DIY Soups & Shakes Plan

[Deb_l]

Apologies if this has been asked many, many times before. I did do a search...................promise

Little bit of history on why I'm asking:

Following a low carb diet has worked fantastically for me and has reduced my HbA1c levels back into normal range. It also initially had the wonderful side effect of massive weight loss (7 stone in total). Unfortunately this weight loss started to reverse in in the last 6 months of 2024 and, despite sticking to the same diet, I have managed to put 2 stone back on. My HbA1c however remains normal and my BG levels are good.

I have HUGE issues with food and it doesn't take much to send me spiraling back down the overeating highway and that's what I'm teetering on the brink of now sadly. Because I've put weight on, my mood is low. Because my mood is low, I want to eat. I put on weight and it starts again

I have booked myself in for counselling sessions to try and sort out long-term why I have these food issues but in the meantime I feel like I need to do something quite drastic before I get out of control again. I have asked my GP about the NHS Soups and Shakes diet, as I was offered this previously, but I don't qualify now as my HbA1c is less than 48.

What I'm thinking of doing is my own DIY Soups and Shakes but I don't really know where to start, other than Slimfast!! Does anyone have any recommendations for meal replacements that are found easily in supermarkets, rather than online. I've tried Google but that just gives me online choices or American diet websites. Has anyone ever tried a DIY version successfully and can offer any advice? My nearest supermarkets are Morrisons, Tesco and Lidl, although others are available but miles away

Thank you

Deb

 

[pjgtech]

Hi, the official NHS plan is called the T2D Pathway to Remission diet (based on the Newcastle diet) also known as the soups and shakes diet and comprises an 800 cal per day meal plan.
Each soup or shake is approx 200 cals, so x4 a day = 800 cals. This is also known as a very low cal diet (VLCD).

The approve soups and shakes are called Total Meal Replacement (TMR) or Total Diet Replacement (TDR) and have to include approx 20 vitamins and nutrients and are designed to give you body what it needs whilst on a VLCD.

Be aware that a lot of the supermarket soups and shakes are not "proper" TMR/TDR meals and may contain all sorts of ingredients, despite their claims.

You can buy the TMR/TDR meals from various companies including Altra Life and Shake that Weight, (Shake that weight have a larger selection including soups, shakes, snacks and dehydrated meals). There are others too. Basically if you are looking to buy some, look to make sure they are proper TMR/TDR meals.

However, this diet should only really be tried with the approval of your GP or other HCP and you should be monitored if doing this long term. The monitored diets are usually 12 weeks in total, (just finished mine) and then a further 6-10 weeks of slow normal food re-introduction phase.

There are variations on this diet, where you have a higher cal intake, say 1000 or 1200 per day or you have the shakes as well as "normal" meals, eg: say 2 x shakes per day plus two small meals per day, etc. Some people also go down the low (or very low) carb diet route. I think low carb is generally less than 120 per day, but some go lower eg: 100 per day or even less. Bear in mind our body does also need some carbs!

I can recommend Shake that weight, I have also used Altra Life, but did not like their soups, so was then restricted to shakes only. As above Shake that weight have a much larger selection and also do other meal replacements as well as the 800 cal per day ones.

Cheers

 

[grovesy]

I think you will find it is known by differnt titles in differnt parts of the country.

 

[pjgtech]

I think you will find it is known by differnt titles in differnt parts of the country.

NHS, via their website, refers to it as "T2 Path to Remission programme". But yes, different regions may call it something different, but they are mostly based on the above, which in itself is mostly based on the Newcastle diet.
NHS England link:
Cheers

 

[JITR]

I'd read the Weight Loss section of this article What should we eat? and see if that helps.

Summary: leave time enough after meals to burn off excess fat.

 

[paultrose]

If you want a cheaper alternative to slimfast brand try superdrugs own brand.....hell of a lot cheaper

 

[Burylancs]

If you want a cheaper alternative to slimfast brand try superdrugs own brand.....hell of a lot cheaper

Superdrug seem to have stopped their own weight management range.

 

[Deb_l]

I'd read the Weight Loss section of this article What should we eat? and see if that helps.

