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Weight watchers or low carb?

lcarter

Well-Known Member
Hi all. Long story but I maybe a type 2 from a type 1..and I'm having to think about trying to improve my weight and sugar levels drastically. I have recently started metformin and I'm on Fiasp and Levemier.

I've tried all kinds of diets and not been successful at one. I've done sw and ended up eating too much, starved at ww and felt sick on lchf.

Willing to try anything now as I've just realised I'm eating whatever I want and injecting insulin for it yet my levels are sky high.

Any advice welcomed xx
 
Given those two choices I would opt for low carb/keto. Better still, I’ve recently found that carnivore works even better for me.

Whether or not any of the above suits you and your diabetes is another matter.
 
Hard to say without knowing you personally. I went ultra low carb and intermittent fasting which has so far lost me almost 9 stone in weight and normalised blood sugars without meds..
Now eating mostly carnivore One Meal A Day.
But as always that's me and I find it very easy.
 
Perhaps it was too much fat on LCHF which made you feel sick.
I was surprised to realise that fried eggs do not absorb much fat, and when I scramble them in a small non stick wok with only a small amount of extra fat, cook chicken thighs on a rack or in the Tefal hot air fryer, - it is only high fat relative to the normal recommendations.
Perhaps - as you are still using insulin, just reining in the carb consumption so that your typical insulin use is effective - replacing some of the carbs from dense starchy or sugary foods with lesser ones - cauliflower for potato for instance, just little by little.
 

If low carb, with high fat made you feel sick, you may need to take things a bit more slowly. Some folks just jump straight from high carb eating to ninja levels of low carb and feel fine. Others, for all manner of reasons, need to go a bit more steadily to get there.

Are you able to identify any time of the day when your insulin resistance is more marked than others? Many fid it's first thing in the morning, but it can vary.

If you can, it could be good to decrease your carbs at whatever mealtime that would be, so that you're asking your body to work less hard, and also bolusing less (to match the fewer carbs), and take it from there.

When I was starting out, I literally ate to my meter. I tried not to get too strung up on exactly what I was eating, but reacted to my meter scores. If the number was too large, I ate less of whatever I'd just eaten - either by eating a smaller portion, or by swapping out the carbier elements.

I remember reading member @NicoleC1971 describing how she went low cab, meal by meal. I can't recall which meal she started with, but she might have some wisdom to offer you from her perspective.
 
My choice is taking it slow with the LCHF for now and like @DCUKMod stated to ask NicoleC about their experience, I found it relatively easy but there again I didn't go mad on the fat at first either. Weight Watchers is good for the accountability I would say but if you feel you can stick to something within your own willpower? LCHF is probably the way to go for stable blood sugars.
 
Hi guys
I did indeed do this meal by meal and I think I began with dinner/supper since that seemed easiest and I loved toast too much to give it up straight away.
It takes time to find meals you enjoy and can easily prepare. What didn't work for me was going in at the deep end and then failing because I let a carb pass my lips.
Been doing this a while now and as I am do not see myself as a carb addict any more and am not insulin resistant to any great extent, I will eat carbs if I really want to. I honestly don't have a great desire for them most of the time.
 
I’d agree the nausea problem with low carb is adding in either too many fats or too quickly, or both. Ive seen it often on low carb groups. Don’t forget to ensure fluid and electrolyte intake is upped a bit too. (Both can make you feel awful too). Fewer carbs on board means we hold onto less water so we drink more which can flush salts out quicker, as well as likely eating fewer salty processed foods.

Go a bit slower and it may well work better. Starving (via low fat eating) or piling in “free” carbs won’t help so ww and slimming world both fail in my book.
 
Hi

I should start by saying that I am t2 not on insulin and have no personal experience of using insulin myself, so perhaps you should bear this in mind in reading my suggestion.

Reading your post it is clear that you are setting yourself two different and potentially, though not necessarily, conflicting objectives:
1. To lose weight
2. To bring your glucose levels under control

I wonder if pursuing both targets my not be too demanding a challenge. I also wonder which target you would prioritise if you had to chose just one to concentrate on at first.

Personally I would adopt the following general approach:

1. Concentrate just on getting the glucose levels under control at first. Since you are on slow/fast acting insulin I would try to be disciplined in eating a set number of grams of carb per meal and in getting the levels on insulin required to balance these out correct so as to keep sugars normal. I suspect this will take experimentation and may be a gradual process. T1s or insulin dependent t2s will be able to advise you much better on how to go about this.

2. Gradually reduce amount of carbs perhaps on a meal by meal basis, substituting some extra fat and protein if you have to, so as to also reduce the level of insulin you have to inject.

3. Less carbs and less insulin should of itself lead to weight loss with a bit of luck.

Good luck with your efforts

Regards

Pavlos
 
Low carb diet is well known for loosing weight. If you feel sick because of fat consumption may be you could add pickles in your diet like lemon pickle. It will help with your electrolytes and digestion.
You don't have to add extra fat at all just consume fatty food it will take care of your weight.
 
I'd try LC again, with just a little bit of fat... You could get ill for a few days with carb flu, but that should pass, and you'd feel better with a bit of salty bone broth or coconut milk. If the fats are a problem, go slow with those. Maybe build up slowly, and start with avocado and the like, rather than hitting the bacon. Experiment. But you know the caveat, be careful not to hypo!
 
Definitely take it slowly reducing to many carbs to quickly is not good for the body and can make you feel bad. Same with the fat if you feel you need to increase do it slowly until you feel you have found the right level without feeling nauseous
 
Hi @lcarter,
A resource like dietdoctor.com may he of help to you in explaining about low carb diets and the keto flu, and how to manage it.
Softly, softly is the suggestion to allow time for your body to adjust and being in touch with your nurse or doctor who can support you with adjusting insulin doses as you reduce those carbs and ensure you are full bottle on carb counting and insulin to carbs ratios.
Dr Bernstein 's Diabetes Solution can provide advice on low carb as well.
If you decide to reduce carbs dowb pn to the below 40 g mark yiu will read that some % of the grams of protein you eat is counted as carbs and thus affects the carb count and therefore the insulin doses.
Also you may find that Fiasp timing and use has to be modified to best cover the alteration in bsl rises on a low carb diet compared to yiur present one.
With help and support, including your fan club here, you can do wonders!
 
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