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'Newcastle diet' advice

I am now 18 months after diagnosis and have reversed my Type 2 diabetes with the Newcastle diet - and exercise. I lost 8.5 stones. HbA1c was 4.4 last time. I have been removed from the diabetes register. Things I have learned:
- when I began to eat more normally after 6 months on the diet (but with careful attention to portion control, avoiding sugary and sweet things, keeping carb intake low) I now have a 4lb fluctuation in my weight but it seems to have stabilised. This fluctuation may be to do with fluid retention, etc etc. Who knows!
- calorie output is always greater than intake! I exercise nearly every day (7k on the treadmill, which I have now managed to finish in 52 minutes). If I eat more I do more! I walk everywhere (well, nearly everywhere!), take the stairs etc etc. I plan to get swimming again (after 30 years!) and take some lessons. I MAKE time to do this hour as it may save my life!
- I test now only in the mornings, and when I reintroduce something to my diet. I do the odd test to check - and I am lucky my GP supplies the strips as he thinks this is saving the NHS a potential fortune (if my diabetes had developed and I needed many years of increased medical care).
- I like being my 20s weight, (I was 17.5 stones, now around 9 stones) and I am glad not to be diabetic, so each time I am tempted I remind myself of that. I can wear nice clothes again. I don't feel frumpy and old fashioned any more.
- I DO have treats! A glass of wine at the weekend, some spelt flour bread and spelt pasta etc. I LOVE bread!
- I know that others use high fat, and that it works for them, and that's fine as we are all different. But, I eat low fat, and sugar free and it works for me and keeps my weight steady.
I am like everyone here - I worry about putting the weight back on and have to remind myself it is not a diet - it is a life style change! And it is for life! But, I want to be diabetes free more than I want to eat rubbish (the old me!) and so I behave like a recovering alcoholic and take it a day at a time. I know that I have a low diabetes threshold, and it is a constant battle to keep things under control.
Good luck to all of you out there. We are all individuals, and what works for some won't for others.
 

Congratulations @paulins, an inspiration to all of us and just what we can achieve, great effort
 

@paulins can you tell me how you came off the diabetes register? Obviously there are benefits eg cheaper life insurance....Well done on the accomplishment....I mean you have really lost a lot of weight....I dare you to put some rocks in a bag equal to the weight you've lost and go for a walk....just to see what you were dragging along with you Well done ....here's to you!!!
 
@Daphne917 of course there are health risks with 800kcal a day and a shake....however there are health risks in not losing the weight either....the purpose of the Newcastle diet was to simulate bariatric surgery (gastric band)....My question which has remained unanswered so far is what are people doing once they achieve their goal weight to stop in creeping up again?
 
My GP wrote to the consultant at the hospital and he reviewed all my BS readings for the previous15 months. He agreed - in writing - that I should be removed.
Good idea re. the rocks! I bet I couldn't actually carry them. What a stress I must have been putting on my joints, and my heart! Interestingly, though my blood pressure readings are now excellent, and I have had my medication reduced twice and it is the lowest you can be prescribed, my GP does not want me to stop it completely as my BP 'bounces' up as soon as I go into the surgery. He said the fact that it does that indicated that I need the medication, albeit at a much lower dose. White coat syndrome? The same story with statins. With medication it is 4, but without it is 5, and I do not eat anything that will push it up so apparently it is genetic. My GP thinks that keeping it at 4 with medication is better as it reduces the risk of heart attacks/strokes by another couple of percentage points. So, while I have never taken diabetes medication, I still take medication for BP and cholesterol.
Made lovely chocolate cake yesterday for the family - no sugar! - and have just cut slices for them today to finish it off. Ho hum! Will power overload!
 


@Daphne917 - i responded saying what I had done/was still doing ...
 

Congratulations on your amazing transformation!

White coat syndrome is very common. I've never heard of medication being given for it before, I wonder if that is usual?

Did you know that statins increase the risk of diabetes? So taking them to decrease the risk of heart disease a little is a trade-off. You know you are prone to diabetes. But with normal BG's, and blood pressure, and weight, I wonder you've been prescribed them. Just a thought.
 
paulins said:
@Daphne917 - i responded saying what I had done/was still doing ...
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@paulins it was Brightside who asked the question and I think that you answered it admirably. Well done on your achievement
 

Hi Paulins,

First of all let me congratulate you on your successfully reversal of your situation, as I know it wasn't easy and you had to work at it everyday, until you reached your target gold, which you succeeded in doing. Your attitude was also a big help as a lot who try to do what you did forget that it's now become a way of life, not just a way to loose weight. They'll also need to continue long after they have reached all their personal golds, as it's ever so easy for all that weight to come back with avengence, as next time it also becomes much harder to reverse it again. So once again congratulations on your efforts and good luck with your future diabetes free.

Stemar, (Downunder)
 
Andrew Colvin said:
Congratulations @paulins
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Hi @Andrew Colvin! Lovely to see you on the forum. It looks as if you are doing just fine getting things under control. I am fine too. I have had a hard year but am through it now and looking to a better 2015 than 2014! I think I said to you that I had a lovely student some years ago called Andrew Colvin and I think of his face whenever I see you online. But, you probably look nothing like him.
 
