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Rising BG whilst dieting, should I worry?

H

Happyhomelands

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I have been dieting since January to reduce my BG and lose in excess of 5 stones in weight. I started moderate low carb, which resulted in v slow weight loss but good BG and slowly reducing FBG. For about a week I have been attempting to reduce carbs to 40g, mostly with success. The last couple of days my 2 hour post eating BG has been rising and my daily range has been creeping up. It used to go as low as 4.3 and high as 5.6, now the lowest reading is 5.5 and post meal is 6.8. Ive been looking at some fasting sites, and conclude this may be a normal part of ketosis. I have also checked overall calories and aim not to go below 800 each day. I must admit that Im feeling strangely light headed.

I'm just checking that this is normal and asking how high should I let it go before I up my carbs a bit?
 
Are you nursing an illness? Virus? Infection? Common cold? Under extra stress? All these can have an effect on BS readings, also the very cold weather.

As you reduce carbs, so you must increase fats or you will lose energy. Can you tell us what you are typically eating in a day?
 
Hi Happyhomelands
I think you should look elsewhere for the reason, I can't see how less carbs can cause higher levels.
Have you increased your exercise? or maybe you are coming down with something. Another thought I've just had is have you started a new pot of strips?
 
How are you sleeping? Changes in patterns can affect bg levels.
 
Are you going dizzy if you go upstairs too fast?
It is an indication that you are pushing your body too hard. It is not usually necessary to restrict calories as well as carbs, your 'as low as 800 calories', combined with what is now a low carb way of eating might be too much of a strain. The Newcastle Diet is low calorie but not necessarily low carb. You might find that adding a serving of veges about 5gm of carb, along with some fats might help. I was thinking mashed celeriac with butter steamed cauliflower with mayonnaise (yes it is good) or try berries and cream as a dessert. There is a very strong reliance of the invariability of what a calorie is and does, but when I eat low carb I do not need to restrict calories in order to lose weight - so some calories become negative, which is contrary to logic, but it works for me.
 
Can you test your blood pressure - often light headedness and dizzy after sitting down on rising can indicate low blood pressure.
 
Thank you. Yes I have been dizzy. I must admit I'm not totally confident that my tracking is accurate. I may be under estimating. We appear to be eating loads. When I checked ketones for the first time yesterday I was a low positive, just now ketones were negative. I had 100g yoghurt with 30g blueberries and granola for breakfast.
Thankyou for thinking this through for me.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
Are you nursing an illness? Virus? Infection? Common cold? Under extra stress? All these can have an effect on BS readings, also the very cold weather.

As you reduce carbs, so you must increase fats or you will lose energy. Can you tell us what you are typically eating in a day?
Click to expand...
I live in an old house and the heating has been struggling to keep up. Also was a bit stressed at driving early morning in the snow taking my daughter 15 miles to her driving test. I have increased fats by switching to cream coffee.

This is what I aim for using Nutracheck
56g 14% carbs
120g 30% protein
100g 56% fat

I had recently swapped to coffee with double cream for breakfast from yoghurt granola and berries

Tuna salad no bread

Chicken breast with big plate of ratatouille and 2 slices of protein bread

No wine at present
 
catinahat said:
Hi Happyhomelands
I think you should look elsewhere for the reason, I can't see how less carbs can cause higher levels.
Have you increased your exercise? or maybe you are coming down with something. Another thought I've just had is have you started a new pot of strips?
Click to expand...
No. The only changes are weather and an aversion to exercise in the cold. I don't feel ill.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
If I were you I would just ride it out without changing much, at least for now. See what happens in a couple of weeks time.
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Thank you, I was hoping for this sort of reassurance. I just didn't want to make myself ill by letting my bg get too high. I don't have a feel for the implications behind the numbers yet.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
There is nothing at all wrong with your current numbers, even though they are a little bit higher than before.
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Thank you Bluetit, business as usual then . I really appreciate this forum and the advice given. One can sit at home and think about all sorts of possibilities and worry. You guys make sure that nothing is left out. No need to worry now. Many thanks to all replies.
 
francesk said:
Can you test your blood pressure - often light headedness and dizzy after sitting down on rising can indicate low blood pressure.
Click to expand...
It took a while but I found my meter and checked. Normal but low low pressure may have been the cause of dizzyness this morning as I hadn't drunk anything except coffee with cream. I've had lots of drinks and am now feeling much better. Thank you for the prod
 
If you want berries, blueberries are not the best choice as they are, as with all fruit from the US, higher in sugar than other varieties. Even if the blueberries did not grow in the US the variety developed there is the one which has been exported around the world. You could have, for instance twice as many strawberries for the same carb content.
I find that avoiding grains gives me a much wider choice of other lower carb foods, as they are so dense in carbs even if they are considered healthy food.
 
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