weight loss/advice please.

[freelance52]

Hi.
This is only my 3rd post here but I do visit a lot and read all the very supportive and helpful posts, so I'm hoping that someone with more experience of low carbing can help me out please.
Diagnosed T2 in 2001, (with strong family history of menopausal onset T2 in all female relatives over 3 generations, and being overweight), following death of son in early 2000 and ill-health retirement at end 2000, aged only 48, with BS 30 :!: I was already depressed :shock:
Things have gone steadily downhill from there: total denial - increased depression - increased eating - more drugs - more weight - more depression - more eating - more drugs - and so on. Then I found this site. I decided to give low-carbing a go as, frankly, I had nothing positive left to try and absolutely nothing left to loose.
So: first 2 weeks carb intake of 20gms daily, (bought several books and urine-test strips to check for ketones). Result: morning BS (I suffer from the Dawn Phenomenon) down from 17.9 to 7.6 and weight from 17.12st to 17.4st. Last week (wk 3) carbs up to 25gms daily (I write down everything I eat and meticulously weigh the carbs): BS 7 - 8, weight loss 1.5lbs. Feeling a bit weak: needing to sit down after climbing stairs and standing (ironing!) for long periods. Ketone production has all but stopped despite being very careful about my carbs (started using lactose-free milk - thanks to sugarless sue for help with that - but am now trying soya milk as found that my favourite high-street coffee shop will make lattes with soya if you ask and eating mainly bacon (all visible fat removed and dry-fried), eggs, cheese, tuna, tinned salmon, steak, cauliflower, lettuce, celery, nuts (macadamia seem to have the lowest carbs), sugar-free jelly (thanks for the posts on that one ) and fat-reduced cream. Have also given up salt and B/P is now 114/73
Is the weakness normal and will it go away?
Is this rate of weight loss normal and can it be increased? How can I increase my rate of ketone-production? (I am intending going back to swimming this week - when I go I usually do 40 lengths and go 5 times a week - will that help?)
This is definately the best eating programme I have been on and I will try to stick at it because I have nowhere else to go and, unless I do something to turn things around, the future seems to hold nothing but depression, weight gain, insulin and cardio-vascular disasters. :cry:
Drugs: pioglitazone 45mgs; glicprimide 4mgs, ramipril, simvastatin, felodopine.
Hba1c 9.7 (25th August)
Thank you for this fantastic, informative and supportive site

 

[Patch]

When you're lo-carbing, you should also drink lots of water. I'm sure you've heard it before - but drinking at least 2L of water a day really does help to flush your system through.

When you're losing weight, along with the body fat, you are also losing a lot of the toxins held in your body (the toxins are stored WITHIN the fat), so it's to be expected that you may feel a little down. It does pass, though.

If you are having trouble with energy levels, try eating some higher energy foods. You could try NOT removing the fat from your bacon (fat=energy (and flavour :wink: )), or maybe try getting some good fat into you. Coconut Oil is very healthy, and can be used in place of other less healthy fats/oils. Another soucr of good fats is Avocado. Bacon and Avocado salads make a great lunch. (Chuck on some chicken if you're especially peckish!)

Soya Milk is a funny one - some are sweetened with Apple juice, and have around the same level of carbs as regular milk. If you have the option, go for unsweetened Soya Milk.

 

[Sid Bonkers]

and fat-reduced cream.

Hope its not Unilever's unaccountably popular Elmlea cream substitute which contains 26% hydrogenated vegetable oil, I should stick to small amounts of ordinary single or double cream personally, Elmlea stays fresh once opened for up to eight weeks in a fridge!!!! :?

Alfie the cat knows about Elmlea You may need to turn up your PC volume for this video as the sound is a little quiet.

