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carbs low, - weight rising. Help

wiflib

wiflib

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,966
Location
Bristol
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hail Knowledgeable Ones.
Trying to sound all chipper and up-beat, but for the first time since diagnosis, I feel beat and totally fed up.

I've low-carb'd since diagnosis, thanks to the forum and because of that, my BS are in the 5's and I've gone from almost 19 st to my lowest for 17 years, 15st 13lbs. Just had my bloods done but the incompetent phlebo mucked it up so now have to have them done again. 5 months ago my lipids were 3.5, HBA1c 5.9 and my BP is very good at aprox 110/75

So, about 6 weeks ago my weight stabilised at 16st 4lbs and didn't change for 3 weeks. I examined my diet, removed the small amount of peanuts and lost 5lbs in 5 days. I felt that was a very odd reaction. And it stayed there. Weighed myself on Friday and I was 16st 1lb.

I have closely examined my diet and just can't think of why I'm not shifting it. I am 5'10' and a size 18, but my BMI is still 32.

I take 500mg of metfartin' twice a day.
My daily food intake is
Breakfast;
meat and/or cheese
eggs
soup
one slice of bread at 6g carb per slice with butter and marmite
I used to have oatibix with full-fat milk and sweetener as it did not a lot to my BS but I've stopped that now.

Lunch
apple and cheese
salad with meat/cheese

Main meal
no visible carbs
protein, veg, some low-carb pasta occasionally (5g carb per portion)

the other bits and pieces are macadamias, sugar-free jelly, some berries, occasionally with cream, oat-cakes and a square of 70% choc. I use EVOO and butter. All this stuff is not eaten daily, at max, 3-4 times a week and I have reduced it in response to the bl**dy numbers on the scales.
Drinks are sugar free, no fruit juice. I have been testing and testing and avoid things that put me up, parsnips for example.
I've been keeping an eye on portion sizes too and they are 'normal' For example, I weigh the pasta and only have 2oz which is too much to eat sometimes.

I'm stumped. It's not like I've reached a normal weight and won't loose anymore. I'm not generally hungry and I'm not inactive. I'm dreading living on tiny portions of dry veg and salad accompanied with tinier portions of meat, carefully weighed.

I would be happy to hear anybodies anecdotal/personal stories and any theories about weight-loss and it's physiology. I'm already ignoring hunger pangs and trying to time eating just before I get a liver dump. I do get some mild symptoms of hypos, I used to have them quite spectacularly before I was diagnosed. These start at about 4.5 - 4.7

Trying to stay positive and be thankful of excellent BS but it's affecting my mood.

Thanks

wiflib
 
I came to a dead stop as well! I have now started to exercise a bit more and have cut out several things from my diet.I'm hoping to start going down in weight again.
 
I seem to have stabilised at 12 st - BMI 25 - having lost a stone in 3 months, I've been steady for 2 months, which is a perfectly reasonable result for me.
 
Wiflib

Keep a food dairy for a few days and weigh everything in order to work out your carb and calories.
You may be comsuming more calories than you think. I am no expert but I would have thought that despite low carbing too many calories will stop you losing weight.
Conversely you may not be eating enough. I kept a food diary for a few days and discovered that some days I wasn't eating enough - only 1500 cals - which allowed me to eat extra snacks so I don't get hunger pangs. The other thing I noticed was that my portions were larger than I thought - hence the need to weigh things until you know whats what.
Another theory I have come across is that your metabolism slows down to compensate if you don't eat enough and to prevent this you need to eat a bit more every fourth day to give your metabolsim a boost - no evidence this works but it stops me from worrying when I do occasionally eat too much.

Just a couple of ideas - but don't get disheartened you have lost a lot of weight already - stick at it.

Regards

Alan
 
I'm another one who's got stalled. I'm 5 feet 8 and now 89Kg. down from 107. BMI now 30.Is that "overweight" or "obese"? i'm now looking at total calories and walking more.. I have to look back to where I've come from, when I get depressed about the slowness of the loss and the little bounces back. At least I'm not gaining. But then Weight Watchers didn't work for me either, even when I followed it to the letter. I have discovered Magic Knickers though. Sorry chaps!
 
Hi wiflib,

I think Alan makes a couple of really good points. It's commonly reported that one of the effects of low calorie diets is that the metabolism slows to compensate for the reduced energy intake. I don't know how many calories you get through per day, but it might be worth working out to see?
When the metabolism slows to match reduced calories, weight loss can plateau, and go into reverse when calorie intake rises again, particularly if the added calories come from carbs.
Looking at your diet, you'll need much less insulin than you used to which is really important of course. If you add in some more protein that won't raise it significantly, but might boost your metabolic rate to get you started again.
You've lost 3 stone so far, which is a fantastic achievement and you should be dead proud of yourself :D . Metabolic rates can also slow as your weight reduces though, so that might also contribute to the plateau-ing?
What sort of regular exercise could you add to your daily routine? A bit of additional lean muscle mass would also up your body's rev counter and help get the weight loss going again.
You've made great strides already, so you deserve to feel positive about that, not down because things have stalled. You'll get it going again for certain.

All the best,

fergus
 
Thanks Guys.
Forum to the rescue again. All the things you have all said I knew, but my despair stopped me from being rational. So with my rational head on, I'm feeling better and positive.

So, I'm not changing anything for now so I can get a baseline from which to work. I've started my food diary today and will do so for a week and see what the scales say next w/e. I've decided for now just to carry on eating what I normally eat and review it all depending to the numbers I get in 7 days, although the Hawthorne effect may become apparent!

