Any significance to the speed of carb reduction?

[Synonym]

I have read in several posts about the advisability of slowly reducing carbohydrates when trying to reduce bg levels and wonder if there is a significant reason for this.

I don’t know how I can do it slowly because when I eat any starchy carbohydrates my bg levels shoot upwards. I no longer eat them at all if I can help it and have confined myself to getting my carbs from fruits and vegetables. I am feeling very much better and my bg levels are reducing.

As a by-product of reducing the carbs my weight is reducing significantly although that was not the primary aim. I am happy to be losing the weight I have gained but am concerned that I am losing muscle and wonder if this is because it is happening too quickly.

Also without wanting to cross bridges before I get to them I wonder what I do if I can no longer afford to lose the weight? My next appointment with the consultant is in about 5 weeks and there is no danger of me fading away entirely by then - unfortunately.

Too many questions perhaps?

 

[Synonym]

Obviously this is not a problem that anyone else has faced so clearly I am unique – always thought so actually!

If you see anyone walking around with matchstick legs and arms that is probably me! :roll:

Thank you for your interest and stopping by.

 

[banjo brunette]

It sometimes takes a while before someone who can answer a query picks a new post up... I'm afraid I can't answer your question (though I'm dead jealous as I'm busily low-carbing and not losing any weight)... It might help to repost this question on the low-carb forum where people will definitely see this and be able to answer.
Cheers, BB

 

[sugarless sue]

I have read in several posts about the advisability of slowly reducing carbohydrates when trying to reduce bg levels and wonder if there is a significant reason for this.

I don’t know how I can do it slowly because when I eat any starchy carbohydrates my bg levels shoot upwards. I no longer eat them at all if I can help it and have confined myself to getting my carbs from fruits and vegetables. I am feeling very much better and my bg levels are reducing.

As a by-product of reducing the carbs my weight is reducing significantly although that was not the primary aim. I am happy to be losing the weight I have gained but am concerned that I am losing muscle and wonder if this is because it is happening too quickly.

Also without wanting to cross bridges before I get to them I wonder what I do if I can no longer afford to lose the weight? My next appointment with the consultant is in about 5 weeks and there is no danger of me fading away entirely by then - unfortunately.

Too many questions perhaps?

The reason for suggesting reducing slowly is so that the rapid drop in blood sugars does not make you feel too ill. Many suffer 'false hypos' when they drop too fast and some give up because they do not like the feeling !

Reducing your starchy carbs to a very small portion can help wean you off them. If you can give them up ' cold turkey' then good for you, but again, many feel very bad, with cravings, when they try this.

As for the lose of muscle, try doing some low impact exercises to keep up the muscle tone. As you get better at them you can increase the amount to keep your muscles in trim.

 

[Synonym]

Thanks Sue.

 

[Ardbeg]

As a diabetes newbie and a guy who has been overweight for many years, without a shadow of a doubt my biggest challenge with my new regime will be diet control.

Several years ago when I was not diabetic I went on the Atkins Diet and lost over 3 stone. However, my weight reached a plateau at 16 stone and no matter what I did I couldn't get below it. Also, to keep the weight loss I had to stick to the very early Atkins instructions with virtually zero carbs. At that time there were lots of health scare stories in the press about Atkins and I was beginning to find the strict regime monotonous as I was virtually living on bacon and eggs for breakfast, salad, peperamis and baby bell cheeses for lunch and either steak or chicken and salad every night for dinner.

I'm a typical bloke (can't cook, won't cook) and don't want to disrupt my families eating habits too much to suit my new "lifestyle" but I've no doubt that meals from now on will be a challenge.

 

[Synonym]

I have been getting a bit desperate as I found, through testing, that I was unable to tolerate anything in the way of grain carbs and even though I am eating a fair amount of fruit to up the carbs I noticed the weight falling rapidly. This was fine at first but I don’t have a lot more to lose except round the middle which is classic diabetes fat I understand. Anyway, I started getting concerned about the loss of muscle in my legs and whilst I am aware that resistance exercises are helpful I find that I can’t do much in the way of exercise as I have fatigue issues due to ME and also have painful arthritis. Catch 22 maybe.

I think that I may have found some insight into my problems in a thread by ‘anticarb’ on the low carb forum where the question was “Am I taking low carb too far?” and I am thinking that perhaps I need to add more fats in to avoid the muscle loss? Difficult to work that one out as I am not exactly holding back on them! :?

I don't know what I can do about it but I think that I may have put this post in the wrong place to start with – sorry!

