• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Weighty Issues!

Cloudlesssky

Cloudlesssky

Well-Known Member
Messages
273
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi folks!
Since June I have lost 2 stone in weight.
During this time I have been diagnosed with T2 diabetes.
I fully accept that my previous life-style has probably contributed to this but I am now eating differently and walking at least 4 times a week.
However, since I have been taking Metformin I really haven't lost more than 3 - 4 lbs, which I find really surprising.
People I have read about here say that they have lost weight since their diagnosis and it seems as if this is quite "normal".
Why can I not lose anything.
I currently weigh 15 stone 10lbs and am only 5ft 2ins tall!
I am serious about wanting to lose weight and improve my fitness, I just don't understand what I am doing wrong.
On the other hand I don't want to use my diabetes as a "tool" to aid weight loss - does that make sense?
Since diagnosis in September, (bg31 Hba1c as below) my readings are generally between 9 and 13 - although I have achieved a few between 7 and 8 - so I feel I have made good progress.
I really would appreciate some advice - dietary and theory too!
Thank you all,
Bee Gee
 
May be you eat more calories in a day than you burn, sometimes with LCHF we tend to go overboard on the fat and gain weight, this is what I found as I have got 5 kgs added on me since diagnosis but I did loose weight earlier so basically I gained back everything I had lost earlier
 
You are making good progress, but your readings suggest you are still eating too many carbs (I assume these are before eating and after eating readings?) Can you give us an idea of what you might normally eat in a day? Maybe we can spot something.
 
brettsza said:
May be you eat more calories in a day than you burn, sometimes with LCHF we tend to go overboard on the fat and gain weight, this is what I found as I have got 5 kgs added on me since diagnosis but I did loose weight earlier so basically I gained back everything I had lost earlier
Click to expand...
my guess is that you ate too much carb..it's hard to eat too much protein and fat with a plate of nonstarch veg, most time people have to make a conscious effort to get enough healthy fats/oils
 
Thank you guys.
Breakfast: either a banana and one Weetabix with water (if fasting reading is over 9) or a banana and a heaped dessert spoon of Nestles Oats and More (raisins) small amount of semi skimmed milk if fasting reading is lower than 9.

Lunch: Not so easy as can vary a lot - could be two poached eggs on granary toast with lurpak light
could be cottage cheese, tomato and lettuce on a slice of granary bread
could be soup

Dinner: usually either a slow-cooked meal of meat/chicken and veg (includes potato, but only 2-3 small pieces)
possibly a jacket potato or measured amount of rice with veg and meat.

Does that help?

My BMI is 38.9 from 43.9.

How did you manage to lose 30% of your body weight, Bluetit?
Brettza, what LCHF diet do you follow?

Thanks again!

BeeGee
 
Bee Gee, you are consuming far too many carbs. Your BS and weight will never improve on that diet.

Bananas - the worst fruit we diabetics can eat. Full of sugar and a quick release fruit meaning it turns to sugar almost as soon as you bite it.
Weetabix - any normal breakfast cereals are full of carbs and often added sugar. Look at the label on the box.
Raisins - all dried fruits are poor choices for diabetics. Quick release and full of fructose (sugar)
Granary bread - some can manage a small piece of seeded bread, others can't. Granary spikes me through the roof.
Cottage cheese - high in carbs for a cheese. Better to swap to another sort
Soup - is that tinned? Look on the tin. They are all full of carbs and added sugars. Homemade is best.
Jacket potatoes and mash should be avoided. Some can manage a couple of new or roast ones.

I also notice you are eating low fat products. These are not generally good. Try changing to real butter and normal milk etc. (although milk can be a bad choice anyway other than a small dash in cups of tea. In coffee, use cream.)

Hope this helps!
 
Hi Jack

I ate far too many eggs, cheese, butter and proteins so low on carb but high on fat and I think i went overboard, I do have tendency to put on weight very quickly but I have reduced my fat.

Beegee as jack said please see the videos they are really helpful, there is a lot of info on what members eat during the day, I would say your carbs are far too high. As bluetit suggested as well banana is a complete nono, similarly weetabix

I start my day with mushrooms egg and bacon, bacon not everyday but egg and mushroom is a definite.
Lunch is soup or boiled veggies or chicken with one roti/chapati which is an indian flatbread made of wholewheat.

I eat 1 egg at about 4.30 in the evening

Dinner at 8 which is salad, veggies and if really hungry I would have one roti/chapati but I normally try and avoid it in the night.

Just before I go to sleep I would have some nuts or some cheese or full fat yogurt.

My a1c is on my signature and now I am between 4 and 6, luckily have not touched 6 since a long time.
 
Hi. Yes, you do need to keep the carbs down as low as you can. Don't worry about proteins, fat and veg of course. A cooked breakfast of eggs and bacon is fine. Alternatively I have home-made muesli with cold milk and a small portion. Cooked oats (porridge) is high-GI as the cooking breaks down the cells. Yes, read packaging labels as many foods such as soup are loaded with carbs - usually sugar.
 
brettsza said:
Hi Jack

I ate far too many eggs, cheese, butter and proteins so low on carb but high on fat and I think i went overboard, I do have tendency to put on weight very quickly but I have reduced my fat.

