I do have lots of energy when low carbing.
 

BrianTheElder

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I'm following the Diet Doctor 2 week challenge and the carb intake is 20g or less per day. My main motive was to get my BG back to where I wanted to be and it was certainly doing that until I fell victim to this stinking cold (although BG has not risen as much as it usually does when I am ill. )
However, I have only lost 1lb. Prior to this I'd lost 17lbs on a moderate LC diet (about 40 - 50g carbs). Lowering BG is the priority and I'm happy with how it's going. However, I do want to lose more weight. I know Diet Doctor say you don't count calories on their keto diet but I've checked some of their recipes now and the daily total is around 1800 calories. I intend to give the VLC another couple of weeks to see if I can get my BG back in the 4's but after that I think I have to tweak the Diet a bit to lower the calorie intake as I really don't think I will lose anything much on 1800 calories a day.
Does anyone know if the full nutritional information for the Diet Doctor recipes are lurking anywhere on the net or am I just going to have to plod on putting the recipes into my Fitness Pal? (Some were there already but were a bit dubious).
If anyone wants to know what the 2 week challenge is like it is surprisingly easy. I have never been hungry, if anything it is too much food. The shopping lists do help because you only buy what you need. Hubby mostly ate the same as me although I add carbs for him as he won't eat the quantity of greens I get through. You only cook once a day as one day's dinner becomes the next day's lunch (I don't count breakfast as cooking as scrambled eggs only take minutes). Talking of eggs you get through loads of them!! Recipes are very good and some are Really good (don't think I would have found Diet Doctor without this forum).
I often use and like the Diet Doctor recipes, but I find it really annoying that their nutrition information is so poor. For instance, with the naan bread, it says 92% fat, 3% carbs, 3% protein. if you assume that is % of calories and try to work back, you just get silly numbers. The problem is, it is very much USA biased, so it is based on per portion (without telling you the weight of a portion) instead of per 100g and there is no mention of fibre. Just give me fat, carbs and protein in g/100g of product, like all nutrition labels in UK!
 

BrianTheElder

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Now I have got the nutrition stuff off my chest, I will move on to the calories. I agree that these are pretty irrelevant, in fact I found that one of my plateaus was caused by eating too few calories. If you read about this, you often find the statement that calorie controlled diets don't work, the reason being that your body adjusts its metabolism according to the calories input The generally accepted norms for a 70kg person are 2000 calories for a woman and 2500 for a man. I work mine out from 150g fat, 20g carbs, 60g protein, 15g fibre, giving 1720 calories total. I don't get hungry, so that's obviously OK.
 

maglil55

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I think it's amazing that you have lost anything at all on 1800 cals a day. Well done!!! :) :) :)

So... which of the recipes were the really good ones?
From Week 1 - the hamburger patties with creamy tomato sauce, the chilli salmon with spinach was really delicious although it turned out I'd lifted trout fillets rather than salmon. The red pesto chicken casserole with olives and feta. Crackslaw - goes without saying. It was a spicy Mexican type one last week. This week's is Asian flavours. The jerk chicken worked well.
From week 2 loved the butter baked cod loin with Brussels sprouts and mushroom roast.
Tonight is the frittata.
 

maglil55

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From Week 1 - the hamburger patties with creamy tomato sauce, the chilli salmon with spinach was really delicious although it turned out I'd lifted trout fillets rather than salmon. The red pesto chicken casserole with olives and feta. Crackslaw - goes without saying. It was a spicy Mexican type one last week. This week's is Asian flavours. The jerk chicken worked well.
From week 2 loved the butter baked cod loin with Brussels sprouts and mushroom roast.
Tonight is the frittata.
And the frittata is pretty darn good too. Hubby is still eating it.
 
