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My low carb/IF Diet - BG and progress
- Thread starter Debmcgee
- Start Date
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Clivethedrive
Well-Known Member
Nce an steady wins the race,( for life)
Can somebody please help me understand the concept of intermittent fasting and how it helps with fasting blood sugars? I was diagnosed with diabetes with an HbA1c of 54 in Sept. In January it was down to 50, following LCHF with no meds. Although my bloods 2 hours after eating are below 8.5 (usually below 8), my FBs are never below 6.5, so I 've decided to try IF too. So, after the gym tonight, I had a quick protein snack (full fat greek yogurt), only to find that two hours later my bloods are 11.1 - I've never had a result that high. Is this a liver dump, and if so, how does that make IF feasible?
Disillusioned, heading off to bed in the hope that tomorrow morning 's results are better
Disillusioned, heading off to bed in the hope that tomorrow morning 's results are better
Debmcgee
Well-Known Member
Hi LJ
Our bodies do some funny and frustrating things at times....are you a gym regular? And how long have you been using intermittent fasting? What time period do you fast for?
I would test yourself after Greek yoghurt without having been to the gym to see what affect it has on you. It could just be that your body was responding to the exercise and the result was higher bg reading. Did you restest to make sure you didn't have something sweet on your finger or that it wasn't one of those random incorrect readings?
Go look up Jason Fung reversing t2 diabetes on YouTube. It will show you the theory of using fasting and low carb as a way to reduce bg.
The idea is that you force the body to reduce insulin production through fasting and that when you do eat, you eat foods that do not cause a rise in bg and therefore insulin is not needed. The research shows that after fasting for 12 hours, insulin starts to reduce. You can fast for longer periods and the result should be less insulin and lower bg but 18 hours is sufficient t to make a positive difference. I've done the 5:2 diet previously and fasted for 36 hours but it was tricky to start with so for me, I feel that an 18 hour fast is more sustainable for me. So I stop eating at 7pm and don't eat until 1pm the next day. I have coffee in the morning and water, then two LCHF meals that I know do not impact my bg.
One thing to note is that protein can raise bg and this is where the fat part is vital as fat had no impact on bg. If you eat too much protein, it will convert to glycogen and therefore raise bg.
I think you need to experiment and see what happens over a period of time. We are looking for trends over a period of time so please don't feel disheartened just yet.
Another thing I do is test before I eat then at one and two hours after to see bg levels. Once I know what foods do what, I plan my diet accordingly.
Hope this makes a bit of sense....stick with it. We developed our condition over years so it may take a while to see some results but the key is consistency xxx
Our bodies do some funny and frustrating things at times....are you a gym regular? And how long have you been using intermittent fasting? What time period do you fast for?
I would test yourself after Greek yoghurt without having been to the gym to see what affect it has on you. It could just be that your body was responding to the exercise and the result was higher bg reading. Did you restest to make sure you didn't have something sweet on your finger or that it wasn't one of those random incorrect readings?
Go look up Jason Fung reversing t2 diabetes on YouTube. It will show you the theory of using fasting and low carb as a way to reduce bg.
The idea is that you force the body to reduce insulin production through fasting and that when you do eat, you eat foods that do not cause a rise in bg and therefore insulin is not needed. The research shows that after fasting for 12 hours, insulin starts to reduce. You can fast for longer periods and the result should be less insulin and lower bg but 18 hours is sufficient t to make a positive difference. I've done the 5:2 diet previously and fasted for 36 hours but it was tricky to start with so for me, I feel that an 18 hour fast is more sustainable for me. So I stop eating at 7pm and don't eat until 1pm the next day. I have coffee in the morning and water, then two LCHF meals that I know do not impact my bg.
One thing to note is that protein can raise bg and this is where the fat part is vital as fat had no impact on bg. If you eat too much protein, it will convert to glycogen and therefore raise bg.
I think you need to experiment and see what happens over a period of time. We are looking for trends over a period of time so please don't feel disheartened just yet.
Another thing I do is test before I eat then at one and two hours after to see bg levels. Once I know what foods do what, I plan my diet accordingly.
Hope this makes a bit of sense....stick with it. We developed our condition over years so it may take a while to see some results but the key is consistency xxx
Thanks Deb. I'm still trying to get my head around all this!
