Starting a low carb and low calorie diet, need some advice, am I doing it right?

1. Weight: 9G KG
2. Height: 5'7
3. Age: 26
4. BMI: Well over 33
5. Health conditions: Asthmatic, possible AFIB and Pre Diabetic

zauberflote said:

Charlie, welcome! A-fib is terrifying, I know that. Congratulations on your decision to clean things up!
I don’t know alot about the Newcastle thing, but there are some folks around who’ve done it. Go over to the Low Carb Diet forum and make a new topic with that in the title, and you’ll draw them out. You will also hear from people who’ve lost stunning amounts of fat on a low carb-healthy fat diet.
Don’t sell yourself short- that jogging you do on every delivery is real exercise! My UPS guy runs all his, and counts that as training for the longer distance running he does. So you are building muscle mass with every lap, and getting your heart rate up to boot.
Advice from a senior: caffeine gives me more palpitations than my “usual”. Did they tell you to quit coffee? And soda. And chocolate... I found, since a procedure I had two years ago, that I can carefully “use” my guilty pleasure, chocolate. I drink decaf (Starbucks decaf espresso beans make a very rich drink, and I recently learned that the darker the roast, the less caffeine!) and no soda anyway.

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Spl@ said:

I really don't reccomended low fat low calorie unless you have dietary issues.

I have lost over 20kg in 4 months. Also drive. Lchf was all I needed.

No fancy meals. Soups etc. Just plenty of eggs and bacon. NO potato, pasta, rice or flour.

Go as low carb as you can. If you can get keto you will be in great form.

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Pipp said:

Hello @charlie000
First of all, congratulations on your decision to get healthier. I notice you mention that you are pre-diabetic, and you can turn that round by making some changes to diet, and losing some weight is a good start.

If you haven’t already, have a read of the info @daisy1 posts for new members. She will post it here soon. This will help you prepare, and you can always ask questions after reading. Our members are keen to help with advice from their own experience.

Are you measuring blood glucose levels? If not, you would be well advised to start. Get yourself a meter and test strips. You will have to buy them yourself, but a good investment as they allow you to see the effects of what you are eating on your blood glucose levels.

I am concerned that you have had a recent cardiac event, and are planning a drastic weight loss regime. Have you discussed this with your GP / medical team for the AF?

Also concerned that you are starting a weight loss plan without doing the planning first. You are setting yourself up to fail. Sorry if that seems harsh, but I would hate to see you fail. It is so demoralising. If you are determined to try the Newcastle diet method, make sure you read up the study papers and plan accordingly. It is not a quick fix, nor is it a starvation diet. Further info on this can be found here...
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/reversal/

As others have suggested a low carb eating regime could provide what you need. GPs can now prescribe the diabetes.co.uk Low Carb program.
There is a wealth of information throughout the forums on how to progress on this and other methods.

Don’t underestimate the exercise of getting in and out of the van and rushing to get those parcels delivered, either. If you can add in something else at your leisure it can help. Also remember you are going to have to make sustainable changes to your diet and lifestyle. Don’t be in too much of a hurry. Most of all, good luck.

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Spl@ said:

People with gastric/digestion problems. Some people cannot digest protein without medication by example.
Low fat low carb generally has people getting incredibly hungry then ruining their good work with snacks.
Low carb healthy fat is, once you have mentally accepted it.
A perfectly maintainable life choice.

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Resurgam said:

I have been put on numerous low fat low calorie diets over the decades, all have failed. If I manage to stick to them I go deathly white, have no energy, become confused, angry, spiteful and generally distressed - I was even known to collapse. If I gave up on them I put on weight rapidly afterwards, even trying to limit myself as to how much I was eating. The only recourse was to go back to the dreadful dangerous and faddy diet which made me feel great, lose weight and regain my usual sharp wit - low carb was what made me feel great, and coincidentally when I was diagnosed I went back to the identical diet and immediately felt better and started to lose weight without effort. I can only recommend that you try low carb high fat/ keto/Atkins - whatever you want to call it, as a lifelong way of eating. I will be eating this way for as long as I have control over my own food - though hopefully if I should ever need looking after, low carb foods will be an option in care homes.

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NoCrbs4Me said:

Low carb/high fat just means you replace the carb calories with calories from fat.

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Spl@ said:

Yep that. Then after you have adjusted to burning fat, takes a few days. You then reduce your food intake.
In doing this your body is triggered into burning body fat. Get it right you can lose several pounds a week. If you have a chunk to loose.
Keto has been fantastic for me.

Plus last nights dinner....

Beef and pork curry.

Mince
Pork
Mushrooms {loads}
Coconut milk 100mls
Chopped fresh tomatoes
Half a red onion
Garlic
Chopped cabbage
Peas
Chopped sweet pepper
Cream
Butter
PaprikaTurmeric etc

Meat and spices went into the slow at 6 am. Squish stuf went in at 5 and we ate at half 6.

Thats not 800 calories. Big plate full. No rice, naan or pita though.

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JoKalsbeek said:

Hi @charlie000,

Low carb is much more do-able when you don't go low calorie as well. You wouldn't be hungry all the time and with the fats upped, you'd be full and still get the nutrition you need. (And still lose weight, but in a sustainable, healthy way, without malnourishment.). Just something to mull over. One thing I noticed though, you mentioned you wanted to diet for a couple of weeks... But T2 is a lifelong condition... And if you chose to go that route, the diet's a lifelong one too. (With or without medication). Just something to keep in mind... Low carb isn't just about losing weight, it's also about getting your bloodsugars down, reducing fatty liver disease, increasing insulin sensitivity etc.... It's not quite a cure-all, but close enough.

