The boss has been warned that she is pre-diabetic. She's quite alarmed by this and determined to fix it with diet. She's not overweight but it is implied I think that she has 'internal fat' which can usefully be offloaded so a revised diet is indicated.
I, on the other hand, am maybe 12Kg overweight with a BMI of 28 (on a good day). So I have decided to join in, which will certainly make meal planning easier.
I sent off for Michael Mosley's 8 week blood sugar diet. Basically it's calories, and cutting out unnecessary carbs. Can't burn fat when you are shovelling in more easily accessible carbs apparently.
The soup maker has become the symbol of the new regime. Our son gave us one a while back, its time has now come. Today I made cream of celery. Best so far has been smoky bacon and red lentils.
I only weigh myself about every 20 minutes. Seem to have lost 1Kg in 4 days but that's probably just noise. For now I am subsisting on 1,000 cals a day.
I don't actually feel hungry now. I just really really want to eat a pork pie.
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Last spring I heard a motorcycle Youtuber proudly declare as he was riding along that he was well chuffed with his weight loss.
Basically he ate nothing until 17.00 and then was not to choosy about his diet. He still drank T and coffee.
I thought 'I can do that. So I did.
Lost a stone in a couple of months. Couple of plateau moments and for the best part managed to stick to it.
My driver was to get back down to a 36" waist to treat myself to some decent motorcycling gear.
Summer means being a bit more active and its about distracting yourself from snacking before the watershed of 17.00.
However I have to confess winter, Christmas and a couple of holidays have not been kind and I've put half of the loss back on. The motorcycling gear is still pending :)
But I shall kick into gear soon. What I did notice was very quickly I was feeling full a lot sooner. The trick is to stop munching at that point.
Last edited by: Fullchat on Wed 17 Jan 24 at 17:39
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Mrs B was told a couple of years ago she was pre-diabetic.
Has lost weight since but is now convinced she has full on T2.
Waiting for blood test results.
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Pre-diabetic here.
I lost 2stone on the following diet over 3 months. Put a little back on between December and January but starting up again this week. Found I was eating as much as, if not more then I had prior to the diet - just better ingredients.
lowcarbfreshwell.com/resources/meal-planners/
It is a lot of work compared to what I normally cook and finding some ingredients can be difficult.
It may not be to everyone's taste. For example, pasta made from soy or mung-bean - which I can't get quite right or enjoy the taste or texture. Other items you think may be 'orrible, taste great.
One that I have gotten used to is cauliflower rice. Basically, just blend a cauliflower to the texture you want.
Last edited by: zippy on Wed 17 Jan 24 at 18:10
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I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic last summer and was offered an NHS-funded course. It has been extremely informative and useful. It's not only about controlling sugar intake.
Knowing about sugar-substitutes/sweeteners is especially important. Also carbohydrate foods which convert rapidly into sugars. Importance of veg, fruit and fibre. Exercise. Sleep. Many other tips.
An overnight fast of at least 12 hours is perhaps the single most important thing to get right.
From being somewhat overweight (BMI 28) I have lost 11 kg (BMI 24), which is just inside the "healthy" category. I'm aiming to lose another 9 - 10 kg.
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Personally I'd not bother with any eating plan that you can't live on for say a year. Chances are you'll go back and put the weight back on with any faddy that says you can't ever eat xyz.
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I’d agree with that. Only way is to eat (and drink) less and excercise more on a sustainable basis.
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All those lose 7lbs in 7 days, 14lbs in 14 days, eat the cabbage /lard/nut diets etc all seem appealing because they seem to offer a quick answer with not much effort. A healthy lifestyle book from the library aimed at kids would be fine for the vast majority of people.
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Thanks for the insights.
I'm aware that what I'm doing now is not sustainable beyond a few weeks but it comes with a maintenance plan. In fact I have added 200 calories on to Dr Moseley's 800 to give myself a better chance.
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I don't follow any diet particularly but I keep the carbs/sugar low and I aim for food on the low GI index. I've been type 2 since 2011. So potatoes are out, so is white bread and unfortunately, weetabix and cornflakes. No cakes or crap like that but I'll nibble on a bit of choccy from time to time as it's actually in the low GI band. Eggs are zero so I eat them every day and of course, smaller portions of everything. Lots of salad and veg. I try to leave the table a little bit hungry. I read the ingredients of everything I buy and if I want a particular product, I choose the lowest sugar and carbs available. It drives wifey mad, she keeps telling me it's not a library.
My big vice is a pint of London Pride. I shouldn't but I do and will continue to although I only get the chance a few times a year. Had two yesterday. Vodka is zero, funnily enough.
