Tom Watson's book

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Watson123

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At risk of diabetes
Hello, all,
I've just joined after listening to Tom Watson's book 'Downsizing'. Very interesting. I don't have diabetes but my mum had Type 2 and my brother is pre-diabetic. I'm slightly overweight and have been heavier in the past. My brother and I both share a sweet tooth and struggle to keep it under control.
Neither of us are crazy about exercise but are making efforts to get more active. I'm very keen to start eating better and to reduce the amount of highly processed foods in my diet. I worry about my brother as I'm not sure he takes diabetes that seriously.
 
Hi and welcome.

Good to hear that you are looking to improve your health and reduce the risk of developing diabetes and eat more wholesome food. I have to be honest that I am not familiar with the Tom Watson book. I am currently reading the Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchaussbie.

I used to be a sugar addict so I understand battling a sweet tooth, but all that had to stop when I was diagnosed and I now follow a low carb way of eating which seems to have thankfully cured my craving for sweet stuff. It took a lot of doing initially because I ate a lot of bread and potatoes particularly, as well as sweet stuff, but it is now just my new way of life and whilst I have a small portion of potatoes occasionally, I don't miss them when I don't and I only really miss the convenience of bread, but that no longer bothers me anymore. It just required me to approach food with a different mentality rather than the custom of my previous 50+years, where bread was a carrier for so many foods and potatoes were a staple because Dad grew them. I eat plenty of lovely tasty food, but I don't need that bland brown/beige/white stuff to fill my plate up and send my BG into orbit. This may sound extreme to you and I am not saying that you need to give up on bread and potatoes and rice and pasta and breakfast cereals but reducing portion size will go a long way to reducing your risk of getting that diabetes diagnosis and helping you lose a bit of weight.
 
Thanks, Barbara. No, that doesn't sound extreme. Well done to you. As you say, bread is such an integral part of the average diet. The first thing I'll be doing is cutting out breakfast cereals. I'm just finishing the muesli and granola off (I hate throwing food away) and then I won't be replacing it. I'm planning to stop eating breakfast completely. I've tried it a few times and haven't found any problems with it - I don't get hunger pangs or anything. Having spent my whole life thinking it's the most important meal of the day, it doesn't feel that way for me. I haven't heard of that book but will have a look.
 
Greetings.

I think the thing to do with both exercise and diet is not to try to go from zero to hero in a single bound.

Exercise - look at what you enjoy (if anything!) and how it will fit into your day. If you decide walking is the thing it's a great time of year to start as Spring is definitely starting to spring! I'm lucky, I can walk from my house rather than having to drive somewhere. Getting a cheap tracker and setting a target there helped. Mine is 7,000 steps per day. As far as I can gather that's the sweet spot - more steps is into diminishing returns country.

Diet - cooking and taking packed lunches is the only way I can think of to reduce ultra-processed (UP) foods. But if you've never cooked I imagine starting to cook is a tall order. If you want cook books then Delia's books are still good, and her 'Complete how to cook' will gradually improve your skills.

I don't know how old you and your brother are, but assuming he is adult, ultimately it's up to him to look after himself. Deciding to take better care of yourself is a great step to take.

As you are not yet diabetic or pre-diabetic you probably don't have to make big changes. Reducing the UP foods, improving your diet, eating fewer carbohydrates and reducing sugars* in your diet may be all you need to stay non-diabetic.

*honey and syrup are just as bad as sugar for sweetening your breakfast porridge.
 
I like breakfast and it is usually creamy natural Greek style yoghurt with berries and seeds and my little daily luxury of coffee with real cream. Occasionally I will have an omelette and large side salad with coleslaw for breakfast or brunch, but quite often I skip lunch and just have an evening meal or sometimes just some cheese and olives in the evening if I did have lunch. Since I cut the carbs and started eating more fat I don't crave food like I did and I am happier with smaller portion sizes or just snacks as long as they are tasty. Cheese has become my new chocolate! 🙄
 
Hello and welcome. 🙂 I want that book.
 
Watson123 said:
Thanks, Barbara. No, that doesn't sound extreme. Well done to you. As you say, bread is such an integral part of the average diet. The first thing I'll be doing is cutting out breakfast cereals. I'm just finishing the muesli and granola off (I hate throwing food away) and then I won't be replacing it. I'm planning to stop eating breakfast completely. I've tried it a few times and haven't found any problems with it - I don't get hunger pangs or anything. Having spent my whole life thinking it's the most important meal of the day, it doesn't feel that way for me. I haven't heard of that book but will have a look.
Click to expand...

Personally I don't think cutting breakfast out is the way forward. Muesli, granola & so on often contain sugars - things ending in 'ose' in the ingredients. Can you manage porridge? Made with rolled oats. A 1/2 cup of oats with 1/2 cup water & 1 cup milk and a little salt, in a large bowl, can be cooked in the microwave in 3-4 minutes - depends how powerful the microwave is. Full-fat greek yoghurt & berries is a good breakfast, or you can add frozen berries to the porridge before you cook it.