Yes I remember but I do not think if we established any other details.
Yes everything is nicely under control. Went on holiday to Jamaica and didn't have to worry about what I ate or drank. If I want to eat a load of liquorice I can and it doesn't do anything drastic to BG levels. So things looking good.
Never see my doctor or nurse now -well 5 mins once a year with nurse in the last year to give me my last hba1c. May have to say that it is about time they saved their money and took me off the register but I know they like 3 years after those with gastric band surgery so likely to be the same for me so may be next year. So cautious and happy to add you with just one blood test.
 

Hi Stemar,
Never a truer word spoken, as you say, the main thing is to realise that it is NOW a way of life, or it will be just another diet and those people will just go back to the way they were AND also to the weigh they were,
 


Hi @Stemar, thank you for these kind and encouraging words. My friends and family laugh when I say that I am treating this like being a recovering alcoholic - but I know that I have the potential to slip back into my old ways, and begin to allow myself to have 'treats' because I'm fed up, or working hard, or tired or simply bored. But, this was a long hard struggle and I definitely don't want to have to do it again. And I know now I have a low diabetes threshold, so I need to be careful. My husband has been so supportive and now as a matter of course when he shops and cooks makes me meals with very low carb, low fat, and no sugar. He has also eaten like this and has lost 3 stones and looks great - back into his 20s weight and jeans! My younger sister is now doing this diet though she is not diabetic, but she worries that it is genetic and that she has the same disposition as me. She has lost about 2 stones. She has BP problems, and in the past months her average has gone from 145/90 to 130/82. Good result and great incentive to keep going.
 
Wildrover said:
Hi Stemar,
Never a truer word spoken, as you say, the main thing is to realise that it is NOW a way of life, or it will be just another diet and those people will just go back to the way they were AND also to the weigh they were,
Click to expand...

Hi Wildrover,

Thanks for the reply, I hope a lot more get to read it, but most of all understand "It's a lifestyle Change" and not just a diet with a quick way to loose weight, as this is far from the reality of being over weight, plus being Diagnosed with Diabetes. As most of us had Diabetes occur due to our lifestyles in the past, which led us to become over weight because of our "Eatting Choices and Our Lack of Excersise" so if where honest with ourselves, we'll agree our past caused our problem, so a change may reverse the situation, but it's not going to happen in just a few weeks, plus it won't be easy either. Anyway I hope those who read these can embrace the meaning and acheive their ultimate Gold to be Diabetes Free and Loose Weight, so I wish you all the best with your future so take care and good luck with the future Ok!

Stemar, (Downunder)
 

Hi Pauline,

I hope I got your name right, if not I'm terribly sorry! Again, congratulations on your fantastic efforts, too of reached not one, but both of your targets, as it was no mean fete as I know how hard it can become, somedays just to stay focussed and on track, but you did it. Also your approach is 100% especially in looking at it as if your a recovering alcoholic, as for your family and friends laughing at you for looking at it this way, it's their way of expressing pride in what you've acheived, mixed with a bit of ignorance as they think because you've beaten it and don't have it anymore, why continue as if you did.. It's like when Drug Addicts stop taking Drugs, the people near to them don't understand why they still need to go to "Narcotics Annonamous Meetings" but the Addict knows he needs them. Also it's grate to see that your husband has adopted your way of eatting, so your not tempted to fall back into the old ways, your very lucky to have his support in this way, as you are surounded by plenty of support, which can only be a positive thing, so I wish you all the best with your tasks in the future but I know you'll not slip backwards as there is to much going for you, so take care and good luck.

Stemar, (Downunder) .
 
I feel a lot of us think or take ND as a quick 8 week cure to diabetes and weight loss, but its not, I am sure if we go back to our old ways of eating, we might get it back. As paulins said treats are good, It also helps you stay focused, I feel you only have one life to live, so at times you need it but post ND i really think exercise and keeping the weight off is as important.
I am still only 6+ weeks out of ND and I might be talking out of my skin but if post nd we eat right and do exercise we should be able to stay off diabetes, I still remember doc telling me its a progressive disease inevitably leading to loss of limbs and all that, and had i not found this forum, I would have had no option to but to listen to the doc and live the way he wanted me to, I definitely did not want to give in and I will not.
I have just adopted a low carb diet and I am so used to it I dont like the old high carb refined flour diet anymore. Neither is it unhealthy for me to drop back on it, Its not correct way of eating for nobody.
I dont think i have the strength to do ND again but definitely working very hard to keep the weight off me. 16:8 IF with exercise is what I am doing, trying a combination of HIT with normal walks, and staying low carb. Few things I still do even after coming off ND ( Or i should rather say very good things I picked up off ND ) is I make soups I used to make on ND And add loads of water to it before having them, keeps me full and helps me skip a meal sometime, and have sparkling water to keep hunger away.
But definitely there are days when I let myself loose for some social gathering or if I feel I really need to spend time out with family and have no option but to eat what is available (which is not always LCHF)
@paulins @Andrew Colvin @Pipp have stayed reversed and I really look upto them and feel if I could achieve half of what they have done I would be happy.
 
Great reply and we'll done....@brettsza....that is my big worry....u diet cut the weight bg ok....and then....u fall into old habits and before u know it the insulin resistance is back.
 
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