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Stopping weight loss from LCHF

Mplyon said:
So are you saying go weight lifting
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I would absolutely say, go weight lifting, or at any rate weight training. You are unlikely to put on enough muscle bulk to add many pounds, but resistance training can help minimise the inevitable muscle loss that goes with fat reduction. You will be able to look slim and toned instead of slim and weedy! Having a long term health problem is demoralising, but working out is extremely morale building. I am 75 but because I work out regularly I have arms to die for (not boasting, just saying!) You need to start off gently but then progress to shifting the heaviest weights you can safely manage. Waving tiny dumb bells around will not do. Weight training is also thought to help lower blood glucose, though perhaps not as much as aerobic training. IMO to do both is best, maybe on alternate days. Good luck!
 
Mplyon said:
Just a load of lettuce leaves peppers onions tomatoes with maybe boiled ham cheese sometimes avecardo or beef
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The peppers, onions and tomatoes are likely raising your BS numbers. And if you are using the average iceberg lettuce, you will get no nutrients from that either. Pick a fancy lettuce/green leaf blend, add a bit of avocado, some boiled egg, tuna, ham etc, top it off with olive oil and it dash of vinegar. Low carb, no carb laden veg to spike you and lots of good fats.
 
Mplyon said:
I would love to have the bs like yours do you do intermittent fasting And 3 meals a day.
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No, I certainly don't fast and I also snack, but when I'm at home I can control what I eat and how I exercise all the time. In the world outside it's impossible, except for one day I remember we went visiting and all we were offered for lunch was cake, so I ate nothing after breakfast until evening and drank water and coffee and my BS was level all the time. I must say I was a bit grumpy though
 
Hi Pauline,
I'm on a very high fat, keto diet and can't put weight on either so I'm not sure if adding fat will help you. I was diagnosed with type 2 five years ago and weighed around 120 lbs at that time eating a normal North American diet or actually a little healthier than normal. Since switching to keto I have not been able to gain weight even though I eat around 2500-3000 calories a day with 75-80% of them fat. My body fat is at 6.3% and I lift weights typically 5 times a week. I want to know what I need to do as well, and eating more fat certainly won't be the answer for me as many have suggested. Eating more than the 25 grams or so of carbs that I get daily isn't an option either as it will spike my blood sugar. More protein will likely cause gluconeogenesis (protein converting to glucose if you eat too much protein) as I'm already around 1.5 g/kg. body-weight. Most people use this diet to lose weight but I'm using it to control by blood sugar and it has worked, brought me down to 5.8 A1C so from that standpoint I'm very happy but I hope somebody out there has a suggestion for both of us to put on a couple of pounds.
 
Contralto said:
You seem like an intelligent person. Can you explain the glucogenisis part? This may be a problem for me and I do not understand it.
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I'm not intelligent enough to explain it properly, it's very complicated and I don't pretend to understand it well but I'll give it a go.
The reason most people on a keto diet limit their protein is to mitigate the likelihood of your liver converting excess protein (most of the amino acids, in particular Glutamine) into glucose, which then enters your bloodstream raising your blood sugar level without consuming carbs. The more active you are, the more protein muscles need to repair themselves, but if you consume more than they need the excess is stored and converted to glucose or fat by your liver and to a lesser degree your small intestine. This is the general idea behind Gluconeogenesis but again I'm no expert, but that is my general understanding from what I've read and I encourage anyone to correct me if necessary or elaborate. Here's a link that will help, https://www.ketovangelist.com/what-is-gluconeogenesis/.
It's funny, answering your question may have answered mine as I had to think about it. Recently I injured my forearm/elbow so I haven't been training as I normally do yet I haven't modified my eating habits. My fasting blood sugar has been rising steadily until today it was 7.4. Normally it's low 6's to low 5's. I now suspect I'm eating too much protein for my activity level and it's showing. I'm going to try cutting down on protein right now and see what happens, thanks for asking the question.
 
