The Fast Fix: Diabetes - ITV, 13th/14th June 2018

[Bubbsie]

[

he majority of type 2 diabetics, including me, who seemed to eat my way to type 2,

Your view traveller...not mine & many others...weight is a factor...that's all.

 

[Bubbsie]

I'm tired of having to rely on TV entertainment (that is what Fat Fix was) to give some much needed attention to type 2 diabetes management...I'm wondering how many more programmes there will be...honest ones that give an account of the lack of good advice for T2's on controlling their blood sugars...the archaic diabetes prevention programmes...the DSN's & GPs who know little about T2 diabetes (my GP admitted he knew little about it)...the LCHF diet & the alternative diets suitable for good control...the misconception that we've all recklessly eaten our way to diabetes...then once diagnosed we still continue to gorge ourselves on carbs...well we would if we followed the advice given by some HCPs'...fast fix was presented as an alternative way to control T2...really?...I have been using many of those measures 'introduced' in the programme for the last two years...that advice was given to me here when I first joined ...they are not new...not revolutionary...little known of course...there needs to be a consistent approach to T2 maintenance...not this sensational 'revolutionary' approach that is rolled out from time to time.

 

[Mark Parrott]

Hi Everyone, I watched both the programmes last night on 'Fast Fix Diabetes' lots of data and research carried out and yes they all lost weight and changed their numbers which is great and they had reveresed/cured their Diabetes!.....................and there the programme ends! i was shocked that there was conversation on how they were to maintain their great weight loss and keep the numbers down!!!!! in 2011 before i had type 2 Diabetes I wanted to lose some weight 2 stone to be exact so I went on the lighter life shakes diet and yes I lost 3 stone, i was elated but it was a hell of a journey to get there! slowly old habits crept back in and yes i put the weight back on, tried again and failed as i could not do 600 calories for the first 4 weeks so my bad lifestyle stayed with me.

I was diagnosed type 2 last July and have been working hard at a LCD (with no extra info or help from my GP, kept being told i would be referred to the Dietician....almost 1 year on and still nothing) so i took charge myself, got back into the gym and with LCD I have reduced my HB1ac from 78 to 49 I have been on Mettformin 500mg twice a day I can maintain my blood sugar levels around 5.2 mmol/L to 6mmol/L except for gym days and i see spikes after a gym session (spin class, resistance work, 4 to 5 times a week).

I worry that the programme (although advised do this without your doc's advice) will encourage folks to go out there and buy over the counter shakes and could possibly be only consuiming 600 calories a day which is not good at all. it would be great to see the same folks in 6 months time and to see how they are now and have they maintained their weight loss along with HB1Ac numbers being reduced etc.,

For me Low Carb Diet and Exercise is the way to go in reducing those numbers, I have learnt the hard way in this last year....cheating does not help thinking you can have a cheat day with the crisps/wine etc., its a lifestyle change and its hard to do, support from family and friends and sites like this all help to encourage. We are all different and out bodies all react differently what may work for one may not work for another.

Well said. Welcome to the forum. I see you are going to fit in here very well.🙂

 

[Mark Parrott]

You don't need to buy shakes, which I assume are quite expensive. Mrs P, who has had a nightmare trying to lose weight due to her condition & medication, has taken drastic measures. She makes her own veggie drinks for breakfast & lunch consisting of spinach, kale, celery & just a few berries to sweeten them up. These are just 50 calories each & has a normal meal in the evening. She also goes swimming every morning now & manages a mile every day. In the last two weeks she has lost 4kg (just over half a stone). These drinks cost a fraction of any weight loss shakes.

 

[Bubbsie]

You don't need to buy shakes, which I assume are quite expensive. Mrs P, who has had a nightmare trying to lose weight due to her condition & medication, has taken drastic measures. She makes her own veggie drinks for breakfast & lunch consisting of spinach, kale, celery & just a few berries to sweeten them up. These are just 50 calories each & has a normal meal in the evening. She also goes swimming every morning now & manages a mile every day. In the last two weeks she has lost 4kg (just over half a stone). These drinks cost a fraction of any weight loss shakes.

Well done Mrs P you see there are alternatives Mark...7 pounds in a month not to be sniffed at ...great work...these drinks & shakes are promoted heavily...I have no doubt there will be people that rush out to buy them in the vain hope that's the answer to all their prayers...there is really no fast fix to weight loss...or diabetes control..or good health....even the title was too much for me...misleading & inaccurate.

 

[Maz2]

I have to say I agree with Bubbsie on this one. I do wish that the media would stop using diabetics as "whipping boys" and blaming them. I will say again what I have said before I know people who are overweight and obese whose blood sugars are fine and their cholesterol is better than mine. I also know people who are normal/underweight who are diabetic. The programme does not address that.

