Need help badly

[believer]

Hi,
I'm new here. I'm pretty discouraged, so I hope someone here can help me. I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic in August 2003. My mom and grandma both have T2 and I had gestational diabetes 3 years ago. So I know I have to make changes if I'm going to have a shot at avoiding T2. Hopefully, it's not already too late. I know some people still get it even if they make the recommended changes.

Schwarzbein:
My PA recommended The Schwarzbein Principle back in August. I followed that for a couple months and it helped control my blood sugars, although it only helped a little with my fasting glucose numbers. It didn't help me lose weight though (have about 40-45 lbs to lose).

Bernstein:
So then I read Dr. Bernstein's book and he convinced me that low carbing was the way to go for long term health and weight loss. I followed his advice for a few weeks with no results and decided that maybe I needed to lower my carbs more. So I read and followed Atkins.

Atkins:
On induction, I lost a couple of pounds right away, water weight I'm sure, and then didn't lose anything for several weeks (on the scale or in my measurements). I got so desparate that I tried the Fat Fast that Dr. Akins mentioned in his book. That finally did something. I lost 4 lbs in 4 days and it showed in my clothes, so I believe it was fat loss. Plus, the ketostix finally showed that something was happening. But that was it and after about a week, I was sick of the foods (very limited selection) and I stopped losing, so I went back to induction. Ketostix still showed ketones, but I haven't lost since then and that was about a month ago. I know the ketostix can show ketones from the food your eating and not necessarily from burning existing fat stores. So ketostix are not very helpful to me now.

Am I so IR that I can't lose even on induction? Many days I was eating as low as 13 or 15 grams of carbs. My fasting numbers are usually in the 90s. I noticed when I did the Fat Fast, that my fasting BG dropped to the 70s. So I'm wondering if I'm only going to lose weight when I get my fasting blood sugars down from the 90s to the 70s. ??

I've been trying to exercise for a while, but haven't been able to get with it until this week. I've heard of a lot of people who lose without exercising, but I'm wondering if, because of my IR, maybe I don't have a choice. I don't mind making exercise more of a priority if that's what I need to do.

I'm also wondering if the irratic sleep I've had over the last month has kept me from losing. ?? I'm going to try to get regular sleep for the next few weeks and see if it makes a difference. I've noticed that my fasting blood sugars are higher when I don't get regular sleep. Anyone notice that not enough sleep keeps them from losing?

I also don't mind how slow the fat loss is, because I'm on this way of eating for life and I enjoy the food. So I'm not in a hurry, but I do need to see SOME progress even if it's very slow.

Any ideas? I'm feeling pretty discouraged right now.

Thanks,
Mindy

[dina1957]

Hi Mindy:
how do you know that you are IR? did you get all the tests done, like insulin, c-peptide, GTT? for thopse who are IR, actually low carbs for the best. IMHO, there are may be something else, more than just IR. there are so many hormones in human body, and a lot of them control sugar metabolism as well as fat metabolism.
i can only say that i've lost 35 pounds pretty quick on low carbs and moderate/low fat plan, not too low carb to get into ketosis though, without any dramatic changes in my fasting BG. as the matter of fact, my fasting started climbing when i've redused carbs to induction level.and too low carbs and too much fat raises my BG overall as well. the low carb and high fat diets are not for everyone, it's not the matter of food intake solo. there are other factor, like stress, which may be your case if you don't get enough sleep.also, exercise is very crucial, don't just "starve" fat, burn it. weight training is the best, IMO. try replace saturated fat with monosaturated, eat more fish, than red meat and bacon, take some EFA in form of salmon and sardines, flax seed oil, nuts and seeds, less cheese, butter, and bacon. i'd even suggest very little berries to add fiber and variety to your salad. and count calories religiously, IT DOES MATTER!. if you consume more than you expend, the weight loss will stall. you can log your food into www.fitday.com and see if you are getting right amount of basic nutrients. and again, not everyone benefits from Atkins and such, there are variety of the low carb diets, may be others will be more beneficial for you. have you tried a South beach diet, it is something to lood into, IMHO.
BTW, if you want to stick to Atkins, fitday is a big help, make sure you are at 20 grams, not more. some food like cheese and such seems to be carb free but it will add up if you are not careful.
good luck,
dina

