The 8 week blood sugar diet

[captainlynne]

That's fab captainlynne . Any tips / hurdles you think we should know ?
Did you stick to the recipes or calorie count ?

Thanks Jamrox. I stayed in the 800 calories, following the guidelines in the book. Tried a few recipes, but often prefer to do my own thing. Found strong flavours helped.

After a lifetime of being on diets (over 50 years) I didn't get too disheartened when the weight loss stalled for a while. The initial loss was so quick my poor old body needed to regroup. Just had to put my trust in the plan. As a slimming club leader once said to me 'the plan works if you work the plan'. But the weight started to move again.
Same with inches!

It was interesting to see that after a long run of low bloods, there were a few higher ones - a phenomenon many have reported. Not too high, but higher than they had been - between 6 & 7 fasting when they had been between 5 & 6. Prior to this I'd struggled to get fasting readings under 7.

Hope this helps.

 

[chinta]

I've been doing this diet for 13 days now and have found it very easy to stick to 800 calories of normal food - not following his food plans, just counting my own calories. I am a serial diet failer, just putting more and more weight on over the last 25 years but I have lost 7lbs in 2 weeks which is amazing for me. I had lost 10lbs on the LCHF plan since November so this has just given it a kick. My blood sugar has come down into single figures since I started this and I have so much more energy. I'm becoming very evangelical about it, I can't believe myself. As someone else said, the only downside is that I didn't discover it 15 years ago!!! I had wanted to lose 5 stones when I was diagnosed back in November but thought that I would be really pleased with myself if I lost 3. Now I'm thinking that perhaps I could lose 8 stones and get down to where I was when I got married (29 years ago).

 

[Jamrox]

@captainlynne thanks. I like to do my own thing too . I use myfitnesspal app to track . I divide the 800 150 breakfast , 150 lunch , 400 dinner and 100 spare .
Some days I've gone over a bit , some a bit under . Only been hungry a couple of times and found coffee helps .

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

Well done everyone, excellent results. What sort of regime do people expect to follow at the end of the 8 weeks? When I lowered my carbs to less than 100 gms a day, my calories also dropped (obviously) to less than 900 (LC NOT LCHF). I successfully lost over 4 stone but have been on an even keel for some time. Dieters call it a plateau which sort of suggests that further weight loss will resume later and certainly with a lot of dieters I have known (ex member of Tesco Diets online community) it lasts between 6 and 8 weeks.
In my case that isn't so and if I were to use the Harris Benedict formula to calculate how many calories to consume (still low carb) I would gain weight.

One of the many TV programs that went into weight loss (not to be confused with controlling BG) showed that eating more of your calories in the morning and therefore less in the evening, had an effect on weight loss. I only have some anecdotal stories which agrees with that. When my mum went into her care home, t e weight dropped off her and we were worried that she wasn't eating. We couldn't have been further from the truth, her care home was very thorough and everything she ate and drank was carefully noted and I was there on several occasions at meal times. She would have cereal AND a full english for breakfast and a meat and 2 veg plus pudding for lunch tea was a salad or eggs on toast of a sandwich, so eating better than any time in her life really. Most of the calories in the morning and lunch, just a snack for tea.

Ive tried it and it's not easy when one's partner has to follow a more conventional routine imposed by having to work for a living.

 

[muzza3]

Well done everyone, excellent results. What sort of regime do people expect to follow at the end of the 8 weeks? When I lowered my carbs to less than 100 gms a day, my calories also dropped (obviously) to less than 900 (LC NOT LCHF). I successfully lost over 4 stone but have been on an even keel for some time. Dieters call it a plateau which sort of suggests that further weight loss will resume later and certainly with a lot of dieters I have known (ex member of Tesco Diets online community) it lasts between 6 and 8 weeks.
In my case that isn't so and if I were to use the Harris Benedict formula to calculate how many calories to consume (still low carb) I would gain weight.

One of the many TV programs that went into weight loss (not to be confused with controlling BG) showed that eating more of your calories in the morning and therefore less in the evening, had an effect on weight loss. I only have some anecdotal stories which agrees with that. When my mum went into her care home, t e weight dropped off her and we were worried that she wasn't eating. We couldn't have been further from the truth, her care home was very thorough and everything she ate and drank was carefully noted and I was there on several occasions at meal times. She would have cereal AND a full english for breakfast and a meat and 2 veg plus pudding for lunch tea was a salad or eggs on toast of a sandwich, so eating better than any time in her life really. Most of the calories in the morning and lunch, just a snack for tea.

Ive tried it and it's not easy when one's partner has to follow a more conventional routine imposed by having to work for a living.

