• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Lacking motivation

L

LeeSouth

Member
Messages
8
Hi all,

I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes two and a half years ago. I wanted to try to get into remission and joined Slimming World by tracking what I ate and trying to reduce carbs and lost weight. I forget what the units are but I was down to 49 with 42 the level required to start coming off the medication (Allopurinol and Alloglyptin).

At the start of the pandemic I lost my job and struggled with anxiety and put on all of the weight I had lost over the previous year.

I've just had a blood test and my levels are now worse than ever. My doctor said I would need to consider insulin injections unless I could do something, and gave me a target of losing 1 stone in a month, and a 2nd stone in the next three months.

Almost at the end of the 3rd month I've lost just 6lbs. I started off well, lost 3lb the first week, 2lb the second week and 1lb the third week but since then it's been a maintain or +1 one week and -1 the next.

I desperately don't want daily injections but I just can't get why I can't stick to a weight loss plan long term. I can't really understand what I can do to make weight loss routines last longer than a few weeks.

I don't find that Slimming World really works for me, other than the weekly shame of being weighed in in front of people.

I do exercise, I run twice a week and if I could find a way to sort my diet consistently/long term I could lose the weight.

I just can't work out what is wrong with me. I know that not losing the weight has pretty serious consequences - so why can't I get my brain to motivate myself consistently?

How have other people been able to make permanent changes and does anyone have any tips please?
 
I did keto, cut carbs to practically zero. Wasn’t easy getting started, but I could still eat satisfying meals.
 
I find that when I'm eating properly low carb, it's much easier to stick to because I rarely get hungry. Add in carbs and I just want to eat! I'm motivated by the fact that I do not want to be on medication. I'm also trying to avoid medication for my high blood pressure.
Though despite being 'very good ' I still don't lose much weight because I'm a vegetarian that doesn't eat eggs. So basically most of my food is vegetables and although I stuck to the low carb ones, it's not as easy as being able to eat meat & eggs. Nothing will make me eat meat & eggs again. So it is what it is.

one day at a time, tell yourself that you can have 'whatever it is you really want' on your birthday or another named date and that *today* your going to eat low carb. It takes a few days fir your body to switch over and it's not uncommon to feel ****, get headaches and cravings.. you just need to drink lots of water, distract yourself, eat low carb option and get on with it, in a few days you'll be adapted and feel loads better & find it much easier.

You can do this!!

Then the gradual weight loss and the decreasing BG readings will give you the motivation you need
 

What do you like to eat?

Give us some meal examples and we might be able to tweak them to make them more satiating so your eating pattern becoomes more maintainable long term.
 
Low carb has really worked for me long term. Lots on this site to help you. Look into it, get the right shopping in and give it a go, better than injecting. You did it once before you can do this again, and you shouldn’t be hungry on low carb.
 
bulkbiker said:
What do you like to eat?

Give us some meal examples and we might be able to tweak them to make them more satiating so your eating pattern becoomes more maintainable long term.
Click to expand...

Breakfast is almost always 40/50g Porridge

Lunches are things like Jackets w/cheese and beans, beans on toast, sandwich

Evening meals are things like SW quiche, spag bol, stir fry, fajitas

My problem is the snacking. Snacks probably account for 1200+ calories per day, maybe more. If I track what I eat I can see how terrible it is, and if I were able to stick to tracking properly for a consistent amount of time I think that in itself would make a difference - but like dieting I lose interest in it very quickly. Even as recently as last week I was tracking, but when the calories got too high I stopped tracking for the day and just started again the next day.

I can certainly see what people are saying about low-carb diets and that is something I want to try, and I'll look into Kato as well - but I have a mental battle to win and I'm struggling to see how to get over that. I eat out of habit as much as anything else, and boredom perhaps. For example I had crisps at 945 despite only having breakfast at 8, just because I always have crisps at that time.

I've spoken to people in the past that say "if you really wanted to change then you would" - but does this mean deep down I don't want to be healthy?
 
I've tried to lose weight many times and always failed, but when I reduced my carbs for once in my life I actually lost weight , 3 stone in total in a few months. My family were all in shock. I didn't go too extreme as I wanted it to be realistic. My evening meal had the most carbs. I still eat pasta but I have a lot smaller portion than I used too and increase protein and fat in the meal. I tried to keep my breakfast and lunch lower carb. Breakfast is usually eggs of some sort or a low carb granola with yogurt and berries. For lunch I buy low carb bread (livlife) and low carb wraps (carbzone) then just normal fillings. It takes abit of getting used to but when you eat more fat and less carbs you feel less hungry so don't need snacks as much.
 
I have done the SW green diet 3 times. Each time I lost weight then regained it as I returned to my old eating habits. Becoming diabetic with the threat of possible loss of eyesight, kidney disease, neuropathy and finding a different eating plan on this forum finally gave me a way forward. I took some time to get my head around eating more fat but had no problem with drastically cutting down on carbohydrates. Since going LCHF I have lost weight, put my diabetes into remission and miraculously, have remained at a stable weight. I eat large quantities of mostly vegetarian food!
 
Last edited:
I don’t think you should blame yourself and it sounds like there’s room in your diet to find lower carb replacements, which is good news! Maybe pick one meal a day to start with if it’s a bit overwhelming and check out DietDoctor.com for ideas.