I was pre-diabetic, got out of it and went back up again. I will admit I have not tried the fasting diet which \I believe has worked for Mark Parrott who I believe has done "intermittent fasting." I bought Michael Moseley's book but it said it was not wise to fast too much if you were underweight which I am.
The fasting bit did interest me to be honest but I am not sure I could manage without breakfast as I feel quite weak in a morning sometimes but feel much better when I have had some breakfast. A friend of mine retired and, because he and his wife were retired, they decided to get up later in a morning. As he was used to an early breakfast he decided to skip it and have lunch about 12 noon. He has managed to reduce his meds from 2 or 3 a day to 1 so that has helped him. I was more interested in what Dr Zoe was telling Rosemary and Paul than the "drinking shakes and having 800 cals a day for weeks."

Oh well, will battle on. Well done to everyone here who has managed to get much better control. Am hoping never to get there; GP it is not inevitable. I am lucky in that they don't "blame the patients" either and are very understanding. Hopefully will get rid of this iron deficiency and can go back blood donoring.

 

[Maz2]

I mean hoping never to get to diabetes, not never getting to better control. My post does not read correctly there.

 

[Maz2]

Forgot to say was more impressed with "The Truth About Carbs" last week and hope this has some effect on what people are being told by DSNs.

 

[Maz2]

Hi Everyone, I watched both the programmes last night on 'Fast Fix Diabetes' lots of data and research carried out and yes they all lost weight and changed their numbers which is great and they had reveresed/cured their Diabetes!.....................and there the programme ends! i was shocked that there was conversation on how they were to maintain their great weight loss and keep the numbers down!!!!! in 2011 before i had type 2 Diabetes I wanted to lose some weight 2 stone to be exact so I went on the lighter life shakes diet and yes I lost 3 stone, i was elated but it was a hell of a journey to get there! slowly old habits crept back in and yes i put the weight back on, tried again and failed as i could not do 600 calories for the first 4 weeks so my bad lifestyle stayed with me.

I was diagnosed type 2 last July and have been working hard at a LCD (with no extra info or help from my GP, kept being told i would be referred to the Dietician....almost 1 year on and still nothing) so i took charge myself, got back into the gym and with LCD I have reduced my HB1ac from 78 to 49 I have been on Mettformin 500mg twice a day I can maintain my blood sugar levels around 5.2 mmol/L to 6mmol/L except for gym days and i see spikes after a gym session (spin class, resistance work, 4 to 5 times a week).

I worry that the programme (although advised do this without your doc's advice) will encourage folks to go out there and buy over the counter shakes and could possibly be only consuiming 600 calories a day which is not good at all. it would be great to see the same folks in 6 months time and to see how they are now and have they maintained their weight loss along with HB1Ac numbers being reduced etc.,

For me Low Carb Diet and Exercise is the way to go in reducing those numbers, I have learnt the hard way in this last year....cheating does not help thinking you can have a cheat day with the crisps/wine etc., its a lifestyle change and its hard to do, support from family and friends and sites like this all help to encourage. We are all different and out bodies all react differently what may work for one may not work for another.

Excellent post Wendy. Your last sentence sums it up. I cannot see the "Fast Fix" being any good to my friend's diabetic husband who is 80 and underweight, or my 87 year old neighbour. I have known lots of people who have gone on diets and "fast fixes" and then put the weight back on. Your approach makes much more sense because, as you rightly say, it is a lifestyle change not just for a few weeks. It is impossible to live on 800 cals for life, unless you want to make yourself ill.

 

[Wendy Bonner]

You don't need to buy shakes, which I assume are quite expensive. Mrs P, who has had a nightmare trying to lose weight due to her condition & medication, has taken drastic measures. She makes her own veggie drinks for breakfast & lunch consisting of spinach, kale, celery & just a few berries to sweeten them up. These are just 50 calories each & has a normal meal in the evening. She also goes swimming every morning now & manages a mile every day. In the last two weeks she has lost 4kg (just over half a stone). These drinks cost a fraction of any weight loss shakes.

Well Done Mrs P🙂 that is awesome and there should be TV programmes about those who are doing this by themselves in a healthy way without starvation! i know if i miss one of my 3 meals i start to feel really bad and shakey.......for me the other misconception is one must snack all the time too...for me me this causes 'spikes' for others it may not...........keep going Mrs P

 

[Bubbsie]

Well Done Mrs P🙂 that is awesome and there should be TV programmes about those who are doing this by themselves in a healthy way without starvation! i know if i miss one of my 3 meals i start to feel really bad and shakey.......for me the other misconception is one must snack all the time too...for me me this causes 'spikes' for others it may not...........keep going Mrs P

Wendy it isn't obvious from Marks post that Mrs P isn't diabetic...so the weight loss is of benefit to her (would be to most|) in general but not as a means of controlling diabetes.