Alison Campbell said:
I was just reading this link from another thread posted by @Indy51 with a different view on glucongenesis that you might find interesting @CzukayFan and @Contralto
http://www.tuitnutrition.com/2017/07/gluconeogenesis.html
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Thank you very much Alison, that's quite an article, I just finished it and it gave me lots to think about and helped crystallize my thoughts on this subject. I need to read it again at least once more as it's quite complicated for somebody like me without a medical or biology/chemistry background.
Where it helped most on first reading is the length of time it takes for GNG (gluconeogenesis) to take place. I wasn't worried about spikes after eating because I don't get them, I was worried about fasting blood sugar. It helped explain what was happening but I'll have to read a lot more before I find a solution it seems unfortunately.
 

Thank you for the advise I will try this see how I go on
 
I must admit I don't understand worrying about being too lean/skinny in a T2D forum! But I have skinny folks in my life, non-diabetics, who are perfectly healthy, and even fit. It is just their body type. When being lean is an issue is if you are unfit, unhealthy (as in not getting enough nutrients from too little food) where your hair lacks lustre, your eyes are dull and your skin in bad shape - what we all recognise as bad news. And you can tell if that is happening and if your mother is around she will be offering roast beef to you in response. Otherwise - why worry about it?

And in terms of good-for-you strength resistance training - not to forget about plain old lifting heavy things in your normal everyday life. Very easy to integrate into your daily living, and even very convenient when doing home and garden maintenance stuff! Walk to the grocer, and back with 3-5kg of goods is a good double whammy for walking exercise combined with strength resistance training. No loops no gym - and yes - easy to do. And if you find you love it then you can get fancy? My feeling on the topic at least.
 
ps After discussing your lean issues with two of my skinny family members, we realised if you are only 7 stone, then lifting heavy weights will probably be a non-issue! As in you won't be doing it. Not without breaking your bones. (not literally.) (I don't think!) A grown up who is 44kg won't be going out to chop wood and push the lawn mower? (correct me if I am wrong.)

If bowls of peanuts and almonds, lashes of cream, stacks of cheese, loads of yoghurt and plenty of good quality meats and fish etc don't put the beef on your body, then that is your natural body type? Or, you are ill (compounded by diabetes) and need to see a doctor?

Otherwise, many swear by smoothies and milkshakes for easy weight gain. As a diabetic you would be wanting to keep the sweet down of course, so no bananas, just stevia sweetened creamy milk, and greek yoghurt with berries to flavour? The skinny young man over my left shoulder says "and eat many times a day, instead of just large portions a few times a day." He has also noted that he is not skinny but "lean and muscular", lol. I sit corrected.
 
Skinny people often eat many times a day. I eat few times a day and my weight got to 130kg.

If i wanted to add weight i wouldnt take the advice from someone skinny
just saying..
 
This is all really interesting... Ive lost lots of weight with lchf but I needed to. I had the diet of Porky Pig before.

I think we've moved the fat / thin goalposts a bit because the western world is generally getting heavier. We are normalising being overweight so that being slim and healthy looks underweight. Ever seen any UK footage of large groups of people from the 60s-early 80s (before they told us to put the bacon and eggs down and pick up the cereal and snack constantly!!) ? People generally look tiny! Like they're in the war ration years in Britain.

Now I'm at a healthy weight people openly and tell me I'm too thin... Im not, the norm has just got bigger.





Sent from my XT1039 using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app
 
I tried and succeeded putting a bit of weight on, I was 84+kg, dropped to 69kg, diagnosed and put in the required diet change, I am now a stable 75kg.


Things with high calories but lower sugars that worked for me
Avocado
Falaffal
onion bajis (use chickpea flower)
beetroot
olive oils flavored with garlics/chilli
Greek yogurt.
make sure you eat fibre to allow you to process protein.
flax seeds, chia seeds etc in the right proportions will do a good job

you will have to eat more calories than you use and do excercise so it stays on as muscle, fatty tissue is not advantageous and please do it slowly and consistently to let your body bet used to being heavier.
 
