T2 weight loss by cutting out some carbs

LittleGreyCat

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,233
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Diet drinks - the artificial sweeteners taste vile.
Having to forswear foods I have loved all my life.
Trying to find low carb meals when eating out.
When I was diagnosed as T2 a couple of years ago I immediately stopped all sugars, sweets, sugary puddings, on the principle that it is easier to stop than reduce.

My blood sugars improved, but my weight didn't drop a great deal after the initial weight loss.

A few months back I decided to cut out the bulk of the carbohydrates I was eating - all the simple and satisfying ones.
So - no bread, pizza, pasta, potatoes or rice.
Easier to cut them out completely than to cut them down.
No breakfast cereals either - muesli, porrage and all the others.
Cut right down on cheese because although not high on carbs it is a very concentrated form of calories.

To compensate for this I decided to eat a large high protein breakfast - two eggs, two rashers of bacon, fried tomatoes, steak (or sausages or beef burghers) and half a tin of baked beans.
This keeps me going all day without any food cravings and in the evening I have either a vegetable stew or a protein snack with salad.

Protein snacks are typically cold cooked chicken (often wrapped in bacon) and cold sausages (also often wrapped in bacon).

This keeps me from feeling hungry and craving the things I have given up (which I never thought I could do without) and also doesn't feel like a diet because I eat until I am full and I can always have a protein snack and some salad any time I feel hungry.

Seeing how well this was working my wife (non-diabetic) has joined my on a variant of this eating plan and is losing weight steadily.

I seem to have bottomed out now, with my weight around 12 stone 12 pounds (O.K. for my six foot height).
I thought I would stabilise at a lower weight but I am leaner that I have been for decades and I think I probably don't need to lose anymore.
Also I have started running again so I suspect that I am putting on muscle as I lose fat and this is balancing my weight out.
My wife suggests that I don't lose any more weight because she doesn't want me looking scrawny :)

Much of this changed eating style is based on various discussions on low carbing; however the primary aim was to lose weight because I was carrying too much around my waist which is allegedly a bad area for diabetics and may contribute unduly to insulin resistance.

I had my bloods done about six weks into this new eating style and they had improved but were not spectacular.
HbA1c was down from 7.7 to 7.4 which is still high.
However at the time I had not started running.
I am due another check later this month before I go on an extended holiday so we shall see if there has been much more improvement.

If my body weight is now pretty near optimum and my exercise levels are high - I walk four miles or more most days and run four miles or more at least four times a week - and my HbA1c is still above 7 then I guess I must conclude that I am not going to improve much more using diet and exercise and consider going onto medication.
Although starting medication just before an extended holiday is not good timing.
On the other hand as I am going away for seven months it might be a sensible option.

Anyway, enough of this rambling.
From a sample of two I have concluded that a good strategy for weight loss is to cut out completely all the 'bulk filler' simple carbohydrates that form such a major (and enjoyable) part of the average diet and gorge on protein in the mornings.
Reducing the carbs to 'just a little' doesn't work.
We had a 'treat' and had a pizza each for lunch on a day out and put two pounds on each.
Scary!

Cheers

LGC
 

Sid Bonkers

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,976
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Customer helplines that use recorded menus that promise to put me through to the right person but never do - and being ill. Oh, and did I mention customer helplines :)
Well done on reducing your weight and controlling your bg levels :D I couldnt have done what you have done, cutting out all the main carbohydrates almost completely I would have found impossible to do for life but luckily for me, by testing before and after every meal I was able to slowly cut back and adjust the amount of carbs in every meal. So I can still enjoy small amounts of bread, rice and potatoes every day. As I have posted before I have lost a little over 4 stones and managed to come off the insulin treatment I was put on at diagnosis just by eating less food and making GI choices where ever possible.


