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'Newcastle diet' advice

Hi fellow Newcastle diet supporters

Seems we are in the minority here. I have read on forum so many posts criticising the method from those who haven't tried it.

Just to update. Having given much consideration I have decided that this time four weeks has been enough for me.
A weight loss of 5.5kg over 4 weeks is good, but as the last two weeks only resulted in 0.5 kg lost, I am now gradually decreasing food replacement products and reintroducing protein, yogurt, fruit etc..
I have not felt hungry on Newcastle. The only unusual thing I noticed was feeling very, very cold for the first day or so.
Yesterday I had two meal replacement meals and a dinner in the evening of grilled steak and veg, followed by yogurt and blueberries. It tasted amazing. I have only had one meal replacement this morning, mushroom and salad at lunchtime, and roasted veg with a small portion of roast lamb for dinner. I will have some milk or yogurt for supper and have eaten an apple as a snack.

I don't rule out using Newcastle diet again in the future, as I am still very grateful and relieved by my apparent diabetes reversal through this method.

I will continue to track your progress, and if I can offer support, as I am appreciative of the interest and support you have given me.
Many thanks

Pipp
 
Pipp, I'd just like to say I also haven't ruled it out for the future either! I just desperately need to get my metabolism working properly now and I think such a harsh diet yet again will only harm it. In fact, when I started with myfitnesspal I realised I had inadvertently been having only around 800 calories most days anyway. I have no idea whether all the 800 calorie diets I did actually helped stave off my diabetes for a while. They may have but of course my visceral fat has never been tested, so I will never know.
 
Cheers zand

We all have to find a way that will work for our own personal circumstances. I took a chance 3 years ago on Newcastle diet being the one for me.
I am delighted I did, as I am healthier than I have been for years. Though I still have a long way to go. Nothing else had worked for me, and I felt I could not afford to wait for all of the clinical trials on Newcastle method to be completed.
I fully respect everyone else having their own opinions, but some of the criticism on the forum from some of the people posting, ( not you ) of everything that is not their way is frustrating.
Being aware that in addition to those of us who do post, there could be lots of others just viewing, who are not confident enough to post. We do have a responsibility to them.

The first time I looked at the forum a couple of years ago I saw a lot of what appeared to be hostility from some posters. It put me off.
 
Hi,

I'm exactly 28 days into the Newcastle Diet and I've noticed a few more effects.

Whereas before I started I was getting fasting levels in the 6s and 7s, they're now invariably under 5.5. (very often, oddly enough, 5.2). I'm obviously very happy with that but I'm now starting to see other changes.

My BG after eating is dropping into the low 6s, 1 hr after, (sometimes lower) and back to the low 5's (that 5.2 keeps popping-up here, again), 2 hrs after.

Yesterday, however, something remarkable happened: I gave myself the afternoon off by going to the pub to join in some homecoming celebrations for a friend who's been on a sponsored cycle event in France, for Help the Heroes. I had 2 pints of my favourite IPA, a couple of pints of soda and lime and then his wife wheeled out a feast for the 40 or so of us who were there. Well, I'm only human. I'm afraid a couple of chicken legs were followed by a slice or two of quiche and then one of her wonderful sausage rolls (actually, two), some steamed salmon, coleslaw, and 2 slices (small) of wholemeal bread. I resisted the trifle but finally gave in to a slice of Battenberg cake. Wonderful!

Guilt then set in with a vengeance. I slunk back home and into the kitchen, where my meter sat on the bench, accusing, daring me to test and ready to provide the damning evidence of my fall from grace. I held my breath while the meter bleeped it's calculation, fully expecting 8, maybe 9?

No .... 4.5, it said. Can't be. Try again, wash hands and dry, new strip, bleep, bleep, pause, 4.9 ...... I'll settle for that, I thought and went to bed happy. Woke early with the thought I'd pay fore my excesses with a bad 1st reading. Nope, 5.5.

