Jeff Stevens
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
My name is Jeff and I'm a 67 year old Type 2 Diabetic. New on here, so I'm looking forward to exchanging thoughts and ideas.
-
Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
Hi all!
- Thread starter Jeff Stevens
- Start date
- Status
Tim Aylesbury
Active Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi Jeff, welcome, I am Tim and i'm a 47 year old Type 2.
Jeff Stevens
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi Tim, how long have you been Type 2? About ten years for me.
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Welcome to the forum @Jeff Stevens
How have you found it over the last 10 years? Do you take any medication to help manage your BG levels? Do you use a blood glucose monitor?
It can be a huge help to connect to a crowd of people all facing the same challenges, frustrations, and day-to-day decisions, to share ideas and strategies, encourage each other, or just congratulate and commiserate each other in the thick of it.
We are a friendly bunch, so ask away with any questions. Is there anything that you are finding particularly tricky at the moment?
How have you found it over the last 10 years? Do you take any medication to help manage your BG levels? Do you use a blood glucose monitor?
It can be a huge help to connect to a crowd of people all facing the same challenges, frustrations, and day-to-day decisions, to share ideas and strategies, encourage each other, or just congratulate and commiserate each other in the thick of it.
We are a friendly bunch, so ask away with any questions. Is there anything that you are finding particularly tricky at the moment?
Jeff Stevens
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi there and many thanks for responding. This is where I am with my current condition. My HbA1c (last time it was checked) was 64mmol/mol but it needs to be below 59. I'm due another revue soon, so it'll be interesting to see where I am now. My BP was 131/83 which could be better but far from terrible.
Yes, I am taking a number of medications to keep myself in check (Ramipril, Amlodipine, Levothyroxine, Gliclazide and Metformin)
My main issue is BMI which is 35 so I was considering taking up a very low calorie diet. I watched a documentary recently where they took some volunteers (Type 2) and placed them on this 800 calorie a day diet in the form of a few shakes, and although they found it hard to refuse all the bad foods they'd been used to, they stuck with it, and at the end of 8 weeks, they'd all lost between 2 and a half to 3 stone.
I appreciate the real battle after that, is keeping it off, but I'm pretty sure if I get to that stage, I'll be determined do whatever's necessary to keep it off.
I stopped smoking 18 years ago after being a heavy smoker all my life, and unfortunately I piled on the weight and it's stayed on ever since. As a 67 year old man now, of course the issue of obesity and all the associated problems it causes is more important than ever to reverse. My current weight is 16 stone and I need to get down to around 13 stone.
QUESTIONS:
1) Are there any members on here who might have tried this 800 calorie a day shake diet?
2) Does anyone know if starting this short term diet might cause any medical problems initially?
3) How much exercise do other members take, and in what form, exactly?
Hope to hear back soon. Stay safe and stay well.
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hi Jeff and welcome from me too.
There are members who have tried the 800 diet and some who are just about to start it here on the forum. I have not read much in the way of results from them though. There don't seem to be many posts raving about the results.
There are many members who have gone the low carb route and had significant success though both in losing weight and controlling their BG at the same time and some who have come down from very high HbA1c readings to normal and even come off medication. This usually involves cutting right back on bread, pasta, potatoes rice, breakfast cereals etc as well as the obvious sweet stuff including fruit but increasing their protein and fat intake. Fat is much slower to digest so you feel fuller for longer (means you don't feel the need to snack between meals), it provides slow release energy and doesn't slike your BG and it tastes good so you don't need so much will power and therefore makes this sort of diet sustainable for life.
Because you are on Gliclazide, you would need to reduce your carb intake slowly as the medication could make your BG go too low.... I assume you have a BG meter if you are on Gliclazide so that is a bonus. BG meters are an invaluable tool in showing you how your body responds to the food you eat and using a before and 2 hours after meals, testing regime will show you what effect that food had on your BG. You can then reduce portion size or perhaps avoid certain carbohydrate groups to tailor your diet to your specific body's response. Generally as rise of less than 3mmols after a meal is a good result, less than 2mmols is ideal. Response to carbs can be extremely individual due to differences in gut biome, metabolism and genetics to name but a few so 2 diabetics may respond very differently to a particular carb group.... like porridge oats for example. Some can get away with porridge and others would see their BG skyrocket. Pasta can be a real problem for some people but others can manage a small portion or find that if they precook and cool and then reheat it, it has less effect on their BG. Quite a few people find that they are more insulin resistant on a morning so any carbs they eat then sends their BG soaring but could manage those same carbs at lunch or dinner. This is where a BG meter together with a food diary to log food and readings comes in to its own and should enable you to work out what is best for your body. This individual response is why giving dietary advice to diabetics is so difficult, there is no one diet fits all.