 

[dragongirl]

Synonym
I too have lost so much weight (which I didn't need to lose) that I have worried as you do about fading away and especially muscle loss. You're certainly not the only one with the problem but there are many fewer of us around than those who actively wish to lose weight. I was pleased this week to have to hold up fascia boards for husband to refix after the avalanches from the roof detached them. This was like holding up an elephant at arms length, and walking in thigh deep snow for half an hour at a stretch was also muscle-reliant, and I coped well. But it is a problem and I guess exercises are the best way to help avert disaster. My husband is so worried he keeps suggesting I eat carbs, which he knows will do no good but reflects his anguish at seeing me lose weight. I've simply doubled my food intake of acceptable food (including fats) – which is daft after years of teaching myself to stop eating when full. Life's bizarre at times!
A virtual good wish card coming over - take care.
DG

 

[Synonym]

Dragongirl - I am sorry that you also have a similar problem but what a relief to know that someone else knows what I am talking about! I really was starting to wonder what was going on.

I am doing what I can in the form of exercise and continuing to keep off the grains, as they really do make my sugars spike, and just munch away on veggies and fruit.

I have had a nasty cough and cold since before Christmas which has not helped my numbers either. My husband did share his whisky with me which, as he predicted, didn’t cure anything but did make me care about it much less! :shock:

I am pretty strong-minded but there are times when I want to kick over the traces when I feel that all of ‘this’ really is not a bundle of laughs - resisted temptation so far though and I soldier on. 8)

Thank you for your meassage it really hepled.

 

[wilg]

Hello friends, I was diagnosed two years ago with T2 diabetes, and I've been on low carbs since. I lost over a hundred pounds, I dont know how many stones is that, but i started at 385 down to 285, bgl 98-105, A1C 5.8, CHOL 161, HDL 45, CHOL/HDL Ratio 3.6, LDL 103. With no loss of muscle. When I cut my carbs to almost zero ( normally for about two weeks and then I add more carbs, but only to the point that I'm still losing weght), my body starts converting the protein into energy.

When eating lean protein with low carbs, the body converts that protein into energy, and the problem with that is when the body use up the protein that you've eaten it starts taking protein from muscle, that is why it is important to add a significant amount of fat protein to your diet, the body will convert the fat portion of the protein into energy and the lean portion to building muscle. When you have reached your desired weight, start adding more carbs, fruits, fast acting veggie (veggies that break down into sugar quickly), beans, nuts and so on, but just enough that it doesn't raise you bgl, or cause you to start gaining weight.

If you start gaining weight or see a significant rise in bgl, cut back a little on carbs. If you start losing more weight, just add more carbs. Make sure you are checking your bgl regularly, making sure your levels don't drop to low and to see the effect that certain foods have on your levels. The key is to maintain normal bgl. If on meds continue to take them under doctor orders. I hope this has been of help.

 

[Ehlana]

I am in full agreement with wilg on this topic. As a type 2 with PCOS I have found that reducing carbs significantly creates false hypos and makes me feel terrible. As a runner I had no energy to go more than a couple of miles.

Personally, I am working on a carb reduction campaign - for example I have halved my portion of rice/Couscous etc and slightly increased the amount of lean protein to compensate. I find this keeps my levels in check. Another area is to have protein based snacks twice a day - I have swapped my cereal bars for mixed nuts and a small protein shake.

I found giving up bread apart from Soya and Linseed bread also helps with my levels.

This is a very personal thing and takes time to work out the best way for you. I also do not cook but have a husband who is very understanding and allows to pick my portions. Food combining seems to be very effective as well as avoiding all processed foods and portion control.

Hope this helps....

 

[dragongirl]

I think a significant difference here is that some of us are not on medication and that makes a difference to how we can apply the very sane suggestions/routines stated above. Synonym isn't and I am not. Maybe to survive long term we'll have to take metformin or glucophage to enable us to eat more but those too have their drawbacks. As you say, it's a very personal journey at times, made more bearable by having this forum to at least search for answers or ideas.
DG

 

[Synonym]

On my journey to date I have gone from being :shock: completely cross eyed over it all, to thinking I had got it sussed when I cut out the grains and started to feel better and now I am in danger of going cross eyed again! It is not simple at all and given that we are all unique there are so many different routes to find. :?

Thank you for the messages, it has been helpful to hear how others are tackling their own journey and I will try out some of those suggestions as they become necessary. I am hoping to avoid the medication as long as possible but will have to see how things pan out.

I think that the one thing I am learning above all else is that nothing stays the same and I will need to be alert and adapt my plans as I go. I guess that’s life!