LittleGreyCat said:
When I was diagnosed as T2 a couple of years ago I immediately stopped all sugars, sweets, sugary puddings, on the principle that it is easier to stop than reduce.
I found the opposite, that it was easier to reduce than to stop on the basis that diabetes is for life and I had to find a new lifestyle rather than a diet.
 

candyfloss

Well-Known Member
Messages
160
Dislikes
Processed foods and refined carbohydrates!
Like Sid B I gradually reduced the carbs & when I do have the starchy varieties its now brown or wholemeal in small portions. I actually enjoy my diet now but giving up the low gi bread at breakfast would be a struggle although not impossible. Exercise, eating & drinking in moderation is keeping my HbA1c in the mid 5's. Luckily I didnt have a lot of weight to lose and I think my T2 was spotted early.
I guess for some completely stopping eating certain foods, drinking, smoking is the preferred way & for others doing it gradually is better but the main thing is to at least try.
Considering all your hard efforts it must be disappointing not to get the HbA1c lower but I'm sure with all the running you have been doing the next result should be a lot better. Keep us informed and good luck!
 

cugila

Master
Messages
10,272
Dislikes
People who are touchy.......feign indignation at the slightest thing. Hypocrites, bullies and cowards.
Well done LGC.
Just goes to show that we are all different.

I managed to just reduce the carbs down to an average of around 60 - 80g carbs per day and yet still managed to lose over 5 1/2 stone. I still eat carbs as and when I want so my diet is a probably more varied than some. I love a full english twice a week. I steer clear of baked beans though.....way to many carbs for the likes of me !

I use low GI/GL methods so my portion sizes are strictly controlled and carb intake restricted. I did try true low carbing but it really wasn't for me. I still have great results, BG numbers all good pre and post meals.

So it is possible to achieve what you want without low carbing, mind you compared to what I previously ate, you could say I am low carbing........some guru decided that my level is too high. I suppose it all depends on where you started from.......

So I would have to say reduce those carbs to whatever allows you to get good control......once you have lost some weight as well you should find that you can tolerate more of those 'nasty' carbs ! Like Sid says it's a lifestyle change........not a diet.

I had to laught when I read the title of this Topic..........it's what we keep banging on about all the time. I still maintain that you don't always need to go the whole 'hog' so to speak. Many on here have proved that.......low AND reduced carbers. Then again there are those who seem to think that because some of us eat a few carbs we are high carbers........nothing could be further from the truth.

Ken
 

LittleGreyCat

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,233
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Diet drinks - the artificial sweeteners taste vile.
Having to forswear foods I have loved all my life.
Trying to find low carb meals when eating out.
Sid Bonkers said:
<snip>

LittleGreyCat said:
When I was diagnosed as T2 a couple of years ago I immediately stopped all sugars, sweets, sugary puddings, on the principle that it is easier to stop than reduce.
I found the opposite, that it was easier to reduce than to stop on the basis that diabetes is for life and I had to find a new lifestyle rather than a diet.

I think we are in agreement although from a slightly different perspective.

I don't feel that I am on a diet - I can eat until I am full and enjoy what I eat.
My lifestyle change is to cut out certain food groups on a more or less permanent basis.
This does not mean that I don't have a bit of something now and then - just that I am very aware that it is a treat and certainly not establishing a precedent.

As an aside, I have had my first Mars Bar for a couple of years.
Only a small one, and in three bits.
One before I started running, one after I had been running for 30 minutes, and the last bit when I had finished running after 1 hour 14 minutes.
This seemed to work very well - I didn't have the non-diabetic sugar rush followed by insulin induced hypo so in certain circumstances there may be minor benefits to being T2 ;-)

Cheers

LGC
 

LittleGreyCat

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,233
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Diet drinks - the artificial sweeteners taste vile.
Having to forswear foods I have loved all my life.
Trying to find low carb meals when eating out.
cugila said:
<snip>

I had to laught when I read the title of this Topic..........it's what we keep banging on about all the time. I still maintain that you don't always need to go the whole 'hog' so to speak. Many on here have proved that.......low AND reduced carbers. Then again there are those who seem to think that because some of us eat a few carbs we are high carbers........nothing could be further from the truth.

Ken

Yes, I think it would be very hard (and not particularly good for you) to try and cut out all carbs.

I have no doubt that if I practiced strict carb counting my diet could be different but find it much easier to cut out some things completely so they are not in the house.

I personally would find it very hard to decide 'two potatoes but not three' or 'just one spoonful of rice'.
The "well just one more won't make much difference" is a constant temptation.
A bit like an alchoholic having alchohol in the house and the constant temptation to have 'just one drink - I can handle it'.
So I just cut out some obvious carbs and hope that the rest are sufficiently low GI.
Even with low GI we are all well aware that people react differently.

I can't manage porridge - it doesn't fill me for more than about an hour and then just makes me very hungry.
You can't manage baked beans but they work well at stopping me being hungry (along with all the other stuff).

