Sorry for the delay in my reply...I've been out of town.
Here's what my doctor has me doing:

Breakfast: unlimited meat, cheese, eggs (I usually do a couple of pieces of bacon or sausage and a couple of eggs...sometimes cheese in the eggs)
Lunch and Supper: unlimited meat, cheese, eggs, plus 1 to 1 1/2 cups of salad greens and 1 to 1 1/2 cups of broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, cabbage, spinach, zucchini, or yellow squash
Snacks: Every three hours must eat a little meat, cheese, egg, or macadamia nuts or almonds
Dessert: Can have a sugar-free jello with or without heavy cream on it if I want, but I no longer do it because I don't tolerate the sugar substitutes well
Beverages: Black coffee (could have cream or sugar substitute if I want), tea, or diet drinks (which I don't do for reasons listed above)

So, from what I understand, it's essentially Atkins induction without the restrictions on cheese and nuts...the nuts I hold to a rare occasion, and the cheese I love, although I've been cutting down on it signficantly for a couple of reasons (read that it stalls some people, so I'm experimenting with that).

So that's it...14 pounds in 4 months with three one-time cheats...at first, I was thinking I could do that once a month and it would only have a short-term effect, but I think I've learned the mistake in that...cutting out the sugar substitutes seems to help as well. Wish it were moving faster, but on the other hand, I haven't been able to lose 14 pounds doing anything else in years! Slow success is better than no success.

I too was diagnosed with insulin resistence, about 8 years ago. I hit at over 300lbs and it was suggested that I do a severe form of atkins. I chose to go on atkins proper and not do it so strict as they wanted (pretty much like you are describing above) I figured I could always do it their way if I needed to.

I lost nothing, zero, zilch for the first week - the second week 2lbs and pretty much stalled out the third week. I was so frustrated. But, as you can see I lost a lot of weight over the next 2 years. I have been on LC for a total of 2 years 5 months now and I have loat up to 90lbs. It's been slow going but I can honestly say it's been the best thing for me because it controls my eating - but in a good way - a way which enables me to EAT!



You hit the nail on the head here. At least you are not putting that weight on!!!

Stick with it, you're doing well so far - honestly!!!

Foxgluvs,
Thanks for your words of wisdom and encouragement! My doctor assures me that I'll be able to eventually add a few carbs to my diet, so that it won't be so restrictive.

The sort of amazing thing is that yes, it is a little restrictive, but it is also very freeing...

I am more in control than I've ever been, and am no longer subject to the absolutely tormenting hunger and cravings I used to experience. My numbers are light years better, I feel better, and I'm no longer a slave to a body chemistry I didn't understand.

No potato is worth going back to any of that!

I really don't feel restricted very often, although I did long for some homemade chocolate chip cookies I was around earlier this week...I hung in there, though. I can be with family or friends who are chowing down on ice cream and they're like, "Oh, I feel so sorry for you!" but I'm not sorry for me in the least! I'm just incredibly thankful that this came into my life.

All those vegetables are carbs. They can't be anything else--they're not protein, and they're not fat.

Personally, I do better without the snacking. You may want to do some research about this when you get more comfortable with the plan. Some people think eating all the time keeps their metabolism up, and others think it keeps them from releasing glucagon. YMMV. One place to start is with information about the CAD program; think they're a 3-meals-nothing-in-between plan. Masteringleptin.org also has information that could be useful.

Good luck.

Sorry - I should have been more clear and stated, "My doctor assures me that I'll be able to eventually add a few MORE carbs to my diet..."

As to the snacking, my doctor says it is absolutely essential since one of the things we're trying to do is get my significant swings in blood sugar levels under control.

I'm very happy with my plan and understand its nutritional composition...I've just been interested in learning more about insulin resistance. Thanks for all the responses (and for any yet to come)!

Not to argue, but at least to suggest that it can be kept in mind... there are some schools of thought that say it is the very act of snacking that contribute to blood sugar swinging. It time for glucagon to be released and constant snacking prevents that.

As always, YMMV.

I was reading about insulin resistance last night. I'll try and find it but the gist of it was that insulin receptors will increase over time (we want this to happen) on a LC lifestyle. As the receptors increase, it means handling the insulin better rather than sending it off into the blood stream. The longer you LC, the better your insulin response.

If we got ourselves into this, then we can get ourselves out. There's no such thing as irreversable imo... It's irreversable because we don't know how to get it back to how it was before. Find that out and then the rest is easy.

There are a lot of biological processes that are irreversable, most addictions being the classic example. Once you're a pickle, you don't get back to being a cucumber. Whether or not insulin resistance qualifies is a different discussion. Given that the effects can be ameliorated by eating LC, and you'd only really know you were still / again insulin resistant by going back to a HC WOE, it doesn't seem to matter that much.

this is the classic low carb question ... not sure that anyone knows the answer