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

Losing too much weight

K

Kiggy

Active Member
Messages
29
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and given 3 months to do life style changes to avoid going on medication. I have been following a low carb diet and my levels seem to have come down (finger prick test not the 3 month one). I have lost a stone in weight and am now just under 8 stone. I really don't want to lose any more weight but don't want my levels to rise and have to take medication. Any advice please. Thank you.
 
Hi Kiggy

I’m in the same position. I have managed to maintain my weight as I didn’t have any to lose. I snack on almonds, pecans, walnuts, cheese, bacon and have half an avocado a day. I don’t like cream, but as mentioned above, that will help.
 

HI Kiggy, I'm another lightweight person, and certainly once I had trimmed up, I found it a bit of a challenge to stop losing weight.

A couple of questions first if I may.

I appreciate BMI and such are just a guideline, but do you know where you are on that scale, or failing that, how tall are you? I'm not trying to pry, but just really trying to gauge how quickly you need to halt this weight loss, as it can take a few tweaks to get it right.

Secondly, it'd be good to understand what sort of thing you have to eat on a day-to-day basis. By that I'm hoping we could swerve telling you to eat loads of nuts if, for whatever reason, you don't like them or can't eat them.

To be honest, for many the balancing bit is where the hard work begins, and that was the case for me. Like you, I didn't want to take any medications, but nor did I want to fade away!

You'll get there, but it can take some patience and a bit of record keeping.

(Just for completeness, I've never taken any medication related to my T2.)
 
Hello thank you for your reply. I am 5' 2" and have BMI of 22. Quite often I have cooked breakfast, egg, beans, bacon, peppers and tomato but occasionally banana or bran cereal with almond milk. Lunch time maybe turkey salad and tea time maybe jacket potato, steak veg. I have the occasional sugar free sweet, drink sugar free and black coffee, red nuts quite a lot of them and the very occasional 1/3 of a choc cake and quite a lot of fruit. Thanks
 

Thanks Kiggy, looks like the one, very important thing I didn't ask you is, what sort of diabetes you have been diagnosed with - T1, T2, prediabetes or something else? It would also be useful to understand what your latest blood sugar was on your lab tests.

Yes, I ask LOTS of questions!! - but only because nobody wants to use a sledge hammer to crack a nut, or to ignore anything.
 
I also found myself in your situation after I lost all my excess weight. I just could not stop losing and was in danger of becoming scrawny. It was hard work, harder even than losing the weight in the first place. I had to go back to basics with my food diary, and use my bathroom scales alongside my meter to guide me, recording everything. What I did may not help you at all because you are eating a lot more in the way of carbohydrate and fruit than I do. I had no intention of increasing carbs to maintain my weight, in fact I decided to reduce the carbs even more because I consider blood sugar levels to be far more important. So all I was left with was to increase fats and protein bit by bit until I found the right balance ...... and that took quite a long time. I never have snacked, so it wasn't an option to suddenly start. Once I found the balance my weight stabilised and I have maintained it at that level for 4 years.
 
Further to Bluetit's comment above, this is the stage I am at at the moment. I recently raised the level of healthy fats in my diet (one way was to have what is known as a fatbomb after my meals) and raised the level of protein by having slightly larger portions of meat or an extra egg at breakfast etc. I did not raise the levels of carbs at all and maintain a 30g per day total. Fingers crossed but I may just have found the right levels for me for now anyway.

This has been a difficult learning curve but I am glad I was encouraged to stick with it by members who have done this in the past because I was at one point ready to admit defeat and raise my carb allowance which could possibly have led to the need for stronger Diabetes drugs.

Good Luck.
 
I would advise avoiding high carb foods and concentrating on the lower density carbs along with protein and fat - for instance, bran cereal, potato, beans or bananas will be quite a hefty amount of carbs to deal with, so you could lower your BG levels by avoiding that sort of food, but increase your calories by choosing something you could eat a larger portion of and keep control - possibly better control long term. Maybe having chocolate in small amounts, rather than even a small amount of cake.
To try to eat a low carb diet but including high carb foods means that you are going to have to eat small portions, but when eating low carb foods you simply have much more to eat.
 
