Meal Replacement Powders etc

[zuludog]

I have always tended to be overweight
I'm 178 cm tall and for the past 18 months to 2 years my weight has been around 90/91 kg. I'm 70
I seem to have been dieting since last spring (2019)
Fortunately my diabetic control, BP, and so on are good, controlled with Lisinopril, Metformin, Glargine, and Novorapid, but i'd like to reduce those if possible

Over Christmas/New Year I bought & read Roy Taylor's & Michael Mosley's books, and made more of an effort
I tried to follow their schemes, but it was a bit 'home - made' - I bought some meal replacement powder from Holland & Barret
I had, of course, reduced my carb intake already, but I cut it down even further and made up my own sort of low carb - cum- Mediterranean diet

Well now I'm 5 or 6 months into it, and although I've lost some weight, it's not much - I'm about 89kg

I've just had an email from a friend who's a similar age and also has diabetes
He has been following Roy Taylor's diet plan closely, and his weight has gone down from 13st to just under 11st - say a loss of 13kg
He's stopped injecting insulin and now manages with diet & Metformin

So, I thought I'd try putting myself on the official version - and that's when the fun starts!

Once you start Searching t'Net for Roy Taylor, Fast 800, Newcastle Diet there are so many references and Links
Similarly on the powders, shakes and other meal replacement products, There are so many different schemes, diets & powders that it all gets very confusing, never ending and overwhelming very quickly
My friend used Optifast powders, but even on the Newcastle University website - www.ncl.ac.uk - there are several different brands - Kee Diet, Exante, Slim and Save, New you Plan

Has anyone got any comments or recommendations please?

Can I make a couple of comments of my own?

I don't think I could manage on shakes for every meal. I was thinking of something like a shake for breakfast then low cal/low carb meals at other times
I'm not too bothered about the cost - I want to get something done
I think reversing my diabetes is a optimistic; I'd settle for reducing my medication and losing weight. My target is below 85kg, and the closer to 80kg the better

 

[trophywench]

Well I think yours is a more than realistic frame of mind @zuludog so I really hopes you can make it work.

Can't help with the shakes though, wish I could.

 

[Toucan]

Hello @zuludog and so well done on keeping your Diabetes under control, and best wishes with your weight loss plans.
I think the @ColinUK has used shakes as part of his weight loss plan, so he may be able to help with advice on which are the good ones to use.

 

[ColinUK]

Exante is the brand which was used in the Newcastle trial itself and it’s the one I’m using.
I did start with the Tesco or Asda one but the Exante products are much more satisfying and more palatable.
The advice they give is to have either 800 calories a day or to follow 5:2. Personally 5:2 don’t sit well with me so I stick (generally) to the 800 plan.
Within that guideline it’s perfectly fine to have 4 products to meet the calorie count or to sub one out for a low calorie, low carb, meal. But I tend to stick with the shakes (fav flavours Chocolate & Peanut butter; Cherries & Berries; Salted Caramel; Toffee Caramel) often adding a spoonful of coffee to the mix too.

There’s a few of us on here who’ve lost weight with Exante so I’d suggest taking a look at their website.

There are constantly offers taking 1/3 off the price at least. There are often pretty much half price deals.

If you do want to try them then you get a further £5 off any order above £25 and that’s on top of any other offers if you use my referral:

https://www.exantediet.com/referrals.list?applyCode=COLIN-R91


I also get a little credit to my account too 🙂

 

[zuludog]

Well, I've been busy
I've been thinking (Oh dear!) and shopping

It seems to me that nutritionally all these shakes & powders are much of a muchness
They're based on skimmed milk powder or soya bean extract for vegans, plus vits & mins, flavouring and sweetener, and end up with about 200 Calories per serving
I plan on having a meal replacement for breakfast and perhaps lunch sometimes, and a proper meal in the evening, even if it is a low carb/veggie meal suggested by Taylor or Mosley
I'll be doing the 800 cal/day

I was reluctant to order anything Online as I have a suspicion that I would be bombarded by emails, so I had a look round the shops - Tesco, Sainsbury, ASDA, Boots, and Superdrug
Not much choice in any of them, it was mostly Slimfast, which I'd been warned against, and various whey powders aimed at body building
Nevertheless I did buy some Slimfast - Boots had a BOGOF on all dieting products so I got a couple of tubs of Slimfast, and Superdrug had a packet of Slimfast Vitality at half price as it was short dated
Superdrug have their own brand, Slender Plan, so I got some of that
I also bought a few protein bars here & there, and some low cal cup a soups

All the flavours I saw were sweet, mostly chocolate, vanilla, & strawberry, though the Slender Plan was caramel or banana
There was more choice in some of the larger variety packs of Slimfast, but I decided against it

So it looks like I'll be buying Online after all, and on Colin's recommendation I've ordered a 2 week pack of Exante - thank you for the recommendation and the discount code
It should be here in a few days

That means I'll have enough shakes for at least 4 weeks
Now all I have to do is to do it!