[believer]

Hmmm, well I assumed I was IR because of the pre-diabetes - I thought they went hand in hand. I'm feeling like maybe I was a bit ignorant now in my assumption. Is it possible to be pre-diabetic and not be IR? As to other hormones, my PA did check my thyroid, which she said it was normal. But I know that sometimes the blood work can show normal results and not be normal. I've taken my waking temperatures in the past and they were always low, so maybe there is something going on there. It's hard to get help with that sort of thing though when the blood work shows normal thyroid functioning. I'm going to try some of your other suggestions and if nothing else works, I'll pursue this more.

Well it sounds like I should definitely get more exercise and more sleep. I will do that for sure. And I'll also try your suggestion of eating less saturated fats. I have been eating a lot (compared to my low-fat days) cheese(usually kept to 3-4oz like Atkins suggests), butter and bacon (2 slices for breakfast). And I'll switch from using blue cheese dressing on my salads to a olive oil/flax seed oil/vinager dressing. I'll see if these changes have any effect on my BG and fat loss. If not, then maybe I'll try another low carb variation like you suggest and/or find out more about my thyroid.

Thank you for your help. I was starting to lose hope because I thought I was doing everything right to lose weight and it wasn't working. I'll give these changes a try.

Thanks!

[Lisa N]

Just a thought here. How much protein (as in ounces) per day are you getting on average? Dr. Bernstein recommended cutting back on protein portions rather than cutting carbs still lower to get weight loss going, although there are limits to how far you should cut your protein intake as well.
Are you currently taking any medications?

[nopie]

I'm also extremely insulin resistant and understand how frustrating it can be to do everything right and still not be able to lose when the low carb diet seems to work so well for many people.
Even while keeping my blood sugar where I want it, I still have high insulin levels which make it difficult to lose weight. Several things I have done which seem to help:
1) eat smaller meals - watch serving size - just eat less food -
2) eat less saturated fat - Keto hot cereal and a tablespoon of flax oil for breakfast instead of bacon and eggs
3) take alpha lipoic acid and evening primrose oil (as in Bernstein's new book)- they act like insulin and lower blood sugar without stopping weight loss like real insulin does - they make me less hungry even with the lower calorie diet and have a wonderful "upper" effect
4) exercise - it really does make a difference - it doesn't have to be a big deal, organized kind of thing - a walk after meals is especially helpful - I do weight training as well as walking - the walking has an immediate effect - weight training is a more long term thing
I hope these or some of the other suggestions you get will help you because I do understand your frustration. It is so disheartening to see how well low carb works for some people and to be doing everthing you can with no movement on the scales. It has taken me almost 3 years to lose 20 pounds. I lost 10 and then it was a year before I lost another 10. I then started weight training and gained 10. It took the ALA and EPO for me to re-lose those 10 pounds (and keep all the new muscles!) Stick with it. You will eventually find what works for you.

[believer]

Lisa N:

I usually have 2 eggs and 2 slices of bacon for breakfast, 3 or 4 oz chicken or tuna on my salad at lunch and then another 3-4 oz of protein at dinner. Plus snacks usually consist of 1-2 oz cheese and salame (I should probably change my snacks to cut down on the saturated fat). I hadn't thought about cutting down on protein. I just read that in Bernstein's book too. I'm thinking of cutting out the bacon in the morning and changing my snacks. Any other ideas? As for medication, I'm only taking Zrytec for hayfever.

Thanks for your help.


