I am not losing weight!

[wobbles]

Hiya all,

Some background...

I was diagnosed in early Nov 08 as a Type 2. When the doc tested my BG it was over 30! The first month I followed normal GP dietary advice and my BG was all over the place ( I was eating porridge, basmati, pasta, etc) inspite of lots of exercise (walking, gym, etc). I was getting very frustrated!

Then in early Dec 08 I stumbled across this website (low carb section) then read Bernstein free online chapters (have now bought the book) and the mist sort of cleared and I could see a way forward that made sense. I started low carbing in earnest and removed starches from my diet and increased vegetables and legumes.

Results have been remarkable as far as BG is concerned. Instead of the fastings of 11s or 12s I was getting and the 16s or 17s after a bowl of porridge or pasta, within 2/3 days BG dropped by 3-4 points. For the last 2 weeks my average fasting has been between 4.7 - 5.2 and PP around no more than 6.5 (normally less). I feel great and still keeping very active. However...

...I am still the same weight that I was when diagnosed back in early Nov, almost 8 weeks ago. I am fitter, lower resting pulse, much, much lower BG, etc but bearing in mind that I am 17st 4lb on average (height 6ft) I know that I need to lose weight also. I am drinking plenty of water (1.5L / day), only have a glass of red wine twice a week on average and don't smoke. BTW I also take Metformin 500mg x 2 per day.

Any ideas what I can do to get things moving?

Cheers

Wobbles

 

[fergus]

Hi wobbles, and welcome to the forum.

Can I say what fantastic progress you have made in such a short time. Your blood sugar levels sound virtually non-diabetic now, from a starting point of near certain disastrous complications, made all the more likely by the lunatic dietary advice we are still given. You are in control now.

As for the weight, just persevere. Weight loss isn't a precise science unfortunately but the odds are now strongly in your favour. From your numbers it does sound as if you are insulin resistant, but still with sufficient insulin production to maintain good glucose levels. That combination probably means you still have high circulating levels of insulin, which is probably hampering your weight loss ambitions. The body has great difficulty in metabolising stored fat in the presence of insulin, so your first obstacle is reducing insulin resistance. That will happen naturally as a consequence of your lower carb consumption, but once again it'll happen at its own pace. Exercise is another means of making your cells less insulin resistant and may help kick start the weight loss although it's not often sufficient on its own as a weight loss strategy.

For moral support, there was a recently published review of low carb. v. low fat / low calorie diets as weight loss strategies, which concluded that low carb was consistently more effective.

Keep on keepin' on!

All the best,

fergus

 

[wobbles]

Fergus,

Thanks for the helpful suggestions / ideas. I will keep plugging away at it!

Cheers

Wobbles

 

[Trinkwasser]

Upping the metformin dose for starters, they generally start you low and ramp the dose up slowly to avoid the sound effects (metfartin) many people find it is not effective until in a 1500 - 2500 mg range

Alongside that exercise, both growing and using muscles helps improve insulin resistance and that along with the met should work synergistically.

Other than that, time: the longer you spend with normal BG the more it should reduce your IR and make the weight loss easier. It's all circular arguments with this disease.

 

[wobbles]

Hi TW,
Thx for the tips. Do you think I should wait for GP to increase dosage or gradually do that myself?
Wobbles

 

[IanD]

Hi TW,
Thx for the tips. Do you think I should wait for GP to increase dosage or gradually do that myself?
Wobbles

At your levels, I do not think you should increase MF, even if the Dr suggests it. Control is best if we stay in control. Drs think in terms of medication - we have to live with it, & the side effects.

I ate the NHS/DUK diet for 7 years, & as predicted my level of control got worse, so I started on MF (2x500) then after a year or 2, I increased it to 3 as control deteriorated. Then early this year muscle pains (diabetic neuropathy) became severe. Drs had no positive suggestions. At that point I started following the reduced carb advice from Fergus & others & control immediately improved. Over 3 months my weight dropped by a stone, & cholesterol, blood pressure, tiredness all improved, & the muscle pains disappeared. I reduced the MF to 2 again.

Don't be disappointed about weight loss - you're doing splendidly.

 

[VBee]

I find if I eat more fat, I lose weight. I had tons of cream and cheese last week and I lost two pounds. Well not tons but... you get the idea.

 

[Fletch]

Hiya Wobbles,

first things first, well done on your fantastic achievement in getting your BG under good control, as Fergus stated these are virtually Non Diabetic figures, fantastic.

You mention that you have been going to the gym - not sure what type of program you are following but your lack of weight loss could be down to the fact that you have buit some muscle as a result of your workouts - Muscle weighs more than fat so could explain one of the reasons for the scales not moving...just a thought.

Keep up the good work.

Fletch.