I’ve found that cutting carbs doesn’t feel like deprivation (as long as I eat enough protein/fat) and weight has been coming off steadily without what feels like much effort.
 
Wow. That’s a lot of carbs. They won’t keep you full nor help your blood levels. And it’s almost always all about the carbs not the calories for a type 2. We just don’t process them properly, so any scheme designed around a perfect laboratory style body just won’t work the way they say it will. Ie slimming world.

What about eggs or bacon for breakfast? Or look up non grain granola or porridge and make that instead. Potatoes and bread are not your friends either. Beans might be ok in small amounts only. How about having larger quantities of the fillings instead of the sandwich? Salads with plenty of proteins etc

Things like spag Bol are good but not the pasta. Same with stir fries and rice

Have you got a meter? Have you read the links in red below this message ?
 
Last edited:

This makes a lot of sense, thank you.

I have a meter yes, but no I've not had chance to read your links and I've not yet followed up on some of the other suggestions or forum posts - but I will do later today when I finish work. Thanks
 
Actually your problem is that you are eating a lot of carbs.
As a diabetic can't cope with carbohydrates, I suspect a total rethink of your food would be the only way to go.
 
LeeSouth said:
. For example I had crisps at 945 despite only having breakfast at 8, just because I always have crisps at that time.
Click to expand...


You were probably hungry because the porridge had led to a blood sugar spike then crash.. that's what eating carbs does.

Eggs and bacon would be far more satiating for longer.

Personally I never eat until mid afternoon and just have coffee with double cream through the morning (3 so far today)

You're simply eating way too many carbs.

Try a diet of meat, fish, eggs, green veg(optional) and dairy.

Almost zero carb, high fat and protein. The pounds will likely fall off you without feeling hungry.
 
You are eating an enormous amount of carbs in all those meals and if you're snacking on carbs as well then you've done really well to lose anything at all. My advice is to go low-carb with intermittent fasting. It's entirely up to you but you would have to ditch the porridge, toast, potatoes, beans, etc etc, and stick to meat, dairy and above ground vegetables. You can forget about calories and not be hungry.

It's really your choice. There is something that worked for me and a lot of others on here, it just needs to be done.
 
All the carbs in your breakfast that will give you a blood glucose spike. Despite the Porridge satisfying for longer than refined carbs would, the subsequent blood glucose drop will inevitably make you feel hungry again.
- Its a vicious cycle: Too many carbs => Too high BG => Lots of insulin produced => Rapid BG drop =. Hunger => Too many carbs.

The other problem is that crash diet programs are: Not sustainable either:
1). you run out of will power (it is a finite supply, nobody has unlimited will power).
or 2). You starve yourself of at least some nutrients.
And 3). After you have done a crash diet your resting metabolic rate adjusts downward. This means it take less calories than before in order to put back the same amount of weight. So each time it gets harder!

Take control by counting carbs instead of calories. When I first went Low Carb I was actually consuming more calories not less, because I was eating eggs, full fat greek yogurt and full fat cheese every day! Yet I still lost weight.
 
I have a plan for food for next week, being delivered on Sunday.

Breakfast will now be scrambled egg and bacon.

For lunches I have chicken and veg and will make a batch of several meals.

For evening meals I have spiralized carrot bolognaise, a stir fry (with no noodles) and a SW quiche.

It won't necessarily be perfect low carb straight away, but should be a reasonable start.

Thanks all for your advice and support.
 
Well done. I look forward to hearing about your progress as you are heading in the right direction!
just don't be put off if someone in the medical profession tells you that you have to eat carbohydrates, you don't!
@RadDad has just written a really encouraging post!
 
Hi. SW doesn't work for most people longer term (neither do any calorie based approaches).
You are snacking not because you lack motivation, but because you are hungry. You seem very motivated albeit by fear of insulin jabs and rightly so!
This is your 2nd rodeo so I'd approach this one with a longer term perspective. Rather than counting points or calories or 'syns' try this mantra:
Prioritise protein (eggs, chicken, mince, nuts, cheese etc.)
Fill up on fat (the fat the above foods naturally come with)
Careful on Carbs
You could just try changing 1 meal at a time and breakfast is a good set up for the rest of the day.
Don't try to change too much at once just to fit the Doc's timetable. Take a waist measurement and/or candid swimwear photo as this is the area where you want to strip fat away.
  • IF you are on meds (blood pressure and glucose lowering as alluded to) have a chat with a dsn as you may need to reduce them.
  • There's a spectrum with low carb from Keto (in at the deep end) through to lower carb (130g daily). IMO going in too extreme can be difficult so I'd personally do 1 meal or 1 day at a time and get consistent with it.
  • You will have cravings for those 'syns' but these will pass and can be thought of as a detoxing process as sugary starchy stuff is addictive.
  • Get support here and from family as you will be eating differently and most of the world still think that its all about cutting fat/calories so you may need to be firm on that.
  • I've done this with members of my diabetes walk and talk group and its produced reliable results . You're not on your own!
 
 
@LeeSouth
My motivation is not for weight loss, but to try to prevent the complications possible from diabetes. I want to retain my sight and my limbs more than I want to lose weight.
I just mention this knowing I have never been motivated to lose weight per se, but since going low carb to lower my bg, I have lost, easily and without hunger, over 3 stone.
Ie changing the thought might change the motivation
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…