still not losing any weight

Hi Louise
Well done for changing your lifestyle and tackling Diabetes head on. I went through the same when I was diagnosed but my weight remained the same. What I eventually found was to stop worrying about the weight and concentrate on my BG levels. I took up running and now go 5 times a week. That will really help you, if that seems daunting join a gym or look at c25k online; it is a fantastic running programme aimed at people who have not been active for some time but want to start slowly and build up to running 5k. It works.

Also look at tweeking your diet; leave out the fruit for a few weeks and monitor your levels, change the rice from white to Basmati, look at portion sizes, also check out the low carb diets in detail and see how you get along.

But most of all do not be disheartened as you have done well so far, just see this as a re-evaluation of where you are right now.

alison m said:

I am feeling really disheartened, since diagnosis in May I have completely changed my diet, gone are all the nice things like chocs, sweets crisps cake biscuits, I don't drink alchohol so that is no loss, I now eat only salads, fruit, brown pasta or rice, limiting my bread intake and only wholemeal when I do, today I weighed myself and I still have not lost any weight whatsoever, BG is up and down like I dont know what, today I ate for breakfast scrambled egg, two small rashers of grilled bacon and one slice of wholegrain bread, de caff coffee, two hours later BG 9.1, beginning to think is it all worth it, what am I doing wrong. Could the fact that I have stopped smoking, 6 weeks now, be effecting me losing weight, any help would be much appreciated.

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I suffered the same until I realised what makes my BG spike and also portions sizes. You say for breakfast you had - scrambled egg, two small rashers of grilled bacon and one slice of wholegrain bread. Now have you ever looked at the packaging for the bacon which could be treated with sugar. Do you really need the bacon, Egg on Toast is ample or the luxury of a tomato omelette or mushroom omelette. Consider also for breakfast, smoked haddock and egg, or kipper and that luxurious bit of toast in the morning. There are approx 15 carbs in one slice of wholegrain toast but for breakfast that is fine. I recommend no bread after breakfast. Also fruit is loaded with fructose; for example a small apple contains about 15 carbs, 58 cals. Its not calories you need to worry about but the total carb intake for the day. If you keep your carbs below 60 a day you will lose weight. As far as fruit is concerned strawberries and raspberries are better for you because of their low glycemic value and high fibre, so enjoy strawberries and cream - no carbs in the cream but stay away from cows milk try Alpro unsweetened milk. Pasta and rice are they really necessary in your diet because they are loaded in carbs and i suspect that currently you need to turn around the way your body is using its fuel. Whether its brown rice or wholemeal pasta its still loaded with carbs when you are trying to kickstart your metabolism. two thirds of a cup of white rice contains approx 24 carbs. I recommend a book called The Low Carbohydrate Diet by Evelyn L Fiore. Its out of print but can usually find a copy on Amazon. The book details carb values of most foods. Get to below 60 carbs a day and the weight will drop off. Its not a question of no carbs, just how many carbs. Anne

The weight might not drop off, initially I lost almost a stone. I was diagnosed in January, I began low carbing. Obviously I still am - got no choice. But I put half a stone back on and can't shift it.
So if you find the secret I would love to know. I think it also depends how much you have to lose in the first place, I'm about a stone overweight, its really frustrating when you stop losing.

WOW Alison I think that you are GREAT low Carb and stop smoking....I could not do it...

Since I was told I had DT2 I have not eaten any Pasta, Bread, Sugar, Cakes, etc etc...I have lost weight exercise and feel great.......but still smoking...

I would suggest just cut the carbs a little more and it should work....Good luck

My weight is a constant battle too
I eat VLC and rarely stray from it, but Ican go weeks without any loss. then Ilose a couple of kilos suddenly and a week later one of them is back and Iwork hard to keep the other off. Over the last 2 years I've lost about 5 kg. [which is not much in that time ]
However I'm holding it off and i did lose about 22kg before that.
i find Ijust have to be pleased with SMALL successes. I do keep bg on target though at around 5 most of the time
Hana

Low carb is very good at preventing weight gain but by itself , I don't think it is good for weight loss.
I think you have to do a little extra for that.
I have only ever put on weight with glimepiride . I was given Januvia at the same time as i decided to reduce my starchy carbs {and i din't eat many} and increase my eercise - which in effect meant just to ensure i walked every day and let nothing else get in the way.
By sticking to this regime I was able in fact -obliged- to stop the glimepiride {constant hypos}. After that I lost the two stone I had gained in 3 years in 6 weeks.

I eat small portions only a resonable amount of starchy carbs and sill walk every day but the weight loss stopped immediately I had lost that initial weight and has remained the same for the last two years.
My bg levele have improved beyond recognition. I started the low carbing and the exercise for my bg - the weight loss was incidentaland obviously linked to the medication.

I think you need to make an extra effort to kickstart weifht loss. Smaller portions , more exercise but you should not need to do this for ever .