 

[hanadr]

Wobbles
My lovely DSN listens to my moans about the slowness of my weightloss,tells me I'm building muscle, which is much heavier than fat, measures my waist and shows I am losing fat and getting slimmer.
I'm getting an hour a day of reasonable exercise. If you are exercising, try the tape measure as well as the scales.

 

[wobbles]

Thanks ALL for you're encouraging comments and advice.
Re exercise, initially I was concentrating on plenty of walking and some cardio in the gym. Then after reading Bernstein, I realised the long-term benefit to the metabolism of resistance / weight training. I changed routine to weight training first and then 30 mins of CV after. Therefore the muscle more dense than fat point may be relevant.

Cheers

Wobbles

 

[Trinkwasser]

Hi TW,
Thx for the tips. Do you think I should wait for GP to increase dosage or gradually do that myself?
Wobbles

At your levels, I do not think you should increase MF, even if the Dr suggests it. Control is best if we stay in control. Drs think in terms of medication - we have to live with it, & the side effects.

I ate the NHS/DUK diet for 7 years, & as predicted my level of control got worse, so I started on MF (2x500) then after a year or 2, I increased it to 3 as control deteriorated. Then early this year muscle pains (diabetic neuropathy) became severe. Drs had no positive suggestions. At that point I started following the reduced carb advice from Fergus & others & control immediately improved. Over 3 months my weight dropped by a stone, & cholesterol, blood pressure, tiredness all improved, & the muscle pains disappeared. I reduced the MF to 2 again.

Don't be disappointed about weight loss - you're doing splendidly.

I agree totally about the diet but I'd still definitely ask your GP about the metformin, there's a fairly well attested theory that the faster you gain control the better, and after all if you throw more medication at the problem initially and gain control quicker you can always reduce or even eliminate the meds later. As with all things some people respond well at low doses of met but others need the full dose

 

[Patch]

Hey wobbles - you're about the same size as me (17st 4lb, 6'2"). I can tell you that building muscle is highly beneficial. Muscle BURNS fat, and speeds up the metabolism. Another fact that was mentioned here is that eating fat makes you lose weight. I agree with this 110%! I've found that the more fat I eat the more weight i lose (and quickly!). However, this is only true if you seriously restrict your carb intake. It's a crazy thing, though, because the more fat I eat, the less hungry I am (unbelievable to me - I used to scoff pizza/chips/chinese 'til the cows came home!).

Lift weights, eat fat, avoid carbs, and the weight will fall off!

 

[Stuboy]

It's not a great idea to eat lots of fat... esp. the bad kind.

To build muscle it's protein that you want to be taking in more of. Less carbs, more protein.

 

[hanadr]

Hi wobbles
I lost about 2 1/2 stone last year, but then got stuck. I'm a 61 yearold T2 grandmother. I walk and eat low carb, but recently I've tightened up even more on the carbs. It's only about 20 per day for guaranteed weight loss. I've also started weighing less often. First triumph was.I didn't gain over Christmas. My DSN thinks I've put on muscle. Certainly my waist has gone down by about 5 inches overall ( 4 holes on my belt)

 

[hanadr]

Stuboy
What do you mean by "bad fats"?
there is plenty of evidence that animal fats ( which tend to be solid and saturated) are no worse for us than unsaurated vegetable fats. Think for a bit. We are not plants, so why should plant oils be better for us?

 

[Jem]

Welcome to the jungle, sorry forum (GnR fan sorry!)

KEEP AT IT!

When I first went low carb, I stuck to it like glue and for a month, nothing - I was devastated as I'd read here all wonderful things about weight loss (as well as the tight blood sugar control) and it seemed so unfair.

After one month and one day, ten pounds just kind of disappeared overnight. The only time I've lost THAT much weight THAT QUICKLY was when I had alcohol poisoning as a teenager!

It might not go quickly, it might go in fits and starts, you might lose a couple of stone and then plateau for a while, but be assuered that weight loss WILL happen and that all your efforts WILL be rewarded ... and in the mean time, your tight control will improve your health greatly ...

All the best, JEm xox

 

[wobbles]

Welcome to the jungle, sorry forum (GnR fan sorry!)

KEEP AT IT!

When I first went low carb, I stuck to it like glue and for a month, nothing - I was devastated as I'd read here all wonderful things about weight loss (as well as the tight blood sugar control) and it seemed so unfair.

After one month and one day, ten pounds just kind of disappeared overnight. The only time I've lost THAT much weight THAT QUICKLY was when I had alcohol poisoning as a teenager!

It might not go quickly, it might go in fits and starts, you might lose a couple of stone and then plateau for a while, but be assuered that weight loss WILL happen and that all your efforts WILL be rewarded ... and in the mean time, your tight control will improve your health greatly ...

All the best, JEm xox

Thx Jem!