Hi DavidGrahamJones
I'm just about there in my last week of the ND. I have been very concerned about "the plan" when coming off the diet and have received some great feed back from the Forums. From that I would summarise

• I must have a specific plan to follow in place
• I must monitor as much if not more than during the ND both BG and Weight
• Have a back up plan if results are unsatisfactory

So as I used 3 x shakes and vegetables as my diet I will remove one shake each fortnight and replace with a meal starting with dinner increasing from 800 cals to 1000cals to 1400 cals to 1800 cals over 6 weeks. I will monitor and if BG or Weight are not satisfactory I will adjust before moving onto the next fortnight increase

You make a really good point that is quite logical that perhaps breakfast should be the first meal to increase (that has now become a possibility if I need to change)
Thanks

 

[mallins]

Hi All just a quick update. I'm about to start week 4 of the diet so far I have lost 8lb despite blowing it yesterday on going out for a meal and having chocs and wine! Anyway today I'm feeling pretty chuffed as I have just bought two new pairs of trousers from M&S and I can now get into a size 14 which I haven't been able to do for at least 20years!! I have lost 2 inches from my waist with this diet so that has given me an incentive to get back in the gym if I can muster up the energy. Hey ho onwards and upwards!

My sugar levels have been down in the 5s at night and 6.3 first thing in the morning which is a great improvement as before going on the diet my sugars in the morning were between 7 and 8 first thing and my GP said I had to have another metformin tablet at night. Anyway I'm pleased to say I've stopped the evening metformin myself and I'm back down to one tablet in he morning as my bloods seem to be improving.

Look forward to hearing how you are all doing.

Cheers

 

[mallins]

I got diagnosed at the start of December last year, and after the initial shock and then reading through the "rubbish" given to me by the NHS I got the great advice of "embrace it!" I did some research and found the book in W H Smith's.
Without a doubt this has changed my life! My sugars were initially 26 and I was put on 2000mg of Metformin. Since January I've lost 2and a half stone 6 inches off my waist and I'm down to 1000my of Metformin aiming at 500 next week, aiming to be drug free by May!
Yes I go to a gym now walking 3 times a week but this book is awesome it's massively changed my life. I follow the diet 5 and a half days a week using the rest of the week for "sensible" (sometimes!) treats as a reward!
Can't recommend it highly enough.
Good luck

Wow well done you!

 

[mallins]

Well done everyone! Fantastic progress. I've just ordered a copy of the book, from reading the blurb, seems there are 3 options on this plan, 800 calories, low carb and low carb intermittent fasting. Which option are people doing? Can't imagine I would cope with the 800 calorie thing! I think I'd end up chewing the table

Hi I'm doing proper meals but I was thinking of trying the meal replacement shakes to see if it will speed up the weight loss.

 

[mallins]

Hi Mallins

5 weeks in lost 26lb and last weeks range was 4.3 -6.2 (all readings not just fasting)
Its hardwork but congratulations and keep us updated. There are a few progress posts I'm trying to update mine regularly but check out Hello UK Newcastle diet from Texas for some great insight and suggestions for Vegetables etc

Cheers

That's fantastic!

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

Should anybody be interested, if you look up the Harris Benedict formula, you should be able to check how many calories you should be eating to maintain a particular weight. I have an issue with this particular formula in that it's 100 years old and I would say that our diets have changed significantly over that time. It takes in account gender, age, height and activity level so, it's as good a place as any to start. I've looked at several other formulas used by the diet industry (WW, Rosemary Connolly, etc etc.) and they're all very similar.

What I've done is created a spread sheet so that as you lose weight you can decrease the number of calories or when you reach your target, what you should take your calorie intake down to. Obviously going back to your old ways will just make your weight go back up.

This spreadsheet was created using Open Office Spreadsheet and gives you a good idea not only by how many calories to reduce intake as you lose, but by how many you can increase depending on exercise level. Personally I have never allowed myself extra because I'm exercising a lot and there is no way I could eat as much as the formula would suggest. I'm actually 120 - 125 kgs (it goes up and down like a yo yo on a daily basis), so 19 st or so, and there is no way even with moderate exercise I could eat as much as the 2600 calories suggested.

 

[muzza3]

Hi I'm doing proper meals but I was thinking of trying the meal replacement shakes to see if it will speed up the weight loss.

Hi Mallin
I mainly went about it with the Shakes and Veges as convenience as I needed a model that wasn't time consuming and food preparation is certainly not one of my strengths. Also I was using the ND rather than the 8 week as my main source (they used the shakes as they needed consistency across all of the participants for the results to be reliable).

 

[mallins]

I did the shakes and seem to have lost the same weight as anyone else. The only thing I would say is the book basically says 800 cals and it kind of doesn't matter where they come from. But some of the meal replacement shakes are pretty high in sugar content. Although I think this is probably true of the official Optifast shakes too. (And depending on where you are Optifast may only be available on prescription.) If I was to do it again I'd probably look for an alternative that was lower sugar content or work out a meal plan and do it that way instead.

thanks. I thought I'd just replace a couple of meals and have a low cal proper meal at night

 

[mallins]

Hi Mallin
I mainly went about it with the Shakes and Veges as convenience as I needed a model that wasn't time consuming and food preparation is certainly not one of my strengths. Also I was using the ND rather than the 8 week as my main source (they used the shakes as they needed consistency across all of the participants for the results to be reliable).

thanks for that.