 

[freelance52]

Sid,
Thanks very much for that info about Elmlea. You're right - it was Elmlea I was using. Your post gave me quite a shock :shock: I followed the link to Alfie and then through to other bits of info. I am totally appalled that the govt can allow a product to claim to be 'low fat' when it has just substituted one form of fat for another form that is actually more dangerous to health and especially, to people with diabetes who are even more susceptible to heart disease :!: Time for a national campaign :idea: perhaps :?:

 

[freelance52]

Well, nothing like 'striking while the iron's hot' 'no time like the present' etc. I was so shocked at the info re 'elmlea' that I have sent emails to unilever, diabetes uk, and a couple of govt departments :!: Plus, the rest of the stuff that I had in the fridge has now gone down the sink I feel that this product is just a 'con' and I have been deceived. Boy, am I cross :x A real lesson for me in the importance of reading the actual list of ingredients and not just relying on the 'nutritional information' panel. Thanks again, Sid.

 

[carty]

Sid you are great at getting us to read labels I think I may be banned from supermarkets for commenting to husband (rather loudly) have you seen whats in this :!:

 

[Etty]

................. (rather loudly) have you seen whats in this :!:

Good one, Carty, I'm going to try that when I go tomorrow, have to nobble some passer-by though, as husband is supermarket-phobic.

 

[Etty]

Freelance-- Good for you for trying low-carbing, it's done me nothing but good for the last 18 months. The first time I tried it, I started on 20g carb, and felt pretty miserable for weeks. The second time (still at it) I started on 75g carb, and felt much better and found the carbs just seemed to naturally drop down with time, so in a few months I was around 30-40g.
I think to start at 20g, it's better if you're young and reasonably healthy, or so says Dr. Lutz, the Austrian low-carb doctor, and that was my experience, so don't worry if you start to feel a bit off, just eat more protein and fat.

It's not a great idea to do low-carb and low-fat at the same time! You can only eat so much protein, and you have to get sufficient calories from somewhere! IMO, natural fats are the best ones to eat. I've been downing loads of double cream, butter and cheese all through the last 18 months, and have lost many stones in weight.

You might enjoy Fitday if you like keeping track of the carbs. It's free and you can customize foods by typing in the info from the nutrition labels on the packets you buy.

 

[Sid Bonkers]

I believe NICE campaigned for trans fats to be banned from our foods earlier this year but their recommendations were turned down by Brussels, to many companies out there making money from 'healthy' foods I suspect. :cry:

 

[freelance52]

Etty,
Thanks for the info and the support. Did you find it easy to lose weight on this low carb thing? I know that the 'cutting all visible fat off bacon' might sound virtuous - but it isn't :!: I just can't stand the texture of animal fat in my mouth, so I always remove all visible fat from all the meat that I eat :!:
Went back to swimming this week. Started on Monday going to what the online timetable said was an 'adult session' but when I got there found it was an 'aqua running' session :!: :?: . I really wasn't sure about it, especially when I found out that you have to wear a special suit for it. I spoke to the instructor and pointed out (as if I needed to :!: ) that I am very large and that I was concerned that the suit would not fit. She assured me that the class had larger people than me and the suit would be fine. So I paid my £5 and joined the queue for the suits. There were other large people there, in the queue. There was a total of 20 people in the class, besides me, and most of them were suited up and in the water by the time I got my suit. It was about 3 sizes too small. It took 4 staff members to get me into it, at the poolside, and it wouldn't fasten up. I was mortified, but reckoned that it would be less embarrassing to get into the water than to make a scene on the poolside with 20 other people watching, so I got into the pool. The suit is designed to keep you upright in the water. It worked so well that I couldn't get any sense of balance, couldn't swim or even get upright - I struggled like a floundering whale and 3 people had to haul me to my position in the row and then push my legs down so that I was upright All during the class the suit bit into my upper arms so that the arm movements we had to do were nearly impossible, but the actual class, if the suit had fit, was good. Getting out of the pool at the end of class was not too bad. Couldn't get the suit off :!: Eventually had to ask 2 people to help me out of it Went into the changing room, locked myself into a cubicle and cried :cry: :cry: Won't do that class again :!: But have been back to the pool for swimming both days since then. I mustn't let that session put me off my swimming, or that pool as it is the best pool round here. I did email the council to say that they should keep their online info up to date and suggested that, if they are serious about encouraging overweight people to take up excersise (a big campaign around here)they should make sure that the essential equipment is of appropriate sizes :!: Another of life's little experiences, I suppose.