As regards your second question, it is wise to discuss such a radical diet with your GP before starting and many GPs have reservations about it I believe. With you being on several medications, it may have implications in that respect but I am not a medical professional.
There is a school of thought that this sort of diet puts the body into starvation mode and may cause a yoyo effect after it comes to an end as many calorie controlled diets do, whereas following a low carb higher fat way of eating is sustainable for life and is more a question of teaching your body to run on a different fuel. Carbs are easy to break down and give a quick fast burn often leaving you hungry a few hours later. Fat and protein are harder to break down so actually use up more energy in the digestive process but you don't need to eat as much of them as carbs to keep you going for many hours.... all day even. I often find that just one or two meals a day is enough eating LCHF. I don't feel deprived because I eat good wholesome, natural, mostly unprocessed and tasty food. It just needs a bit of planning and learning to eat in a whole different way.
As regards exercise, it depends on your current level of fitness but there isn't much that beats a good brisk daily walk or a cycle ride for lowering BG levels or a couple of hours working in the garden. I have started incorporating arm exercises into my daily walk which probably looks pretty weird but really ups the level of the workout of a simple walk and tones my arms and shoulders, abdomen and back as well as my legs. It is important to walk briskly rather than just stroll, so develop a pace of walking which is a bit faster than your natural gait.
These are just my thoughts based on my experience over the past year and a bit since diagnosis.
I used to eat huge amounts of carbs both in the form of sugar and bread and potatoes. I no longer eat sugar or bread or pasta or rice and I have a small portion of potatoes maybe once a week and maybe a small portion of sweet potato once a week as well. Lots of veg, often cooked in butter or cheese, salads with creamy cheesy coleslaw, fatty meat like lamb chops and belly pork and high meat content sausages and roast chicken and lots of eggs in all their various forms and nuts and olives and avocado and prawns or salmon or sardines and cheese...cheese is my new chocolate! Interestingly, if you don't eat carbs, then fat doesn't make you fat. It is actually an excess of carbs which makes you fat. Also, in line with others here on the forum, my cholesterol levels have dropped slightly despite now eating a large amount of dietary fat, much or it saturated, and my ratio is good, so the fat that I am eating does not seem to be adversely affecting me as we have been lead to believe either in terms of weight gain or cholesterol.
There are members who have tried the 800 diet and some who are just about to start it here on the forum. I have not read much in the way of results from them though. There don't seem to be many posts raving about the results.
There are many members who have gone the low carb route and had significant success though both in losing weight and controlling their BG at the same time and some who have come down from very high HbA1c readings to normal and even come off medication. This usually involves cutting right back on bread, pasta, potatoes rice, breakfast cereals etc as well as the obvious sweet stuff including fruit but increasing their protein and fat intake. Fat is much slower to digest so you feel fuller for longer (means you don't feel the need to snack between meals), it provides slow release energy and doesn't slike your BG and it tastes good so you don't need so much will power and therefore makes this sort of diet sustainable for life.
Because you are on Gliclazide, you would need to reduce your carb intake slowly as the medication could make your BG go too low.... I assume you have a BG meter if you are on Gliclazide so that is a bonus. BG meters are an invaluable tool in showing you how your body responds to the food you eat and using a before and 2 hours after meals, testing regime will show you what effect that food had on your BG. You can then reduce portion size or perhaps avoid certain carbohydrate groups to tailor your diet to your specific body's response. Generally as rise of less than 3mmols after a meal is a good result, less than 2mmols is ideal. Response to carbs can be extremely individual due to differences in gut biome, metabolism and genetics to name but a few so 2 diabetics may respond very differently to a particular carb group.... like porridge oats for example. Some can get away with porridge and others would see their BG skyrocket. Pasta can be a real problem for some people but others can manage a small portion or find that if they precook and cool and then reheat it, it has less effect on their BG. Quite a few people find that they are more insulin resistant on a morning so any carbs they eat then sends their BG soaring but could manage those same carbs at lunch or dinner. This is where a BG meter together with a food diary to log food and readings comes in to its own and should enable you to work out what is best for your body. This individual response is why giving dietary advice to diabetics is so difficult, there is no one diet fits all.