And instead of wandering round a supermarket with just a vague idea, I'll be buying specifically for the recipes

 

[ColinUK]

The shakes are filling. But blend them with ice, lots of ice.

There’s a Facebook group for exante users too and that’s generally full of transformation stories and also recipe ideas for turning the soups or shakes into other things. I’ve not done that but it looks like a good idea.

 

[zuludog]

I've just Searched YouTube for 'Exante Diet' and there are loads of videos, but I haven't watched any yet

 

[ColinUK]

I've just Searched YouTube for 'Exante Diet' and there are loads of videos, but I haven't watched any yet

So did you order a “standard” box or did you select your own products?
I’ve never ordered a standard box because there’s loads I’d never eat. For one I don’t eat pork so that’s the carbonara out, and I don’t have a microwave and an awful lot of the meals and soups need to be zapped. So I just stick with the shakes 🙂

Whatever you do please don’t ever try the banana shakes. They’re always limited in availability and they taste phenomenal! I mean awful! Awful! AWFUL!
And they’re even better with a spoonful of cocoa and a couple of teaspoons of chopped hazelnut 🙂

 

[zuludog]

I ordered a standard 2 week box
I'll eat most things; I'll just see what turns up and take it from there

But if you re - read my post # 5 you'll see that I already have about 4 week's powders, and when I get the Exante box I'll alternate and work through what I have before I order any more
I'm not expecting a supreme culinary experience from any of these, it's a case of just getting my head down and doing it

The Holland & Barret powders were very sweet & sickly - see my OP # 1, so I started adding a spoonful or two of plain natural yogurt to the mix to cut back the sickliness
I'm expecting the other powders to be similarly sweet, so I'll do the same with them if necessary - well, the sweet flavours anyway
I stirred them up in a pint pot with a fork, which wasn't vert satisfactory, but the Exante pack comes with a mixing bottle/shaker - whoopee!

I do have a microwave oven

I've heated convenience meals in the past, but finding any that are vaguely healthy is almost impossible, so I stopped doing that
They are handy for scrambled eggs, but you need to learn, and keep a careful watch on it, as they go from too runny to overcooked very, very, quickly
I live on my own, and they are useful for re - heating leftover food
If you do get one, a cheap, simple model is adequate
And get a plastic plate cover intended for the microwave as food has a habit of boiling over and exploding all over the place

Thanks for your advice and recommendations, and for any encouragement in the future - I'll probably need it!

 

[ColinUK]

I used to have a microwave but made the conscious decision to get rid of it because I wanted to take more time and effort over cooking food. Which is odd as now I’m mainly “eating” shakes!

Do you have a bullet type blender? If you do then that’s the best way to make the shakes as you can whizz them up with tonnes of ice.

 

[zuludog]

I started my new regime yesterday morning. I was 91,2kg
I had a shake for breakfast; a protein bar, a satsuma, and a yogurt for lunch; and chicken & broccoli and a yogurt for my evening meal
Also, my usual cups of tea & coffee plus 3 or 4 pints of water during the day. I use a pint glass of water with a squirt of lemon or lime juice in it

My yogurt is a bowl of natural yogurt with a pinch of cinnamon stirred into it

I know you shouldn't weigh yourself too often, but I couldn't resist it. This morning I was 89,3kg
Alright, that's hardly representative, and could just be a blip, but at least it's downwards
Also this morning; BG = 6,8; BP = 135/68; pulse = 70

No, I don't have a bullet blender
I thought I'd just keep a jug of water in the fridge, and also add a couple of ice cubes. I'll see how I get on with that

At the moment I'm using the protein bars and Slimfast powder I bought on Saturday, plus a few odds & ends of fresh food I already had in

My Exante order should arrive in a couple of days, and I'll see what it looks like in real life instead of a computer screen
As I said, I'll probably alternate them with the Slimfast, and when it's all used up I'll order more Exante
I will have used up all my fresh food by then, so I'll buy more fresh food specifically for the very low cal/low carb recipes suggested by Exante, Taylor , or Mosley

As you might have guessed, at the moment it's a bit of a novelty, and there's a lot of initial enthusiasm. Time will tell,,,,,,

 

[zuludog]

Yesterday was the second day of my new regime

Breakfast - A strawberry flavour Slimfast shake
It was a bit sweet so I stirred in a spoonful of natural yogurt to tone down the sickliness, and it also made it thicker