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maglil55

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Now I have got the nutrition stuff off my chest, I will move on to the calories. I agree that these are pretty irrelevant, in fact I found that one of my plateaus was caused by eating too few calories. If you read about this, you often find the statement that calorie controlled diets don't work, the reason being that your body adjusts its metabolism according to the calories input The generally accepted norms for a 70kg person are 2000 calories for a woman and 2500 for a man. I work mine out from 150g fat, 20g carbs, 60g protein, 15g fibre, giving 1720 calories total. I don't get hungry, so that's obviously OK.
#Brunneria

I get the concept and, as I said I was losing weight when I was 40 to 50g carbs but I also know from MPF fat was lower and calorie intake was around 1200. 20g carbs or less is not an issue. Bottom line my BG was not coming down to a level I was happy with on 40 to 50g but it is on 20g or less. I'm not hungry - if anything I feel full most of the time and to be honest, at lunchtime I'd prefer a snack rather than the full meals on the 2 week challenge.
I'm just puzzled that I've only dropped 1lb although maybe there will be another 1lb this week. My fat/protein/carb split is much the same as yours Brian. My mind is asking am I doing something wrong? I followed the recipes and actually weighed everything (usually I cook by guesswork). So the portions are what they say. I did change a couple of things. In the chicken casserole with the olives and feta there was just too much cream in in for my taste so I reduced the cream content. The other change due to taste is they saute their veg in a lot of butter - I prefer to steam them and add a little knob of butter at the end or sometimes not. Again it's a matter of taste. But now I'm wondering if reducing the amount of fat they use is affecting my weight loss?
Or is it due to the fact I'd already lost 17lbs and the weight loss is slowing down?
I already exercise but I'm not convinced that shifts weight unless you are working out for hours on end and I don't know anyone who has the time for that.
Or is it just weight loss takes time to kick in with VLC.?
I guess I'm just looking for logical answers but I don't want to upset the apple cart with my BG. My logical mind is saying I need to tweak something if I am not losing but the question is what? Calories are a hard one to shake when you've been told for years you have to keep to a certain level
.
 

maglil55

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I'm following the Diet Doctor 2 week challenge and the carb intake is 20g or less per day. My main motive was to get my BG back to where I wanted to be and it was certainly doing that until I fell victim to this stinking cold (although BG has not risen as much as it usually does when I am ill. )
However, I have only lost 1lb. Prior to this I'd lost 17lbs on a moderate LC diet (about 40 - 50g carbs). Lowering BG is the priority and I'm happy with how it's going. However, I do want to lose more weight. I know Diet Doctor say you don't count calories on their keto diet but I've checked some of their recipes now and the daily total is around 1800 calories. I intend to give the VLC another couple of weeks to see if I can get my BG back in the 4's but after that I think I have to tweak the Diet a bit to lower the calorie intake as I really don't think I will lose anything much on 1800 calories a day.
Does anyone know if the full nutritional information for the Diet Doctor recipes are lurking anywhere on the net or am I just going to have to plod on putting the recipes into my Fitness Pal? (Some were there already but were a bit dubious).
If anyone wants to know what the 2 week challenge is like it is surprisingly easy. I have never been hungry, if anything it is too much food. The shopping lists do help because you only buy what you need. Hubby mostly ate the same as me although I add carbs for him as he won't eat the quantity of greens I get through. You only cook once a day as one day's dinner becomes the next day's lunch (I don't count breakfast as cooking as scrambled eggs only take minutes). Talking of eggs you get through loads of them!! Recipes are very good and some are Really good (don't think I would have found Diet Doctor without this forum).
I think I've answered my own questions
1) The fact I'd already lost 17lbs is probably part of it. Everything I've read suggests bigger loss 1st week then about 1lb a week. Which is what is happening with me.
2) Eat when you are hungry - I'm not hungry at lunchtime and I really don't want a cooked meal. So despite liking the idea of cooking once a day I think the full cooked meal at lunchtime is the one to drop unless it is something not too big I. E. A bit fat head pizza or a bit frittata. Will see if this one change makes a difference and just stay on 20g or less carbs.
 
