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Pre diabetic struggling to lose weight

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Bridget66

Member
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Recently diagnosed with pre diabetes, I’ve been following a LC diet (50-90g carb) No weight or inch loss. Tried <20g carbs daily and reduced the fat, still no loss. The pluses are, I’m eating 3 meals per day with no snacking, not starving myself & BG has come right down BUT I’ve got about 9 stone to lose and am starting to feel disheartened. My plan is to add IF, then if that doesn’t work I’ll also do 5:2. I can’t think of anything else to try after that 3 pronged attack. Does anyone on this fantastic forum have similar experiences and successes to keep me feeling positive?
 
Hello Bridget. How long have you been low carbing? are you having enough fats?
 
Hi there, I'm not sure a simple 'low carb diet' does much for weight loss in and of itself, you could easily be eating 4000 calories for example whilst still on 70/80 carbs. I know it's not about calories per se for weight loss of course. How long were you on under 20 carbs for?, it is this approach (keto) that seems to (sometimes) work for weight loss, did it get you into ketosis as that is the state you need to be in for your body to start burning fat instead of carbs for energy. It seems very scientific from what I've read, each person needs to find the level of carbs they can reduce to to go into ketosis, usually around 50 carbs or less and it can take a fair while to occur, weeks for some people. I think many people make the mistake of going on a sort of 'half diet', ie low carb (but not low enough for keto) so the body happily uses the easy carbs available and forgets about burning the fat because it doesn't have to. x
 
lucylocket61 said:
Hello Bridget. How long have you been low carbing? are you having enough fats?
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Hi, about 6 weeks on<20 carbs, I’ve followed the fat ratio set for me on carb manager app, thought after 3 weeks of no weight loss it might be due to too high fat stopping my body using up its own fat reserves so lowered it a bit. I have no gall bladder so don’t cope well with too much fat.
 
My calorie count doesn’t go over 1450 a day, not sure if I’m managing ketosis but have felt like I’ve got Keto flu this last week. Didn’t realise it takes a long time for ketosis to happen.
 
I am sure I never went into ketosis since I never had less than 60g of carbs a day usually a bit more. I lost 3 stone and got down to an ideal weight in 6 months. I don't know if that was low carb or the easy reduction in calories by not eating carby foods. While counting calories is not a good way to lose weight, a rough idea of your daily intake is probably useful to check portion size. My weakness is cheese, it doesn't take much to put on a few pounds even though it is nearly carb free.
 
Bridget66 said:
My calorie count doesn’t go over 1450 a day, not sure if I’m managing ketosis but have felt like I’ve got Keto flu this last week. Didn’t realise it takes a long time for ketosis to happen.
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Hi Bridget, can you tell us a typical days meals at all, I know you are not diabetic but do you test the effects food may be having on you? x
 
Hi, a friend of mine has recently lost weight by eating low carb which is his preferred eating style but also halving his normal portion sizes. He also had his last alcoholic drinks on New Year's Eve. He has distracted himself by walking more. Out of the two of us I'm the one who should be making the effort to lose weight but, at the moment, I do not have his rigour and determination. I just admire his resolve!
 
Bridget66 said:
My calorie count doesn’t go over 1450 a day, not sure if I’m managing ketosis but have felt like I’ve got Keto flu this last week. Didn’t realise it takes a long time for ketosis to happen.
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Maybe try eating more but in a reduced window.. so an intermittent fasting regime.
I skipped breakfast and replaced with coffee and double cream (3 large ones over the morning) then ate lunch and dinner when I started out on this journey. Nowadays I tend to eat a light meal at 3 pm then proper dinner at 7pm. That way I have an extended "fast" period but can eat enough to not enter metabolic slowdown.
I'd suggest worry less about the calories and more about the quality of food. So single ingredient foods cooked fresh. Meat, green veg, fish, eggs and dairy if you like it.
 
Nothing to add other than well done on the key sentence in all of this - your blood sugars have come down - this is great as you have already improved your metabolism and state of insulin resistance. If you have 9 stone to loose then you have been insulin resistant for some time therefore it will take time and, as previously suggested, possibly some fasting to get rid of the fat around the liver and pancreas that has caused you problems so don't feel disbeartened.
 

It is very difficult to eat a low carb diet of under 20g a day and be eating 'too many' calories. Especially as research shows that most people will lose weight on under 130g a day and with plenty of fat in their diet - which is why most on low carb don't count calories.
 
I lost a lot of first, then plateaued for ages, lost some more plateaued again and so on. I was concentrating on my BS rather than weight loss but it did come off.
 
Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences & your tips. I do still test on waking, before & after meals and bedtime. I don’t eat dairy or much meat, but luckily enjoy cooking & being inventive within my allowances. I’m happy to see my BS drop and feel so much better in myself. Think I will definitely have a go at IF, 16:8 and see how it goes. Just realised that yes to have been so overweight for so long means I’m soo insulin resistant and it’s going to take a while.
 

Yes, I agree. I never said that though. My thought was that if the poster is eating under 20 carbs you would expect she would be losing weight as you suggest(not the same for all of course), but if the poster was eating around 80/90 carbs along with 4000 calories then that may be a reason why it's not happening, just a thought really.
 

You may have the same problem as me: 'underactive thyroid'.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/underactive-thyroid-hypothyroidism/symptoms/

I'm getting a blood test next week to confirm this. I have a lot of the symptoms.
 
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