Starting the Newcastle Diet...

[MrsWooster]

Started yesterday after breakfast at 105.2kg. I've got a hba1c test today to track it.
So far so Good! Im using exante products as meal replacement and the almond vanilla shake was ok- quite marzipan y. The veg stir fry mixed with the laksa soup mix would have been OK if I'd added a LOT more garlic, chili and ginger. This morning's cherry berry shake was properly nasty- like thick old skool cough mixture. Live and learn.
Any hot tips, companions, advice are welcome.
Wish me luck.

Looks like this is more of a blog, which is also good! 104.5 yesterday, 103.4 today. It's water, due to glycogen uptake thing but still pleasing. Stir fried mushrooms and veg was very nice last night - LOTS of garlic ginger chilli and it tasted like something I'd eat in real life, albeit with noodles and or meat... tomato and basil soup was undrinkable, even with desperate flavours chucked in. Thick, dusty weird, like old fashioned cupasoup before they got good. Chocolate shake for breakfast was ok - will try liquidising with ice to make frappe which will help with all the shakes, I think excepted cherry which is unredeemable.
No symptoms other than perfectly normal levels of grumpiness , tiredness and general malaise.

102.9kg this morning. I must find my blood tester kit and try and track levels as well. Tomato sauce, with some veg, meant I didn't feel like quite such a pariah when the dc were having red pasta for dinner. I'm desperate not to pass on any toxic diet messages to them so am framing this as a medical process that the doctor has designed to get rid of the diabetes - which has the benefit of being true, though I won't be bereft when I send the 'plus sizes' to the chazzer.
Thought I'd try to vary textures a bit so experimented with mashed carrot and spices, with a tsp of soaked chia seeds to bind, baked to make crunchy nuggets, or something with a bit of crunch. Not an unmitigated success but not actively unpleasant. Ice frappe-ingredients definitely improves the breakfast shake and I'm adding a tsp of linseeds in order not to become a stranger to the toilet.
Generally feel fine, though distinctly short tempered, and weirdly not hungry although years of disordered eating mean that hungry isn't a very familiar feeling. I've found that I haven't had all the available shakes each day: one yesterday then tomato/veg lunch then carrot tea. This is very low calorie indeed but no obvious sign of the necessary ketosis- sugar puff smelling wee etc. 46.5 days to go and it will be very interesting to see the comparative hba1c. I had a liver scan a couple of months ago (apropos something else) which showed the level and location of the visceral fat and I think my GP might be sufficiently intrigued to wangle another one to identify the changes...

102.3 this morning. Still no headaches or noticeable other symptoms apart from very short temperedness and I am definitely lacking energy though; the ketosis doesn't seem to have kicked in... I will step back on the linseed as I may have overdone the anti-constipation measures!
Vegetable soup last night, with what turned out to be too much vegetable stock powder, made a nice change from the blandness as did two tsp of instant coffee in the oversweet caramel latte shake that I got as a freebie. Added another tsp in this morning's chocolate shake which made a nice sort of mocha effect. I may experiment with tsp of cocoa in a coconut shake if and when I get some.

So far, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. The shakes are over sweet and or very bland, ditto the soups. There's lots of potential for flavour in stir fries and soups and I will try some Aldi cauliflower rice my hopes are not high... with roasted tom's, peppers and garlic etc which should wake me up.

If it gets rid of the diabetes, it'll be worth the half hour watching the dc eat KFC while I cried inside.

102.7! WTAF?? It's not FAIR!!! Chocolate coffee shake for late breakfast, veg soup for tea and a few sips of chocolate shake for supper (note to self: don't add hot water to what is meant to be a cold shake mixture in misguided attempt to make hot choc).
I assume it is all part of the starvation mode transition to ketosis but it's hard to see a gain on such a low intake and, without tmi, a significant am9unt of time spent in the loo...

Still no symptoms other than terminal narkiness but that is a major personality trait at the best of times. Nothing to do but carry on carrying on.