I've since has a bit of breakfast and done a strenuous stint in the garden (digging out a tree stump - ugh!), which has left me with a reading of 4.2, suggesting it was time for a break, although I didn't feel tired.

So, I'm hopeful that I'm getting somewhere with all this. My weight loss has slowed but I'm 20lb down on a month ago. I've upped the daily exercise to an hour at 5 mph on the running machine (which tells me that burns up about 600 kcals), so maybe that's slowing the overall weight loss. Feeling OK but I do sleep a bit more and often slope off the bed a 9pm, ATM.

I'll keep going for the next month, see what happens and will let you know.
 
2131tom - that's brilliant! You should rightly be very pleased. My pattern over the weeks has been very similar to yours, though I haven't yet been brave enough to test out any additional foods and see what they do to my levels. Also, weight loss has slowed down, although I am doing much more exercise. It may be simply a combination of the fact that weight loss does slow, and that I am building up muscle rather than fat, and muscle is heavier than fat. I DO continue to feel thinner, clothes fit better, so must be doing something right! I have now lost 63 lbs - only 42 lbs to go! I have been reading about the difference between calories and fat burning calories during exercise - amazing what we learn on this forum! I am away to work out my BMI now.
 
paulins said:
<snip> Also, weight loss has slowed down, although I am doing much more exercise. It may be simply a combination of the fact that weight loss does slow, and that I am building up muscle rather than fat, and muscle is heavier than fat. I DO continue to feel thinner, clothes fit better, so must be doing something right! I have now lost 63 lbs - only 42 lbs to go! I have been reading about the difference between calories and fat burning calories during exercise - amazing what we learn on this forum! I am away to work out my BMI now.
Click to expand...

Paulins,

Way to go! I'm truly in awe of anyone who can lose 63lb in the time you have. My 39lb has taken since last September, with the ND giving me the kick I needed, last month, but your losses are something else again.

It's even more remarkable considering that the whole process gets to be a real pain at times (mainly socially), though, to echo your sentiments by paraphrasing Kate Moss: 'Nothing tastes as good as skinnier feels'.

I'm finding exercise is becoming addictive, which is useful because I've always found it a chore in the past.

As my GP said last week: 'Ah, but the trick now is to keep it up" (cynic!). Fortunately, I can usually keep going on most things, unlike a very good friend and ex-colleague of mine who, years ago, was asked in a job interview what his strengths and weaknesses were (yes, an old and now very tired one, I know).

'I'm a good starter, but not such a good finisher' he said (he was easily bored, and still is). "And what have you done to correct the weakness?" he was asked.

'Well', he said 'I've given it a lot of thought but I haven't yet reached any conclusions'.

He got the job, BTW.

- Tom.
 
2131tom said:
Hi,

I'm exactly 28 days into the Newcastle Diet and I've noticed a few more effects.

Whereas before I started I was getting fasting levels in the 6s and 7s, they're now invariably under 5.5. (very often, oddly enough, 5.2). I'm obviously very happy with that but I'm now starting to see other changes.

My BG after eating is dropping into the low 6s, 1 hr after, (sometimes lower) and back to the low 5's (that 5.2 keeps popping-up here, again), 2 hrs after.

Yesterday, however, something remarkable happened: I gave myself the afternoon off by going to the pub to join in some homecoming celebrations for a friend who's been on a sponsored cycle event in France, for Help the Heroes. I had 2 pints of my favourite IPA, a couple of pints of soda and lime and then his wife wheeled out a feast for the 40 or so of us who were there. Well, I'm only human. I'm afraid a couple of chicken legs were followed by a slice or two of quiche and then one of her wonderful sausage rolls (actually, two), some steamed salmon, coleslaw, and 2 slices (small) of wholemeal bread. I resisted the trifle but finally gave in to a slice of Battenberg cake. Wonderful!

Guilt then set in with a vengeance. I slunk back home and into the kitchen, where my meter sat on the bench, accusing, daring me to test and ready to provide the damning evidence of my fall from grace. I held my breath while the meter bleeped it's calculation, fully expecting 8, maybe 9?