I'm active but don't do 'organised' sport. A combination of shift work and major surgery on a knee which swapped one problem for another and left me with 4 pins very close to the surface of my shin, has put paid to a lot of stuff.

Thanks again, I'm back on track and will let you know what happens.

wiflib
 
Acording to Taubes, All evidence is that low carb doesn't need to be low calorie to cause weight loss. Perhaps we stalled ones are eating too little fat? I actually don't ever eat fatty meat, except bacon, which I have crozzled, because I've hated fatty meat all my life. I do eat dairy fats though. I don't mind trying a week of more cream. It makes scrambled eggs wonderful. Atkins induction????
 
Now that's very interesting hana. I've not been avoiding fat at all but have reduced it slightly, since upping it on diagnosis, because of the brainwashing I've been subjected to for the past 47 years and that bloody scale not moving. I was starting to enjoy the odd coffee with cream but became so paranoid that an extra dollop of the delectable white stuff was the culprit, I stopped it again.

Ironic that my BS control is brilliant and of no concern at all.

Is there anything in Taubes or Bernstien about a stall in weight loss? I can understand if it's only a few pounds involved, but when it's a few stones, that's got to be a different matter entirely. I'm trying to dredge the brain cells and research fat and carb metabolism in relation to metabolic rates but it's far too heavy for my delicate brain.

I'll be having a party next week if I've lost any weight, carb free of course.

wiflib
 
Well. Here's the update.
I started my diary. I have also been away for 4 days and eating all the food I normally eat. I even had a packet of crisps, the first since June! (stuck in Earls Court for 4 days, I had a very good excuse).
I've also done some retrospective carb counting and it seems I'm running on 30-40 grams a day. Still easy and very surprising as I thought I was being a bit greedy on the carb front.

I caved in and weighed myself at work three days after posting the original post and weighing 16st 1lb. I went down to 15st 9lbs and today I weigh the same.

I wont pretend to understand it, but I have accepted that low-carbing seems to produce a sporadic type of weight loss that plateaus and drops suddenly. I am very interested to find out if this is the pattern for other low-carbers.

I'm bl**dy sick and tired of every new pair of jeans I buy, falling off every bl**dy time I drop bl**dy weight like that. I'm starting to look like a real bag of rags. Really weird to feel bones again too.

wiflib
 
I've gone back to low carbing after a period of moderate carbing and have lost about 6 pounds in a week.However I don't expect that to carry on,2 pounds a week is a more healthy weight loss.I'm quite happy to grow our of my trousers,means I'm going down a bit in weight.Don't buy expensive jeans if you're having to change them often!!
 
:D about the jeans.

my wife is starting to call me the tramp tied in the middle :D

all my jeans are 38s but I'm now a 34 and i absolutely refuse to buy any new ones until i reach my target, about 30ish. so she's now used to seeing me put an extra hole in my belt so i can pull it tighter and my jeans falling down if i don't wear a belt, but as i only slob about in the house or garden wearing them it doesn't matter.
 
Thats what I look like too! I've got more belt flapping around than I have around my waist. Luckily, ASDAs jeans are not expensive.

I do look really comical in my uniform though and by the time they can provide me with a smaller one, I'll be smaller still.

And, I know, don't tell me off, I hopped on the scales again today and have lost another two pounds.

Thanks for the help guys.

wiflib
 
Two pounds a week is a good weight lose,wiflib.Just keep up the toning exercises so you don't get left with hangy bits!! :lol: :lol:
 
Ah, yes, hangy bits, right.

They're new to me and up to now not too hangy yet. The important things are still inthe correct alignment, just slightly fruther south than before but I'm almost 50 so I expect some, ahem, droop.

The strangest thing is a rather old, large haematoma I have on one of my butt cheeks. Falling down steep stairs on ones derriere with a granddaughter on ones hip causes some impressive trauma I can tell you! (an estimated litre of blood loss into soft tissue causes the sort of bruises docs like to take pictures of). Three years on and as my bum gets smaller, the lump gets bigger. I could parade myself in a freak show for profit.

What I'm planning on is a sort of drawstring bag effect operation. Slice around the neck, brace, pull and sew up. Rather like that alien on Independance Day.

The remaining bits would make a lovely rug.

wiflib
 
Yes ,that's the thing about losing weight,bits appear that you didn't know were there,like same rather impressive scars from childhood accident!!I excpect they were always there but now I can see them! :lol: :lol:
 
Oh Sue, you would have laughed at me today. I put my hand up to scratch the back of my neck and panicked when I found a lump.
Yep, it was a bone. I'm just glad I realised before I begged one of the docs to look at it!

wiflib
 
congratulations on the rather fabulous work love!

tesco do really cheap jeans and *ahem* they are about a size bigger than the label so I'm kinda happy being in 18s even though I'm more a 20 haha!

I did cringe rather at your desciption of the op though *eek*

keep on posting to inspire me ... I ate a bag of blinking hula hoops today - shocked to discover that the tiny bag of air and nothing had 15 grammes carbs in it!

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek

J.xxx
 
Freaky innit.

My ar*e remains large, but to compensate, I have lovely slim armpits.

Jem, honestly, hula hoops? Are you insane? If the crunchy, salty snack beckons, show a bit of class girl and have a bag of kettle crisps.

Ribs? I found one of those recently along with a collar bone. And when I eat, my neck now resembles Quark form Star Trek. Oh the breed escapes me, not klingons........ what are they?

wiflib
 
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