Losing weight

Hi All,

I've weighed myself tonight for the first time in a couple of months. I was 20st 5 pounds in and am now 13st 5 pounds. For the first time in my life, I am no longer officially overweight or obese. Admittedly, I have a BMI of .1 below the end of the healthy range but I am quite pleased with myself. I hardly eat anything these days and what I do eat is very low carb.

I've had problems with my eyes and so far have had three laser operations and that has stopped me giving in to cravings, haha. To be honest, I haven't missed chocolate at all, I miss crisps a bit but that's it. I know that if I eat even a bit of chocolate I would end up eating a lot so I just don't have any. I've discovered that I really like eggs, cheese and other things that are very low in carbs and also I make my own garlic sauce now that I put on everything - I like that as much as I like chocolate.

I am retired and single though (got divorced this year after 25 years together) and I find it a lot easier with not working. My wife, who was and still is fantastic, started cooking healthier things and that really helped. I'm not sure whether I would be able to do it while working as I was an IT contractor which was quite stressful and I'd eat quite a lot. I went out with a friend for lunch who I haven't seen for 10 years and she couldn't believe how much weight I'd lost - I didn't tell her I had diabetes though which is the sole reason for it really.

ianf0ster said:

I don't know how long your journey has been, but it isn't healthy to eat very little. Eating low carb (low enough to satisfy your BG meter) is sufficient to lose all excess weight for the majority of people. In fact many worry about how to stop/reverse weight loss on low carb.

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When I say I eat very little, it is very little to what I used to eat. I now only ever have breakfast, lunch and dinner and never have any snacks in between. Previously I would eat snacks whenever I felt hungry whereas I ignore the hunger signs now as I know I aren't really hungry. The good thing is that I really look forward to meals now and savour the food a lot more than I ever did.

I'm really sorry that Mounjaro hasn't helped you lose weight, but it certainly is a positive that your a1c has gone down.

I've always been overweight and obese for the last maybe 30 years. It never really bothered me though as everything in my life was pretty good and I was very happily married. Even when I got diagnosed with diabetes I didn't lose that much weight - however, when it seriously affected my eyes it was a totally different ball game for me.

I used to be able to eat 6 bags of crisps at once, loads of chocolate bars. Whenever I got hungry I would eat and as I was pretty contented I didn't care.

Now it is just the three meals a day with the last being before 7pm (I follow the thread on this forum). No crisps or chocolate (well maybe a chocolate bar once a fortnight and a bag of crisps every now and then). Initially I would feel hungry all the time and my stomach would be rumbling - enough that other people would hear it which is a bit embarrassing. However, I have noticed that in the last month or so that seems to have stopped.

It does help being retired and also that I am very competitive. When I first got diagnosed, a very good friend had been diagnosed a year earlier. He posted on facebook with a picture of him at the gym saying that he was now in remission thanks to the gym. I joined a gym but unfortunately that didn't seem to help much at all and I really didn't like it (I now just go for 40 minute brisk walks every day listening to an audiobook which I dont mind at all.

It was a real mission to get down to at least 50 from 110 and it took a while but I did get there. My last test a few months ago showed that I was 38 which is 2 less than my friend - I would never say anything to him but secretly I was happy.

I don't like it when I go to peoples houses for a meal and I have to be really careful what I eat - I'm in a club and unfortunately somebody very kindly bought pizzas for everyone and I felt awful having to say no to a slice, I really don't think people realise how even a small bit of white flour makes my BG shoot up. I did go for a meal with an old friend who doesn't know I am diabetic and the look on her face when I ordered a steak but with salad instead of chips, haha. I took a lot of ribbing about that, but I just said I was on a bit of a health kick.

I really hope you find a way to lose weight, but getting your 1ac down is such a good thing that you should be congratulated and plesaed with yourself.