starting newcastle diet on 2nd jan

[geordie90]

Bluehills excellent bg's
I think the visceral fat thing is crucial to a succesful outcome as some studies state that the visceral fat inhibits insulin production etc.
Out of curiosity where did you get your scales from, no doubt they were very expensive lol
Viv You dont have to crawl anywhere your more than welcome to add to this blog anytime you like

 

[SuperRams]

Hi all, been to hospital today for one of my consultant appointments, took my urine sample and were concerned that there were ketones in it. I was totally honest with them about problems I had before Christmas and the Newcastle diet, they were behind me 100% and told me to come back on March 16th, 2 weeks after diet so we could see how I went on and the way forward if required from there. This proves that the body is indeed in Ketosis stage so is using the fat stores so hopefully it may improve my BG readings.

Antmos - How did you make your veg curry?

To anybody else thinking about this, I think its crucial that you stick to the original diet and nothing else to start, as Geordie says the diet is meant to shock your body into using the stored fat for its energy cells.

 

[geordie90]

Hi supperrams its excellent that they are supporting you m8 good to hear tbh.

Did my wifes bg today at teatime, mine was 4.8 hers was 5.3 lol and shes non diabetic hehe

 

[geordie90]

Been to get some ketone testing strips and i too am in ketosis woohoo lol thats what we are after isnt it? lol

 

[bluehils]

Hi
The scales I have are Salter MiBody 9119 . They Measure weight/total body fat/water %/BMI/Visceral fat/basal metabolic rate/muscle%. Has a USB slot so can download data to memory stick and put it on the PC. Comes with software and it plots a graph of the results.
Cant remember where I got mine but they are readily available on the internet for 40 odd quid. Amazon have them for £47.
The only complaint I have with them is that they are difficult to read unless there is good light but that may be my eyesight! Also the batteries are a bit loose in the holder so if you jar the scales it loses the date. This is a common complaint according to the reviews but easily remedied by packing between the batteries with a piece of card.

 

[geordie90]

bluehills thats champion, ill have a look on amazon.
As an aside just been to gym and checked bg its 4.2 which im pleased with as it was a hard session, plenty of pumping iron lol

 

[beancounter]

Hi,

Just had a spike up to 8.7 - not sure why... i am still taking my medication, but have dropped one metformin tablet (it upsets my stomach), but have carried on with the gliclazide. May have to go back on it Had one evening with no medication at all earlier in the week with no ill effect though....

I am exercising - still going to the gym with my daughter, concentrating more on lifting weights rather than cardio. Didn't go today and have had a long stressful day at work which may explain the spike. I don't think i am in ketosis either, but am sticking to the diet religiously - it is hard, but not as hard as i thought it might be Just wish my results were as good as yours, Geordie!!

 

[beancounter]

FBG still high this morning - I will see if it comes down after the gym.

On a happier note, I have lost seven pounds this week

 

[Sid Bonkers]

I don't think i am in ketosis either, but am sticking to the diet religiously

Correct me if I'm wrong anyone but each Optifast sachet contains around 22.5g of carbohydrates so you are never going to be in Ketosis if you are drinking three of them a day. I always thought that to enter ketosis you need to consume less than 30g of carbs a day.

I'm not saying that the Optifast diet wont make you loose weight just that you will never be in ketosis :thumbup:

 

[louiseb]

I don't think i am in ketosis either, but am sticking to the diet religiously

Correct me if I'm wrong anyone but each Optifast sachet contains around 22.5g of carbohydrates so you are never going to be in Ketosis if you are drinking three of them a day. I always thought that to enter ketosis you need to consume less than 30g of carbs a day.

I'm not saying that the Optifast diet wont make you loose weight just that you will never be in ketosis :thumbup:

Sid, I thought ketosis was just when your body was in fat burning mode and resorted to using your bodys own fat store for energy, hence why a VLCD would kick start ketosis, regardless of carb intake.
I think your theory of less than 30g of carb per day is only relevant to atkins style diet where the carb consumption needs to be very low due the fact that calorie intake would be much higher than than the optifast diet.
Im not totally sure so please anybody correct me if im wrong.

 

[geordie90]

beancounter stick at it, dont get demoralised its a marathon not a sprint. Im going through a difficult stage at minute to, not sure how much weight i will have lost this week, but will find out on monday. Definetly changing shape, having to wear belt on trousers for work etc, but more importantly and lets be right this is what its all about, my sugars are staying low.
My fbg was 5.1 this morning and I had a single bite size twix at 11pm last night, it was there it was talking to me, telling me to eat it and who am i to argue lol, i felt so guilty afterwards tbh but it didnt have the effect i thought it might have on my fbg.
Just checked my two hour after shake bg and it is 4.8
As ive said all along, im not going to live like a monk once this is over but conversley not going back to my old habits, gonna adjust my eating habits to ensure my bg stay within limits.
I think in past the problem would be that if i fell off the wagon id continue to fall, now I feel my empowered to stop the fall and climb straight back on.
Pictures today as its sons birthday, nightmare lol could murder a hotdog and some peanut m&m's

 

[Sid Bonkers]

Sid, I thought ketosis was just when your body was in fat burning mode and resorted to using your bodys own fat store for energy, hence why a VLCD would kick start ketosis, regardless of carb intake.

