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unable to stick to a diet plan (thinking about surgery)

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big_daddy

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I'm currently starting back at university again and have managed to put on 2 1/2 stone since mid august after I lost a stone from May to July. My situation is that I am unable to stick to a diet and normally ending up gorging myself into carbs within 2 weeks or a month into any diet. I recently lost one of my best friends to obesity and now my family and girlfriend are asking me to think about if surgery is the only option for me or if I could be prescribed bydureon or byetta as I haven't tried them yet. Any ideas on what I should do will be helpful.
 
Why don't you take one day at a time, rewards can be a bit of dark chocolate, sugar free jelly and cream. Check out some low carb recipes for sweet stuff. Don't think you are depriving yourself, its your health and only you can take responsibility for it.
 
That is quite a drastic step. Are you tempted?

Have you tried supportive groups like Slimming World?

You could keep a diet journey on this group, I'm certain lots of people would support you. I would for a start.
Have a look at some of the Newcastle Diet posts, they are supportive. Although I'm not suggesting you try that unless you are very motivated as it's hard going.
But you cold log what you eat, how much you weigh, sugar levels, exercise...

There is lots of help here, whatever you decide.

Cara
 
I guess we are all different but I wouldn't talk about a 'diet' at all. What all diabetics need is a change of food and meal plans (permanently). When I was diagnosed, although I'm lucky and never been overweight, I gradually changed my food types and quantity. Breakfast became fried egg and bacon and small helpings of home-made muesli. Lunch become thin slices of low-GI bread with cheese or whatever. Evening was plenty of protein and smaller portions of potatoes etc. Have you set yourself a daily carb limit of, say, 150 gm/day or whatever? Fats aren't the problem but carbs are for most of us. Let us know your typical meal pattern and we can suggest possible options. If you snack have a bowl of nuts available rather than carby alternatives or low'ish sugar fruit
 
The main problem that I think I have is knowing when to stop eating as it takes me 5 minutes or less to finish a meal, nuts for me are a huge no-go, also I am having withdrawal symptoms of not having coke or any drink that contains aspartame as my dad pointed out to me that I drink alot of drinks that contain aspartame and he suggested that I should try and lay off it a while. Next thing I know is that I am gulping down litres of pepsi max by the day.

My meal plan is that for breakfast I like having a bowl of plain porridge oats with semi skimmed milk cold. For lunch I normally buy the pre-made sandwiches at uni and as for dinner it depends on what I have in my freezer or fridge and now that I am back at uni I am having to start budgeting as I've only realised that I have just over £400 to last me till January which is when I get my next loan and grant.
 
I guess it's not easy but for the Coke you either have the aspartame (ignore the scares) or have tea or coffee. I'm of an older age and can remember when Coke hadn't yet been invented! Ready-made sandwiches often have thick slices or poor quality bread so go easy on them or find alternatives; have a look at the carb content next time you buy some. Why are nuts a no-go? Yes, it's not easy when you're at Uni and on a budget but you have no choice but to re-think your food. Porridge for breakfast is fine if the portion size isn't too big. Byetta or similar might help you but shouldn't be used as an alternative to the right diet; think of it as an aid in combination with a diet that will get the weight down and keep it there. I remember living off lots of tinned soup when I was at uni; cheap and some are low-carb.
 

Well I have recently bought some squash and own-brand coke after looking at what sweeteners are in them and they cotain Sucralose and Acesulfame K(don't know if they are any better than Aspartame), I will layoff the ready-made sandwiches as they are a bit pricey and most of the time the uni shop is always busy with queues. I don't like the taste of nuts, but I tried some olives last night that one of my room mates shared with everyone and they tasted quite nice For me I like porridge, but I don't know when to stop pouring in my oats in my bowl and was thinking about buying a scale and found one in Asda ( http://groceries.asda.com/asda-webstore ... 0000817975 ).

Soups are the way forward for me to go as they are 24p and my uni are giving away free trips to a huge Asda shop just outside of town as It is the only asda in Derby.
 
I have been telling everyone about the book Carbs and Cals, It gives lots of nutritional info with pictures of portion sizes. It was a massive eye opener for me. It covers loads of food, standard meals and takeaways. Amazon have a 'look inside' feature, the pictures sound like a gimmick, but I found them helpful. I think you would find it helpful.

Have look at some of the recipes on the Newcastle University Diet, cheap and cheerful vegetarian recipes. Try having courgettes peeled into ribbons instead of pasta with a quick tomato sauce. I used cauliflower instead of rice (chop in a food processor or grate on a cheese grater) and have some chili or curry with it. All very filling. How about eggs for a change?

Sugar free jelly (weight watchers for example) will be a good treat for sweet cravings.

Keep us updated
 
Today my doctor actually shocked me and said that I would not be able to have access to test strips and that my 3 month HBac1 test should be enough data. He also agreed with me that I should do a trial for a soup diet to see if living off soups for a week will do me any good and as for snacks he suggested that I should try snacking on cucumbers as a healthier alternative. I think that living off soup might help me and I may as well go for it and start it on Monday.
 
What are you going to do between now and Monday?
 
You sound like I used to be.

I tried the low carb, high fat, and it didn't work.

Short term diets didn't, I needed to change what I ate entirely.

The following worked for me, and I reckon I can sustain it as a lifestyle now.
So my recommendations are:

Count calories instead, to give an idea of what to eat in the day.
Now I have a good idea what quantity I can have, and what is in each food, I don't quite as much, but originally I aimed for 800 to 1200 calories a day, and interneted everything.