I vary between 80-84 kilos and if it goes higher than that, I'll eat less till it is. It can be a drag but I don't really have a choice. I can't die till the kids are through uni.
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Yep, we are doing the low GI bit.
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Anyone else not weighed themselves for at least 20 years ?
I just look at my stomach ..that tells me if I’m overweight cos no chance of being preggers.
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I’m still the same clothes size I was 40 years ago. 44” chest and 34” waist. If either starts to increase or clothes start to feel tight I put less in my gob less often and move a bit more for a few days until they fit again. Doesn’t feel all that complicated. No idea what I weigh. Couldn’t care less to be honest. ;-)
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I’m rather worried that every few weeks I look at this heart symbol on my phone. It’s supposed to measure steps, but it’s wildly inaccurate. Last year 4 of us put our phones into a friends backpack at the start of a 7 hour walk. The difference between least and most steps was almost 25%.
Anyhow... I average 13600 daily so far in 2024, in 2023 it was 14,666 ( last 3 digits are a worry).
Monday I did 41k, 16 miles in 5 hours. Walking. Not stuck in traffic.
Yesterday 6,536...attended a woodland burial, it snowed for 2 hours and we stood around a hole in the ground drinking, before going to the pub to warm up. It was like a scene from Monty Python, corrugated cardboard coffin with grazing sheep and a blue sky, taken on a cart through the snow to said hole in ground. We all sniggered like naughty skool children.
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>> I average 13600 daily so far in 2024, in 2023 it was 14,666
Careful ewe don't wear out the other 'ip.
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>> >> I average 13600 daily so far in 2024, in 2023 it was 14,666
>>
>> Careful ewe don't wear out the other 'ip.
>>
Thanks for your concern.
I’m putting money away in a piggy bank for that day. ‘‘Tis ok so far, as are the bees knees.
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'Doesn’t feel all that complicated.'
Neither is it that simple though, Runfer. I've always been of slender frame, too and active but in 2011 I was obviously shovelling in the wrong stuff to have a stroke. I had to read up and change my diet and create an exercise routine, I didn't want it to happen again. Just small, easy changes in diet, everything else stays pretty much the same. It's worth it, believe me, it is.
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You're gonna die, just try and make it something you couldn't avoid.
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I go by my 2 out of 3 ain’t bad rule most days. Ideally, I’ll be out in a forest or up a hill on my mountain bike in the morning, out for a long walk with my dog in the afternoons and I do half a mile in the swimming pool in the evenings pretty much every day. However, it’s obviously not always possible or convenient to do all of those every day. Worst case scenario I ensure I do at least one of those things every day and usually manage to fit in a minimum of two of them.
Eat meals twice a day, toast or cereal in the morning, whatever we’re having at night and if peckish in between, a handful of nuts, a piece of fruit or something in between.
Not fussed about sweets, puddings, chocolate, cakes etc. Never really had a sweet tooth.
Alcohol intake pretty low and sporadic.
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No real magic other than reducing calorie intake.
The magic comes in how you do this, and sustain it.
My usual quick advice is eat nothing after teatime - if you go to bed starting to feel hungry then you know you're burning up fat while you sleep.
Lots of ^^BMI patients eat little in the morning then go to bed with a belly full of food which your liver has one job for most of - storing it.
If you look at any weight loss plan it ultimately comes down to reducing calories - different people will find different approaches work best for them.
Keeping active is important too of course.
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When I managed to go from 15 stone to 12 stone, it was a combination of eating better and exercising more.
In both instances I found the use of apps to be motivational for me which I know is a personal thing.
So for me it was My Fitness Pal to log all the food (which isn’t as difficult as you think) and then this also links to my Apple Watch to update my calorie burn/ exercise etc.
I often found myself going out for a half hour walk at night if I had overdid the calorie intake that day.
As I say, worked for me and motivated me. It absolutely wouldn’t work for others.
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>>Lots of ^^BMI patients eat little in the morning then go to bed with a belly full of food which your liver has one job for most of - storing it.
Good point I'll remember that.
Habit is a massive factor, so are other people. I think I could manage better on two meals a day. But my boon companion (who doesn't have a weight problem) gets very ratty if she doesn't get 3 meals a day, on, time and when she eats, I eat. Too much, obviously.
My ideal I think would be a proper breakfast at about 10, and then a moderate meal at 5-6pm. Handful of nuts to snack on if needed. I agree about feeling hungry. It's normal.
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I find I just feel better in general if I exercise after eating and before bed. I usually go for a swim about 9.00pm having eaten around 7.00pm. Home again around 10.00pm and usually in bed for midnight.
