Lifestyle Change, but sometimes carb fest ?

garlicmonster · Feb 20, 2018

Hi all

I was a member of this community, but have rejoined.

About me - Male, 55 yr old T2 on Metformin.

I've had a lifestyle change (positive) - From a sedentary, high stress, office based role, I took a package and now have set up my own dog walking business. As a result, I'm walking 5-10 miles per day (over 220 miles in Jan) & I've lost over a stone since my last health check mid Dec 2017 - all good so far.

The problem I find is that around 4:00 pm, I can get a really strong urge to just binge on carbs - I'm not hypo (though I have had 2 minor hypos at this time of day) I'm just wondering if this could be related to the increase in activity and whether my body is just taking it's own sweet (?) time to adjust to the new regime. I'm pretty sure that this carb fest is the reason my weight loss seems to have plateaued.

My next check up will be June, and I'm hoping for a positive result.

I do have a meter, but have (honestly) been avoiding testing as I often see an early morning high which frankly is depressing and sucks the motivation from me.

Advice would be much appreciated

bulkbiker · Feb 20, 2018

Have you changed what you eat at all in your quest for health? Do you have a carby lunch.. for example?

Brunneria · Feb 20, 2018

Since you are still transitioning into this new lifestyle, along with weight loss and increased exercise, I would be tempted to suggest you eat something low carb (say a nut bar or a chunk of cheese) half an hour before you experience this daily carb craving.

Having said that, you haven't stated what you are doing, and what you are eating at the moment, to deal with your daily afternoon craving. Are you eating carbs? (in which case your body will be wanting, expecting and demanding more the next day, and the next...) Or are you ignoring the craving? (in which case your body will adjust over time, but it won't be enjoyable) Or are you eating low carb instead of carbs in response to the craving? (which would help to teach your body a new expectation).

I am prone to hypos with stress, exercise, and as a knock on from too many carbs, so I know how unpleasant they can be. But over time I have learned that for me it is far better to avoid them completely by altering my routines (bigger lower carb lunch, or a snack before the hypo starts), rather than waiting for them to happen and treating them - which often ends up as over-treating them.

Hope that helps.

garlicmonster · Feb 20, 2018

Brunneria said:
Since you are still transitioning into this new lifestyle, along with weight loss and increased exercise, I would be tempted to suggest you eat something low carb (say a nut bar or a chunk of cheese) half an hour before you experience this daily carb craving.

Having said that, you haven't stated what you are doing, and what you are eating at the moment, to deal with your daily afternoon craving. Are you eating carbs? (in which case your body will be wanting, expecting and demanding more the next day, and the next...) Or are you ignoring the craving? (in which case your body will adjust over time, but it won't be enjoyable) Or are you eating low carb instead of carbs in response to the craving? (which would help to teach your body a new expectation).

I am prone to hypos with stress, exercise, and as a knock on from too many carbs, so I know how unpleasant they can be. But over time I have learned that for me it is far better to avoid them completely by altering my routines (bigger lower carb lunch, or a snack before the hypo starts), rather than waiting for them to happen and treating them - which often ends up as over-treating them.

Hope that helps.

garlicmonster · Feb 20, 2018

I'll be honest, sometimes I do eat more carbs, other times I don't. Lunchtime is a period of high demand for my business, so I tend to do a 1st thing walk before eating a wholemeal sandwich, early doors (say 11:30 - 12:00 ish) then I do 2 x 1 hr dog walks back to back, pausing for a (black unsweetened) coffee around 14:30, before walking again just after 3. Each walk is around an hour and usually 4-5 Km. It's when I get home around 4pm & after walking 12-16 Km that I struggle.

Brunneria · Feb 20, 2018

Thanks for the extra info

In light of it, i can tell you what I would do, but obviously only you will be able to decide if it will work for you.

Firstly, at 2.30, i would eat some cheese or nuts with that coffee. That would help me to last the afternoon and not get home ravenously hungry.

Secondly, i would have something scrumptious at home to look forward to when i got home at 4pm. Something firmly low carb. I don’t know what you consider to be scrumptious, but with the amount of energy you must be burning with that walking, especially in this cold weather, i think you could include a low carb mug cake (2 mins in a microwave), or a blob of low carb icecream. Maybe not every day, but certainly as a trial to see if it evened out your blood glucose and stopped the carb cravings.

Some people on this forum with much lower activity levels than yours manage to tuck away a fair bit of low carb baking, so I wouldn’t automatically assume that such snacks will kill your weight loss.

nomoredonuts · Feb 23, 2018

Good to see you posting again @garlicmonster and congratulations on the lifestyle change. Hope you will keep us informed on any changes.

Lifestyle Change, but sometimes carb fest ?

garlicmonster

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bulkbiker

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Brunneria

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garlicmonster

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garlicmonster

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nomoredonuts

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Lifestyle Change, but sometimes carb fest ?

garlicmonster

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bulkbiker

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Brunneria

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garlicmonster

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garlicmonster

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Brunneria

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nomoredonuts

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