T2D Pathway to Remission - when to have a treat?

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pjgtech

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Still only on week 2 of the above program.
I am being fully supported by GP/DN and the program provider (Zyla Health), but my wife (also T2D) was outside the criteria so could not join the program. We have both been good so far, both lost weight, BG reduced, etc and both had no "normal" meals.
However, she is following along with her own diet to support me, so we are affectively doing it together, albeit she is having slightly more cals than me, at around 1000 per day. She is a dedicated chocaholic and is really craving a treat of some kind, but has resisted so far (also in her 2nd week).
I know its easy to say just stick to the diet, but I assume that most peeps will have a small lapse every now and again, or allow themselves a small treat once in a while.
So my (long winded) question is, should we allow ourselves a small treat and if so, how often, and how much? (eg: one piece of choc or a whole bar, etc?) My craving so far, (TBH I'm not really craving anything), but if I were to have a small treat, it would be toast.

We were both thinking we would wait until week three, then allow ourselves a small treat of some kind.....

NB: as an aside, I would be interested to know how many people (if any) actually stick 100% to the pathway diet for the whole 12 weeks?
What do people think?
 
At Christmas I will get some high cocoa chocolate and some of the little sweetie moulds and make 'treats' which are desiccated coconut on the bottom, either a sultana soaked in rum or vermouth or a 1/4 of a glace cherry, then slivered almonds all held together with modest amounts of melted chocolate.
As I am usually doing low carb they don't disrupt things.
I have been making them for some years but only recently realised I can chop the chocolate, mix it in and then warm up the whole lot to bond things together without leaving behind any chocolate.
 
I'm no psychologist. I have failed today. I wasn't in the mood for breakfast went to the shop for extra milk at 12 and bought two chocolate éclairs. I should have ignored them next to the milk. I ate them then ate a bigger lunch than planned. I can perhaps rationalise it by saying I still feel unwell from the remnants of a longterm cold. I have to make forbidden fruit difficult to get hold of so that I make a conscious decision to have something. If I am keen to have a biscuit or cake I have to go to a cafe as I don't want the items in the house. It was a lovely sunny day so I sat on a bench and ate the éclairs. At least I walked there and back.
It doesn't sound to me that you are at the stage of wanting a treat. Do you feel it will give your wife permission to deviate? Are not wanting to let each other down helping or hindering you? Is it important that you both admit if you have strayed? Isn't your plan supported by a group of people. Could you check what advice they would give you? With her extra calories your wife could easily have something extra but would you want to know?
I'm not going to buy more chocolate éclairs particularly as they are sold in a pack of two. Despite buying the cakes if I was on your programme however grim I wouldn't deviate. It is a set number of weeks. However, I would give myself other treats for achieving goals a favourite walk, listen to new music go to the cinema a new item of clothing ( I have already bought a top a size smaller than I've been for ages) I just worry that fixating on a piece of food as a treat isn't helpful at the moment.
 
Its more my wife than me.
But I do think 12 weeks is a long time, bearing in mind i'm mostly just on the shakes, so I think I will get bored of them at some point, so I will just want some variety.
Been looking thru the carbs and cals book, things like sugar snap peas, bean sprouts, celery, cucumber, lettuce, mangetout, raw mushrooms, onions, peppers, rocket, watercress, etc are all virtually no cals, carbs, fats, etc in small portions.
So we could get some of those in and snack on those if the need arises, without really affecting the 800 / 1000 cal limit, maybe even replace one the shakes with a small bowl of the above?
 
I'm a huge fan of watercress. If you are having soups some added herb or spice or some of the empty veg will add texture and a change of mouth feel. I also enjoy mushrooms raw.I just know I've lived my life thinking of certain food items as treats and am trying to reprogramme myself. Bread and potatoes are what I miss. I like pasta and rice but could cut them out. Even prediabetes if I was eating healthily I would add veg to noodles or have lentils etc with rice. My favourite meal is mushroom omlette with a big handful of watercress. We used to live in Hampshire where it was readily available.
Good luck with your dilemma.
 
I tried the soups provided by the food supplier on my Pathway to Remissiosn course (Altra Life) but they only have two flavours, Chicken and Veg. But unfortunately they are both bloody awful IMHO. Hence why I'm stuck with only the shakes, as Altra don't do any other meals!
TBH its not really helpful to expect people to stick to a very, very strict diet, but then severely limit the meal choices they can have. It will surely just demotivate people to stick with it.
I'm only on week 2 and for me so far its ok, but not sure how I'll feel on week 6, week 8, week 10, etc?
I've looked at other food providers, eg: shake that weight, and they have literally dozens of food choices, porridge, soups, shakes, snacks, meals, etc and all are similar to mine, eg: 200 cal with all vitamins and nutrients.
I assume that Altra bid for the food contract in my area and won, presumably cos they were cheap, not necessarily cos they were the best!
 
