New here - silly questions!

[MKCQ]

Forgive me in advance for the number of silly questions I am about to ask - but I figure there's no such thing as a silly question, right?
I am 47 and 17 stone (female). I have low carbed for many years and understand the action of insulin on my body and obviously, my ever increasing weight means something is still not right. So I thought I would start to test my blood sugars to try and work out what is really going on.
5 years ago my fasting levels were between 4 and 5 and all good. Since then I have gained 4 stone.
Now my fasting is routinely 6.2 to 6.4 (higher than before I go to bed) and my day time levels on a fairly strict low carb diet are between 5 and 6.
So, I am not yet at diabetic levels and my day time levels are well controlled - but I cannot lose weight (I keep gaining) and my morning levels are high and not moving down at all.

For information - my typical day includes coffee with whole milk (x2) for breakfast (no food but 5gms carbs in milk), lunch around midday which is fewer than 20gm carbs, mid afternoon snack of something like cheese and maybe another coffee/tea, dinner higher in carbs (up to 40gms) and maybe a dessert of something like full fat yoghurt or berries and cream. I try to stay under 80gms carbs in total.
I exercise very little due to an ankle injury.

So the questions are:
Should I count calories as well as carbs to lose the weight?
Is the extra weight to do with something else entirely - such as my thyroid?
What causes high fasting blood sugars that return to normal throughout the day?

Many thanks for any pointers!

 

[EllieM]

Welcome to the forums.

Should I count calories as well as carbs to lose the weight?

Maybe keep a food diary for a bit and check out how many calories you are consuming?

Is the extra weight to do with something else entirely - such as my thyroid?

I'd certainly get this checked out - ask your GP for a full set of bloods.

What causes high fasting blood sugars that return to normal throughout the day?

The dawn phenomena occurs when the liver puts out sugar first thing in the morning so as to help you go out and catch a mammoth (or whatever). If you're carb intolerant this can raise your blood sugar.

Make sure you tell your doctor about the rise in blood sugar as well as weight.

Good luck.

ps any chance you could take some form of exercise that doesn't stress your ankle? (swimming, weights etc).

 

[Geordie_P]

I think in this instance you should count the calories as well. It's also possible you could have some other issues, like thyroid, but at 17 stone, I think there may be some issue of overall intake to consider first- if only to rule it out. Good luck: I'm in a similar boat as someone who struggles to lose weight, but it can be done! Good luck!

 

[Oldvatr]

Forgive me in advance for the number of silly questions I am about to ask - but I figure there's no such thing as a silly question, right?
I am 47 and 17 stone (female). I have low carbed for many years and understand the action of insulin on my body and obviously, my ever increasing weight means something is still not right. So I thought I would start to test my blood sugars to try and work out what is really going on.
5 years ago my fasting levels were between 4 and 5 and all good. Since then I have gained 4 stone.
Now my fasting is routinely 6.2 to 6.4 (higher than before I go to bed) and my day time levels on a fairly strict low carb diet are between 5 and 6.
So, I am not yet at diabetic levels and my day time levels are well controlled - but I cannot lose weight (I keep gaining) and my morning levels are high and not moving down at all.

For information - my typical day includes coffee with whole milk (x2) for breakfast (no food but 5gms carbs in milk), lunch around midday which is fewer than 20gm carbs, mid afternoon snack of something like cheese and maybe another coffee/tea, dinner higher in carbs (up to 40gms) and maybe a dessert of something like full fat yoghurt or berries and cream. I try to stay under 80gms carbs in total.
I exercise very little due to an ankle injury.

So the questions are:
Should I count calories as well as carbs to lose the weight?
Is the extra weight to do with something else entirely - such as my thyroid?
What causes high fasting blood sugars that return to normal throughout the day?

Many thanks for any pointers!

Since you are already doing LC, then this does indeed present a conundrum. What are you using to compensate the lack of carbs? If it is Fat than a calorie reduction may be a help, but if it is protein that you have upped, then it could be what is called gluconeogenesis where your body is inventing its own glucose. You could try adjusting the ratios within your diet to see if that has any effect. One thing in life that sems true and that is that matter is neither created nor destroyed, so weight gain does not magically appear. It is based on what you eat (somehow) but what may not be clear,

There is a clue. Your morning levels being high is normally associated with the liver dump waking you up, It does this by spitting out stored glucose from the liver to push the glucose levels up, Obvouusly something is recharging the liver so carbs are getting into it overnight. Do you have a bedtime snack or drink you have not admitted in your post. They say to never eat last thing at night.