I am thin and have been the same weight give or take a few pounds ( except the blip before DX when I was grossly skinny) for 25 years. My diet has changed many times but has remained low carb ( 20g or less) since Adkins came out. Only type 1 for 3 years but I suspect diabetic for many years previous.
So other than vlc the one thing that remained constant was small ' lean cuisine' sized meals and nibbling. I never had bowl of nuts, large chunks of cheese, bacon grease, chicken skin, loads of yogurt, stacks of cheese etc. I will say when I ate lots of protein I was heavier. Meals consisted of SOME protein and veg. Could probably fit into a one cup measuring cup. Snacks would be one or two nuts. Seriously. Or some raw veg.
I remember bf for a long time being one fried egg with a piece of melted cheese. Then lunch a chicken leg or thigh or chopped chicken with mayo but I would just have a few bites. Dinner was half a chicken breast or small burger with a small salad and some steamed veg. Then a nice walk after dinner. Usually a power walk after bf.
So I still eat often but it's more a few bites of something than a meal. Gives my stomach time to digest before I shove more food in.
Now I look at plates coming out of the kitchens at restaurants and wonder how people can eat all that food!! I'd be sick to my stomach. And they'd order these after appetizers!! Good grief! And we wonder why the new normal is bigger. Who needs all that food!!
 
Vidgren said:
Skinny people often eat many times a day. I eat few times a day and my weight got to 130kg.

If i wanted to add weight i wouldnt take the advice from someone skinny
just saying..
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But @Vidgren - WHO else talks about wanting to put ON weight???!!! But skinny folk. Or a contact-sportsperson wanting to go up a weight class?
 
AloeSvea said:
But @Vidgren - WHO else talks about wanting to put ON weight???!!! But skinny folk. Or a contact-sportsperson wanting to go up a weight class?
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Putting on weight can be just as challenging if not more for some people. Try dropping 25#'s in three months and eating as much as you could stuff in and still or stop losing. Kind of scary in my world. Almost dies from u wanted weight loss.

It's not always as cut and dried as it seems. Nor as easy as it's laid out to be.
 
I'm not sure what you mean by '25#s'.

And it is only scary if you are actually malnourished as a skinny person. Otherwise - it's just a person's natural build. Isn't it?
 
AloeSvea said:
I'm not sure what you mean by '25#s'.

And it is only scary if you are actually malnourished as a skinny person. Otherwise - it's just a person's natural build. Isn't it?
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I was malnourished, protein deficient and had muscle wasting. This was due to undiagnosed type 1. I was just saying for some people it's as hard to gain weight as it is to lose it.

Some extremely skinny people just eat and eat and can't gain a pound and some starve and can't lose an ounce.
 
Ah yes @Kristin251 - I hear you. For diabetics weight loss of that malnourished nature is indeed a sign of ill-health - scary absolutely.

When I have been talking about skinny folks in my life it's the non-diabetic ones - they are just built that way, the lucky things. And when it is normal and folks are healthy - what is the need for gaining weight?

Especially if one is eating well on LCHF - lots of healthy fats. If one is still skinny/slender/slim/thin after eating a ton of coconut and olive oil, fatty meats and cheese galore (as is my partner, and nephew who gave his input in an earlier post), and there are no vitamin and mineral deficiencies coming up in blood lipid tests - why worry?

As for "some starve and cant lose an ounce" - really? I know for me it is not the losing, as in most folks I know about - it's the weight loss maintenance that is the big issue. (I know I have certainly written heaps about this in the forum, as I am not a naturally skinny person as an adult, but one of those people who just has to look at a loaf of bread and I gain a spare tyre.) (Yeah - hence the T2D thing for me.) But this is a 'help me gain weight as I am wasting away' thread not a 'how do I maintain being slender?' one.

So we agree really - if one is wasting away, and especially eating lots of healthy fats - there is probably something organically wrong and absolutely time to see a doctor. Especially if one is type one?
 
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