Also if you are going to start being more active it's not great to do it on an overnight fast & no breakfast.

I feel the place to start is your evening meal. You might find if you reduce carbohydrates there and snacks later in the evening that you start getting hungry at breakfast time...
 
Some of us find that porridge can be as much of a rocket fuel to BG levels as other breakfast cereals despite it's healthy slow release reputation, it all very much depends on your personal digestive system. Even making it with water and serving it with cream (fat helps to slow the digestion of the carbs down) it still starts hitting my blood stream in 20 mins and is gone in an hour or so. even using the best steel cut jumbo oats and minimal cooking.

I am a firm believer in listening to your body, so if you are not hungry at breakfast time, why eat? Your liver will be releasing plenty of glucose to give you energy. Of course, if you don't eat breakfast and then start snacking on rubbish at 10-11 o'clock, then that defeats the object, so it is all about learning what works for your body.
 
As far as I'm concerned, breakfast carbs are the easiest to remove. Either have the traditional 'full English' less the toast, potato and juice; have eggs on their own or in combination with cheese, mushrooms, onion ; or just skip breakfast altogether if you're not hungry. At various times I have tried all 3 of these (testing the results with my Blkood Glucose meter) and all of them work well for me!
 
Eating a low carb breakfast works better for some people as it helps to stop the liver releasing glucose into your system thus staring the day with higher levels.
There are some low carb granolas though expensive are only 9g carb per 100g (Keto Hana is one), I mix that 50/50 with a low sugar granola and have about 20g on Greek yogurt and berries.
 
It was the book by Dr Aseem Malhotra ' The Pioppi Diet' which inspired Tom Watson's remarkable weight loss. Personally for diabetes remission I just followed what I read (for free) by Dr David Unwin who has an amazing T2 remission rate amongst the patients at his GP practice in the north west of England.
 
CatsFive said:
Greetings.

I think the thing to do with both exercise and diet is not to try to go from zero to hero in a single bound.

Exercise - look at what you enjoy (if anything!) and how it will fit into your day. If you decide walking is the thing it's a great time of year to start as Spring is definitely starting to spring! I'm lucky, I can walk from my house rather than having to drive somewhere. Getting a cheap tracker and setting a target there helped. Mine is 7,000 steps per day. As far as I can gather that's the sweet spot - more steps is into diminishing returns country.

Diet - cooking and taking packed lunches is the only way I can think of to reduce ultra-processed (UP) foods. But if you've never cooked I imagine starting to cook is a tall order. If you want cook books then Delia's books are still good, and her 'Complete how to cook' will gradually improve your skills.

I don't know how old you and your brother are, but assuming he is adult, ultimately it's up to him to look after himself. Deciding to take better care of yourself is a great step to take.

As you are not yet diabetic or pre-diabetic you probably don't have to make big changes. Reducing the UP foods, improving your diet, eating fewer carbohydrates and reducing sugars* in your diet may be all you need to stay non-diabetic.

*honey and syrup are just as bad as sugar for sweetening your breakfast porridge.
Click to expand...
You're right. I've been a bit 'all or nothing' in the past and it's never lasted!
CatsFive said:
Greetings.

I think the thing to do with both exercise and diet is not to try to go from zero to hero in a single bound.

Exercise - look at what you enjoy (if anything!) and how it will fit into your day. If you decide walking is the thing it's a great time of year to start as Spring is definitely starting to spring! I'm lucky, I can walk from my house rather than having to drive somewhere. Getting a cheap tracker and setting a target there helped. Mine is 7,000 steps per day. As far as I can gather that's the sweet spot - more steps is into diminishing returns country.

Diet - cooking and taking packed lunches is the only way I can think of to reduce ultra-processed (UP) foods. But if you've never cooked I imagine starting to cook is a tall order. If you want cook books then Delia's books are still good, and her 'Complete how to cook' will gradually improve your skills.

I don't know how old you and your brother are, but assuming he is adult, ultimately it's up to him to look after himself. Deciding to take better care of yourself is a great step to take.

As you are not yet diabetic or pre-diabetic you probably don't have to make big changes. Reducing the UP foods, improving your diet, eating fewer carbohydrates and reducing sugars* in your diet may be all you need to stay non-diabetic.

*honey and syrup are just as bad as sugar for sweetening your breakfast porridge.
Click to expand...
Yes, you're right. The all or nothing approach hasn't worked for me in the past. I have a whole bookcase full of cookery books... perhaps it's time to start using them! My brother is definitely an adult - on paper anyway. Yes, ultimately it's up to him. I can't make him eat more healthily. I remember when Davina McCall's book came out - she made a big thing out of using less sugar but there was lots of honey and maple syrup in some of the recipes.
 