 

[anniep]

I'm not surprised you cried, but well done for telling the council what you think AND for going back again. I wouldn't have just cried would have run a mile hidden myself away and never gone near the place again, but I am such a wimp. Good luck in your quest for fitness.

My doc has prescribed the local gym for me but my experiences in the past are so awful with school and games etc that I have not been able to bring myself to actually go, the very thought of it nearly brings on a panic attack!

 

[Magill]

A deep water Aqua Class with floatation suits?? Must cost a fortune. I have seen the floatation suits for children but not for adults. My Aqua classes you use the floatation belts (which we buy ourselves - less than £20). We also use aqua dumbbells which really work your arms in the water.
I have a spinal injury and cannot run on dry land but I can run in water with a floatation belt and I really enjoy both the regular and deep water classes.
Sound to me like your Council is ruining potential enjoyment for many people by buying totally unnecessary floatation suits (as well as spending unnecessary money when floatation belts are far cheaper).

 

[freelance52]

hello anniep. Thanks for your support. I know what you mean about school P. E. experiences: my gym teacher looms large in my nightmares; she was just a bully in shorts and a tracksuit :!: However, do give the gym a try. Is there a 'women only' gym or gym session near you? That might help you to get over the threshhold. Or you could try swimming :?: When I first decided to try swimming I went to the over-50's session (you might be too young for that) as I thought that I might be able to just 'blend in to the background' and that older people would be less likely to point and laugh :!: :!: That gave me the confidence to go to other sessions so now I go to the 'over 50's', 'women only' and 'adult only' sessions 'cos once you're actually submerged, no-one can tell how big you are and I just swim up and down for 40 lengths and then get out. Go on my own, don't talk to other swimmers, just get in, swim and get out. Do let me know how you get on.
freelance.

 

[Patch]

...as husband is supermarket-phobic.

Think you'll find he's something else.

A bloke. :lol:

 

[freelance52]

Magill, you think my local Council wastes money? Yes, that would be about right. In fact, in the general scheme of things, the likely cost of the aqua suits is peanuts compared to the other half-baked, brainless and generally over-expensive things my local Council has spent taxes on over the years :!:

 

[anniep]

Hi Freelance

I do swim and enjoy it, as in the water clumsiness doesn't matter. But sadly I don't live near a decent pool, There is a private health club with a pool about 20 minutes drive away, but the monthly cost is quite high and I don't know whether I would be able to get there often enough to make the cost justifiable.

 

[cinnamon]

I'm very surprised!

by Patch » September 6th, 2010, 12:30 pm
Para 3:
If you are having trouble with energy levels, try eating some higher energy foods. You could try NOT removing the fat from your bacon (fat=energy (and flavour )), or maybe try getting some good fat into you. Coconut Oil is very healthy, and can be used in place of other less healthy fats/oils. Another soucr of good fats is Avocado. Bacon and Avocado salads make a great lunch. (Chuck on some chicken if you're especially peckish!)...
------
My GP recommended glucose tablets (2 or 3 cubes), but the fat from bacon is much tastier. Is this true? How many slices can I eat for a portion of breakfast? With courgettes - I've mismatched lately out of desperation.

You mentioned about Coconut Oil, what about Coconut Milk? (for Thai/Indonesian fish curries, with Kaffir leaves, yummy)

And the chicken: can I eat the skin?

Could you please help as my diet has become too boring lately. I'm trying to go without carbo. Please help, I'm trying to lower my weight/trim waist.