Nopie:

Thanks for sharing, that definitely helps. I'm going to try all your suggestions, including walking after meals. How soon after eating can you exercise? I thought you should wait a 1/2 hr or something. I'm also going to start weight training 2-3 times/week. I can see now that it's going to take experimenting to find what works for me. I'm starting to think that maybe I'm just eating too much. Atkins doesn't recommend watching calories, but the only time I really lost fat was on the Fat Fast and was only eating 1000 cal/day. I don't think I should eat that low again, but I need to find the level that allows me to lose.

Thanks to everyone for helping.

Mindy

[believer]

Life's so unfair sometimes. I would think that since TII runs in my family that my sister would be more likely to get it over me since she is much heavier than me for her size and is much less active. But she had a great fasting glucose (a little high on triglycerides though) at her last check up and after I told her about Atkins and low-carbing a few weeks ago, she started cutting out the obvious stuff and has dropped 12 lbs without even reading the book. I am very happy for her that she doesn't have any signs of TII, has lost a good amount of weight and obviously has a great metabolism, but I can't help but feel a little sorry for myself :-( I encouraged her tonight to stick with it since it's coming off so easily for her - I hope she does.

As for me, I've made some changes since last week:
1) Eating mostly CarbSense hot cereal (chocolate) for breakfast instead of bacon and eggs. This has helped me lower my saturated fat and upped my fiber. It tastes great and one serving, which only has 140 cal, keeps me full all morning until lunch. I used to have to snack to make it to lunch, but not with this cereal. Pretty cool. And the snacks that I used to take were cheese and salami. So without those snacks and bacon (and switching my salad dressing from blue cheese to good oil/vinegar), my saturated fat intake has gone way down (down 20 gr/day) and my fiber has increased by about the same amount.

2) Ordered and received my ALA and EPO today. I'll start taking them with each meal starting tomorrow.

3) Started walking after at least one meal each day (goal is to walk after 2 meals ea day or more). Have done my weight training video twice this week so far. Ordered some more weight training videos today so that I can do one every day and work different muscle groups each day (so as to not work the same muscle in less than 48 hrs).

4) Have reduced my calories from 1800-2200 per day to 1300-1500, without going hungry, which I think is due to the increased fiber.

Fasting blood sugars are down from the 90s to the 80s. The scale was down a pound today, and hopefully it will keep going down. I've been pretty tired lately even though I've been getting 8 hrs the last few nights (not including tonight :-), but I think that's because I'm still catching up from the deprivation over the last month.

Thanks for the help. I'm really enjoying reading all the messages here.

[nopie]

Sounds like you are really working at it. I'll bet all the changes you are making will do the trick. Interesting about the cereal, isn't it? I used to eat an egg and two pieces of bacon every morning. When I started eating the Keto oatmeal every morning (as well as a tablespoon of flax oil), it seemed to stop that mid-morning hunger. I wonder if less saturated fat makes a difference.

[alaskaman]

Glad you are making positive changes. What weight training videos are you using? Bill

[believer]

Currently, I'm using Tamilee Webb's 'I want that body'. I just ordered Gilad's Quick Fit series. I should get them next week.

[Luscious]

Your post got me thinking. Before I was formally diagnosed with Type II Diabetes I tried low carbing for a short time .. although I wasn't testing I could feel that it helped my blood sugar levels as my symptoms eased dramatically, but I did not lose any weight. I gave up after a couple of weeks.

Since being diagnosed I have been taking metformin which helps cells be less IR. I lost 11 pounds during induction, and 3 pounds in the week since.

So I guess, looking at it, being highly IR is likely why i had so much difficulty losing weight before (on any weight loss program).

[c6h6o3]

Since being diagnosed I have been taking metformin which helps cells be less IR. I lost 11 pounds during induction, and 3 pounds in the week since.


Why not ask your doctor for an oral hypoglycemic to reduce IR? I take Actos now, and it has proven far more effective in stabilizing my blood sugar than ALA/EPO, which I have given up.

My glucometer is practically pinned on 90 now around the clock. I take 15 mg Actos (pioglitazone) every evening.