Hey, I have the same - that up and down. But if I interpret your data rightly, the trend is down, isn't it? I think this is the most important and try not to let little gains discourage you :)

After a slightly brisker than usual school run, I'd better add light-headedness to the symptoms.

Perfect! I am in eat mode again :(

Ta. I have resisted the temptation to have all the some chocolate to cheer myself up. How far into 8 weeks are you?

102.1kg. Almond vanilla shake for breakfast, big Green salad with sundried tomatoes and not very bloody many olives(lunch out) then stir fry veg for tea. I also had a honeycomb shake in the evening - not sure why really, as I wasn't hungry and it was far too sweet. Disordered eating raising its rotund head. Shakes are VASTLY improved with ice.
I'm not very hungry at all - yesterday I wanted to overeat because I was fractious and miserable about other things but it felt like a reasonably 'normal' eating day. I am definitely tired/ lightheaded on exercise but it's hardly surprising. One week in, it is easier than I thought so far.

Hit a tiredness wall today. I was going fine- choc & coffee 'mockmocha' shake then school run then I totally ran out of steam. An hour long nap then a green salad with tom's, peppers, lemon and a tsp of mayo was absolutely lush.. but didn't prevent another two hour nap and savage bad temper when I finally got up. I have a bit of a mh condition which, when bad, can lead to disproportionate responses and this was like that with knobs on. Almond vanilla shake at early tea then later on roasted tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms and garlic made a lovely topping for the dreaded cauliflower rice which, I can admit, I misjudged. It was perfectly nice and a decent stand in. The oil to roast the veg was definitely off piste but i have read that some is necessary to avoid gallstones tho I don't actually have a gallbladder and I still have a shake 'spare' in calorie terms. I may get scurvy, or rickets or something but the calories should stay under 800...

101.7kg a lot of sleep, 'cereal' breakfast (effectively a vanilla shake with some cornflakes in by the look of it) and I feel a bit more alive. Having said which, I haven't moved further than from bed to patio yet.

Still much better than yesterday. I think I'll give any triathlon a swerve for a bit but that's not really my thing anyway... lovely green salad w roasted peppers, sundried toms and olives again- homemade so enough good stuff this time. I need to check if olives are on the verboten list tho. Astonishingly unhungry- just cravings for crisps etc. Even seeing dc drinking after school milkshakes was bearable with an iced black coffee whizzed up with ice to make it seem creamy. That also looked a lot like Guinness as it settled, which was pleasing.
It's a bit previous, but I am starting to wonder about what to do when it's time to go back to a normal, albeit healthier, diet. I've read about the importance of a slow reintroduction to keep the diabetes at bay and also to not lose track of some of the recent meals I am having that are actively good for me.

Yeeha! Sugar-puff-smelling wee. I can't remember how I know this but, in the absence of massive sugarpuff consumption, this is a sign of ketosis. Fat is melting away from my innards as I sit and munch this carrot pretending it is seasalt and balsamic vinegar kettle chips.

100.7kg This is going mUch better than I had hoped. I have been off work for these two weeks on an unrelated matter so that has made it possible. Half term next week, though a family wedding in the middle will have to mean a bit of flexibility, so I should be nearly half way through by the time I go back work properly.

I still haven't found my blood testing kit so no feedback on the sugar levels. Without that, I am in danger of forgetting this is about diabetes rather than weight loss. Tellingly, I just looked at the weight loss and felt (ridiculously) dispirited; I would like to reach somewhere in the low 80s to have a normal bmi (5'11") and I suddenly saw 15kg to lose, rather than nearly 5kg lost. I suspect this sort of mindset has struck before to efficiently sabotage any efforts and maintain the portly status quo. Let's hope some of the fat round my brain melts this time.

Cravings today- salty flavours. Probably because it's so hot or maybe because I popped into work as a catch up and that is stress, which catapults me right off track with my eating. Still finding it hard to listen to my body and what it wants / needs.. This evening drifted away with overtired and overhot dc and, instead of calling it a night, I cooked an over large, unneeded and unwanted stir fry and ate the lot. Not a calorie disaster but definitely not a move towards the sort of eater I want to be.