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>> Neither is it that simple though,
I think that's a good point some things are simple but easy to do for some anyway. Others are lucky enough that it's not issue and the rest fall somewhere in between.
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I'm finding I'm eating some very nice stuff that I wasn't previously when my diet was dominated by easy choices.
Today hasn't really been one of those days if I'm honest. I got up late after a disturbed night, maybe 10am, so I had a leisurely shower and skipped breakfast. Brunch was a full English, which I have logged at about 500 cals. Tea will be home made celery soup, with a dessertspoonful of double cream.
I've been having a nightly couple of squares of Montezuma's 100% cocoa Absolute Black chocolate. This has given me a taste for sugarless cocoa which I have just had for my afternoon 'coffee'.
Apart from the wilful and temporary malnutrition I'm enjoying it.
Also went for a walk in the sun even though the cold made my teeth ache. Shirley I will live forever.
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Fry ups? Double cream? Chocolate?
Yeah, y’see, those might not be entirely the best…
;-)
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>> Fry ups? Double cream? Chocolate?
>> Yeah, y’see, those might not be entirely the best…
>> ;-)
The full English is in the 8 week blood sugar diet book! Grilled bacon, fat-trimmed of course, grilled high-meat sausages, poached eggs, tinned toms. No hash brown or fried bread. Mushrooms and black pudding are in the book but I missed those out.
Current thinking on diabetes is that carbs are the thing to avoid. Fat, lovely, provided the calories are accounted for. Whole milk is preferred to skimmed - skimmed has no fat but ends up with more sugar in it.
Double cream double good (OK I made that up).
We were away last week. I had four proper hotel breakfasts. But I did abjure the toast so that was OK.
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Full English has a decent amount of protein as well.
I lost a lot of weight when I had Covid. Quite a bit of it was muscle mass so the dietitian set me minimum daily calorie and protein intake. I had to keep a spreadsheet to track every morsel.
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Yep. I'm supposed to eat protein and exercise so as not to lose muscle instead of fat. It all sounds quite logical.
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>> We were away last week. I had four proper hotel breakfasts. But I did abjure
>> the toast so that was OK.
>>
"Abjure".
To renounce solemnly, or repudiate.
Good word.
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"Current thinking on diabetes is that carbs are the thing to avoid. Fat, lovely, provided the calories are accounted for."
My diabetes prevention course (see above) includes the advice that added sugar is very much to be kept to a minimum and sugar-substitutes avoided, with the exception of Stevia-based products.
Carbs are to be controlled, though some carbs are worse than others and you need to understand their GI score. For example, white bread and potatoes are far more of a problem than wholemeal bread and sweet potatoes.
Fat intake also should be controlled; there are good and bad fats when it comes to overall health. (See particularly "saturated" and "trans" fats.) People who have high cholesterol need to be especially aware.
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Went to the best restaurant in East Anglia today, Maison Bleue in Bury St Edmund’s for lunch.
Started with an amuse bouche then some wonderful bread and Brittany butter, a starter of ricotta cheese and spinach ravioli and a main course of roast loin of pork. Dessert was a poached pear in a lemon sauce encased in chocolate. Finished with an espresso coffee accompanied by some hand made chocolates.
All washed down with a bottle of a lovely Portuguese white wine.
Just thought you would like to know.:-)
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Fri 19 Jan 24 at 19:47
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...well, at least your wallet will have lost weight....
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…unless he did a runner?
;-)
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...in which case he might lose weight anyway (though with that meal it would probably still be a net gain).
I went to the best bakery in Castleton today, and bought a Cornish Pasty for my lunch.
The ten mile walk probably stopped me putting on too much weight, though (and they do very nice, home baked pasties).
Just thought you would like to know.:-)
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I once knocked one of my own front teeth out with a pasty in Skipton. Sort of forgot to open my mouth before putting the pasty in it. Blood everywhere. Very embarrassing. Solid old pasties in Skipton it turns out. That, and my temporarily forgetting the basic principles of eating.
Now that I’m not so busy that skill has apparently returned. ;-)
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You’re right but it was my wife’s birthday so sort of an insurance premium really..
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...has the premium gone up that much this year? :-O
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>>Went to the best restaurant in East Anglia today, Maison Bleue in Bury St Edmund’s for lunch.
Sounds terrific. When I reach 79Kg I'll look it up for the celebration!
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Most of my life I’ve been between 71 and 72kg. Once I’d retired and become less active I eventually reached 76kg. Osteo-arthritis in my knees and hips (plus the way I looked and felt) made me decide to lose some it. I’ve done it mainly by cutting out sugar and following a low carb diet. At the moment I’m 68kg which means I’m just inside the BMI Overweight category. I’m not surprised as I always eat more in the winter, but I’ll get it down a bit by following Michael Mosley’s 5:2 fasting diet for a week or so. I’m surprised no one has mentioned that, as it doesn’t mean you have to starve yourself.
