Humbly back here again

I am back, frustrated, but still trying. I am suffering from neuropathy as well as metatarsalgia in BOTH feet and have seen foot specialists in Manchester a number of times. No one can address this. I KNOW I need to lose weight. I'm at 230 lbs for a 5'5" woman. It's hard. If I really think about it, it's distressing. Last year I lost 40 lbs, and binged my way right back to 230 lbs again. Seriously. It was all stress related, and food addiction.

I have a therapist. I'm motivated to try again.

What I'd like thoughts on is this: ideas for staying motivated re. food? I'm sick of food altogether. And any idea about what I might expect about reducing neuropathy and numbness, burning, pain in my feet? I am wearing supportive shoes, etc. I truly need fresh advice/ideas.

Thank you,
MM.

That's very helpful. I did an imperfect version of Paleo (I allowed myself some fruit) combined with 3 workouts of at least 20 minutes per day - swimming, weights, cardio on the treadmill or cycle. 5-6 days a week. Often I went over and did up to 1 hour and 10 minutes or more per day, with weights included. Where I think I could have done better was in drinking at least 2 litres of water consistently, which I didn't.

Yes, one must continue to carry on. I'm back at it. Today, I had a whey protein shake for breakfast, a roundsteak/cabbage/shallot stirfry for lunch, and two shots of espresso in the morning. I'm not suffering. It's when I WORK (I'm a teacher and that job is stressful, and people are eating all sorts of **** around me) that I fall completely off the wagon, usually at work by noon or at home or both.

Thanks for connecting. Good luck with your journey, too. I do just need to eat a lot less. A LOT less. I'm going to try measuring everything. Or tracking or both. And that includes checking blood sugar both before and after all three meals for a week or so.

MM

I'm going to look at that - and yes - very much was motivated, until I started working (I lost some of that weight after an allergy/anaphylactic attack - which scared me into submission re. diet) and then about 17 lbs over 6 weeks in the summer when I just had a pool, the sea, and time on my hands. I live on a beach compound in the Arabian Gulf). The minute work kicked off again, workouts ground to a halt, as I suffer fatigue from teaching. I will look at the recipes area and try and re-motivate and try. You guys give me such hope. At least I'm not alone or working through this myself. Maybe I need to stick around here longer.

Freema said:

I Think keeping blood glucose low is needed to NOT worsen neuropathy or if lucky reduce neurophaty ..
unfortunately it is sometimes not totally reversible

When going very low carb in eating style it can sometimes help to drink a daily drink of electrolytes to keep nerves calm and also avoid brain fog , you can buy it as powder or tablets to dissolve in water

Besides that to take a tablet of balanced vitamin B’s including both b12 ,folic acid, and other vitamin b’s

Vitamin b’s are almost all of them essential to nerve and skin health

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Thank you. All very good points. I know...this may not be fully reversible...the neuropathy, but I'm desperate now to at least try to halt this. It's causing me considerable depression at present.

Congrats on your achievements, by the way, Rachox. If you have that exact link to the area where you share recipes, etc., I'd appreciate it. Will go looking now.

Rachox said:

As Arab Horse says how did you lose weight before? I was diagnosed a year ago and immediately started low carb eating. I was 115kg (253lbs) on diagnosis. I’m now 78.9kg (174lbs) and I’m only 5’3”. I don’t go mad on the high fat bit of LCHF like some folks here do, but I eat enough to keep hunger at bay. There’s a thread in the ‘low carb’ sub Forum where a bunch of us post what we eat each day and swap ideas and recipes, have a look, you will find it inspiring, we eat varied and interesting food. Hope that helps.

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Very good advice, lindijanice!

I have started the Alpha Lipoic Acid and B Complex, after doing some reading, so I'm on that. My doctor surprised me today and put me on a medication I wasn't familiar with, as I am now OFFICIALLY diabetic, which really made me sad: the med is sitagliptin. One more thing to get educated about. He took me off Metformin and put me on this combined medication instead, which really upsets me. But I have to give him some slack. I refuse to take a statin, even with cholesterol levels at 5.7 or whatever it is. He's pressing and I'm refusing. Maybe I'm in the wrong.