No .... 4.5, it said. Can't be. Try again, wash hands and dry, new strip, bleep, bleep, pause, 4.9 ...... I'll settle for that, I thought and went to bed happy. Woke early with the thought I'd pay fore my excesses with a bad 1st reading. Nope, 5.5.

I've since has a bit of breakfast and done a strenuous stint in the garden (digging out a tree stump - ugh!), which has left me with a reading of 4.2, suggesting it was time for a break, although I didn't feel tired.

So, I'm hopeful that I'm getting somewhere with all this. My weight loss has slowed but I'm 20lb down on a month ago. I've upped the daily exercise to an hour at 5 mph on the running machine (which tells me that burns up about 600 kcals), so maybe that's slowing the overall weight loss. Feeling OK but I do sleep a bit more and often slope off the bed a 9pm, ATM.

I'll keep going for the next month, see what happens and will let you know.
Click to expand...
OMG! Battenburg? That sounds like Russian roulette to me. Interesting though that your b g behaved as it did. Do you think that suggests that your pancreas and liver are responding to your calorie restriction ( most of the time)?

Don't let that slip from discipline sabotage your efforts. You are doing so well. For me the most difficult part of Newcastle dieting was the social occasions, and particularly other people's curiosity, sometimes bordering on bad mannered. Also, the attempts of so called 'friends' to lead me astray. You know the sort, "Surely just this once won't hurt". I managed the full 9 weeks on Newcastle diet 3 years ago using just Lipotrim. No supplement of veg, just water to drink. I think this was easier than having additional veg, as I would have been likely to bend the rules if I had.

You are doing so well 2131tom. You will feel so good in 4 weeks time knowing you have done the full 8 weeks. I look forward to reading about your good results.
 
paulins said:
2131tom - that's brilliant! You should rightly be very pleased. My pattern over the weeks has been very similar to yours, though I haven't yet been brave enough to test out any additional foods and see what they do to my levels. Also, weight loss has slowed down, although I am doing much more exercise. It may be simply a combination of the fact that weight loss does slow, and that I am building up muscle rather than fat, and muscle is heavier than fat. I DO continue to feel thinner, clothes fit better, so must be doing something right! I have now lost 63 lbs - only 42 lbs to go! I have been reading about the difference between calories and fat burning calories during exercise - amazing what we learn on this forum! I am away to work out my BMI now.
Click to expand...

Well done Paulins

I wish I could achieve the weight you have. I am so impressed that you have stuck with Newcastle diet for so long.
 
Pipp said:
OMG! Battenburg? That sounds like Russian roulette to me. Interesting though that your b g behaved as it did. Do you think that suggests that your pancreas and liver are responding to your calorie restriction ( most of the time)?
Click to expand...

I'm afraid it was my very mostest favourite as a small child and had the sign "EAT ME!" written all over it, with flashbacks to mum's overstocked cake-stand on the teatime table. The next thing I knew it was gone and all I could taste was the marzipan.....

In the cold light of the day afterwards though, your warning is well taken. After going through all this I don't intend to ruin it by relapsing now, but I can see how you could quietly slide off the waggon. I just have to keep thinking of the consequences.

The unexpectedly low reading I had last night was very odd and I'd like to think it's as you say, but though it would be great to think it might, I daren't even hope that it's an indication of reversal, just yet.
 
2131tom said:
I'm afraid it was my very mostest favourite as a small child and had the sign "EAT ME!" written all over it, with flashbacks to mum's overstocked cake-stand on the teatime table. The next thing I knew it was gone and all I could taste was the marzipan.....

In the cold light of the day afterwards though, your warning is well taken. After going through all this I don't intend to ruin it by relapsing now, but I can see how you could quietly slide off the waggon. I just have to keep thinking of the consequences.