In any case, my little info sheet, should you want to read it: (Just ignore the eggy bits.)

There’s a few things you should know.

1. Practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested, so not just straight sugars, but starches too. Food doesn’t have to taste sweet to make your blood sugars skyrocket.

2. A meter helps you know what foods agree with you, and which don’t. Test before and 2 hours after the first bite. If you go up more than 2.0 mmol/l, the meal was carbier than you could handle. (It’s easy to remember, as you’re a T2: all 2’s, all over the place!)

3. In case you didn’t know already, this isn’t your fault. It’s genetics, medication, decades of bad dietary advice, and basically all manner of things, but nothing you can actually blame yourself for.

4. Diabetes T2 is a progressive condition, unless you (also) change your diet. So you have options. Diet-only, diet with medication, or medication only. But that last option will most likely mean more medication over the years. (And there is more than just metformin, so if it doesn’t agree with you, there’s lots of others to try). So even if going really low carb isn’t for you, you might consider moderately low carb an option, with meds to assist.

5. Are you overweight? 90% of T2’s are. Yeah, that means 10% are slim and always were. If you did gain weight, it was the precursor of this metabolic condition. We make loads of insulin, but become insensitive to it. So carbs we eat turn to glucose, and normally, insulin helps us burn that glucose for fuel. When it doesn’t, that glucose is stored in fat cells instead. When those fat stores are full, the glucose remains in our bloodstream, overflowing, into our eyes, tears, urine, saliva… And then we’re T2’s. So weight gain is a symptom, not a cause. This also means that “regular” dietary advice doesn’t work for us. The problem lies in our inability to process carbs. And most diets focus on lowering fats and upping carb intake. Which is the direct opposite of what a T2, or prediabetic, for that matter, needs.

6. There are 3 macro-nutrients. Fats, protein and carbohydrates. Those macro’s mean we get the micro-nutrients we need: that would be vitamins and minerals. So… If you ditch the carbs, you should up another macro-nutrient to compensate, to make sure you don’t get malnourished or vitamin deficient. Carbs make our blood sugars rise. Protein too, but nowhere near as bad as carbs do, so they’re alright in moderation. Fats however… Fats are as good as a glucose-flatline. Better yet, they’ll mitigate the effects of any carbs we do ingest, slowing down their uptake and thus the sugar-spike. Contrary to what we’ve been told for decades; fats are our friends.

7. Worried about cholesterol? On a low carb diet, your cholesterol may rise a little as you start to lose weight. That’s a good thing though. (Believe it or not). What was already there, stored in your body, is starting to head for the exit, and for that it’ll go into your bloodstream first. So when you have lost weight and it stabilises, so will your cholesterol. And it’ll probably be lower than what it was before you started out.

8. You’ll lose weight on a low carb diet. Weight loss will help with your insulin-resistance, and not only that… Going low carb might help with other issues as well, like non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and depression.

9. Always ask for your test results. You don’t know where you’re going, if you don’t know where you’ve been.

10. Last, but certainly not least: If you are on medication that has hypoglycemia listed as a side-effect, like Gliclazide for instance, do NOT attempt a LCHF diet without a meter nor your doctors’ knowledge/assistance. You can drop blood glucose levels too far, too fast, if your dosage isn’t adjusted accordingly. This could mean a lower dose in stages or even stopping medication completely. Never do this without discussing it with your doctor first!


So what raises blood sugars? Aside from the obvious (sugar), starches raise blood glucose too. So bread, and anything made with grain/oats flour, rice, potatoes, pasta, corn, cereals (including all the “healthy choices”, like Weetabix and muesli), most beans and most fruits. So you’ll want to limit your intake, or scratch them altogether.

Which food items remain on the shopping list? Well, meat, fish, poultry, above ground veggies/leafy greens, eggs, cheese, heavy cream, full fat Greek yoghurt, full fat milk, extra dark chocolate (85% Lindt’s is great!), avocado, (whole) tomatoes, berries, olives, nuts, that sort of thing… Meal ideas? Have a couple:

Scrambled eggs with bacon, cheese, mushrooms, tomato, maybe some high meat content sausages?
Eggs with ham, bacon and cheese
Omelet with spinach and/or smoked salmon
Omelet with cream, cinnamon, with some berries and coconut shavings
Full fat Greek yoghurt with nuts and berries
Leafy green salad with a can of tuna (oil, not brine!), mayonnaise, capers, olives and avocado
Leafy green salad with (warmed goat's) cheese and bacon, maybe a nice vinaigrette?
Meat, fish or poultry with veggies. I usually go for cauliflower rice or broccoli rice, with cheese and bacon to bulk it up. Never the same meal twice in a row because of various herbs/spices.

Snacks? Pork scratchings, cheese, olives, extra dark chocolate, nuts.

Of course, there’s loads more on the web, for people more adventurous than I. (Which is pretty much everyone). Just google whatever you want to make and add “keto” to it, and you’ll get a low carb version. There’s a lot of recipes on the diabetes.co.uk website, as well as on www.dietdoctor.com where you’ll also find visual (carb content) guides and videos. And I can wholeheartedly endorse Dr. Jason Fung’s book The Diabetes Code. It’ll help you understand what’s going on in your body and how to tackle it, whilst not being a dry read. Not only that, but you’ll know what to ask your doctor, and you’ll understand the answers, which is, I believe, quite convenient.

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