Newcastle Diet -

[Weekender]

Plateau Part 2

Fasting blood sugars and blood pressure have been perfect for 4 weeks - perhaps the 15kg target is just vanity

 

[Drummer]

Restricting calories might well result in a permanent reduction in metabolism - my normal temperature is a degree C lower than normal, even when taking Thyroxine. Several times during my life I have been pushed to eat fewer and fewer calories to the point where I was collapsing, and weightloss became almost impossible as even a short period of restriction resulted in my metabolism slowing down, so my heartrate slowed and became irregular, I lost my usual rose pink colour and went grey, my muscles had no strength and I could not run up stairs - or anywhere at all.
It is not an unusual situation and many successful dieters find that they have to lower their 'normal' intake just to prevent weight gain, and after each session of weightloss they have a lower percentage of muscle, with higher fat ratios than when they started.

 

[Weekender]

Restricting calories might well result in a permanent reduction in metabolism - my normal temperature is a degree C lower than normal, even when taking Thyroxine. Several times during my life I have been pushed to eat fewer and fewer calories to the point where I was collapsing, and weightloss became almost impossible as even a short period of restriction resulted in my metabolism slowing down, so my heartrate slowed and became irregular, I lost my usual rose pink colour and went grey, my muscles had no strength and I could not run up stairs - or anywhere at all.
It is not an unusual situation and many successful dieters find that they have to lower their 'normal' intake just to prevent weight gain, and after each session of weightloss they have a lower percentage of muscle, with higher fat ratios than when they started.

Thanks Drummer. A valuable lesson there. Pointless losing muscle and becoming less vital.

I'll stick with the 800 calories till Tuesday / end of week 5. If I'm still not losing weight I'll assume that my metabolism is happy where it is.

 

[taylormade]

I'd recommend getting the book "Life Without Diabetes". There's also "Your Simple Guide to Reversing Type 2 Diabetes", but I found the additional science/research info in the longer book really helpful.

I'm gonna take a risk and link to my site, rather than retype a list of resources. Hopefully it's within forum rules:
List of resources about Newcastle diet - https://ohbootype2.co.uk/resources/#newcastle-diet
My ongoing experience with it - https://ohbootype2.co.uk/newcastle-diet/

Thanks so much for posting these resources. The Newcastle lecture is amazing.

 

[Weekender]

Plateau Part 3
Senna tea worked. 0.9Kg lighter this morning

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Plateau Part 3
Senna tea worked. 0.9Kg lighter this morning

Yes, you don't lose much weight if you stay hydrated, and don't go to the toilet!
You might well find your metabolism reverting back to normal now.
Any muscle loss will soon be recovered if you exercise after increasing your calories again.
Just balance it to your muscle gain, obviously if you ate to excess before, and stored it as fat, eating the same again will have the same effect.
It's not your metabolism that has changed.

 

[Weekender]

Cheers Travelor.
I'm doing some DIY today and found I ground to a halt. I've increased my my breakfast (12 am) intake with a supplementary scoop of plant based protein powder. Hopefully I'll perk up shortly

 

[Weekender]

Week 5 Results

Lessons learned
I wasn't drinking enough water - 3 Litres is recommended, but I think I need to drink more as I'm bigger than average. More water (5 litres a day + electrolytes) has solved the constipation. It's a challenge to remember to drink, A pint an hour?


Weight loss was slowing so I'm cutting calories (omit one 200 cal shake, add more salad and veg).
I realised that whilst I was keeping up the 'exercise' I was actually a lot more sedentary the rest of the time

Blood pressure is trending back to normal - probably a result of better hydration

 

[Weekender]

Week 5 Results
View attachment 17634
Lessons learned
I wasn't drinking enough water - 3 Litres is recommended, but I think I need to drink more as I'm bigger than average. More water (5 litres a day + electrolytes) has solved the constipation.

View attachment 17636
Weight loss was slowing so I'm cutting calories (omit one 200 cal shake, add more salad and veg).
I realised that whilst I was keeping up the 'exercise' I was actually a lot more sedentary the rest of the time

Blood pressure is trending back to normal - probably a result of better hydration

View attachment 17635

 

[Weekender]

(Week 6 Day 3) Well I'm out. Weight loss had plateaued, energy levels were scrapping the floor, bowel movements were a vague memory and the family hated me for being grumpy.

However, I have lost 13.5% of my body weight and my blood sugars etc are normal.

According to the NHS BMI Calculator I still need to lose 4.3Kg, but I intend to do this more gradually. More calories and more exercise sounds like it will be more fun.

The critical success factor for me will be staying off the beer.