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Dr. Mosley says in his book if people don't fancy the semi-starving option they can do the 5:2. Not sure I could manage the 5:2.
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I follow the 5:2 on a regular basis
After an 8 mile walk through the snow & ice on Wednesday from Gargrave to Skipton, via Flasby, Rough & Sharp Haws to Skipton, I went directly to the Boathouse.
5 pints of Tiller Pin in 2 hours
At £3.50 pint it’s a diet I recommend;-)
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Put less in gob, less often. Move more, more often. Don’t stress about any of it.
There, that’ll be £50 please!
;-)
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>> Put less in gob, less often. Move more, more often. Don’t stress about any of
>> it.
>> There, that’ll be £50 please!
Better advice than most of the pseudo scientific clap trap you can read in magazines or spouted by self appointed dietary experts on social media. According to them every foodstuff is either the exlixir or life or is going to kill you. This advice is regularly reversed.
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>> Put less in gob, less often. Move more, more often. Don’t stress about any of
>> it.
Up to a point Lord Copper.....
In reality it can be a lot more complicated.
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>>
>> In reality it can be a lot more complicated.
>>
In essence you simply need to consume less calories than your body isusing . If you do you do so consistently you will lose weight. Its just physics
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Sun 21 Jan 24 at 12:44
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I think he's saying not everything that is simple is also easy.
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Oh I agree. There’s a big gap between knowing that you have to eat less and actually doing so.
We evolved in a world where food was in short supply and it took a lot of physical effort to find it. Now we are surrounded constantly by a seemingly limitless supply of the stuff.
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Losing weight isn't complicated. Losing it in the right way can be less simple it seems if you want to limit loss of muscle and reduce internal fat.
Talking to a few contemporaries here, at least half have been told they are pre diabetic. It's obviously the latest fashion at the local GP practice that we almost all use. None of them looks noticeably obese. Overweight maybe. I'd guess that fatty liver is common in this age group (65-75).
I'm hoping that if I do enough exercise with the diet I'll burn the fat off.
Of course if you already have an active lifestyle and no weight problem it's easier and simpler.
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As far as the exercise is concerned I’d recommend a cycling machine. I try to walk at least 3 miles or so a day but particularly in winter the cycle machine is good. Easy to do half an hour or so and you can watch to at the same time!
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'Its just physics'
Certainly is, and it's the simplest science.
Unfortunately it's complicated by the brain and the stomach. The brain knows what it should do (assuming it has been educated properly) but the stomach just wants, wants, wants. And then wants more.
And the hardest thing of all is the third party issue. I can control my diet by buying my food and planning my meals carefully, that's so easy when I'm living on my own in my UK pad. But when there's a wife and two adult off-spring buying all sorts of temptation junk and stocking the larder with crap that I shouldn't touch - much, much harder. They're the enemy :(
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Just arrived in Tenerife yesterday.
Last time I was here I put on half a stone in a week even though I started every day with a 5k run!
I am no longer running so have had my first breakfast and kept it to just fruit and a basic sausage and egg. My weak point is once I get into bread , salamis and cheeses. Easily notch up a 1000 cal+ breakfast on salamis and cheese!
My other weak point is carbs. I tend to have pasta and rice probably 2 or 3 times a week. Really should try and change that.
Bought myself a second hand spin bike just before Xmas so have been doing 30 min sessions on that every day so that tends to burn 250-300 calories. Or 3 slices of toast and butter!
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Six foot tall, 10st 2lb and I've been like that since I was twenty. I eat like a pig too but never put on weight.
Fast metabolism or something.
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>> Six foot tall, 10st 2lb and I've been like that since I was twenty. I
>> eat like a pig too but never put on weight.
>>
>> Fast metabolism or something.
>>
Nothing personal, but we all hate you! Actually you probably have a slow metabolism in that it's not very efficient at turning excess food into fat. I, on the other hand, have both a super efficient metabolism, a lot of hunger hormone, and almost no 'full' hormone . After 9 months of low carbs, 3000 miles on the bike, spending most of the time hungry, and latterly 16:8 fasting, I had lost a bit over a stone. Some has gone back on whilst I ate 'normally' and wasn't riding 100 miles a week over Christmas, so it's back to the grindstone. I have a goal to be under 14 st by the time I am 50 in late Oct - nearly another stone to lose. Even then I will still have a BMI round 27.5 - I would need to be 12:10 or something to be under 25 - I haven't been that since I was 12 I don't think!
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Losing weight - Fullchat
