This is my first post on the forum-- I'm not completely sure how the process works, so if I mess up, bear with me until I get it right. The same goes for my diet.
I went to my mom's doctor because I've been gaining weight in the past 2 years-- 50 pounds, to be exact. But at the same time, I've been growing: I'm now about 5'9" and 174 pounds... I used to be 5'6" and 140 pounds. I never really modified my eating habits, and the only major change I've had was that I started working part time, 20-30 hours a week, at a local grocery store.
You'd think that it'd be super easy to find something to eat on your half-hour lunch break at a grocery store-- but surprisingly, it's not. We have no refrigerator, no microwave, and it's hard to bring meats to work because I have to leave them in my car. After four or five hours in the beating sun (I live in the South, in Georgia, and believe me, down here it gets HOT) it's virtually asking for food poisoning to eat any meat that's been boiling out there. So I used to grab a diet coke and a candy bar-- I figured, hey, if this is all I eat for lunch I'm doing good. After all, it's only 300 or so calories, and I'm given like 2000 a day, right?
But I've taken several tests at the doctor's office, and they seem to indicate to me that no, that wasn't right at all. I tested negative for high cortisol levels, which the doctor suspected because of my unusual stretch marks. I also tested negative (but barely) for diabetes or high blood glucose.
In fact, my doctor diagnosed me with prediabetes and hypoglycemia: she said that at certain times, my blood glucose levels were actually low... and my insulin levels were outrageously high. Do I understand this? Not quite. I bought a guide to the Atkins diet at Sam's Club today, so maybe I'll understand further. I hope so.
Until I can get an appointment to see a dietician, my doctor put me on a diet which is (gasp) not Atkins. However, it is LC.... but not by the standards I've seen on these forums... 50 g of carbs a day? I couldn't manage.
For now, I'm on a diet of 40 g of carbs or less per meal, and it's been harder than I expected. I've only been on the diet for a week, but I've already lost 5
pounds.
My pitfalls seem to be that I snack constantly-- a few Hershey's Kisses when I open the fridge, a few sips of Coke Classic when I'm sampling my brother's non-LC meal, two pieces of pizza for lunch because my mom has a coupon and I can't afford to buy my own lunch.
There's another thing-- money. My family's not too well off... I know you think that if we can afford a computer, of course we can afford meat and cheese and stuff. But when you compare a can of Spaghetti-O's to specialty whole wheat pasta, special no sugar added sauce, and lean ground beef, there's quite a difference cost-wise. My family doesn't have a carb problem, and convincing my utterly cost-conscious mom to buy and prepare an entirely separate meal for me is outrageous in her views-- so I'm stuck with a pepperoni pizza like today, more often than not.
I don't know what foods to eat anymore-- I hate water, so I'm drinking diet drinks. I'm not big on meats either- like I said, they're expensive, and the least expensive meats (hot dogs, sausages, etc.) I find disgusting. I'm not big on lettuce, so I've always made my salads from legumes, pepperoni, broccoli and onions, but I recently learned not all of those are LC. Any suggestions? I think I just need to see the dietician.

hi locarbteen,

here are some ideas for things you can try in terms of eating that your mom probably already buys at sams or where ever...

cheese (your mom buys for pizza, right?):
make cheese crisps (at home--where if your mom is making pizza, you must have an oven/micro?) just shred cheese onto parchment paper, and toast until crispy. let it cool, peel off the parchment, then crumble. the pieces stay good, even in the sun.

hard boiled eggs. (super cheap)

rye crackers/bread. if you're pre-diabetic, rye foods are not too much on the carbs (comparatively), good on fiber, and low in sugar.

what about sliced bell peppers (red/green), cooked asparagus, broccoli, or other legumes leaving onions out? (again...super cheap.)

beef jerkey. maybe like hot/spicy flavor? (at sams you can buy in bulk, cheap)

if you eat/can get pepperoni, what about salami, too?

nuts: peanuts, cashews, or almonds (at sams, the big huge containers aren't "cheap" but if you follow the serving sizes, the cans last forever!)

sugar free jello (cheap, and at sam's)

canned chicken/tuna (at sams, multipack tins that aren't too pricey, especially compared to the fresh stuff)


if you can't get your mom to cook for your needs (despite what sounds like a not very optimistic report about your health from your doctor, especially for your age), just try to educate yourself and make great choices from what she serves. or, lend a hand in preparing meals to be sure some part of the meal is "safe" for you to eat.

for example, with the pizza she made, just scrape the cheese/toppings off and eat those. skip the crust. then, see if you can't talk her into a salad on the side with veggies you like and a lower carb dressing, like ranch.

as you get through the atkins book you'll get a sense of what things are better/worse in terms of carbs. just head toward those things.

all the processed expensive food isn't really the way to go anyway. it's fun to try it if you can afford it/get it, but it's not the food that's going to sustain a lifetime of lowcarb eating. no worries there--just skip it.

also...you've got to get water in you! everyone on these boards will tell you the same. you won't believe how much better you feel.

hope this helps and that others post ideas, too.

