Type 2 : weight loss

Hi and welcome @MAM nee MAB
Your weight is very similar to mine. Diagnosed 18 months ago weight almost 11 stone and height 5ft 5 ins. I reacted violently to Metformin so attempted to use diet, weight loss and exercise. My HbA1c was very high at 95 so was not sure if it could be done. I lost 2 and a half stone and was told by GP I needed to put some weight back on. As my HbA1c was reasonable by then I found Lidl rolls helped, also added nuts and cheese and probably just tried to eat a bit more. I increased portion sizes as well. I've now put on the half stone the GP wanted but I don't think I was in any way under weight. You say your blood sugar levels are good, how good? When I was at my lowest weight I found I could just about eat anything without spiking but now I'm having to be very careful again which I feel is a shame. There are some on this forum who have much lower BMI than me. @AndBreathe is one and she may have some suggestions. Look at the low carb section of the forum as there may be some suggestions there.

It could very well be your thyroid and I suggest you ask the doctor for blood tests as soon as possible. I lost a stone in weight because of having a hyperactive one. Report back and good luck!

Hi there, nuts are extremely high fat and exactly the type of food you should be eating. Cheese is another good food if you want to put a bit of weight back on. Another good food is avocado. You should have a look around at the latest research about dietary fat and cholesterol. Fat is not the horror it has been made out to be and will not raise your blood sugar. I am going to tag @daisy1 for some welcoming info all newcomers receive. It is well worth the read. There are quite a few people here that have found the balance between weight and blood sugar with diet. Hopefully some of them will contribute to this thread. Welcome to the forum.

MAM nee MAB

Hello and welcome to the forum As mentioned above, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask more questions if you need to and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 210,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

MAM nee MAB said:

When diagnosed 2 years ago, I weighed 10 stone 11lb, which, at 5' 5" , was a little bit heavy, but not obese. No family history of diabetes and a healthy well balanced diet, with little added sugar. Prescribed 1 tab Metformin daily and after 3 months by blood sugar readings had INCREASED. Upped to 2 tablets daily, BS down to good levels but it suppressed my appetite so badly (mostly due to permanent awful taste in my mouth, making food taste revolting), I lost 1.5 stone in three months. Doctor/diabetes nurse have been mystified by my case. Changed medication to Forxiga. 1 tablet a day. BS levels now good and weight remained stable - until now. Down to 8 stone 13. What can I eat that won't spike sugar levels, that's not high fat and raise the cholesterol? I do eat lots of nuts, as snack food. What else can I do? Down to size 8/10.

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Hello there MAM nee MAB.

As @Hiitsme suggests I'm a very slight woman, so I do understand your challenge in terms of stabilising your weight and blood numbers.

Reading about the medication you are now on, it can "encourage" weight loss, as it works. I'm not suggesting you do anything about that medication as I'm not a health care person, but just letting you know your meds may be in the mix here.

I have been fortunate enough never to have taken meds, but when I modified what I eat, I also lost weight. What I did to stop that was a combination of eating a bit more, generally, and then upping my intake of nuts and cheese. Eventually my losses leveled off.

Yes, I am eating more fat than I used to, but actually, for me, the greatest impact on my cholesterol was trimming back the carbs, which sounds counter-intuitive I know. I avoid trans fats like the plague, but theu're mainly in prepared foods, but I don't use many pre-packed meals or when I eat sausages and the like, I ensure they're better quality and composition to minimise the trans fats.

As someone else has suggested, it would be useful to have a look at the Professor Sikaris video - he has several on the web, and that may lead you onto others.

MAM nee MAB said:

When diagnosed 2 years ago, I weighed 10 stone 11lb, which, at 5' 5" , was a little bit heavy, but not obese. No family history of diabetes and a healthy well balanced diet, with little added sugar. Prescribed 1 tab Metformin daily and after 3 months by blood sugar readings had INCREASED. Upped to 2 tablets daily, BS down to good levels but it suppressed my appetite so badly (mostly due to permanent awful taste in my mouth, making food taste revolting), I lost 1.5 stone in three months. Doctor/diabetes nurse have been mystified by my case. Changed medication to Forxiga. 1 tablet a day. BS levels now good and weight remained stable - until now. Down to 8 stone 13. What can I eat that won't spike sugar levels, that's not high fat and raise the cholesterol? I do eat lots of nuts, as snack food. What else can I do? Down to size 8/10.

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Has anybody had side affects with stigagliptin? I find it hard to loose weight with this drug plus taking SR Metformin twice a day was very impressed with you turning yours around afterchanging to Forxiga and do you keep to mainly a Protein diet

A few years ago, I was a very big comfort eater. I am on a low income and had a credit account at my local newsagent and local cafe near where I used to live. I used to eat ridiculous amounts of food, things that were deemed comfort food like 4 bacon crusty rolls, 4 sausage crusty rolls, even 4 fried mushrooms in crusty rolls, full English breakfasts, cups of strong tea with too much sugar. At the newsagent which sold food I used to eat things rich in carbs like indian samosas, bombay potatoes in pitta bread, high-fat sandwiches, cheese puffs, onion rings, haribo's, jelly babies, fizzy mix, strawbs, cola bottles. I used to always pay the proprietors their money in a good, honest way. I also used to scoff a whole bargain bucket from the chicken shop which comprised 8 pieces of southern fried chicken, 8 portions of fries and coleslaw. My weight shot up to 16st2lbs initially then 19st2lbs and towards the end of my stay at that flat, I weighed a staggering 22st5lbs! I was diagnosed with hypercholesterolaemia and high blood pressure.

At that time, I had recourse to my finances, but my excessive spending plus giving people in my social network a lot of my money for nothing, and being labelled a "victim of unequal sharing" by my support worker at that time, my money was taken over by a social services Appointee. That was round about the time I was diagnosed diabetic with an abnormally high hbA1c and a lot of sugar in my urine. I also smoke a lot of cigarettes. I was suspected as having Asperger Syndrome and that's something that was detected in my teens at a special needs school. I eventually left that flat and bidded for a flat online at my day centre run by the National Autistic Siociety on a housing online scheme called Choice based lettings. I got shortlisted after getting medical priority A and B and a lot of points. I moved to this flat.

Initially I was still eating too much here what with a friend of a friend cooking caribbean food for me and many years later a polish family living with me and cooking food from their nationality for me.

It wasn't until my care coordinator put her foot down and told my appointee to restrict my money back to £70.00 per week with a utility allowance every 4 weeks of £70.00 plus a payasyougo mobile phone allowance of £20.00 with that utility allowance. The £70.00 per week was my disposable income or personal allowance. Round about that time I was having my diabetes monitored at a secondary care trust for the NHS. I started to lose weight rapidly after being prescribed Lixisenatide injections and metformin. I now weigh a good weight of 12st13lbs, still overweight, but not in the obese BMI. I'm currently using the services of the Type 2 Life forum.

Johnny Baker
Sufferer of Asperger Syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus (insulin resistant), essential hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, enuresis, ideopathic megarectum, vitamin D deficiency, hyponetraemia (low sodium) and muscle atrophy.