As regards your second question, it is wise to discuss such a radical diet with your GP before starting and many GPs have reservations about it I believe. With you being on several medications, it may have implications in that respect but I am not a medical professional.
There is a school of thought that this sort of diet puts the body into starvation mode and may cause a yoyo effect after it comes to an end as many calorie controlled diets do, whereas following a low carb higher fat way of eating is sustainable for life and is more a question of teaching your body to run on a different fuel. Carbs are easy to break down and give a quick fast burn often leaving you hungry a few hours later. Fat and protein are harder to break down so actually use up more energy in the digestive process but you don't need to eat as much of them as carbs to keep you going for many hours.... all day even. I often find that just one or two meals a day is enough eating LCHF. I don't feel deprived because I eat good wholesome, natural, mostly unprocessed and tasty food. It just needs a bit of planning and learning to eat in a whole different way.
As regards exercise, it depends on your current level of fitness but there isn't much that beats a good brisk daily walk or a cycle ride for lowering BG levels or a couple of hours working in the garden. I have started incorporating arm exercises into my daily walk which probably looks pretty weird but really ups the level of the workout of a simple walk and tones my arms and shoulders, abdomen and back as well as my legs. It is important to walk briskly rather than just stroll, so develop a pace of walking which is a bit faster than your natural gait.
These are just my thoughts based on my experience over the past year and a bit since diagnosis.
I used to eat huge amounts of carbs both in the form of sugar and bread and potatoes. I no longer eat sugar or bread or pasta or rice and I have a small portion of potatoes maybe once a week and maybe a small portion of sweet potato once a week as well. Lots of veg, often cooked in butter or cheese, salads with creamy cheesy coleslaw, fatty meat like lamb chops and belly pork and high meat content sausages and roast chicken and lots of eggs in all their various forms and nuts and olives and avocado and prawns or salmon or sardines and cheese...cheese is my new chocolate! Interestingly, if you don't eat carbs, then fat doesn't make you fat. It is actually an excess of carbs which makes you fat. Also, in line with others here on the forum, my cholesterol levels have dropped slightly despite now eating a large amount of dietary fat, much or it saturated, and my ratio is good, so the fat that I am eating does not seem to be adversely affecting me as we have been lead to believe either in terms of weight gain or cholesterol.
Drummer
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
I went low carb at diagnosis. Felt better so probably did more exercise, and in 6 months the diabetes was beaten, and I'd lost a lot of weight without even trying. As you are taking Gliclazide a low carb diet might not be the way to go - it says so in the leaflet in the box - but you could try stopping the tablets - your GP should know that the two regimes are not compatible when you discus it.
Docb
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Can I add a caveat to Drummer's comment on low carb and gliclazide? You can combine low carbing and gliclazide but you have to take care to make sure your blood glucose does not go too low. If you are on gliclazide, your surgery should have prescribed a blood glucose monitor to allow to monitor it and this will allow you to cut carbs without taking undue risks.
Worked for me.
Worked for me.
Jeff Stevens
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Thanks very much. Im almost due my next visit to the surgery for my diabetic review, so I will take up the issue of Gliclazide and a low carb diet. I'll also raise the issue of a BG monitor, which I've not been given as it sounds like a very handy piece of kit. Strangely, one thing I'm very happy with is my cholesterol level which stood at 2.4 last time I was tested, down from 2.6 so to my mind, I must be doing something at least half right..!
Thanks again and I'll keep you updated after my next Type 2 review which hopefully will be soon.
Stay safe and stay well.