Lunch - As I mentioned I'm just finishing off a few bits of fresh food; plus I fancied something savoury, so I had -
A diet cup a soup, two oatcakes, one tomato, one satsuma
The oatcakes are only 5,6g carb each, and they provide some fibre

I was quite satisfied after that, so I didn't have my yogurt till later in the afternoon

Evening meal - chicken, broccoli, an apple

Plus my usual cups of tea & coffee and a few pints of water

This morning I was 89,0kg -- just a small change, but then, it's only been a day, and it's still downwards
My Exante box should arrive later today or tomorrow; it will be interesting to try some of the savoury soups & meals

I think that's enough for now; I'll let you know how I'm going on in a few weeks

 

[Ditto]

I must be easily please because I liked the banana Exante! 🙂

Why were you warned off the SlimFasts? Too sweet?

Today I had a vanilla SlimFast shake for breakfast and a banana Exante shake for lunch. I think dinner is coconut Exante. What an exciting diet. Kill me now.

I do luv SlimFasts. A chocolate shake goes lovely with fish and chips.

 

[ColinUK]

I must be easily please because I liked the banana Exante! 🙂

Why were you warned off the SlimFasts? Too sweet?

Today I had a vanilla SlimFast shake for breakfast and a banana Exante shake for lunch. I think dinner is coconut Exante. What an exciting diet. Kill me now.

I do luv SlimFasts. A chocolate shake goes lovely with fish and chips.

My mind trick didn’t work!

Banana is lovely!

 

[zuludog]

I must be easily please because I liked the banana Exante! 🙂

Why were you warned off the SlimFasts? Too sweet?

Today I had a vanilla SlimFast shake for breakfast and a banana Exante shake for lunch. I think dinner is coconut Exante. What an exciting diet. Kill me now.

I do luv SlimFasts. A chocolate shake goes lovely with fish and chips.

There are several brands of Meal Replacement Powders available, and they're all very similar - skimmed milk powder or soya bean isolate + vits & mins +flavouring + sweetener, with about 200 cals per serving
Slimfast powder falls into this category

I'm not exactly sure, but I think that although the powder is OK, Slimfast's overall scheme & meal plan has too high a level of carbohydrates for diabetics

 

[ColinUK]

There are several brands of Meal Replacement Powders available, and they're all very similar - skimmed milk powder or soya bean isolate + vits & mins +flavouring + sweetener, with about 200 cals per serving
Slimfast powder falls into this category

I'm not exactly sure, but I think that although the powder is OK, Slimfast's overall scheme & meal plan has too high a level of carbohydrates for diabetics

Prof Taylor says that the carb count when you’re following vlcd isn’t that important because the calories are so restricted but I can see how that’s perhaps relevant to a point.
Newcastle Uni list some “approved” MRP brands and Slimfast isn’t on there. I don’t think Tesco is either but it’s identical to the Asda ones.
I think folks gravitate to Exante because it is the one which was used in the study itself.

 

[zuludog]

I decided to try a meal replacement diet after a friend had lost just over 2 stones during Lockdown by going on one
He used Optifast, but when I started looking I found there were several brands

Eventually I decided on Exante, partly because of the sort of recommendation ( or at least a mention) by Colin, and partly because their website was reasonably easy to follow

 

[zuludog]

Well, I've been on my new diet for a week now; I was 88,2 kg this morning and I'm happy enough with that

I've now settled on my diet -

Breakfast - MRP = Meal Replacement Powder
Dinner - cup a soup, a protein/diet bar, and plain natural yogurt, Greek or otherwise; or a meal from Exante, and yogurt
Tea - a meal from Step 1 of 'Life Without Diabetes' by Roy Taylor, and a small piece of fruit

The MRPs are very sweet so I add a spoonful of natural yogurt which counteracts the sickliness and makes it a bit thicker
I often leave my dinnertime yogurt till mid afternoon
On 2 or 3 occasions when I've been very hungry I've had a cup of tea and a dry oatcake or a few spoons of yogurt; though this hasn't happened recently - I wonder if I'm getting used to it?
I also take a multivitamin tablet every couple of days

I inject basal - bolus insulin; Glargine and Novorapid
I reduced the amount of those as I was eating hardly any carbs, but it was a bit tricky and I had a couple of hypos
Fortunately I was at home and dealt with them without any problems, but I'll have to be careful if I go out, especially if i'm driving
But I seem to have it settled now, I've reduced the insulin for both types to half of their previous levels, but i'll continue to monitor and adjust if necessary

 

[ColinUK]

That’s great!

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hope the new system works well for you @zuludog

Keep us posted!