A ketosis diet is when the body burns its own body fat instead of carbs for energy to do this you have to be eating under 30g of carbs a day, any more than that and the body uses the carbs for energy and you will not enter ketosis. I low carb but have never been in ketosis, there is a world of difference between low carbing and a ketosis diet they are not the same thing at all and the Newcastle Study used the Optifast diet plan which is very low calorie not very low carb, in fact when you add in the veg it will be well over 60 grams a day which is more than double the maximum amount needed to enter ketosis.

http://www.keto.org/summary.htm

 

[geordie90]

Sid not decrying your obvious knowledge but im def in ketosis, bought some testing strips last night and tried them out last night and this morning and it gave an indication on the strips according to the key on side of the tube.
Anyway main thing is weight is coming off and sugars are good lol

 

[louiseb]

I have been on the 800kcal for just under 2 weeks so far my weight loss to date is 16 pounds, I only want to loose another 10 pounds so not sure how much longer I can continue with the diet, Im hoping the weight loss starts to slow down abit now, because if I continue at this rate I wont be able to complete the 8 weeks as ill be underweight.
My fasting bg is now between 4 or 5 and I have stopped all meds.
I can also confirm that I am in ketosis after testing today.

 

[geordie90]

Hi louise thats excellent figures, i dont think ill be losing as much this week but its not about that, my bgs are good thats the main thing.
You should try and stay on the diet louise as i think the point of it is not so much the weigh tloss but the stabilisation of your bgs, I have no doubt if you come off the diet and go back to a modified previous diet the bgs would go up. I think it is designed to shock your body into producing more insulin and reducing the amount of fat in and around our pancreas and liver.
Im having a bad day today, struggling, my wife made burgers for her and my son and i had to go out for fear of flooding the house with my salivation lol, went next door and had a cup of black tea then went and started the motorbike and nearly gassed myself with carbon monoxide lol, took my mind of eating though so result i think lol

 

[SuperRams]

The hospital diabetes consultant told me yesterday that my body was in Ketosis mode so I believe that it is. I have just tested my ketones myself and yes there are ketones present but at a small measurement. Still on diet and weight dropping off but not much lowering in BG

 

[bluehils]

Hi. As I understand it ANY diet where the total calorie intake is less than the body requires will result in ketosis. It just means the body is burning fat to make up for the shortfall.
In the standard ketosis type diet you restrict the carbs but eat lots of calories by continuing to consume protein and fats. If you didnt restrict the carbs then you would have a total calorie intake of more than your body`s requirement and would not be in ketesis.
In short if you are losing weight you are in ketosis as confirmed by Geordies and others ketone tests.

On a different subject I got a BG this morning of 5.5 on my test meter . However I got a new test meter as they are discontinuing the test strips for my old meter. As an experiment tested with the new meter and got 4.9. On reading the bumph that came with new meter it said that I should expect readings 11% higher than the old one as it now measured the glucose in plasma rather than whole blood. If this was true I should of had a reading of about 6 not 4.9. Im confused - just how accurate are these devices???

 

[Sid Bonkers]

OK I must be wrong then 8)



Did no one read the link I posted?

 

[beancounter]

Just got back from the gym - BG now 8.1!! So no improvement there....

I am not going to get to stressed about the numbers - I am only in my second week of doing this diet and so will just give it time. If the worst thing happens and there is no significant improvement in my BG's, at least I will have lost some weight.

 

[chocoholicnomore]

Hi All

I have been following this thread with real interest and you are all doing really well (You have my sympathies re twix Geordie

I decided that I would give it a go too. I thought about maybe trying it for a week as my willpower and stamina is virtually nil :lol:

However, I went to Tesco yesterday to buy the 12 meals for £3 but when I read the label it stated that 35g carbs in each meal replacement. I normally eat 30g for breakfast, 20g at lunchtime and virtually no carbs for dinner (just meat and veg). My problem is generally the eating in between meals. So when I thought about it, on the Newcastle diet I would have to cut out everything in between meals and would be consuming 105g carbs per day. If I stick to my normal diet but just cut out everything in between then I would only be consuming 50g carbs per day. Surely this is better and has the plus of being able to eat normal food instead of shakes.

Can anyone explain the difference to me?