I can't possibly explain to you, chacha, how good it makes me feel to know that someone actually took time out of their day to help me out. I mean, you're not even a doctor, you're not getting paid to do this, and despite that you give me better advice than my doctor herself.
Oh, by the way... am I not supposed to eat onions? I'll be sad if I can't-- I love 'em. In fact, I had some today on a Low Carby Wrap at Arby's. Today I've done pretty good on carbs:
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with diced tomatoes and onions, one piece of sausage, 2% milk
Lunch: Low Carby Wrap (Southwestern)
Dinner: Spinach and Artichoke Dip (minues the tortilla chips) and a C2. I know, Diet Coke would be better, but we ran out and mom doesn't get paid til next Friday.
And I think you'd be proud: I drank three large glasses of water today, compared to my average of... what, none?
Again, thanks so much for your help.

sounds like you're off to a good start! that you're drinking water is great, too.

i'm a big water freak, but i still drink soda, too. i just don't let myself have a diet coke until i've had at least 50oz of water, first. haven't tried the c2 coke, but i'm not that into it anyway. too many calories. i like to use them on food instead of drinks

in terms of onions/veggies...i wouldn't kill yourself trying to eliminate all onions or each and every carb from your diet by skipping veggies (onions are high in carbs, but they're a veggie. i'm not down with the skimping on veggie idea--they're too healthy for you, especially now when we're growing). plus, you said you're just trying to cut back on carbs, not go full low carb, right?

the bad news is most the veggies it looks like you (and me ) like best, are higher than others in carbs. tomatoes, onions, spinach, corn, carrots, etc... these are all high/higher carb veggies.

try to catagorize your veggies into low/medium/high groups in terms of carbs. if you google.com "carbs veggies" or something like you can read up on the carb counts so you know what you're eating.

also...when your mom gets paid, you might bug her to get "santa fe tortilla company" tortillas the next time you're at sam's club. they actually taste good, aren't expensive (the bag's got a ton of them in it), and you can use them for wraps, pizzas, etc...while your mom uses them for burritos or other stuff.

one more thing... milk is high carb. switch to unsweetened soy milk (maybe not an option for you?), or try to talk your mom into buying "carb control" milk at sam's club. (it's not as cheap as real milk, but it sounds like she buys frozen/packaged meals and items that aren't that cheap either. so, maybe ask if you could swap one frozen meal/item for the milk?)

oh, and know there's a kind of bbq chicken wings that sam's club used to sell that's pretty low carb too. just check out all the bags in the frozen section. that'd be really cheap and something everybody in your house might eat, too.

later...

I went my endocrinologist today for an RMR (resting metabolic rate) test before my scheduled analysis appointment on August 3. They weighed and measured me: I'm 169 lbs and 5'8 1/2". Whoo hoo! I'm down ten pounds.
When I got home I tried on the pants I bought about a week ago from the Guess store near my house-- and they don't even come close to fitting!
I took them back and got two pairs instead... where I used to wear a 32 (no idea if these are sized like men's waist sizes or not-) I now wear a 30. I could've cried... I'm down ten pounds and two pants sizes!
I have noticed that pants are less tight on my belly now than they used to be... in fact, the only place I'm even a little overweight is my stomach. My legs are uber-long and my arms are pretty muscular, but my stomach is a little poochy. I just can't wait to get down to 150-- then I can fit into all my old clothes again!
Thanks for all your help. I'm typing your ideas out onto a grocery list my mom's started.

cool deal... really encouraging, i hope, for you to stick with it. plus, what a sweet benefit to have a clothing dilemma like that, especially from the guess store. am i the only one who thinks the clothes there run small?

oh, the other thing i wondered is whether you got a number regarding your rmr? what did the doctor come up with for you?

i'd be curious to know since the online calculators for stuff like that are kind of consistent, but each gives a slightly different rmr/bmr total. i'm sure a lot of people on the boards would be interested to see what number your doctor came up with.

anyone else have rmr results from their docs?

also, i wanted to give you this link to my current photos/progress, as we're kind of close to the same height (but, i'm older...almost 30, in fact. i'm a writer for teen books though, so i love to hang and help out if i can) anyway... i'm just about one inch shorter, so maybe the pics will help you visualize where you're going (?)

i've used tons of pics in the gallery to visualize where i wanted to go/stay while learning how to cut out the carbs/sugar. that's why i'm so much more into this site than a lot of the others. everyone's amazingly cool about posting pics, progress, and encouragement along with their personal stats.