The main proof for me is that I have lost weight without feeling hungry.
The other major benefit is that I don't feel that I am on a diet and I am comfortable with eating this way for the forseeable future.

It probably helps that I am on statins as my current diet may not be regarded as the best for cholseterol control, although even there carbohydrates are now being pointed up as generating cholesterol and cholesterol containing foods such as eggs are not regarded as dangerous at the moment.

What did you have for breakfast?
Fillet steak, mushrooms, tomatoes, eggs......
****; I wish my doctor would put me on that diet :)

Cheers

LGC
 

Murphybear

Member
Messages
11
Good to see all the weight loss. My diabetes has been a bit out of control last 2 years (average HbAc has been around 9 and at least 4 stone overweight). After discovering this web site I have cut down carbs enormously and have lost 25 lbs. My BG now around 5/6 and next HbAc next week. I am on high dose metformin so keep fingers crossed! Hubby (non diabetic) loves Atkins and has lost 2 stone, fortunately we have a freezer full of meat.

Best thing about weight loss is the wardrobe full of clothes I can now get into :lol: :lol: :lol:
 

jaykay

Well-Known Member
Messages
439
Ooh, I hear you Murphybear! I have gone down 2 dress sizes and can now shop in M&S for the first time in a few years...it's soooo exciting and the main incentive for me to keep low carbing. Stupid I know, it should be my health but heh, whatever works right!? :)
 

Sid Bonkers

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,976
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Customer helplines that use recorded menus that promise to put me through to the right person but never do - and being ill. Oh, and did I mention customer helplines :)
Your right there JK I have just dropped another waist size, down to 36" trousers, jeans etc down from 44" just over a year and a half ago
rawks.gif
. Its a great feeling dropping off a bunch of too big trousers at the charity shop 8)
 

sugar2

Well-Known Member
Messages
833
Wow..many congratulations to all thsoe who have lost weight..however you have done it! Myself, I joined Wei ght Wat chers (as I need the help of a group) and have reduced both calories, and reduced carbs (I am t1).

Only lost 7 lb so far...but reading this thread, and all the mentions of food is actually making me hungry :oops: It is the first time I have been hungry for weeks

Reminder to self...do not read weight loss thread if lucj is more tan 3 hours away!
 

Murphybear

Member
Messages
11
YIPPEE!!!!!

Weight loss just gone over 30 lbs - only another xxx to go!

Even more exciting, latest HbAc is 6.3 - last two were 8.9 and 9.1.

Looks like 3 months of low carbs has paid off. I still miss the bread though.

How have I rewarded myself? Cooked a huge pot of Beef Rendang and joined an American Tribal Style Belly Dance class at the local Leisure Centre - funny lot we are here in Devon

I'll let you know how it goes
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 

DeafDiabetic

Well-Known Member
Messages
68
My, this is a very interesting thread!

Before I was dignosed as T2 3 months ago I was a Red Bull addict. Now don't touch the stuff at all. I have never taken sugar in my cereal, tea and so on. With tea I now use the decaff version with a couple of rich tea biscuits in between meals. The only alcohol I ever touch is a glass of red wine (sometimes) when I'm out eating with company. Foods now I look out for the low fat, low salt variety. Food shopping now takes a little bit longer as I now analyse each item........!

Prior to diagnosis my HbA1c was 8.4. In Nov it was 7.2 - next one's due in March so hope that will be slightly improved. Just joined a local keep fit class (next step return to the gym). Already I've lost half a stone (now I have to wear braces on my jeans.... :lol: ) Am hoping to lose more as the months of learning roll by.

One question: how do you make sandwiches without bread? (I've gone over to granary bread).

Thanks to all the contributors here as I've already learnt so much about losing weight. :D
 

jaykay

Well-Known Member
Messages
439
One question: how do you make sandwiches without bread? (I've gone over to granary bread).

Quick answer : I don't. I used to eat chicken salad sandwiches for lunch, now I just have the chicken and the salad. You can use lettuce leaves to wrap 'fillings' but I'd rather just have a big salad. I have some carbs in the form of fruit for 'pudding' and it fills me up until evening.
 

Elvis

Newbie
Messages
4
Weight loss by cutting some carb is the is the healthy and natural way to
burning the fat. the important thing is no side effect on the human health.