Marathonmona's 8 week 800 calorie diet

[ringi]

In an old experiment people who were 100% adapted to living on fat were given enough insulin to get their BG down to 2, the only side effects were in the doctor's as they know what should happen to someone with a BG reading of 2! This experiment would never be approved these days. (The doctors were showing signs of hypo due to stress.)

Hence unless taking drugs that stop our body controlling BG, I think we should ignore low BG readings if we feel well.

 

[Peerless67]

Congratulations @marathonmona and @Chook Both doing awesome, it does get tough at times but just treat yourself to some black coffee or zero calorie soda. The hunger does pass I promise.
Keep up the good work I am cheering you on.

 

[marathonmona]

Likewise @Peerless67. Great work

 

[badcat]

In an old experiment people who were 100% adapted to living on fat were given enough insulin to get their BG down to 2, the only side effects were in the doctor's as they know what should happen to someone with a BG reading of 2! This experiment would never be approved these days. (The doctors were showing signs of hypo due to stress.)

Hence unless taking drugs that stop our body controlling BG, I think we should ignore low BG readings if we feel well.

I was in hospital for 4 months when I was first diagnosed ( result of gp **** up more than diabetes per se) and got a reading of 2.1 mmol - I couldnt understand what all the fuss was about as I felt absolutely fine but the nurses and docs were v concerned and put me on a glucose drip

 

[Chook]

put me on a glucose drip

Oh my God - thats got to be my worse nightmare.

The way I deal with it if I go a bit (or a lot) low is to eat Sainsbury's frozen cherries which I keep in the above fridge freezer in the kitchen (my other freezers are in the garage). They are a bit like cherry flavoured icepops and fairly quickly release their flavour and sugar so you raise your BG in a controlled way. I used to keep Lucozade and bananas for when/if I had a hypo but they are too full on and my BG would swing in the opposite direction which isn't ideal.

 

[marathonmona]

Cheeky little 24 hour fast going on. Stopped eating at 2pm yesterday and surprisingly wasn't hungry this morning so pushing til 2pm.

 

[Chook]

Oh, good luck Mona. I quite enjoy fasting... I know... I'm weird.

I'm having a bit of a blip today - for some reason my fasting BG has gone up. Very annoying as I'm on track with both carbs and calories.

 

[marathonmona]

That's our bodies though isn't it: mysterious beings we are. Thousands of chemical reactions at the same time. Who knows?
Don't let it dishearten you.
Keep on swimming

 

[marathonmona]

On day 10 of 56.
Weight loss of 7 and a half pounds
FBG 4.8

 

[Chook]

G'morning Mona - how are you doing today? Did you manage your full day fast?

My FBG has gone down a bit this morning - the record book is downstairs but I think it was either 6.2 or 6.3

How are you doing with your calories today? I had a chia pudding for breakfast which, although the same calories and carbs as my Paleo Porridge, just wasn't as filling - but I've got another three days of it to eat (it made 4 portions) so I'll just have to get used to feeling a bit peckish.

I'm reading the Michael Mosley Blood Sugar Diet Book and he recommends reviewing how things are going at the end of weeks 2 and 4 then at the end. Have you been keeping notes of things like your waist measurement, BMI, etc? I hadn't thought about measuring my waist but I knew what it was at the start as I'd just recently bought some clothes through eBay.

I've also been reading the Newcastle Diet protocol which says it can be for 8 or 12 weeks and then have a 're-feed' phase before going on to a maintenance plan. I've put a link to it and its the right hand column on page 5.

http://www.directclinicaltrial.org.uk/protocol/DiRECTProtocol.pdf

 

[Chook]

Cross posted

Well done on that FBG!!

 

[Nicksu]

This morning the scales were up to 15st 1lbs and FBG 6.7

I didn't think the small amount of food I had at the BBQ would do that but I suppose weighing daily will show these fluctuations...