Summary: leave time enough after meals to burn off excess fat.

It's an interesting read but I already follow a balanced, low carb diet but I'm really struggling and every day I'm eating less and less but still putting weight on. I also swim 3/4 times a week (70 lengths at a time), walk the dogs 5 miles every day, come rain or shine, although I'm currently grounded from both activities due to the snow and ice.

I just feel like I need a kick start before I totally give up and regress back to my old ways and think what's the point

So far today I've had:

Melon and Greek yogurt for breakfast
Two chicken thigh pieces and a humous salad thing from M&S

Other than cups of tea or coffee or drinks of juice, that is my normal day now. When I was losing weight before, I could eat a relatively HUGE amount of food in comparison, as long as it was low carb. Sadly those days appear to be behind me.

 

[Drummer]

It's an interesting read but I already follow a balanced, low carb diet but I'm really struggling and every day I'm eating less and less but still putting weight on. I also swim 3/4 times a week (70 lengths at a time), walk the dogs 5 miles every day, come rain or shine, although I'm currently grounded from both activities due to the snow and ice.

I just feel like I need a kick start before I totally give up and regress back to my old ways and think what's the point

So far today I've had:

Melon and Greek yogurt for breakfast
Two chicken thigh pieces and a humous salad thing from M&S

Other than cups of tea or coffee or drinks of juice, that is my normal day now. When I was losing weight before, I could eat a relatively HUGE amount of food in comparison, as long as it was low carb. Sadly those days appear to be behind me.

You might be eating too little and put yourself into starvation mode - I always used to shut down when put on low calorie diets, low temperature, low energy, slow heart rate, unable to lose weight so my GP instructed me to keep reducing what I ate.
When I attempted to lose weight on shakes, it did work when I was fasting 22 hours a day, having a shake then one small meal a day, but my HbA1c was higher than I expected - but I lost fat from over my kidneys rather then from the 'bay window' in front at waist height.

 

[JITR]

Well I'd say talk to your GP about consulting a dietitian or a nutritionist with experience of your current condition if you are storing fat, otherwise a specialist versed in the causes of fluid retention (oedema).

Meanwhile you might look into Zoe Harcombe's week 1 diet which derives from an exclusion diet Prof Jonathan Brostoff put her on years ago to help isolate her food intolerances.

 

[Leadinglights]

Years ago before the diabetes malarky I did Slimming World and initially lost quite a bit of weight but then it slowed down and the consultant asked me to keep a food diary and when she looked she said I was not eating enough and said I needed to eat more which I really struggled with.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

It's an interesting read but I already follow a balanced, low carb diet but I'm really struggling and every day I'm eating less and less but still putting weight on. I also swim 3/4 times a week (70 lengths at a time), walk the dogs 5 miles every day, come rain or shine, although I'm currently grounded from both activities due to the snow and ice.

I just feel like I need a kick start before I totally give up and regress back to my old ways and think what's the point

Sorry to hear you are feeling like giving up @Deb_I

Are you eating enough to keep you full? Are you enjoying your low carb menu? Or are you being extra restrictive to try to re-start your weight loss?

@pjgtech recently went through the 12 week programme and wrote up his experiences here which you could hve a read of

Thread 'My weight loss and T2D journey'

Oct 3, 2024

So been slowly putting on weight since I was about 35, I'm now 59.
From being a fairly slim and athletic young'n I'm now a rotund middle aged geeza!
When young I used to walk a lot, run on a regular basis, play football, play golf, play squash, and cycled quite a bit, so was always very active.
For work I had very manual jobs, then became a plumber, still manual, but then became a surveyor and so started the many years of mainly sitting at a desk! I slowly stopped doing the sporty stuff, and for many years I hovered around the 15-16 stone mark (101g).
During Covid I spent a lot of time...

• pjgtech
• Replies: 92
• Forum: Weight Loss Journey

• 

There will be an inevitable transition after the programme back to ‘normal’ meals, so while some members have found it helped reset their previous relationship to food, it does sound like the work you are looking to do with a counsellor might be an important part of the puzzle?