Docb
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
It is a handy bit of kit and very useful, when used sensibly, in getting your bg down. There is nothing like fast feedback for making progress. Surgeries vary a lot in their attitude to prescribing monitors because of the ongoing cost of test strips so see how you get on. The NICE guidelines say that monitors should be offered as a matter of course if gliclazide is prescribed because of the risk of it leading to hypos. Useful lever if your surgery try to block it.
trophywench
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Dunno who told you your HbA1c only needs to be 'under 59' - when an initial diagnosis of diabetes is any HbA1c at 48 or over - 42-47.9 leads to a diagnosis of 'pre-diabetes' these days, but the only way of reversing it, is to adopt a diet with less carbohydrate in it and/or adopt a sustainable exercise routine, preferably both.
Hence - start reducing your carb intake asap, with the caveats already given regarding Gliclazide. If you hold a driving licence, unless you test your BG before each time you drive to ensure it isn't too low - you are breaking the Law and that's precisely why GP surgeries are supposed to prescribe blood testing meters and strips to all people on such a drug.
Hence - start reducing your carb intake asap, with the caveats already given regarding Gliclazide. If you hold a driving licence, unless you test your BG before each time you drive to ensure it isn't too low - you are breaking the Law and that's precisely why GP surgeries are supposed to prescribe blood testing meters and strips to all people on such a drug.
Jeff Stevens
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi. I was given a target HbA1c in the diabetic review before my last one (last year), of 59, by my surgery and I am in no position to argue. I will be taking your advice to lessen my carb intake before my next review, and I'll be keeping you up to date as to how I'm getting on ASAP. Many thanks.
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Look forward to seeing your readings decrease and if you need any tips or suggestions for low carb substitutes or treats just ask. Figuring out what to buy when you go shopping for the first few months can be frustrating, but once you get into a regular routine of what to buy and how to cook it, it all becomes a lot easier.
Jeff Stevens
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Yes, thanks I'm very grateful. Soon as I have any further developments following my next review, I'll be back but it might take a few weeks. Much appreciated.
silentsquirrel
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Before reviews the last 2 years, I have had to fill in a form -drinking, smoking, depression, am I pregnant or planning to be (hardly, at 69!), etc - and on the form it tells me my HbA1c target is 55! When it has been 38 to 41 the last few years. It might be their target, but certainly not mine.
Bruce Stephens
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Baroness Trumpington complained about the same thing: she had to declare to the BBC that she (at the age of 92 (or 93)) was not pregnant before appearing on Have I got News for You.
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I think @zoombapup gave it a go, and @ColinUK. Maybe one or two others too.
You can search for Newcastle Diet
Search results for query: Newcastle diet
forum.diabetes.org.uk
Or “800 calorie”
Search results for query: “800 calorie”
forum.diabetes.org.uk
We have marathon runners, joggers, amblers, wanderers, swimmers, dancers, golfers, horse riders, cyclists and almost everything else you can imagine!
Take a look in the exercise section
Exercise/Sport
Please post all your exercise/sport queries and experiences in this forum.
forum.diabetes.org.uk
trophywench
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Pregnancy - I was 50, my husband 52 when we got wed. He'd had a vasectomy and I'd had a total hysterectomy by that time. However, as we used to say to anyone that mentioned such things - you've got to keep trying, as far as possible, haven't you? Much like a good many other things as we get older - use it or lose it!
ColinUK
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I’m right at the start of the Newcastle diet. I’ve read the books and done my research.I think @zoombapup gave it a go, and @ColinUK. Maybe one or two others too.
You can search for Newcastle Diet
Search results for query: Newcastle diet
Or “800 calorie”
Search results for query: “800 calorie”
We have marathon runners, joggers, amblers, wanderers, swimmers, dancers, golfers, horse riders, cyclists and almost everything else you can imagine!
Take a look in the exercise section
Exercise/Sport
Please post all your exercise/sport queries and experiences in this forum.
What questions do you have? (Not that I can pretend I’ll be able to answer them definitively but I might be able to offer an opinion or my experiences so far)
Jeff Stevens
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
OK, in the documentary I watched recently, before the volunteers started their 800 calorie per day shake diets, I'm sure the doctors who were running the experiment said that initially, this would cause some physiological problems but that those issues would soon dissipate as the sudden change in their eating habits might be a bit of a shock to their systems, which is fully understandable, but I don't remember exactly what they thought those problems would be, but more than likely it was the issue of their blood glucose levels.
I might need to go back and watch the documentary again but I'm not sure if I saved it or deleted it...!
- Status