pjgtech said:
I tried the soups provided by the food supplier on my Pathway to Remissiosn course (Altra Life) but they only have two flavours, Chicken and Veg. But unfortunately they are both bloody awful IMHO. Hence why I'm stuck with only the shakes, as Altra don't do any other meals!
TBH its not really helpful to expect people to stick to a very, very strict diet, but then severely limit the meal choices they can have. It will surely just demotivate people to stick with it.
I'm only on week 2 and for me so far its ok, but not sure how I'll feel on week 6, week 8, week 10, etc?
I've looked at other food providers, eg: shake that weight, and they have literally dozens of food choices, porridge, soups, shakes, snacks, meals, etc and all are similar to mine, eg: 200 cal with all vitamins and nutrients.
I assume that Altra bid for the food contract in my area and won, presumably cos they were cheap, not necessarily cos they were the best!
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No wonder the chicken soup tastes awful as it has no chicken in it and you say you don't like stevia in your tea but the shakes have sucralose and stevia.
I can't say that regime appeals to me, just a load of nutritious chemicals.
They are advertising salted caramel bars which are new.
 
The mushroom soup we did at Allied Lyons for Dr Howard (the Cambridge diet) was quite nice, as I recall. Pity so many of the things from back them are not available now.
 
Drummer said:
The mushroom soup we did at Allied Lyons for Dr Howard (the Cambridge diet) was quite nice, as I recall. Pity so many of the things from back them are not available now.
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I tried Cambridge Diet about 35 years ago and the mushroom soup was OK but I did usually pepper. I didn't like the shakes at all.
 
Leadinglights said:
I tried Cambridge Diet about 35 years ago and the mushroom soup was OK but I did usually pepper. I didn't like the shakes at all.
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All the women used to ask for samples once they found out about it - it was supposed to be secret but one of the guys was the worst gossip I ever came across.
I used my Bamix blender to make the shakes as I did the same back at Lyons - it makes a big difference to the texture to blend and then leave it for a couple of minutes. The powder itself is quite resistant to mixing with water - something still the same after 50 years.
 
Leadinglights said:
No wonder the chicken soup tastes awful as it has no chicken in it and you say you don't like stevia in your tea but the shakes have sucralose and stevia.
I can't say that regime appeals to me, just a load of nutritious chemicals.
They are advertising salted caramel bars which are new.
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Didn't realise stevia was in the shakes, they are very sweet, but I get no after taste with the shakes, unlike the tea.
I know they advertise salted caramel bars, I asked Xyla about them, but they are apparently not part of the Programmes diet, so can't have them?
 
Drummer said:
All the women used to ask for samples once they found out about it - it was supposed to be secret but one of the guys was the worst gossip I ever came across.
I used my Bamix blender to make the shakes as I did the same back at Lyons - it makes a big difference to the texture to blend and then leave it for a couple of minutes. The powder itself is quite resistant to mixing with water - something still the same after 50 years.
Click to expand...
The Shakes I get from Altra Life are quite nice, very sweet, and seem to be filling, as I'm not that hungry?
Mine seem to mix ok with water, need to shake them for 30 seconds in the supplied shaker bottle, but once shaken the consistency is fine.
They do 7 flavours I think, but there is a restriction on the pathway to remission program that I'm on with Xyla, as they will only let you order x4 types per month, so again, very restrictive on the choice of meal! With Shake that weight, you can just order as many flavours as you like, so if ordering one weeks worth, 7 days x 4 meals a day, you can order any combination of 28 meals.
Altra Life just seem to have very little choice and only do bags for one month at a time, not individual meal sized bags (like Shake that weight). Its a bit frustrating TBH, and I think will get more frustrating as the program goes on for the remaining weeks.
 
I'm very much in favour of treats. For me they help increase my adherence to healthy eating, and I factor treats into my daily/weekly foods.

Once your shakes diet is over perhaps you could seek out items that you could view as treats but which will not interfere with your ongoing food choices.
I don't know if there is anything you can have at the moment while on the shakes diet, if you have a think you may find inspiration strikes.
 
My wife made the chocolate brownies from the Freshwell app. I am using those as my treats and so far I can't complain. Plus they came out better than my loaf (greek yogurt and almond flour) which is now in use as an example of what the Great Rift Valley looks like (not really as it tastes great).
 
Went shopping this morning and bought some button mushrooms, rocket, sugar snap peas and mangetout. All very low in everything, carbs, cals, fats, etc.

So if the wife gets the munchies, she has something to nibble on that will not hurt the diet.
We both like all the above, so if I get the munchies, I will have something too, but I'm really trying to still be good at this stage.

I can understand how having a bacon butty with white bread, or a huge slice of cake, or a load of chocolate, etc (especially if more than once or very rarely) will be very negative and a step back for the diet, but I can't see how a few bits of salad can hurt in the great scheme of things?
 
If you want to eat chocolate extra dark (70% or higher) is often recommended, but even then in moderation. My preferred option is 85% dark but I set a limit of 4 squares per day.

The cocoa in dark chocolate is a natural source of fibre, vitamins, and minerals, and it has potential benefits for heart, brain, gut, and overall health (Source: Zoe).
 
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