One of the reasons that I came back to 3FC and to LC dieting is because back in January I went to the doctor for a check up and blood test. She told me that my insulin level was the highest she had seen in a long time! She told me that's why I just can't get rid of my belly fat! She asked me if DH and I were planning on having children and I told her next year after I finish grad school. She said I am barely tiping over the line to be diabetic and that if I were to get pregnant with my insulin level this high I would get diabetes during pregnancy. So... that was all I needed to motivate me. I have been very careful to steer clear of sugars, I go back end of April, beginning of May for another blood test. Se said if it isn't lowered she would have to put me on meds. My question do any of you have diabetes ir high insulin levels, and if so how did this WOL effect you? Does it take long to lower your levels eating this way? Etc. Thanks!
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I'm not diabetic...but...my Dad is an insulin dependant diabetic (one of the many reasons I decided to do Atkins). When I first began Atkins, almost 4 years ago, my inspiration was a girl named Julie from another board. She had started out at 278 lbs and had just been diagnosed with diabetes & put on medication. She began doing Atkins and only took the medication 4½ months before her Dr. took her off them because her blood sugar was normal She got down to 162 lbs doing Atkins
If you think about it, Atkins would be the perfect eating plan for a diabetic. Sticking with lean meats, eggs, non-starchy veggies, salad....avoiding things like bread, potatoes, white rice, pasta, sugar & white flour.
You might also want to read Gary Taubes Good Calories, Bad Calories for a better understanding of the low carb lifestyle.
It sounds to me like you have made up your mind to do this & make it work for you and you are already off to a wonderful start
My brother had undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes - a sore on his foot got him to the doc - he was hospitalized for 4 days and came home after learning to self administer 3 insulin shots a day.
He's never read the Dr.'s book but was scared enuf to do exactly as I advised (for the last 3 years, that is!) and cut the carbs to being whole & healthy.
He's progressed to not even having to take ORAL insulin pills! (Altho' he keeps some on hand just in case) - he went from all those shots to feeling great mainly thru the Atkins Diet - and a bit of intentional exercise/walking!
That's great. Thankks ladies. Your right Jersey, I have absolutely made up my mind and this is it for me. I am only 23. I realized that if I didn't change my WOL I would probablt eat myself to early grave! I wanna live a long and healthy life! No insulin shots for me!!!
I wish, I'd had that warning at your age. At the age of 34, I was diagnosed with Diabetes. The reason your insulin is so high is that you are eating too much carb and your body is trying to get rid of it, the problem is that you are probably a little insulin resistant so eventually your body (pancreas) will get tired of covering for all those carbs and won't be able to produce enough insulin.
Trust me, take it seriously now! I went on my own form of a low carbohydrate diet that isn't as low as atkins. In less than 2 years I lost 102 pounds and my diabetes is well under control my medication cut in half and soon I hope to be off all meds. If you have questions about it, i can give you more details if you PM me.
A diet that controls your carbs can help with your insulin problem and help you lose weight.
blueX, thanks a lot. That makes me feel much better knowing that a diet like this has helped multiple people with a similar problem. You are right, I am very grateful that I went and found this out early. I appreciate you offering to help and answer questions. Thank you. By the way congratulations on your success! I can't wait util I meet my goal.
This tread is a God-send!!! Thank you all for your comments! I'm older than the poster enough to be her mom. I too am insulin resistant and am edging higher in my numbers towards full-fledged type 2 diabetes! I've been trying to lose weight on a low-fat plan and just in the past couple of weeks been doing alot of investigating research and am convinced now that this wasn't the way I should be going (too many carbs!!!!) So I'm convinced I NEED to go on low-carb and something that is liveable....so thinking South Beach is more to my liking! I'm so thankful I found this website (just yesterday in fact!...or maybe the day before but just the same I'm happy to be here).
Hey frustrated dieter! Your name sounds familiar, I know i've been frustrated many times before with diets, but let me tell you, low carb is a winner. Since day 1 I have not felt any frustration, I haven't felt hopeless, I have felt great. When you start seeing results in the first week, it is such an exciting feeling that you wonder how you will ever stray from this way f eating. Just make sure that you have plenty of on program snacks throughout the day and it should make the first week much easier. I am rarely hungry for a long period of time.
Happy Teacher....thank you for the words of encouragement!!! I am having "light bulb" moments on this site. I've been doing "low-fat" and was gradually losing lbs up until this past August when I broke my ankle in a weird accident. I was "laid up" for 10 weeks and couldn't exercise. I only gained 5 lbs during that time which I didn't think was so bad. From late Oct. on I (I've gradually been increasing my exercise as my ankle strengthens) haven't had good success at all with the food plan. In fact I'm gradually gaining weight and from what I'm reading it's because of the carbs!!!! Low-fat has a higher carb index because it has to to taste good! It's just in the past couple of weeks that I KNOW I need to do something different and need to get on it quickly as my numbers for blood sugar will only keep going up!! I want to get healthy and I know eventually the weight loss will just be a by-product!
My husband is Type II diabetic, I'm insulin resistant. We're both on metformin (and he's also using an injectable insulin pen as well).
Low-carb really helps us both keep our blood sugars down, control our hunger, and increase our energy level. Neither of us can reduce our carbohydrates to induction-levels though. It's more important for my husband, because he is taking the insulin, but even with just the metformin, induction levels make me ill. So, if you want to do induction, you might want to get it started now, so if your doctor puts you on met, you'll be in OWL before you start it. It's also possible that the low-carbing will lower your blood sugar enough that you won't need the metformin.
"Low-fat has a higher carb index because it has to taste good!"
Back in the 80's when the whole fat-free craze started, I started reading labels. Not a cool thing to do yet. I realized that the less fat a product had the more sugar was added to make up for the taste. My mom was borderline diabetic back then and I knew from talking to her that although I might not get diabeties, I should protect my pancreas as much as possible. So, I went against the grain and stopped eating anything low fat. I also stopped eating margarine and started using only real butter. And I actually lost weight when I did that and stayed smaller all during the 90's. These were my Pre-Atkins years.
Insulin
She got down to 162 lbs doing Atkins