Do you have a secret habit? I remember one member here reporting similar baffling results. Swore he was Low Carb, but finally admitted to being addicted to TicTacs, which he consumed by the bucketload during the day. Simple (but probably difficult fix) Double check nothing is creeping in.

One technique some of us use is Intermittent Fasting. When our diet becomes routine, then our bodies get bored, do a Ho-Hum on us, and adjust our metabolism to counteract our efforts to change. A sudden shock like a threat of starvation can jolt it back into life again. The corollary to this which apparently also works is to go on a brief Carbfest binge. However, doing this will wake the Cookie Monster, and may be difficult to put back into the biscuit tin after.

Finally, at 80gm/day carb intake, you are avoiding keto, so are not entering any form of ketosis. Your existing weight profile would indicate that lipid fat may be causing a significant problem both for Insulin resistance, and adipose fats that need to be shifted. There are two reasonably successful strategies that can help this. One is to drastically cut the carbs even further (usually to around 20-30 gm/day) to use ketosis to shift the fat The other is to do a burst on the Newcastle Diet or the Mosely Blood Sugar Diet,

I used to be over 18 stones, and I use LC and I am now steady at 10 stone. But I was a TOFI diabetic so I am back to where I should be, LC diets seem to plateau at our own personal Design Weight; which is set by some internal mechanism and may even be pre-determined at birth, Getting near or below your own personal design weight is a war.

 

[NicoleC1971]

Hello and welcome to the forum! On the face of it it sounds as if you are doing the right things but I'd concur with the other comments about strictly counting how much you are eating to check it is as you recall here. If you do overeat then your body cannot mobilise your excess fat stores because it has no need to. Low carb usually works because it discourages the body from storing fat and keeps you insulin sensitive plus reduces appetite naturally as you know but if you have upped consumption or even have some other issue that's increased your insulin resistance (See below) then my first point still applies.
Also if you are eating too little out of fear of weight gain your body might well have slowed down its burn rate...
Other things:
Stress? Menopause? Excess fluid (hypertension or a lumph problem) Other meds e.g. steroids for your injury
Definitely a good idea to get a full thryroid panel done.
Exercise to build some muscle will help you when you are able but won't shift 4 stone by itself.
TBH all of the above doesn't sound as if it could add up to 4 stone weight gain so keep asking questions and don't go starving yourself because it is unlikely to help. There may be a combo of lots of little habit changes that crack this for you and you can measure improvements not just on the scales but by waist measurement and fasting bgs!
https://www.dietdoctor.com/?s=menopausal+women have a look here for further tips...........

 

[MKCQ]

Thank you all and some very good points raised.
The weight gain is most likely to do with calories, I think. Possibly alcohol too - I drink about once or twice a week.
Menopause is a good shout too.

The thing I can change most successfully is to track what I am eating including the calories. there's a good chance I am eating more than I need. Some exercise is possible - I just have to avoid weight bearing exercise for a while longer.

I will read more into the liver dumping. I also read some where that dehydration might have an influence on morning readings. I might try a simple glass of water first thing before checking.

The idea that lots of little habits creep in is very true. A back to basics approach might be best to rule out the obvious things.

I was booked in for a full thyroid check before Covid - but haven't yet rearranged it. I will make that a priority.

 

[andromache]

Maybe an easy win would be to make sure you eat enough protein and fat at lunch to see you through to dinner without snacking. A small change isn't going to alter the course of the universe, but it might just help things a little. I wonder how careful you are to major on nutrient-rich foods like meat, fish, dairy and eggs. Too much processed food just fails to nourish you properly, and of course your body will then urge you to eat more in a futile attempt to get what it needs from such low-grade fuel. A person can take on a lot of empty calories that way, even if they are relatively low carb ones. Menopause doesn't help any, that's for sure. I wonder whether you're on any medication that is interfering with your metabolism? Some antidepressants can be problematical - mirtazapine in particular - as can the neuropathic painkillers like gabapentin - I don't know whether the nature of your injury might mean you are on that sort of medication. Worth a meds review with the GP or pharmacist if you think medication might be working against your efforts.