I'm still debating whether to eat or not today

One thing to remember is that your weight can differ throughout the day by about 4 pounds (up or down). It all depends on what you have eaten and drunk, whether you have (ahem) been to the bathroom. It never does any harm to a do a fast - gives the gut a rest I always think. Well done to you.

 

[marathonmona]

Hi Chook!

Yep I managed the fast!

I've only measured weight, waist and FBG. I may invest in one of those scales that measures body fat. We'll see.
Thanks for that link! Will have a good look at it later.
I think the biggie for me will be going back to school next week. I will need to find a way of best sticking to the plan as with more stress and less sleep I always give in to temptation.
Xx

 

[Chook]

Well done on the fast . It's hard doing anything about stress and I know I eat more if I'm tired.

I am definitely not an expert (that's for sure!) but this time I seem to be doing better and I think it's because I've planned all my meals in advance (making them as yummy as possible) and making sure the ingredients for them are already in the fridge. Then I tell EVERYONE and threaten them with 'dire consequences ' if they try to persuade my off (what my husband calls) my path of perfectness.

According to Michael Mosley we ought to be setting ourselves a target. Personally I think that just getting through the eight weeks is target enough - but I think if I haven't gone below my Personal Fat Threshold in the eight weeks then I'll continue to twelve weeks which is an option given in the Newcastle Diet protocol.

 

[marathonmona]

Eeks. Not entirely sure what Personal Fat Threshold is...
I think my target is to stick to 800 calories as much as possible and get at least an hour of dog walking in a day.
And not to give in to brought in sweets and cakes "because I deserve them and I've worked hard" or 'have a day off'. I deserve to be healthy!
I'll see how much weight I've lost by mid-October and how I feel/look. If the plan gives me the energy I need, and gives me the results I desire, I will continue further.
I'm not going to put numbers to it-yet... I may do however further in the future.
Oh and I want to throw in the occasional 24 fast but find that that's easier to achieve as and when I most feel like it, as opposed to planning it.

 

[Chook]

Personal Fat Threshold, according to Prod Roy Taylor of Newcastle University - the clever man who devised this diet, is the point where we have lost sufficient fat from around our liver and our pancreas so they start working properly. The actual PFT varies from person to person and some people can look slim but still have all this visceral fat clogging up their innards and other people can be big yet not have T2 because their PFT is very high.

I actually did manage to get below my PFT about a year and a half ago but had some non diabetes health problems that made me house bound and I ended up putting back on a couple of stones, bringing me well above my PFT. I've really tried hard to lose the weight since then but nothing seems to work except The ND. The thing that encourages me is that I know it works, I had a few lovely weeks when I was below my OFF when I could eat carbs without worrying about my BG. I won't be making the same mistake this time!

 

[marathonmona]

How do I find out what my threshold is? Is it by testing after eating to see how my body is coping with the food?

 

[Chook]

There isn't an official test for it - I just found out one day (about half way through the ND) that carbs weren't causing the spikes to my BG that I had been getting previously - so I did a bit of experimentation - slowly worked my way up to a slice of Morrisons tigers loaf with only a gentle increase in my BG. Then, a few weeks later, had an accident at work which caused a whole load of health problems and the subsequent weight increase.

 

[marathonmona]

Tiger loaf: mmmmmmm yummie!
Not so good about the accident .
It'll be an interesting experiment, that's for sure!
For now I just need to concentrate on the plan.
I went out for a pub meal today. Luckily they had a Caesar salad on the menu, no eggs or tomatoes, just lettuce, chicken, a tiny bit of bacon, a handful of home-made croutons and a tiny bit of sauce and Parmesan. Now the Prezzo Caesar is huge and includes egg and tomatoes, lots of sauce and more than a dusting of Parmesan and that's 728 calories so at a guess I think today's was more 600 ish.
Had a coffee for dessert

 

[koukSundo1188]

How do I find out what my threshold is? Is it by testing after eating to see how my body is coping with the food?

I would prick and drink water BEFORE eating, but not use the testing strips to save money. My 2cnt