Weight loss issues and diabetes
I previously lost a bunch of weight (110 pounds) calorie counting a few years ago. I gained a whole bunch (about 75) back and in the meantime I was diagnosed just over the borderline into diabetes (A1C of 6.7). My doctor put me on Metformin and told me to test my blood a couple of times a week to get a general idea of my patterns. He also encouraged me to lose weight, which I am now back to actively doing.
For the past two months I have been working on this and have been rather frustrated at how slowly I have been losing. I have been tracking my calories on and off with Sparkpeople and I stay somewhere between 1500-2000, depending on the day (at my weight, SP puts me at a range of 2000 - 2300). I generally try to keep my carbs below 100g. I have been playing with different carb levels and am not sure I have figured this part out. However, I have gone pretty much no white foods, as much whole as possible, and try to avoid processed foods where I can.
Here is yesterday, which was mostly typical:
Breakfast: Protein shake (I am not a breakfast eater, but the dietician stressed the importance of having something right when I get up to stabalize my blood sugar)
Morningish: Two cups of coffee with half and half
Lunch: Large salad with lots of veggies (lettuce, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli rabe, cabbage), about 3 oz chicken and two hardboiled eggs. 2 tbsp dressing.
Snack: 1oz almonds
Dinner: 6 oz steak, 1/2 cup roasted butternut squash and 1 cup roasted cauliflower. One cup pineapple.
Evening snack: Cup of 2% Fage Greek yogurt
Calories: 1533, Carbs: 79 Fat: 73 Protein: 151
I will often have a mid afternoon snack and I usually have yogurt with lunch as well (I forgot it at home), which ups my calories for the day.
I haven’t done any ketosis testing, but with those carb levels I doubt I am in ketosis. A huge part of keeping carbs low is that it just makes me feel better and I don’t get weird cravings. I have gone off plan only a few times, and even then it was only a bit and mostly from a perspective of eating some carbs. I stayed in a generally good calorie range. I take a multivitamin packet, chromium and cinnamon for insulin and just started glucosamine/chondroitin for my knees.
With a gain of 2 pounds last week for no apparent reason except for water retention, it puts me at 11 pounds down in 9 weeks (I didn't move my ticker up). This feels REALLY slow for someone of my weight. When I was losing weight before, I did much better when I stayed on plan. I had way more trouble before really staying on plan, but I have barely strayed at all this time. Staying away from all sugar and not using reduced calorie equivilents has helped me stay on track.
I am now at a point where I am trying to cut out all gluten. I was going to do soy as well moving towards Paleo (not ready to give up my yogurt), but I am tackling one thing at a time. I haven’t been eating bread, but mostly it is the occasional crab cake with some breadcrumbs. I am going to avoid these types of things going forward and/or make my own.
I have been working out about four times a week, a mix or weights and cardio. I could definitely do better here. Mornings are hard for me and there are several days where I go straight from work to other activities, but maybe I just need to figure out how to make mornings work.
Has anyone felt like they are doing mostly everything right and the weight loss isn’t happening like you think it ‘should’? Can I just expect to lose much slower now that I have diabetes? Has anyone found that they need to exercise every day for its effect on insulin? Have you found anything particular in regard to diabetes and blood sugar effecting your weightloss? I see my endo again next month, so I can ask him about this then. I saw a dietician in his office two weeks ago, but I didn’t feel like she was that helpful.
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