 

[MikeV]

I'm a week into the Blood Sugar Diet. I'm up early this morning for a doctor's appointment and have just checked my fasting blood sugar. Last Wednesday it was 8.3mmol/L. This morning it's 6.3mmol/L. If my bathroom scales aren't lying, I've lost 3kg (6.6 pounds!). No change in my waist measurement but my belt doesn't seem quite as tight

 

[Lorraine deer]

Day13, bs range between 4 and 8. I've lost 10lbs and reduced my insulin by 6 units in the morning and 4 units in the evening. Hopefully the weight loss will speed up again as the first week was a drop of 8 lbs and only 2 lbs this week . Good luck everyone

 

[Jamrox]

@EdMac I hope you're ok .
Good luck with the 5:2 I've heard a lot of good things about it from real people who I trust .

 

[Jamrox]

Day13, bs range between 4 and 8. I've lost 10lbs and reduced my insulin by 6 units in the morning and 4 units in the evening. Hopefully the weight loss will speed up again as the first week was a drop of 8 lbs and only 2 lbs this week . Good luck everyone

That's more than me . I've stuck at 2lb in total . I'm averaging 800 some days 50 calories either way . Friday teas are my downfall , I love them though .

Updated after posted:
Weighed myself and have now lost 5lb in total.

 

[Chook]

@EdMac Will you be doing the Michael Mosley Fast Diet 5:2 plan? I've done it since the end of last July and it worked great for 5 months but since Christmas I've stayed at the same weight and my BG was going up a little which is why I've moved on to this 8 week blood sugar diet to speed things along a bit.

5:2 works very well with a low carb diet the rest of the time. I used to fast on non-work days until dinner time then have a 500-600 calorie dinner.

 

[mallins]

I found that the weight loss was not the same each week, I had weeks when I lost 7lbs and weeks when I lost just 1, so even when it looks like things may have slowed down it can quickly pick up again. I am due to finish on sunday night (probably total weight loss of c33lbs which I guess I'll have to settle for... )but I'm two days early. Poisoned myself with squid last night and my vision was swimming all over the place then got emergency call from family member at 1am, quite a bit of tooing and froing to do and not going to be easy on 800cals. So I'm shifting onto low carb and the 5:2 until I achieve target weight (another 10 to 12 lbs) then reassess. Good luck everyone and stick at it

Hi
I'm on week 4.
Like you my weight loss has definitely slowed up which I'm finding hard going to be motivated. My blood sugars have definitely improved so that is a plus. I thought I'd try some of the shakes for meal replacement but I think I've made a big mistake as on checking more closely they are pretty high in sugar. On the days I replaced a couple of meals I found my blood sugars were up! I'm going away for the weekend and I just know it's going to be impossible to keep to the 800 calories. If I fall off the wagon do I have to start the 8 weeks all over again from day one?

Cheers

Mallins

 

[AndBreathe]

Hi
I'm on week 4.
Like you my weight loss has definitely slowed up which I'm finding hard going to be motivated. My blood sugars have definitely improved so that is a plus. I thought I'd try some of the shakes for meal replacement but I think I've made a big mistake as on checking more closely they are pretty high in sugar. On the days I replaced a couple of meals I found my blood sugars were up! I'm going away for the weekend and I just know it's going to be impossible to keep to the 800 calories. If I fall off the wagon do I have to start the 8 weeks all over again from day one?

Cheers

Mallins

Mallins, I haven't read the book, so can't say what it will say, but I imagine, as this diet closely mimics the Newcastle Diet, but with proper food (as opposed to meal replacement shakes) that the time frame is more designed to encourage dieters to give it a proper go, rather than be a bit more willy-nilly. It's also easier to report consistent results, from person to person, if everyone has done the same thing, for the same amount of time. When the Newcastle Diet was devised, it was for a trial, so definitely had to have such parameters, but Professor Taylor, who developed it, has confirmed many times, to many people that the time span is not really too important.

Some people, like a chap called Richard Doughty (a journo - his story is on Google) only followed the diet for a couple of weeks, yet others, like @Andrew Colvin , and others I can think of, have stayed on it longer. I think Andrew stayed on it considerably longer.

So, I think what I'm saying is the idea of the Diet is to give you a framework to work with and a varied diet., rather than it claiming to be a silver bullet solution that must be followed to the letter or it will fail. Nor of course, I bet, does it say anywhere it will work for everyone.

I wish you well in your undertakings and hope you achieve what you seek.