Has anyone else mixed and matched diets?

[Divided]

I needed to go on a thyroid friendly diet and that meant banning a surprising number of vegetables. I was worried the effect would be weight gain so I have also gone low carbs, zero cane sugar, zero trans fats, partial paleo (I only eat grains at breakfast) and stick to low GI foods whenever I can. This effectively means that after my morning porridge or granola I can eat meat, salad and cashew nuts! But I have to say it's working a treat. I won't get on the scales (too scared there aren't enough numbers on the dial) but my clothes are looser and I feel so much better in just 11 days it's quite unbelievable. I wasn't going to tell family and friends I'm dieting but I am now because there is no fear of failure. I'm never going back to the way I was eating before. This feels right.

I just wondered if anyone else had any 'homemade diet' successes they could share.

[Hidden]

Told 8 months ago I had high blood pressure and borderline high cholesterol I decided to lose a stone. officially I've followed Michael Moseleys Fast Diet [5.2] but that is quite flexible. I totally cut out cereal and milk for breakfast, cut out added sugar to almost everything and salt. Substituted boiled egg and brown bread for breakfast, home made soup or salad for lunch and normal evening meal. Puddings occasionally. Took up walking briskly 5/6 days out of 7 and have ended up losing 2 stone. I haven't weighed in at 9 stone [I'm 5'7"] since I was about 17 - I'm 71 !! I feel 30 years old - nay, 29! Never better though it did no good for the blood pressure unfortunately and I now take meds.

[gingernut49]

Ditto gardengnome42, I've lost three stone on the Fast Diet too - it's brilliant! Michael Mosley's excellent Horizon programme from August 2012, "Eat, Fast and Live Longer" (vimeo.com/54089463).

[Hidden]

Hi Divided,

I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'mix and match' diets, but taking the term 'diet' in it's literal sense of your food intake regime (rather than a specific weight loss food regime), then all diets are some sort of mix and match. More spefically, in terms of weight loss regimes, any "diet" needs to accommodate the fact that the subject is a real human being leading a real human life and is always going to be to some extent re-written by that person's lifestyle.

However, I would strongly recommend against taking "general" diet advice and applying into specific situations where there are underlying medical conditions. As usual, I would recommend anyone with a specific medical issue to seek advice, from their GP or practice nurse or other medical professional, prior to starting a weight loss programme as to just how the condition might impact upon your weight loss efforts and vice versa.

But by far the most important thing is to ensure that you are taking in the full range of nutrition - caveated by as appropriate to your medical condition(s).

Most people gain weight through taking in the wrong types of food and/or too much of them too often. By changing those "bad" habits into "good" eating habits, i.e. eating healthy, nutritious and appropriate foods in appropriate amounts, most people cause their bodies to adapt accordingly to that diet / eating regime and lose weigth accordingly.

O.K. there are specific situations and medical conditions which are exceptions to that general rule and the thyroid is right in the middle of producing and controlling the hormones which regulate such functions as appetite, satiation, fat burning, fat storage, etc.

Good luck both with the management of your condition and with your weight loss efforts.

Also, I would caution against not keeping an eye on the amount of your weight loss.

Rapid weight loss is not a good idea for a whole host of reasons, so do try to keep the weight loss to around 1 to 2 lb weekly averaged out. Usually people will lose more than that in the first week or two due to fluid loss and, of course, most people's weight loss journeys have their blips and spurts, but I wouldn't go over a maximum of 1 kg a week (2.2 lb) averaged out.

Finally, my own weight loss was loosely based on the NHS 12 week plan, but I adapted it to suit my personal needs and lifestyle - so I guess that was some sort of 'mix and match' really.

[breoghie]

Divided, can I ask where you got your information about a thyroid friendly diet, I have an overactive thyroid myself and often wondered about a complimentary diet

[Penel]

Hi Divided

Were you advised to change your food, or have you just decided to try out a new way of eating? Have you been advised to cut out wheat/gluten too?

I had to make a radical chance to what food I could have, when I found that I could no longer eat gluten. I also had to eliminate yeast, xanthan gum and 'mouldy' food like mushrooms, and cut down on sugar. This meant that I that I ended up a low carb diet by default. This has been ok because I can eat most veg and protein, and I can tolerate low lactose dairy like yoghurt. I also decided to go back to full fat food, like butter, to make sure I was absorbing fat soluble vitamins. This has resulted in weight loss, which I needed, but it was rather drastic and I'm not sure I would recommend it unless you really had to.

Saying that, low carb eating does seem to suit some people, but it's probably better to reduce your carbs gradually.

[Divided]

breoghie, if you look up goitrogenic foods you come across lists of foods that can impair thyroid function. However, if you are hyper then it sounds as if you could do with some impairment! I think I did see a diet for hyperthyroid while I was researching but have been through so many sites I couldn't tell you where it was. Just do some general searching using the words 'thyroid diet' and see what you come up with.

Penel, most of the thyroid diet sites suggest trying to go without gluten. I don't want to try that just yet as I'm going without so many other things but I have reduced my intake significantly. The main thing I have eradicated this week is cane sugar (only a little slipped through in the form of blackstrap molasses/black treacle in my granola.) I tasked myself with the aim of flatlining my blood sugar for the week. (This is supposed to give the thyroid a break as it has to produce hormones every time your sugar soars or plunges.) I think I also succeeded in staying away from the less thyroid friendly vegetables. Thankfully, once my thyroid has had a good rest, I can reintroduce them as long as they are well cooked. I'm relieved. I know I can live without chocolate but I'd really miss broccoli! Because so many vegetables have been forbidden and fruit had to be at a minimum (because of sugar) I didn't ban any dairy. Once I have fruit and veg back on the menu I'm going to lower my intake but milk and cheese have things the thyroid needs so they won't be going altogether. I've also got rid of all cooking oils other than coconut oil and butter (and even they are at a minimum.) How long I can keep that up I'm not sure as it means no eating out, but it's fine for a while at least.

Doikosp, I don't really have any underlying medical conditions that I know about. I've had most of my thyroid removed and, if the internet is anything to go by, have treated it fairly badly ever since (along with the rest of my body!) The idea is to give my thyroid a good break first and then reintroduce some of the less friendly foods that I feel are important to nutrition (mainly veg.) I have massively reduced my food intake because I felt that was a problem. I suddenly felt as if I couldn't stop eating. Having read a bit online it sounds as if I was addicted to carbs and sugar and was craving them in response. I also just felt ill. My doctor didn't have an answer and okayed the thyroid diet as a possible solution. I'm hoping weight loss will be a happy side effect of just just generally relieving the pressure on my whole system from the huge quantity of bad food I was eating. As I said, don't own scales so I've no idea how much I'm losing. I don't want to know either. It's just not the goal. I want to feel well.

[Penel]

Well done on cutting right back on sugar. I definitely had an addiction to it and I'm so pleased to have managed to cut it out. It's not just your thyroid that takes a beating if you eat too much sugar. I can now have the occasional piece of dark chocolate without wanting to eat the whole bar! I put on weight very easily, so I also keep my fruit to a minimum. Lowering my carb intake has also helped me lose weight. I hope you can reintroduce vegetables successfully.

Cutting out gluten can have remarkable health effects if it is harming your body, but it can make life a little difficult until you get used to it.

Hope you continue to feel better. Good health is priceless.