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Nicksu

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#Brunneria

I get the concept and, as I said I was losing weight when I was 40 to 50g carbs but I also know from MPF fat was lower and calorie intake was around 1200. 20g carbs or less is not an issue. Bottom line my BG was not coming down to a level I was happy with on 40 to 50g but it is on 20g or less. I'm not hungry - if anything I feel full most of the time and to be honest, at lunchtime I'd prefer a snack rather than the full meals on the 2 week challenge.
I'm just puzzled that I've only dropped 1lb although maybe there will be another 1lb this week. My fat/protein/carb split is much the same as yours Brian. My mind is asking am I doing something wrong? I followed the recipes and actually weighed everything (usually I cook by guesswork). So the portions are what they say. I did change a couple of things. In the chicken casserole with the olives and feta there was just too much cream in in for my taste so I reduced the cream content. The other change due to taste is they saute their veg in a lot of butter - I prefer to steam them and add a little knob of butter at the end or sometimes not. Again it's a matter of taste. But now I'm wondering if reducing the amount of fat they use is affecting my weight loss?
Or is it due to the fact I'd already lost 17lbs and the weight loss is slowing down?
I already exercise but I'm not convinced that shifts weight unless you are working out for hours on end and I don't know anyone who has the time for that.
Or is it just weight loss takes time to kick in with VLC.?
I guess I'm just looking for logical answers but I don't want to upset the apple cart with my BG. My logical mind is saying I need to tweak something if I am not losing but the question is what? Calories are a hard one to shake when you've been told for years you have to keep to a certain level
.
My weight loss was like that at first - a dramatic drop following the drop in carbs and sugar and then starting to drop down about a pound or 2 a week. My only exercise is walking - usually 35-45 mins a day (split into 2 parts - 25/30 mins and then the rest later in the day). You have to remember also that when you are exercising you will be putting on muscle - and muscle weighs more per square inch than fat. So the scales can be quite deceptive in that regard. Seeing how clothes fit (or not) is probably the best way to find if you've lost weight. I've been doing this for 4½ months and have lost 2½ stone. I seemed to have got a bit stuck over Christmas and New Year - despite being out nearly every day in all weathers (and some of it was bl**dy freezing!). My last weight loss? 2 pounds. As someone said to me once - it took that long to go on, its not going to come off any quicker! (which wasn't much consolation at the time but I can see where they were coming from!). Just keep going and if you get the munchies look for something with fat in it - cheese is a good one I find if I get the late night munchies.
 

Chook

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@maglil55

Okay.... you've talked me in to it. Last week I was on 800 calories a day (Newcastle Diet with real food aka Blood Sugar Diet) and didn't lose an ounce so I've just set up an Asda order for the first week's meals. I seem to have ordered rather a lot of food for just the two of us though - and I can't quite work out why I need so much parsley?

In the introduction to the Challenge he says to eat when hungry and I am not used to eating lunch so I will experiment on week one - if I can't get on with eating it then it'll just be breakfast and dinner on week two.

I'm not really bothered how quickly I lose weight as long as its generally going downwards but I am concerned about my BG at the moment. This morning my FBG was 6.3 and I ate 40g blueberries and 100g full fat greek style yoghurt - and an hour later my BG was up to 9.3! I don't usually test at an hour so I tested again at 2 hours and it was down to 6.9. I know its probably DP but I thought I'd eaten the blueberries and yoghurt in time to stop it rising.

Sorry to waffle on. Are you going to use this thread as a sort of diary?
 
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maglil55

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@maglil55

Okay.... you've talked me in to it. Last week I was on 800 calories a day (Newcastle Diet with real food aka Blood Sugar Diet) and didn't lose an ounce so I've just set up an Asda order for the first week's meals. I seem to have ordered rather a lot of food for just the two of us though - and I can't quite work out why I need so much parsley?

In the introduction to the Challenge he says to eat when hungry and I am not used to eating lunch so I will experiment on week one - if I can't get on with eating it then it'll just be breakfast and dinner on week two.

I'm not really bothered how quickly I lose weight as long as its generally going downwards but I am concerned about my BG at the moment. This morning my FBG was 6.3 and I ate 40g blueberries and 100g full fat greek style yoghurt - and an hour later my BG was up to 9.3! I don't usually test at an hour so I tested again at 2 hours and it was down to 6.9. I know its probably DP but I thought I'd eaten the blueberries and yoghurt in time to stop it rising.

Sorry to waffle on. Are you going to use this thread as a sort of diary?
Seems like a good idea. I was astonished at some of the quantities too. Week 2 2 people - 50 eggs !!
 

Chook

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@maglil55

Ah! I think I might have done it wrong. There's only me and Mr C but I did the shopping list for three people (him x dinner and me x dinner and next day lunch).

I like eggs but I thought 70 of them seemed a lot.
 
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maglil55

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@maglil55

Ah! I think I might have done it wrong. There's only me and Mr C but I did the shopping list for three people (him x dinner and me x dinner and next day lunch).