I agree with the advice said on above posts, and am also an example of a T2 person who doesn't want to lose any more weight. I finally discovered that it's bizarrely about making sure I do eat enough, just the right kinds of food. Sadly, for me that means no biscuits, no cereal, no pasta (I don't mind about the pasta - it's the biscuits I miss!). The good thing is that it doesn't necessarily mean just lettuce leaves. Eggs, bacon, steaks, cheese, nuts, avocados are now all in much higher quantities for me than they were before.

I'm like you - 5'0" and now 7 stone 7 lbs, having inadvertently lost 7 lbs when I changed my diet and cut out most carbs. And then I discovered I wasn't hungry for most of the day and subconsciously ate far less.

When I do eat carbs, I'm then really, really hungry (as also said above, but even so - it still surprises me when it happens. You wouldn't think a biscuit or two would have that effect).
 
Hi @Kiggy - With a BMI of 22, there is a little wiggle room before there would be a clinical concern for your weight, although not everyone wants to go very slim, and being slap-bang in the middle of the Healthy range, that's a choice open to you.

Looking at what you're eating and drinking, you are consuming quite a bit more carbohydrate that I did after my diagnosis, and to this day. If you blood sugars scores are good with your diet, that's also absolutely fine. Do you self test at all?

I have no personal experience of halting weight loss with your level of carbs, but to be honest, if pressed, I would think your best option could be to up your protein a bit, and do nothing more than that for a week or two. If that doesn't stop your losses, then maybe add a bit of cheese, or a bit more cheese, but I would urge you to try not to up the carbs too much because it seems to be the combination of carbs and fat which can lead to weight gain, and sometimes rapidly too.

I don't say that last bit to scare you, but just to share my understanding, because nobody wants to get into a bit of a yo-yo phase going between losing and gaining weight.

It really is about tweaking, although I didn't actually ask how quickly you are still losing nowadays. If your losses are still fast, that could influence how much you need to up your consumption.
 
Thank you for your reply much appreciated. My BMI is 20.2 now, I rechecked after your reply. My weight has dropped a stone in one month since watching the carb intake. I do keep those individual blocks of cheese and Cheddar thins in my bag for snacks while out and to have with a coffee instead of something sweet. I do test blood glucose which can be erratic 5.2 on waking and shooting to 10.2 after bran flakes and banana (much lower after cooked breakfast but can't always face that). I seem fine with potato but bread, cereals play havoc!!! Not happy being in 7 stones would like to get back in 8s. Will keep munching on nuts and cheese been restricting them. Thank you again
 
@Kiggy Just a suggestion, but why eat the Bran Flakes and bananas if they send you sky high? Could you face a 3 egg mushroom omelet or a couple of boiled eggs, or a full fat yogurt with 2 or 3 strawberries added? I found eating extra eggs, extra butter, cream and cheese helped me stabilise my weight. I also returned to an old habit of red wine in the evenings - plenty of calories in that, but no carbs!
 

To be honest Kiggy - I would up the protein you are eating, and if you need snacks, I'd go for more cheese and fewer (in my case, none) Cheddars biscuits.

If bread spikes you, I'd be astonished if Cheddars didn't. I never have anything like that as I'm gluten-free.

I'm not a massive believer in calories in equalling calories burnt to maintain weight, as the lowere my carbs are, the more calories I have to eat to maintain. I weight 105lbs/48kg/7st 7lbs, and 160cmtall, but regularly take in 2000-2500 calories a day. I certainly don't calorie count every day, but sometimes it makes sense
 
You seem to be doing a brilliant job with your diet, except that breakfast is rather letting you down. Bananas are one of the highest carb fruits. You can see the relative carb content of various fruits here:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/fruits
I can quite understand not being able to face a traditional cooked breakfast. Have you tried 5% Greek yoghurt (Total Fage is the lowest carb and delicious) with a few frozen strawberries / raspberries? Or even my standby, a Hartley's 10cal jelly pot) With some added double cream? Personally, I usually eat cold chicken for breakfast, as even the dark meat is not as rich as egg and bacon.
 
Will look out for that brand of yogurt thanks.
 
Don't always have the time to start cooking. I thought cream would be a definite no no? I have tested the bran flakes 3 times now along with muesli and realise they're not for me. I haven't had tester long so not 100% sure of best time to test. I tested 1 hour after the bran flakes but not sure if that best time and depending on what the food is should testing be left longer or shorter - whole new ball names, just experimenting at the moment. This site is so helpful, thank you to everyone.
 
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.…