Maybe if your brother sees you getting fitter and healthier and slimmer, he will find that inspirational and you can pass on little tips to him or motivate him. Maybe meet up for w walk and a coffee instead of down the pub? As said, he has to want to change himself though so ultimately you can just do what is good for you and hope he is tempted to follow your lead.
 
CatsFive said:
Greetings.

I think the thing to do with both exercise and diet is not to try to go from zero to hero in a single bound.

Exercise - look at what you enjoy (if anything!) and how it will fit into your day. If you decide walking is the thing it's a great time of year to start as Spring is definitely starting to spring! I'm lucky, I can walk from my house rather than having to drive somewhere. Getting a cheap tracker and setting a target there helped. Mine is 7,000 steps per day. As far as I can gather that's the sweet spot - more steps is into diminishing returns country.

Diet - cooking and taking packed lunches is the only way I can think of to reduce ultra-processed (UP) foods. But if you've never cooked I imagine starting to cook is a tall order. If you want cook books then Delia's books are still good, and her 'Complete how to cook' will gradually improve your skills.

I don't know how old you and your brother are, but assuming he is adult, ultimately it's up to him to look after himself. Deciding to take better care of yourself is a great step to take.

As you are not yet diabetic or pre-diabetic you probably don't have to make big changes. Reducing the UP foods, improving your diet, eating fewer carbohydrates and reducing sugars* in your diet may be all you need to stay non-diabetic.

*honey and syrup are just as bad as sugar for sweetening your breakfast porridge.
Click to expand...
Meant to add, re exercise, I tried the gym again last year. Had a three-month membership. I quite enjoy it but find the changing, driving there and back etc a bit of a faff so will be walking more. Seven thousand steps sounds much less daunting than ten thousand.
 
rebrascora said:
Some of us find that porridge can be as much of a rocket fuel to BG levels as other breakfast cereals despite it's healthy slow release reputation, it all very much depends on your personal digestive system. Even making it with water and serving it with cream (fat helps to slow the digestion of the carbs down) it still starts hitting my blood stream in 20 mins and is gone in an hour or so. even using the best steel cut jumbo oats and minimal cooking.

I am a firm believer in listening to your body, so if you are not hungry at breakfast time, why eat? Your liver will be releasing plenty of glucose to give you energy. Of course, if you don't eat breakfast and then start snacking on rubbish at 10-11 o'clock, then that defeats the object, so it is all about learning what works for your body.
Click to expand...
I never snack after dinner. Mid-afternoon is my risky time. I do like porridge and we normally have it for breakfast on a Saturday morning.
 
rebrascora said:
Maybe if your brother sees you getting fitter and healthier and slimmer, he will find that inspirational and you can pass on little tips to him or motivate him. Maybe meet up for w walk and a coffee instead of down the pub? As said, he has to want to change himself though so ultimately you can just do what is good for you and hope he is tempted to follow your lead.
Click to expand...
Yes, I hope so. He has lost weight in the past but put it all back on again.
 
ianf0ster said:
It was the book by Dr Aseem Malhotra ' The Pioppi Diet' which inspired Tom Watson's remarkable weight loss. Personally for diabetes remission I just followed what I read (for free) by Dr David Unwin who has an amazing T2 remission rate amongst the patients at his GP practice in the north west of England.
Click to expand...
That's right. Thanks for the info.
 
CatsFive said:
Personally I don't think cutting breakfast out is the way forward. Muesli, granola & so on often contain sugars - things ending in 'ose' in the ingredients. Can you manage porridge? Made with rolled oats. A 1/2 cup of oats with 1/2 cup water & 1 cup milk and a little salt, in a large bowl, can be cooked in the microwave in 3-4 minutes - depends how powerful the microwave is. Full-fat greek yoghurt & berries is a good breakfast, or you can add frozen berries to the porridge before you cook it.

Also if you are going to start being more active it's not great to do it on an overnight fast & no breakfast.

I feel the place to start is your evening meal. You might find if you reduce carbohydrates there and snacks later in the evening that you start getting hungry at breakfast time...
Click to expand...
Sorry but I have disagree with you here..
Porridge often causes huge blood sugar spikes and then hunger post crash.
Far better to avoid it.

Also plenty of people exercise fasted with no ill effects .. these guys even managed a 100km run with zero food

journals.lww.com

Nutritional ketosis is well-tolerated, even in type 1... : Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity

ays while only consuming water. All eight individuals completed the project with no physical injuries or problems with diabetes control. The blood glucose levels ranged from less than 3 mmol/l to 7 mmol/l in those without T1D, and less than 3 mmol/l to 9 mmol/l in those with T1D. The continuous...
journals.lww.com journals.lww.com
 
Tom Watson makes a point of emphasising that what works best for one person may not work as well for someone else. In an ideal world, everyone would be able to find the regime that suited them best.
 
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