Jim

[Luscious]

Hi Jim, thanks for you post, but can you confirm? I though the Metformin was to reduce IR? I'm confused now.

My blood sugars have been much better since i started to take it. I was saying that since I started taking it I have been able to lose weight much more effectively, so I wondered if IR might have been why it was so hard for me in the past.

I am quite new to all this .. is the goal of Actos different to Metformin?

Cheers
Luscious :angel:

[eevee]

Hi Luscious....a quote from www.chem.ox.ac.uk/mom/metformin/Metformin.htm (http://www.chem.ox.ac.uk/mom/metformin/Metformin.htm)

"Metformin is an oral med designed to help control elevated blood sugar levels in NIDDM (non-insulin dependant). It is believed to work by inhibiting hepatic(liver) glucose production, and increasing the sensitivity of peripheral tissues to insulin."

It has been around for more than 30 years, and apart from an upset tummy for a while in some, it is better understood than many of these newer orals. Because it does help reduce insulin resistance, the pancreas can put out less, and so you may lose weight for this reason...another name for insulin is 'the fat building hormone'.
Like any other med tho', if you don't need it, you shouldn't take it. Eve

[c6h6o3]

I am quite new to all this .. is the goal of Actos different to Metformin?


No, they're the same. They both reduce insulin resistance. Actos is a newer drug which my doctor feels is better for me since she's seen it reduce triglycerides, which is also one of our goals for me.

Metformin is a tried and true medication that's very safe. With Actos we're monitoring my liver enzymes to make sure it's not doing any damage there.

My suggestion was directed at Mindy, since from her posts I glean that she's not taking any prescription meds for her diabetes. I quoted you because you're living proof that oral hypoglycemics help immensely, for me much more so than ALA/EPO.

[believer]

Jim,

I thought you were talking to Luscious too. I can ask my PA about the drugs, but I have a feeling she's not going to recommend them for me. I spoke to her last week and mentioned that even on Atkins I wasn't losing. She said that exercise (espeically weight training) was the key at this point. I guess diet changes can only do so much. So, I'm trying to go that route right now. I'm struggling though. It was easy to follow the LC diet before because I really believed it would help me lose weight. Now it's hard to eat well and I've been on and off for the last couple weeks. 'Course the holidays and being tired all the time didn't/doesn't help much. But I know I can't go back to my old way of eating (high carb/low fat), so I will make another go of it and increase the exercise.

Thanks,
Mindy

[black57]

Protein is a vital ingredient in retarding the absorbtion of sugars into the blood stream. Keto products are an excellent source of protein therefore an excellent appetite normalizer.

Insulin resistance: Any time the body's cells makes it difficult for natural insulin to do its job those cells are said to be insulin resistant. They have formed a "callous" that prevents insulin from "shoving" glucose into them. Glucose is a fuel that is either stored as fat or it is removed through bodily wastes. Hypoglycemia/hyperglycemia/gout and other insulin related embalances are results of insulin resistance.

If you are a yo yo dieter, your body will begin resisting dietary changes. Whatever diet anyone decides to do stay consistant so that the body can become comfortable with changes. Every time you make a change the body will protest. In the Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution it discourages eating fewer than 20 grams of carbohydrates. Eating too few carbs and too few calories can cause the body to think that it is starving. If the body thinks it is starving, to survive, it will store fat. It does this more frequently in women because we are child bearers. Speaking of child bearing, if you are reaching perimenopause ( it can start as early as the age of 35 and can last for 15 years ) this can also cause weightloss to be more difficult because the body is craving estrogen which can be found in fat.

Believer, have you read the part on hypothyroidism in the Atkins book? It does address this and discusses the possibilitives of having negative tests and yet still have hypothyroid symptoms like low body temps. Dr. Atkins also states that once treatment begins the patient often begins to lose weight.

The book, Protein Power, is a very good one to have for medical and scientific information.