You don't need a scale for porridge, pour it into a cup, a glass, anything that you find gives you a reasonable portion, and you can repeat it. If you think it looks too much, it is, put less out next time.

I also remember student food, and student money.

Cut down on the beer, switch to Coors Light for when you can't, then make it last.
Buy veg, ideally the reduced ones but before they become a mulch. Don't buy meat, and if you do, buy fish, or chicken breast occasionally.
Dry fry in the wok, add a lot of curry powder, or chili. (Buy dry spices if you can, avoid garlic paste if it's oil based. Avoid pre made jars of cook in sauces. But use them when you need a quick meal, just check the ingredients, and the calories).
Chuck in the economy kidney beans, or the chick peas. Serve it with a ladle, and count the number you put in to your dish. Hold off the rice and pasta.
Bulk up with mushrooms.
I did try the cauliflower rice and courgette pasta, and it does work.
However I found just chucking it into the pot chopped worked as well, and took no time.
And any left over veg, put in a liquidiser with a tin of economy tomatoes, add chili to taste, and you get a very nice soup in two minutes. Freeze everything you don't eat, in single portion sizes.

Look at http://www.snack-girl.com/ for snacks you can eat.

Change what you eat, and cut down portion sizes slowly, (spices really help, as the hotter it is, the less you eat, and you can drink water with a hot chili or curry, as you can't even taste the drink).
Chuck out butter, fat, oil.
Chuck out pasta, rice, potatoes.
Eat salad, peppers, fruit, at lunch.
If you have to buy a sandwich, get one with the green indicators, or if you go to KFC, get the salad with no dressing.
Eat little and often, as opposed to waiting until you are feeling starved, then gorging out. It's easier to learn to skip a snack later.

Cook from scratch, eat the same thing three days running if you like it, (or you've made a huge pot full, experiment, and if it's really disgusting, add a scotch bonnet chilli.
Then you can survive on a student budget, and not spend more than a few minutes in the kitchen. (Unless you want to)

Try it for a while, if it doesn't work for you, at least it's been fairly healthy, but move on and try again until you do find one that works

But mainly, enjoy food.
 
Hi, I am one of the lucky ones where my surgery will not only invest in blood glucose strips, i have been put on bydureon, I have been told it is about £29 an injection, I have finished month 2 of my six month allowance. I will only be able to continue on it if my weight has reduced by 24 lbs, one lb for every injection. so far I am on target. I don't have cravings anymore, I dont have the desire to consume so much sweet stuff I cant control. I do follow the sucralose thing, Coop lemonade is my saviour. If I do start going down the sweets/carbs route, I start to feel sick, to stop feeling sick I have to stop eating. Injecting myself is ok, I do tend to put the needle in painfully slowly. I can't diet, I have tried every diet under the sun, had prescribed Weighwatchers and Slimming World and with both of them I managed to put on 6lbs following the diet strictly. Now the bydureon is encouraging my pancreas to work better I am slowly oh so slowly losing some weight. So good luck to you with your soup diet, and badger your doc to go on bydureon.
 

Thank you for your suggestions Douglas99, I bought some chilli powder yesterday and had it on 1 gammon steak with a red pepper with the chilli on both sides of the gammon. I was only able to eat half of it on a side plate and put the other half in fridge. With porridge I measured a small glass full of oats and semi-skimmed milk but can't seem to get the milk quantity right and I could eat porridge for breakfast, lunch and dinner if possible. The other day I bought 24 cans of soup, 6 cans of red kidney beans and a few tins of peas and mushy peas as I am limited on my finances for now and was even considering buying a few bags of pasta and few jars of ready made sauce for 30 p each.



Thanks for the tips loverliesgal, my surgery may not want to give me the blood glucose strips but I think that when I see my dietitian next Thursday she would disagree and my last appointment with the dietitian went well as i asked her about me being on bydureon and says that it might be ok. I'm sorry to be rude but what weight were you at when you started on bydureon as I weigh over 23 stone and most of my weight is around my thighs, my abdomen, my waist is 48 inches and my BMI is 48.

I have heard that drinking a glass of water or 2 helps make you fuller and was wondering if it is true or not. Also for beer I like to by the own brand which is £1 for 4 440ml cans at 2% and I like a glass of red wine and a £3 bottle usually lasts me a week and sometimes 2 weeks.
 

Sounds a good start.

I'm not so good on oats, as it tends to give me a spike, ryvita at £1 a box from roundpounds and two a day for breakfast works for me though.
I low calorie, so fully skimmed milk as well.
Tinned peas may have added sugar, so I buy frozen veg where I can.
Jar sauces have sugar in, I buy tinned tomatoes, (checking for added sugar) and use that with spices or herbs.
Pasta is bad for me, so I add cauliflower, beans, chickpeas, peppers, mushrooms, etc instead.

B&M, poundland all have a good choice of tinned food around here, I found some tins of turkey ragu that were reasonably low in calories, and good for carbs and fat. With a bit of veg, one tin made two meals. Asda have a good value range, I check the labels for calories, carbs, and fat, and make a meal from what I find.


The other trick I have is to concentrate on the meal, so cooking it, then sitting down at the table to eat it, and not in front of the tv.
Otherwise I can find it's gone, and I barely remember eating it.

Water definitely makes you fuller, although my weakness is coffee, when I start to feel I need a snack.
Water is the better option.
 
Its much cheaper to make your own soups and sauces, its quick and easy to do and you have the added benefit of knowing exactly what is in it. If you use myfitnesspal you can input the recipe and it will calculate both the calories and the nutritional values for you so you can track what you eat.

There are thousands of recipes to be found on the net
 
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