Thanks for the support and advice I've received, it was an important factor in helping me stick with it

I will still post a weekly update, to keep me motivated and I will follow everyone's journey.

 

[Weekender]

Diabetes said


Back on the programme this morning
That was a valuable lesson.
Orange Kit Kit + Orange Jacobs Club did the damage.
Mrs W and I have had this debate for 31 years - her position is that I need more will power and that she has a basic human right to keep chocolate in the fridge. I'm just relieved she doesn't like beer.
Marathon not a sprint I guess

 

[Weekender]

Week 6 Results

Hit the 15Kg.
I'll stick with the 800 calories to the end of week 8 so I have a healthy BMI

I'm glad I stuck with it. The week 5 plateau was demotivating, but weight loss is pretty decent this week.

Exercise and Calories
It feels like I'm resting a lot more. This concurs with what @Eddy Edson was saying about Herman Pontzer’s book : "exercise doesn’t increase our metabolism. Instead, we burn calories within a very narrow range: nearly 3,000 calories per day, no matter our activity level"

In the graph you'll see that my Very Active minutes (orange line) shot up during weeks 1-2 of the diet as I had tons more energy. I've stuck with the swimming and running (Mins Very Active ) but overall Calories (grey column) burned stick in the 3000 range



Blood Sugars
Fasting blood sugars took a while to stabilise, so there is some way to go before my insulin sensitivity is okay.

Constipation is still a challenge. Drinking lots more water, eating lots of soluble fibre (broccoli, carrots, apricots, pears, seeds etc etc) but have to resort to senna tea and microlax to get things moving.

 

[Weekender]

Week 7 Results
Weight loss diminishing as I have reintroduced food.
Nothing particularly interesting going on. Blood pressure still dropping.
I suppose still not drinking after 7 weeks including the Euro Finals is good going. I'm starting to feel like I can live the rest of my life without beer.
I did eat some toast though

 

[Weekender]

Fell off the wagon
It started with a bottle of beer left in the garage, ended with a raid on the spirits cabinet, toasted cheese wrap, bag of pistachios, chocolate mousse and whatever other crap was in the fridge.
I put on 1.65kg overnight. Which is a kick in the teeth. It will take over two weeks to lose that.
However, I was very pleasantly surprised that my fasting blood sugars were 5.0 - lowest they have been all week. I re-tested = 4.7. Blood pressure was unaffected too.
Not an experiment I want to repeat in a hurry, but I suspect it says something positive about my insulin resistance?

 

[Eddy Edson]

Fell off the wagon
It started with a bottle of beer left in the garage, ended with a raid on the spirits cabinet, toasted cheese wrap, bag of pistachios, chocolate mousse and whatever other crap was in the fridge.
I put on 1.65kg overnight. Which is a kick in the teeth. It will take over two weeks to lose that.
However, I was very pleasantly surprised that my fasting blood sugars were 5.0 - lowest they have been all week. I re-tested = 4.7. Blood pressure was unaffected too.
Not an experiment I want to repeat in a hurry, but I suspect it says something positive about my insulin resistance?

Seriously - there is absolutely no way you put on 1.65kg body fat overnight. That's like 15,000 kcal.

It will be water and food moving through yr gut.

 

[Weekender]

Hi Eddy - yes I'm sure your right. Probably a chunk of water retention / glycogen. Anyway, it was a good poke in the eye. Back on the waggon, I've poured the content of the spirits cabinet down the sink

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Water retention, and the rest you'll lose when you go to the toilet.
BG is good.
That is the benefit of the Newcastle Diet. It looks like you have got a normal.insulin response there, but I wouldn't do that every day

 

[Weekender]

Water retention, and the rest you'll lose when you go to the toilet.
BG is good.
That is the benefit of the Newcastle Diet. It looks like you have got a normal.insulin response there, but I wouldn't do that every day

I'm not counting any chickens, but fingers crossed. My first appointment with the Diabetes Nurse is next Monday. Hopefully she'll tell me what my HBA1c levels were 9 weeks ago. I hope to have another test in 6 weeks to see the effects of the diet

 

[mage 1]

“Thanks for sharing your journey with us
I like your weekly updates and graphics .you are doing so well

 

[Deleted member 21371]

I'm not counting any chickens, but fingers crossed. My first appointment with the Diabetes Nurse is next Monday. Hopefully she'll tell me what my HBA1c levels were 9 weeks ago. I hope to have another test in 6 weeks to see the effects of the diet

The test is weighted.
Approximately 50% of the value due to the mean blood glucose concentrations is the 30 days prior to sampling; BG concentrations from the previous 90 to 120 days make up about 10% of the final total value, and the rest inbetween.