Disparity in Calorific values – what is the right answer?

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  • posted by The Alien
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    Hello everybody!
    We’ve been on the 8 week diet for four weeks and are very happy with the results BUT!.. I fear my wife’s situation is to say the least awkward as she has an overactive thyroid which comes with weight gain. Is there anything different she should be doing, please?
    WRT the disparity; I’m finding various calorific values for many different proteins and to that end; what information should we use as the rule as in some cases, searching the internet with “how many calories in..??” I get one figure but, the packaging on the particular item is way different; what should we believe as coming in under the 800 calories repeatedly (my wife was on 500/day for more than a week as she has a very low appetite and gained a pound) as I’m seeing that by undereating, you can gain weight?
    We’re not even considering stopping or changing anything unless we’re doing something wrong and as long as the weight keeps coming off.

    Sorry for the long message!
    Alan.

  • posted by sunshine-girl
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    Hi Alien, as you are T2 it would be helpful to know more about how you are managing the condition i.e. meds, HbA1c numbers etc. There are many more benefits to this diet than just losing weight if you have diabetes. We are not medical people and dont give medical advice but there is a lot of experience here (I am diabetic) and we can give you the benefit of our experience.
    The issue your wife will face will also depend on her meds. If she can stick to the diet (she seems to be doing even more than that) there might be a need to have her thyroxine levels checked as the lower calories can mess with her levels. Then she might need her med adjusting. It is not an immediate worry as it might occur as she loses weight. My daughter has hypothyroidism and is on meds and quite happily doing this diet.
    You are right that undereating does not mean a bigger weight loss and your body will cling onto what it has got. Try to get more oils / good fats into her diet to boost the calories but also to increase the fat burning reaction. People worry about fats as it has been drilled into us that it causes bad cholesterol. This theory has been partially debunked as a diet of lean meats, chicken, fish etc and good fats is a healthy diet. So dressing salads with olive oil and vinegar, cooking with rapeseed oil or butter instead of vegetable oil, eating a few nuts or things like avocados. These will all increase the calories and will need to be carefully measured but they are so good for you. My cholesterol has gone from 6.7 to 3.7.

  • posted by JGwen
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    Hi Alan,

    One of the sources of really good information on metabolic issues and eating this way is Dr Bikman. He is a professor on the topic but there is now a team behind him running online events and providing coaching. – On the facebook page for his team InsulinIQ they have different talks recorded. The talk from yesterday was on thyroid and low carb, it will have some relevant info for you.

    The key to success with this way of eating is not so much the calories and the level of carbs. There are a lot of us who had a considerable amount of weight to discard (more than 8 or 12 weeks worth) so we went on to look into the science behind this way of eating to work out what to do long term. –

    The key is to get insulin levels under control, as high insulin switches off the bodies ability to use body fat or fat in the diet for fuel as the body is focused on using up the sugar in the diet. Someone who has been eating a high carb diet is likely to have a high background level of insulin, a bigger spike in response to carbs which also takes longer to get back down to the background level. – Insulin is raised in response to carbs, so rather than worry about the number of calories in what you are eating it is more effective to closely monitor the number of carbs.

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