Unbeliever said:

Low carb is very good at preventing weight gain but by itself , I don't think it is good for weight loss.

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That's not my experience. I'd already spent a year, a whole year, of swimming before work 3 or 4 morning a week and didn't lose a single kilo. Zip, nothing, nada. I started low carbing at the end of January and lost loads almost immediately. I often say to people on here that they should try low carbing for 6 weeks, because that's how long it took me to lose a stone and get my levels under control.

Since then my weight has plateau'd a couple of times before dropping again - but at some stage I guess I'll reach my ideal weight and assuming that everyone is different, then I guess that each of us will end up at a 'natural' weight.

I rarely count my carb intake now, but I never eat bread, potatoes, rice, pasta or anything with flour in it. I eat lots of fat and as much protein as I can. I realise this is not helpful if you're doing all of this and the weight is staying put, but I can't agree that low carbing doesn't help weight loss, because it has for me.

swimmer2 said:

Unbeliever said:

Low carb is very good at preventing weight gain but by itself , I don't think it is good for weight loss.

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That's not my experience. I'd already spent a year, a whole year, of swimming before work 3 or 4 morning a week and didn't lose a single kilo. Zip, nothing, nada. I started low carbing at the end of January and lost loads almost immediately. I often say to people on here that they should try low carbing for 6 weeks, because that's how long it took me to lose a stone and get my levels under control.

Since then my weight has plateau'd a couple of times before dropping again - but at some stage I guess I'll reach my ideal weight and assuming that everyone is different, then I guess that each of us will end up at a 'natural' weight.

I rarely count my carb intake now, but I never eat bread, potatoes, rice, pasta or anything with flour in it. I eat lots of fat and as much protein as I can. I realise this is not helpful if you're doing all of this and the weight is staying put, but I can't agree that low carbing doesn't help weight loss, because it has for me.

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I did say "by itself". I have always exercised but it didnt stop me gaining weight with the medication. I think it was the low carbing and the etra eercise together that heped me o lose the weight so quickly.

I read the other day that a low car diet is the worst for regaining weight hat has been lost. I havent fond that this is so but then I didnt have a weight problem before medication.

A few people have mentioned hat although thier bg levels have improved the weight has not shifted. I was just suggesing the OP add something to kickstart he weight loss - give the metabiolism a bit of a shake up.
I suppose a lot depends on where you are coming from.

Unbeliever said:

I think it was the low carbing and the extra exercise together that helped me to lose the weight so quickly.

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I've been losing 2lbs a week fairly consistently and I think the above pretty much sums up it up for me personally, we're all different tho. I don't carb count, I'd class myself more as 'carb aware', I aim for an hours exercise of some form daily, doesn't always happen but I try. Its this combination of a reduction in my carb intake and getting my butt off the sofa for at least an hour a day that works for me. The dogs getting thinner as well ...don't know how many carbs its on tho :lol:

alison m said:

I am feeling really disheartened, since diagnosis in May I have completely changed my diet, gone are all the nice things like chocs, sweets crisps cake biscuits, I don't drink alchohol so that is no loss, I now eat only salads, fruit, brown pasta or rice, limiting my bread intake and only wholemeal when I do, today I weighed myself and I still have not lost any weight whatsoever, BG is up and down like I dont know what, today I ate for breakfast scrambled egg, two small rashers of grilled bacon and one slice of wholegrain bread, de caff coffee, two hours later BG 9.1, beginning to think is it all worth it, what am I doing wrong. Could the fact that I have stopped smoking, 6 weeks now, be effecting me losing weight, any help would be much appreciated.

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Hi alison m I'm not type 2, but I gave up smoking over 2 years ago and I didn't put weight on ( that I know of, I dont have scales at home). But I have always been an active person and on the go everyday. Do you do exercise at all? thats a good start to getting your weight down. I dont go to a gym, I'm a walker and I like to cycle a couple of times a week.

You seem to be doing the right things by making big changes, so dont be too hard on yourself, it will take time ,just take little steps and you will, I'm sure, get there. Good luck and best wishes. ps well done on giving up the giggys, it was one of the best things I have ever done and I haven't touched once since :thumbup:

Hi Alison, I am sorry you are feeling blue - losing weight is a ******; I was 18st at diagnosis, went down to 15, stopped smoking and went up to 19.5! So I do know how you feel.

I don't seem to lose weight on low carbs although it is great for controlling the sugar. I have managed to lose some weight recently through using meal replacements twice a day and having dinner and doing some gentle exercise. (I have bad knees, so the only exercise I can do is swimming.)

We are all different tho so I am loathe to give you advice. I do know that sometimes not eating enough can stop your body from losing weight - you talk about only having 1 proper dinner a week, maybe you need to eat more, not less!

I found my doc to be sympathetic - might be worth asking for advice/support. Things like xenical can help - it makes you poo out excess fat in the diet - although its not good if you are low carbing!