The unexpectedly low reading I had last night was very odd and I'd like to think it's as you say, but though it would be great to think it might, I daren't even hope that it's an indication of reversal, just yet.
Click to expand...

Ah, good. Sensible head on. No need to regret what you have done. I know battenburg would have been a big temptation for me too. At least the almond in the marzipan would mitigate some of the damage from the sugar.

When you have completed the calorie restriction phase of Newcastle diet the cake, in moderation, should be ok. Perhaps not at the same time as sausage roll, quiche, bread, beer etc.
Stay strong.
Pipp
 
Hurrah! Have broken the barrier and now able to write 12 st something rather than 13 st something! Amazing what one little pound can do to cheer us up. 5.1 this morning.
 
paulins said:
Hurrah! Have broken the barrier and now able to write 12 st something rather than 13 st something! Amazing what one little pound can do to cheer us up. 5.1 this morning.
Click to expand...
Yay! Brilliant news, well done!
 
paulins said:
Hurrah! Have broken the barrier and now able to write 12 st something rather than 13 st something! Amazing what one little pound can do to cheer us up. 5.1 this morning.
Click to expand...
Excellent. Well done. I know that feeling. It is a distant memory.
 
paulins said:
Hurrah! Have broken the barrier and now able to write 12 st something rather than 13 st something! Amazing what one little pound can do to cheer us up. 5.1 this morning.
Click to expand...
Well done. But but but you are ahead of me now


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
kimyeomans said:
Hi
I recently started on my version of the Newcastle diet. I say my version as I swapped Optifast meals for Exante as Optifast were not easily available.
1 week in and mixed experiences
BS down from 10.4 to 7.8 but in the week all over the place, some higher then I had for some time, up to 11+. And lots of the symptoms from original diagnosis, 'cold eyes' blurry vision, crinkly tingly fingers and frequent urination?
Weight down by 8lb to 14st 13lb, lowest since diagnosis.
BP down 145/90 to 119/88
So far so good. Not hungry at all, fancied some meat or a beer from time to time but easy to resist. Mind set ok.

Any tips or advice welcome

regards
Kim
Click to expand...


My doctor has me on her version of this diet, slimfast shake 3 times a day plus one piece of fruit. My bloodsugars have gone thru the roof.
any ideas?
 
Hi Alfie
I did not include slimfast when I assessed which meals to use, somebody said they are high on sugar / carbs? Maybe a factor. Have a look at the ratio carbs, protein and fat in the original optifast meals. I found Exante the nearest at a reasonable price if you buy enough.
K


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
alfiew said:
My doctor has me on her version of this diet, slimfast shake 3 times a day plus one piece of fruit. My bloodsugars have gone thru the roof.
any ideas?
Click to expand...
How long have you been on it?
Has your doctor got the info about the methodology from Prof Taylor at Newcastle university?
The method I used was Lipotrim, which is only available from pharmacies, and only with GP approval. It cost about £36 a week, but for that you also get monitored by the pharmacy. Lipotrim does not allow for any food at all, though. However, I did not feel hungry at all, and my blood glucose returned to non-diabetic level, and have stayed that way almost 3 years later.
 
Pipp said:
I look forward to an exciting finish to this particular competition.
Click to expand...
but, but, but, I am on normal food and lots of it now to approach a stable diet... So all I can do is bow out because my last stone is going to take me as long as the first 4. I have been slowly increasing food amount until I am at just under a pound a week with the extra exercise and lose nothing without the exercise.

So Pauline wins.
 
Andrew Colvin said:
but, but, but, I am on normal food and lots of it now to approach a stable diet... So all I can do is bow out because my last stone is going to take me as long as the first 4. I have been slowly increasing food amount until I am at just under a pound a week with the extra exercise and lose nothing without the exercise.

So Pauline wins.
Click to expand...
Aww, that is sooo disappointing, Andrew,
The challenge fizzled out.
You will, of course, keep us updated, I hope, as the last stone is probably the most difficult, and I am following you in the weight loss department.
 
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