Beegee as jack said please see the videos they are really helpful, there is a lot of info on what members eat during the day, I would say your carbs are far too high. As bluetit suggested as well banana is a complete nono, similarly weetabix

I start my day with mushrooms egg and bacon, bacon not everyday but egg and mushroom is a definite.
Lunch is soup or boiled veggies or chicken with one roti/chapati which is an indian flatbread made of wholewheat.

I eat 1 egg at about 4.30 in the evening

Dinner at 8 which is salad, veggies and if really hungry I would have one roti/chapati but I normally try and avoid it in the night.

Just before I go to sleep I would have some nuts or some cheese or full fat yogurt.

My a1c is on my signature and now I am between 4 and 6, luckily have not touched 6 since a long time.
Click to expand...
http://lowcarbediem.com/low-carbohydrate-indian-food-atkins-recipe/

home made roti, take the 2 tablespoon of flour out and add an egg and it would be better
http://breads-pies.qualitylivingstyles.com/channa roti.html

this will give you extra carbs to use somewhere else, like more veg or some berries
 
Hi,

I won't repeat what everyone else has said about the excess carbs. but I did want to point out that it isn't really giving up carbs. it is deciding to replace them with better, nicer, more tasty and satisfying foods.

That has certainly been my experience.
The lower carb I go (within reasonable limits!) and the less rice, bread, potato, pasta, etc. that I eat, then the MORE I can eat of

Cheese
Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon
Chocolate
Cream
Taramasalata
Hummus
Olives
97% meat sausages
Bacon
Cauliflower cheese
Lemon in butter, ginger and lime
Creamy cabbage
Peanut butter by the spoonful
Buttery curries
Feta stuffed peppers
Butter
Pate stuffed peppers
Salad dressing and mayo
Garlic cheese mushrooms...

I mean, just check out the low carb cake recipes on this forum (reverent silence please)

Now, every time I post something like this, someone posts back 'but I don't like garlic mushrooms' or 'I don't eat dairy'.
It isn't about what you DON'T like.
Its about what you DO.
There must be a gorgeous, delicious, mouthwatering list of things that you have been trying not to eat for ages. Usually rich food (but it doesnt HAVE to be). Decadent.

Well, if you avoid that bland, boring slice of bread, or spoon of rice, or water biscuit, then you can tilt the seesaw the other way.

I'm doing this (and I am a born glutton, gourmande, greedy guts, however you want to call me) and I am losing weight! (admittedly slowly)
And if I can do this, with my metabolic and hormonal duff deck of cards, then so can other people.

I hope this post helps. It was certainly a lightbulb moment for me when I realised that low carbing (with enough fat) really isn't about what you have to stop eating. It is far more about what you CAN eat.
 
That's really great Brunneria!
I had almost started to wonder what I could actually eat (!) apart from salad and veg!!!
I really need to buy a guide for low carbs.
Or perhaps it would be even better to get a copy of the diet (can't remember the name!) that so many people here talk about!
So, what do you actually eat for breakfast?
I am conscious of needing to eat enough to placate the Metformin, but if cereals are basically out, as bread is, I'm a bit stuck.... fruit perhaps - apple and cheese is a possibility, but don't think that's enough for the tablets ... any more ideas?!!
( I know, I'm a pain!) But a very grateful one!
Cheers,
Bee Gee
 
I totally agree - a low carb diet is definitely not about giving things up, it's about making better and wiser choices, and you should find that you end up not only being slimmer and healthier, but also enjoying your meals much more.

My list of yummy low carb foods to enjoy might differ slightly from Brunneria's, but the principle's the same!

Robbity
 
No worries!

The diet website you need is www.dietdoctor.com

And as for breakfast... Well we all have different tastes, but here are some of my favourites (although it changes regularly!)

Coffee with a hefty dollop of cream
Bulletproof coffee
Green smoothies (see link in my signature)
Cheese
Ham
Ham and cheese slices, layered like a sandwich
Bacon/egg/97% meat sausages in any combo
Greek yog, with berries and cream
Coconut yog
Smoked salmon or mackerel mouse (by the spoonful)
Leftovers from the night before
Ground almond porridge
Breakfast balls
9bars
 
@BEE GEE Have a look at Viv's modified Atkins diet which is a good starting point to give you some idea about the foods you can eat, and what you should avoid on a low carb diet. The Atkins diet is a rather more structured version of the more general low carb high(er) fat diet many of us eat, but the foods are essentially the same.

Look also at the rest of ther Low carbs section of the forum and particularly browse through the What have you eaten today? thread and the low carb recipes one for what sorts of meals you can prepare with the foods listed in Viv's post.

Happy eating!

Robbity
 
@BeeGee

Obviously you do test your blood glucose but how often do you do so?

Do you test before and after each meal for instance?

Doing so is a great way to see if a meal contained two many carbs for you or the wrong kind of carbs,

The general rule of thumb is that if you can keep your reading within 2 mmol of your reading before the meal, then your reading before the meal then your body has coped well with the amount of carbs in the meal.