100.3kg still not hungry and have intermittent sugarpuff wee. However, I'm feeling very psychologically low, mostly about other matters, and that is making it very, very hard not to go into familiar patterns of seeking pseudo comfort in food.

100.2kg. Disappointed despite knowing that this is how it goes. Vanilla shake with coffee powder for breakfast yesterday; cabbage, broccoli, carrots with a drop of soy sauce for lunch; coconut shake for tea and bed at 8.00, though still feeling offish and not sleeping properly. It's still hard to see how this level of calories,

An interesting couple of days; visiting and a wedding turned into an excuse for not being on the diet regime. I expected to feel weird after eating both larger quantities of food and many more carbs, yet I am pretty much unmoved. Although the wedding meal was potentially low carb, I managed to consume a piece of black forest gateau bigger than my own head and the kids' left over meringue and fundamentally fuck it all up. Tomorrow's weight will be 'interesting'.

Loved reading your posts. You're amazing

This is really interesting, thank you for putting in the effort to keep it updated! I'm prediabetic (well probably type 2 now but I'm too scared to know the truth) and have completely ballooned after the birth of dc3. Its 100% caused by over-/binge-eating. I'm desperately trying to just eat healthily because I'm breastfeeding a 6mo but I keep self-sabotaging (he's a terrible sleeper and I just have zero willpower when tired). Once he hits 1yr I'm going to try drastically cutting calories to get my blood sugars stable as deep down I'm terrified of long term complications.

Thank you sole!
Wait till you're ready apple - I got GD with dd, who is now 4 and although it went away briefly, I've had t2 for best part of three years and, according to the info, it's still early days enough to reverse if this goes according to plan.
101.9kg this morning so it could be a lot worse. Very strange experience all round: I blew up on Sunday evening and fell face first into a huge Chinese takeaway but... it wasn't very nice to say the least and I ate it because it was there. At the wedding on monday the food was lovely and I made the most of it but... by yesterday, travelling home, I actively wanted to get back on the diet. Who what am I becoming??
I wonder if, by the end of this, my relationship with food, established over the last 50 years, will have changed as much as my blood sugars and my waistline? It would be amazing to be one of these people who eat nice food, when they actually want and need it, and stop when they have had enough.
Carrot soup last night, vanilla cereal with linseeds and chia seeds this morning. Come on ketosis, let's rock.

Oh my giddy aunt! Mess with linseeds and chiaseeds at your peril... the combo of excess followed by this amount of roughage can take a person by surprise. #stayingclosetohome

101.4kg. Green salad, sun dried Tom's, olives, balsamic dressing was a lush lunch although the olive oil in/on all parts may have knocked it over the 200... The other half of the carrot soup for tea.
Vanilla cereal again this am but a day at the seaside led me from the path of righteousness and under the wheels of an 8 oz rump steak. I managed to offload the chips but did eat some onion rings. The old familiar feeling of 'its not fair' came back but, as I realised a bit back, no it isn't fair and that's just tough. I did get hold of myself in the icecream parlour; traditionally a choc sundae or knickerbocker glory but i reminded myself that l, me, myself am doing this. Cheating doesn't exist, in that I can't 'get away' with a sneaky cheat when no one's watching because, when it comes down to it, no one IS watching. My visceral fat and my scales don't care or judge, other people do care and judge but in the nicest possible way don't matter. Having achieved this earth shattering insight, I ate the chicken out of the dc's abandoned sandwiches despite the Newcastle instructions saying no meat. I took a view on it and decided that a. it is v low carb and b. I fucked it anyway with steak for dinner. Tomorrow is another day another excuse..?.

101.8kg. Narky.

Thus is the same as Michael Moseley's Blood Sugar Diet, isn't it? Do you know there are loads of people talking about it in the Weight Loss section of MN? Just under a different name. Look in the 5:2/Fasting section. If you want some company, that is.