I work out 5 times a week, and trying to balance what I eat, when, with it is just another spanner in the works! I'm hoping yesterday's 11.1 bg just just an anomaly, probably because I didn't eat enough before working out (homemade veg soup - filling, but probably not calorie-dense enough).
Pretty sure I couldn't do the 5:2 fasting. Tried it a while ago, before being diagnosed, but was hopeless. Also, I don't want to lose any more weight, so that's why I thought I'd try the limited eating window and see if that'd help with FG levels (6.8 this morning; I've had better).
You're right, I just have to stick with it
I work out 5 times a week, and trying to balance what I eat, when, with it is just another spanner in the works! I'm hoping yesterday's 11.1 bg just just an anomaly, probably because I didn't eat enough before working out (homemade veg soup - filling, but probably not calorie-dense enough).
Pretty sure I couldn't do the 5:2 fasting. Tried it a while ago, before being diagnosed, but was hopeless. Also, I don't want to lose any more weight, so that's why I thought I'd try the limited eating window and see if that'd help with FG levels (6.8 this morning; I've had better).
You're right, I just have to stick with it
Debmcgee
Well-Known Member
Today was another good day - staff room was filled with cakes, biscuits and sweets as it was someone's birthday but I looked away and tucked into my salmon!!
L: said salmon, broccoli and cauli mash. Cheesecake fluff. Water.
D: bacon and scrambled eggs. Creamy decaf coffee.
I admit I was a bit greedy tonight - I was craving it so thought I'd have a good portion!!! Hope it's not too much protein for one meal but I guess FBG will tell tomorrow....wish my new strips would hurry up and arrive as I'm still using slightly expired ones for now
I was trying to explain to some people at work about how low fat is wrong etc and they wouldn't buy it. It's shocking how society follows the crowd. It's sort of made me even more determined to show them how brilliant low carbing is when I shift all this weight!! So here's looking forward to being significantly lighter this summer! I'm rather excited...
L: said salmon, broccoli and cauli mash. Cheesecake fluff. Water.
D: bacon and scrambled eggs. Creamy decaf coffee.
I admit I was a bit greedy tonight - I was craving it so thought I'd have a good portion!!! Hope it's not too much protein for one meal but I guess FBG will tell tomorrow....wish my new strips would hurry up and arrive as I'm still using slightly expired ones for now
I was trying to explain to some people at work about how low fat is wrong etc and they wouldn't buy it. It's shocking how society follows the crowd. It's sort of made me even more determined to show them how brilliant low carbing is when I shift all this weight!! So here's looking forward to being significantly lighter this summer! I'm rather excited...
Debmcgee
Well-Known Member
As suspected FBG was higher today at 7.8. A bit annoying but I'll not take it as a proper indicator and will carry on. Have a slight headache today but not sure why....
I thought maintaining the fast at the weekend would be hard but it's ok - keeping myself busy with chores....
Work was really stressful this week. I love my job but it's ridiculously low paid for what I do and the demands are growing and growing all the time. I know money isn't everything but it makes the cost of low carbing a bit harder to stomach although I won't stop.
Got a leg of lamb stewing away in the slow cooker. It's torture smelling it so I think I need to leave the house with the kids in tow!!
I thought maintaining the fast at the weekend would be hard but it's ok - keeping myself busy with chores....
Work was really stressful this week. I love my job but it's ridiculously low paid for what I do and the demands are growing and growing all the time. I know money isn't everything but it makes the cost of low carbing a bit harder to stomach although I won't stop.
Got a leg of lamb stewing away in the slow cooker. It's torture smelling it so I think I need to leave the house with the kids in tow!!
Clivethedrive
Well-Known Member
Debmcgee
Well-Known Member
How are you doing Zand? My new strips arrived today so I'll start those tomorrow.
Had another good food day despite the kids splurging on **** all day! I actually am not bothered by others at the mo - I have this stupid sense of superiority over them which is awful but while it works for me....
L: salami, cucumber and coleslaw. Wasn't really enough for lunch but I was out with the kids so a bit tricky. Water.
D: lamb stew, broccoli, water a cup of tea
Feeling stuffed.
Had another good food day despite the kids splurging on **** all day! I actually am not bothered by others at the mo - I have this stupid sense of superiority over them which is awful but while it works for me....
L: salami, cucumber and coleslaw. Wasn't really enough for lunch but I was out with the kids so a bit tricky. Water.
D: lamb stew, broccoli, water a cup of tea
Feeling stuffed.