Conversely, if the two hour reading is more than 2 mmol higher than your before meal count then you probably should reduce the carb portion of the particular meal next time you have it or substitute a different carb preferably one with lower GI or GL value.

Eating in this way is called "eating to your meter" as you eat to achieve specific glucose targets.

Keeping a food diary to record your meals is helpful while learning what works for you or not. Myfitnesspal is a very popular way of doing so as it also counts carb and calorie intake for you

Assuming that you can achieve the 2 mmol ceiling consistently then you should see a gradual reduction in your before the meal counts as well.

Many people ( not on insulin) have as their target range for glucose under 6 mmol ( or even 5,5 mmol) fasting or before meals and 7,8 mmol two hours after a meal ( or for even tighter control 6,7 mmol at two hours and 7,8 at one hour after meal).

These targets are much stricter than the corresponding maximum levels recommended by the NICE guidelines ( 7 mmol fasting and 8,5 mmol two hours after a meal) as some people feel that these NICE figures may be too generous, not in the non diabetic range and so not low enough to prevent damage to beta cells and other internal organs Studies suggest that this starts when glucose is above 7,8 mmol and therefore we should try to stay below this level for as little as possible. Bear in mind though that even non diabetics may spent some time above 7,8 mmol following a carb rich meal but they will come down below again within the two hour period.

Also worth being aware that as far slows the absorption of carbs the peak glucose levels following a high fat high carb meal such as pizza may actually come after the 2 hour point.

Although this, rather long, post is not explicitly about weight loss, concentrating rather on eating to your meter and getting good glycemic control, most people's experience is that weight loss automatically follows as a result.

Increasing your level of physical activity such as taking brisk daily walks should aid with glycemic and weight control and also boost your general level of fitness and well being.

Although many have been successful controlling their levels and weight by adopting LCHF diets, hence the many relevant recommendations for this you have received on this thread, you should be aware that this is not for everyone and that others, such as @douglas99 for instance, have been equally successful by adopting a low fat, low calorie low GI approach.

Personally I like the fact that people have been successful through different routes as this presents us with more options, should our initial choice of diet not have the desired effect,

Good luck with your efforts

Pavlos

GI is explained here:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_index

GL is explained here:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_load
 
from memory @douglas99 was 33% protein, 33% carb and 33% fat,
it wasn't low fat at 33%. It would be in the higher fat range..it was low GI and calorie restricted, as I recall
 
jack412 said:
from memory @douglas99 was 33% protein, 33% carb and 33% fat,
it wasn't low fat at 33%. It would be in the higher fat range..it was low GI and calorie restricted, as I recall
Click to expand...
I do not recall the relevant percentages and I am not sure what label best fits @douglas99's diet. I suspect he would be surprised himself to see it described as high fat.

We have both tagged him so that he has a chance to post about it himself,

I sited @douglas99 as an example of an alternative approache to LCHF that proved successful in gaining glycemic control.

As you know, LCHF is not universally accepted by the medical profession, whether rightly or wrongly I do not wish to go into at the moment, and so it is important to point out that it is not the only option available to the OP.

Pavlos
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The first thing the Poster needs to do is cut out those carbs. She is eating far too many, and may be unaware of this. It has all been said earlier in the thread.

She can concentrate on the fats question once she has done this. There is no point in confusing her even more.
 
BeeGee said:
Hi folks!
I am serious about wanting to lose weight and improve my fitness, I just don't understand what I am doing wrong.
On the other hand I don't want to use my diabetes as a "tool" to aid weight loss - does that make sense?
Since diagnosis in September, (bg31 Hba1c as below) my readings are generally between 9 and 13 - although I have achieved a few between 7 and 8 - so I feel I have made good progress.
I really would appreciate some advice - dietary and theory too!
Thank you all,
Bee Gee
Click to expand...
Hi BeeGee,

the one thing that I have earned about dieting, and I've been learning for 8 years,is that it's not straight forward. Everybody say that you have to cut calories and as a general principle that's OK. A lot of people are suggesting that you follow a LCHF diet and that certainly works wonders, I lost three stone just by lowering my carb intake. But there's the difference, I lowered my carbs and did not increase my fats,in fact y body wouldn't take it after watching and being careful with my fat intake for thirty years. So, as you want to lose weight and have better BG control, try lowering your carbs, I just cut out the obvious stuff, bread/rice/pasta/potato. I still have about 80gms of carb and I weigh and record everything I eat, a useful tip for weight loss, no guessing. If one night I decided to have rice then I'll have a bit, not the 50gms recommended, half that and I don't feel guilty or panic, but do see what changes in BG are, just in case different rices have different effects.
As for Metformin if anything I would have thought weight loss would occur although it didn't help me but then I didn't know about low carb. All the best Graham
BTW Dieting is anything but an exact science, you can use the Harris-Benedict formula to calculate how many calories you need but bare in mind that formula is 100 years old I'd treat it as a guideline, dieticians suggest eating about 500 calories less than Basic Metabolic Rate, if that works good, I'm currently eating 900 calories less than BMR and losing nothing. There really is much more to it, especially if you have resistance to the insulin that your body is producing. Insulin being known as the fat storing hormone.
 
Back
Top