I like eggs but I thought 70 of them seemed a lot.
I did it for 3 people as well. Same logic as you - both of us dinner and next day lunch for me. They also have a lot of breakfast eggs. I checked with them and they said medium or large eggs but it was 3 scrambled for breakfast. So that's adding a lot of eggs. I cut it to 2 scrambled with some parsley and a couple of rashers of streaky bacon some days. You've probably seen that I'm thinking of dropping the hot lunch as I am mostly not hungry then. Some of the Recipes are still really good next day for a light lunch e.g. the pizza and the frittata was excellent second day as was the chilli salmon. Otherwise I 'm happy with something like a salad and a slice of cold meat. Hubby has started on the black coffee with the swirl of cream now - he is discovering this is actually quite tasty eating.
 
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maglil55

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[QUOTE="Chook,

This morning my FBG was 6.3 and I ate 40g blueberries and 100g full fat greek style yoghurt - and an hour later my BG was up to 9.3! I don't usually test at an hour so I tested again at 2 hours and it was down to 6.9. I know its probably DP but I thought I'd eaten the blueberries and yoghurt in time to stop it rising.

Sorry to waffle on. Are you going to use this thread as a sort of diary?[/QUOTE]

I'm having a similar problem at the moment - I hit 9.5 this morning before it started to fall again but I think it is the residual of this cold as my legs are still bad and that's a sign of a lurking bug. Like you I thought I 'd eaten in time but no such luck.
 
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Chook

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I think I might cancel a few of these eggs although I'd really love to see Mr C's face if Asda were to deliver 6 dozen.

I must admit that spike this morning really quite scared me. I'm going to start testing an hour after meals to see if it happens regularly or whether it was a one off.
 

maglil55

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My one flinched at 4 doz! My spike has been regular while I 've been ill but like you it comes back down. (I have been testing at 1hr , 90 mins and 2 hrs. ). Before I caught this cold it went up but nothing very much. To be honest it still isn't going up much - just the dawn figures are a higher start point and they were getting better pre cold.
 

Brunneria

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Loving this thread!
I recently had the Dietdoc pesto chicken thing, and nearly died of pleasure.
Want to try the burger sauce now. We have naked burgers quite often and I would like to tart them up a bit, in a saintly way.

Do they do proper shopping lists, if you pay a subscription? or have you made your own lists?

By the way, calories are meaningless to my body. Seriously. I can eat 3 meals a day VeryLowCarb, and not gain weight eating nearly 3000 cals a day, or I can eat 1200 calories including carbs, and gain weight - and I can't be the only one.
 

Chook

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Hi @Brunneria. :)

Yes there are proper shopping lists but for this Two Week Challenge the menus and shopping lists are free. Have a look at this link:

https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/get-started

I haven't paid anything yet. I think they carry on sending you weekly menus if you become a member which costs nine dollars a month (although I'm not sure about whether the shopping lists carry on). If they could find a way to put that shopping list directly in to my weekly Asda order I might actually consider the nine dollars worth it. But perhaps I'm asking a bit much. :)

@maglil55 What do you think - is it worth joining?
 

maglil55

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Hi @Brunneria. :)

Yes there are proper shopping lists but for this Two Week Challenge the menus and shopping lists are free. Have a look at this link:

https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/get-started

I haven't paid anything yet. I think they carry on sending you weekly menus if you become a member which costs nine dollars a month (although I'm not sure about whether the shopping lists carry on). If they could find a way to put that shopping list directly in to my weekly Asda order I might actually consider the nine dollars worth it. But perhaps I'm asking a bit much. :)

@maglil55 What do you think - is it worth joining?
I've joined. Ist month is free but as you say the 2 week keto challenge is free anyway. I've had a look at the meal plans in the members area and yes the shopping lists continue. They are bringing in a meal planner so you can put together your own weekly plans. What I have been doing is printing the shopping list for the week on a Friday (not tonight though - babysitting) and scoring off everything I have already. Then I either order online for delivery or just go to the supermarket after swimming if I can be bothered.
I have to allow for options if hubby won't eat that evenings meal. For example he wouldn't eat crackslaw so I took some of the mince and turned it into bolognese which he had with pasta. As I said though mostly he's been happy with it and I like the organisation as it suits my nature. Videos and articles are good too.
I think I mentioned I had been a paid member on South Beach for years but then they upped the cost to £31 pm as they went App based but it only worked in the USA. Previously they had a load of trackers and weekly menus with all the nutritional data for about £5 pm.
I think diet Doctor is worth it. Anything to make life easy and they are cracking recipes.
 
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