I have my levels on cholesterol but not on H1AC, as he just did a fasting test and it was 134. ARgh. But we reviewed last year's results, and I'm going to press him for an H1AC test next month.

I loved the list of suggestions and you are right...it's down to action and vigilance right now. My doctor was sweet and said I can test but not to turn myself into a 'patient' and experiment with everything. I pretty much told him...the farther away from knowledge I am about what food and lack of exercise is doing to my body that I am...the worse this gets. Time to measure and monitor carefully.

High intensity exercise I find hard, but I know this is a good idea and I will look further into this.

Thank you again; truly appreciate it.

MM.

lindijanice said:

Hey MM, welcome back to the Forum. Just wanted to let you know that we are all cheering you on for success again!! Remember how great you felt with those 40 pounds gone? Got any pictures? Maybe haul them out and put them where you make yourself see them every day so that you visually see where you are headed!! Menu making, food diary, regular blood testing are all great helps to keep you on the right path, but you already know that!! It's just the "doing" part now, right?! Also maybe look at the exercise portion of your plan - there are many new studies coming out that advocate HIIT - high intensity interval training - I think those are the right words! Anyway, you don't have to spend hours in the gym and you may find ways to incorporate movement/exercise into your day in easier ways....just a thought.

I take R-Alpha Lipoic Acid supplement everyday for tingly hands and painful toes that I was concerned felt like the beginnings of nueropathy. The pain and pins/needles feelings have all but disappeared....again just a thought that you might want to look into. If you are on other medications, it is wise to let your professional carer know that you thinking of taking any supplement as some may interfere with regular medications....

Take care/let us know how you are getting on/blessings/L

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lindijanice said:

Good for you @memememeiii for not wanting the statin right now - you have enough to worry about/deal with at the moment. You may have already read some of the discussions on here about statins and it really is a personal decision as to whether taking them or not is going to help.....

HIIT isn't my thing either due to other health issues, but I do try to just move more - like go and get my second cup of coffee instead of letting the Hubby get it for me!! I also find putting on a favorite CD and dancing - in private, mind you!! - gets the heart pumping and takes me to a happy place!! So, creativity in this area is a bonus

Not familiar with the new med you are on, but lots of info on the net for sure. Trust it does its work for you!
Take care/L

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Dancing in the house IS something I like, and I don't care who sees me, so perhaps I should counter these anxious feelings with dancing and just ACT instead of THINKING. That's my best thought for now. I had a good talk with a dear friend here, and she reminded me that weight loss is just good for LIFE. Life enhancing. So, regardless of what happens with the Diabetes, weight loss has to help with heart and cholesterol fears, etc. I guess I'll just keep talking and keep working on this. Thank you again.

Okay, folks. I'm reporting on progress. In 7 days I have lost 8 lbs and after testing my glucose for 7 times a day before and after means plus before bed, I have moved OUT of the Diabetic range in numbers and IN to the Pre-Diabetic range (or Impaired Glucose Fasting) range. I'm hungry a LOT of the time, and still am trying to figure out how to do the Newcastle Diet program - I really hate whey protein shakes and refuse to buy anything else thus far.

The researchers wrote to me and told me that MANY people have success before 10 years with this disease and are able to 'reverse' and put into a state of remission the diabetes, but they truly stressed compliance, and that got me to get my act together, as I was prepared to cheat and do it my way, etc. Not now. This matters too much to me. I have also held your good wisdom and experience in mind also. I'm going 8 weeks on Newcastle's program, and then will follow their very specific regimen for re-introducing meals and food, after which I will then entertain other ideas.

My biggest challenge right now is how to diminish the risks of muscle wasting. I've been reading up on this. Seems the body builders have the answer. Your thoughts would be good, too.