 

[Wendy Bonner]

Excellent post Wendy. Your last sentence sums it up. I cannot see the "Fast Fix" being any good to my friend's diabetic husband who is 80 and underweight, or my 87 year old neighbour. I have known lots of people who have gone on diets and "fast fixes" and then put the weight back on. Your approach makes much more sense because, as you rightly say, it is a lifestyle change not just for a few weeks. It is impossible to live on 800 cals for life, unless you want to make yourself ill.

Forgot to say was more impressed with "The Truth About Carbs" last week and hope this has some effect on what people are being told by DSNs.

Thanks Mazz2, you are so right 'Truth about Carbs' was AWESOME and more truthfull info on there than i even had from my first meeting or any other meeting with the Diabetic Nurse!

 

[Mark Parrott]

Wendy it isn't obvious from Marks post that Mrs P isn't diabetic...so the weight loss is of benefit to her (would be to most|) in general but not as a means of controlling diabetes.

Yes, I didn't mention that. Type 1 does run in her family, not type 2, and she is suffering from auto-immune conditions, so we can't rule out that type 1 is a possibility at some point. She also takes steroids (prescribed) which can lead to type 2. If people saw us both together & we told them that one of us had type 2 diabetes, they would think it's my wife, not me, due to her weight. And this is the problem with the trash media.

 

[HOBIE]

If you went to the shops in the war & if you went to the shops now. BIG difference in Carbs & Sugar ! When I was a kid I seriously dreamt of living till I was 50. I am NOT joking ! T1 from being 3 now 55 in a couple of weeks. Day off today & going to Newcastle Uni.😉

 

[Bubbsie]

Yes, I didn't mention that. Type 1 does run in her family, not type 2, and she is suffering from auto-immune conditions, so we can't rule out that type 1 is a possibility at some point. She also takes steroids (prescribed) which can lead to type 2. If people saw us both together & we told them that one of us had type 2 diabetes, they would think it's my wife, not me, due to her weight. And this is the problem with the trash media.

Good point Mark.

 

[Mark Parrott]

I have to say I agree with Bubbsie on this one. I do wish that the media would stop using diabetics as "whipping boys" and blaming them. I will say again what I have said before I know people who are overweight and obese whose blood sugars are fine and their cholesterol is better than mine. I also know people who are normal/underweight who are diabetic. The programme does not address that.

I was pre-diabetic, got out of it and went back up again. I will admit I have not tried the fasting diet which \I believe has worked for Mark Parrott who I believe has done "intermittent fasting." I bought Michael Moseley's book but it said it was not wise to fast too much if you were underweight which I am.
The fasting bit did interest me to be honest but I am not sure I could manage without breakfast as I feel quite weak in a morning sometimes but feel much better when I have had some breakfast. A friend of mine retired and, because he and his wife were retired, they decided to get up later in a morning. As he was used to an early breakfast he decided to skip it and have lunch about 12 noon. He has managed to reduce his meds from 2 or 3 a day to 1 so that has helped him. I was more interested in what Dr Zoe was telling Rosemary and Paul than the "drinking shakes and having 800 cals a day for weeks."

Oh well, will battle on. Well done to everyone here who has managed to get much better control. Am hoping never to get there; GP it is not inevitable. I am lucky in that they don't "blame the patients" either and are very understanding. Hopefully will get rid of this iron deficiency and can go back blood donoring.

I only tried intermittent fasting for 3 days & gave up. Didn't really give it chance to work. Got too hungry.😳

 

[Bubbsie]

I only tried intermittent fasting for 3 days & gave up. Didn't really give it chance to work. Got too hungry.😳

Made me laugh Mark.

 

[HOBIE]

I only tried intermittent fasting for 3 days & gave up. Didn't really give it chance to work. Got too hungry.😳

Well done for giving it a go Mark 😎

 

[Maz2]

At least you tried Mark. Well done for giving it a go. I am sorry to hear about your wife. Good luck to her with what she is doing. One of my former colleagues at work tried these meal replacements a couple of times and did not stick it out. As far as I am aware she has still not lost any weight as she finds it terribly difficult cutting down. she is pre-diabetic too now.

She needs to find out what is right for her.

 

[Maz2]

Yes, I didn't mention that. Type 1 does run in her family, not type 2, and she is suffering from auto-immune conditions, so we can't rule out that type 1 is a possibility at some point. She also takes steroids (prescribed) which can lead to type 2. If people saw us both together & we told them that one of us had type 2 diabetes, they would think it's my wife, not me, due to her weight. And this is the problem with the trash media.

Your last sentence sums up exactly what I feel Mark. I recall being on a cruise a couple of years ago and one of the waiters told me his wife was a Type I and had cut out sugar completely. Her doctor had told her it was necessary to have some sugar and she should not cut it out completely. She must have been quite young as he was only in his 20s and I felt very sorry for her, especially with all the media blaming.