I wish you good luck and please do get in touch if you want to chat online.

best wishes

I have always been very overweight. I had lost 2 stone this year and now realise that was because of diabetic symptoms.
Since diagnosis and through ignoring the advice given at the surgery where I was told to have half my meals as starchy carbs, i have managed to lose weight. I havent been focussed on losing weight, only focussed on getting my sugar levels down. Through this forum I have become very carb aware and have seriously reduced the amount of carbs I eat. At present I eat no bread, potatoes, pasta, rice and the only fruit is a few strawberries or raspberries but very few and limit thin crispbread and other carbs until I get my blood glucose down. I had very high day time readings but now most of my morning readings are between 6.7 and 7.9, after eating it is mostly low 8's to mid 9's but always staying in single figures which is a huge improvement. I am on diet only for another month before going on some form of tablet but probably metformin.

I have been on reduced carbs for 7 weeks, with a couple of small blips along the way! and so far have lost 21 pounds. As I said, I have no thoughts about weight loss, it's happening, I think, through not eating the high carbs I was packing myself with previously.
I am eating a lot of calories each day through cheese, eggs, oily fish, nuts, meat, veg, olives etc.

Weight loss is a strange thing and it is disheartening when you eat so much less and don't lose weight. I remember going on diets over the years and not losing which was frustrating. Looking back, diets consist of whole meal bread, pasta and rice - now, could it be that carbs prevent weight loss in many people? Because I was consuming a hell of a lot less calories on my 'diets' than i am on my low carb and saw very little weight loss compared to now and I'm not even thinking about losing.

I hope it all starts working for you x

I am having to count my carbs and be very strict with my calorie intake. If i go above 1400 cals a day, I stop losing weight. Low carb, for me, is great for my bg levels, but not enough on its own to get weight off me.

Alison M,

Stick with it, it will happen. I changed to a low carb diet, also gave up caffiene and most dairy (skimmed milk in coffee). Its hard I know but it does work eventually. For breakfast i tend to have prooidge, or ryebread (Roggenbrot - nice small 35 calorie slices) with an egg. Thats it for the rest of the day no more bread. I still eat rice and pasta (both brown) but stick to about an ounce, average daily cals is about 1000.

Its working though, lost 10 pounds in first month. Dont be disheartened............

Couple of things from my own experience here.

High glycaemic diet is not so much a diet to lose weight as a diet to control diabetes and slow release of energy.

Eating eggs and meat even in small quantities for me is a big no no.

Eating brown rice, is good for some and bad for others, although it is recommended that if you eat rice that you replace it with brown rice as it is more healthy and this whole glycaemic burn thing.

Salad I would be wary of the salad dressing as this is often where the calories are and often find this bumps up blood sugars.

That said 9 is not that high a reading after you have just eaten.

Finally, I should say, diabetes most definitely has an impact on your ability to lose weight, and lose weight in the right place, such as your stomach if you are a man.

Last year I was on a strict calorie diet for 10 months 600 calories a day and I barely lost 2 stone (Lighter life). That's not something wrong with the diet that is definitely something to do with the diabetes.

I am now on a 400 calorie diet + I take a caesar salad, bumps it up to 650 to 700 calories, am only just starting to lose weight in my stomach.

Something really weird with diabetes and dieting.

Completely agree Fides, I'm on a low carb diet and after losing a stone, I've put half a stone back on, eating exactly the same stuff, as the Americans say 'go figure'.

HI alison,
Just read your post. Sorry to hear your finding weight loss difficult. I had been trying to lose weight for 2 years with not much success. Six weeks ago I drastically reduced my carbs and upped my excercise to forty mins brisk walking daily and I've managed to lose 21 pounds and weight loss continues. So my advice is to possibly reduce your carbs a little more and a little more excercise which needn't mean RUNNING, just some walking or form of excercise that gets you a bit out of breath. Good luck!!

I know I have to be on a very low carb diet to control my diabetes - < 30g of carbs a day. Initially I did not really exercise and lost weight. I have never been able to lose the last 15 lbs. or so that I would like to. I have resisted an aggressive exercise program because of the studies showing that exercising more and eating less are not effective long-term wight loss plans (though exercise is good for other things) and because I don't particularly enjoy exercise. However, if you are eating a very low carb diet, then, even when you exercise you are not subject to the rising and falling of sugar levels, which stimulates hunger and sabotages weight loss. So if my energy is coming from ketones instead of glucose I figured exercise might be able to help with weight loss without creating hunger (in addition to making your muscles less insulin resitant). So for the last month or so I have been walking almost every day, making sure that I have had nothing to eat for several hours before and that I wait an hour or so after I finish before eating again. I have checked my ketone level with a meter and found that my level is elevated after exercise and I have lost 4 lbs. Hopefully that will continue. when I was diagnosed 30 years ago, I weighed 70 lbs. more than I currently weigh. I would like to weight 10 lbs. less than i do now as I think it would greatly help my glucose control. Just my own recent experience...