I have a theory as to why. While I was losing weight, I was avoiding second helpings. I found if I waited a while before letting myself have seconds, my urge for more food would go away. But lately I've drifted back into the habit of taking more food immediately because I feel like it. So I think I need to go back to making myself wait before eating more.

However, when I was avoiding seconds, I had to eat five meals a day because I got hungry so often. Not a bad thing in itself I suppose--a book I read said that studies show that people who eat more small meals lose more weight than people who eat three larger meals. However, the hunger would come on suddenly and my hands would shake, which is disconcerting, especially to a hypoglycemic person.

Now that I have second helpings, I stay satiated longer, my hands don't shake, I feel more comfortable--and the weight's not coming off. It even came back on a little bit. Do I have to be uncomfortable and get shaky hands to lose weight?

Um. No, I don't think so. It sounds like you're losing weight in the presence of health issues, and I don't know how or if that changes the process in any way. However, in my experience (no hypoglycemia), weight loss has NOT been accompanied by shakiness and discomfort. So my first questions are:
1) How many calories are you eating daily (before and after)
2) How long do you go without losing weight? (ex. 1 week, 1 month, 3 months?)
3) Have you spoken with a physician you trust? Is that an option?
4) What does the health community say about hypoglycemia and weight loss? What kind of research is out there?

I hope these questions might help to pinpoint an avenue to figuring this out.

I would also go ahead and post a thread in the 'Dieting with Obstacles' section, they may be able to give you better answers.

I have not experienced anything like this but I don't think dieting should in any way make you feel worse. If it does, then you will not be able to stick to it (who would!?) and in the long run may gain the weight back. Although I have not lost a significant amount of weight yet and have not maintained previously (never really dieted in my life before), I would agree that the key to successful weight loss is to find something that works for you that you will be able to stick to throughout your life, not just until you lose the weight.

I would recommend doing some research into dieting with hypoglycemia. I'm sure you can find some good books, articles, or blogs that you can look into buying or maybe checking out at a local library.
I have a slight bit of insulin resistance and found the Insulin Resistance Diet book. I would not really consider them a diet as much as a guide / rule book of what you should and shouldn't do if you have IR. I have implemented some of their tips/recommendations and it has helped me not have so many back and forth scale bounces and has made me feel better (my problem was with sleepiness and tiredness after meals).
Best of luck!

1) No idea. I don't count calories.

2) Well, it took me a week to go from 164 to 163, but a couple of days later I was back up to 164, so I'm not sure how to count that. I started out losing a couple of pounds a week. So I haven't gone that long without losing. I've only been trying to lose since Aug. 1.

3) Only to ask for an endocrinologist. At the time I thought things were going pretty well, so I didn't think to ask him for weight loss advice, and I don't think of that as being a doctor's area of expertise anyway.

4) I think of this as a subject I'm well versed in. Avoid low-glycemic foods: check. Eat adequate protein with every meal: check. That's why the shaky hands were a bit of a surprise. Mind you, I didn't mind so much while I was still losing weight! Yes, I was willing to have shaky hands for the sake of losing weight.

That's a good idea. Perhaps this thread should be in Dieting with Obstacles.

I read that too. I have PCOS, which I think is a kind of insulin resistance. A lot of it seems like good advice--the balancing of carbs and proteins--but they put a lot of emphasis on cutting fat. They say, only eat 3 whole eggs a week. I'm not too keen on that.

Thanks for your help, belovedspirit and levoguette.

PCOS responds very well to one of the low carb diets like South Beach or Atkins. They are also helpful with insulin resistance. If you don't count calories, how do you know you are eating at a deficit? Also, it takes 4 weeks at the same weight to be stalled. You are barely started so it's not that. I have a feeling you are eating too many carbs because they cause crashes like you described. Protein keeps you full the longest, followed by fat, and carbs are a poor third for satiety.

Hey sweetie. I have PCOS as well, but remember that what I'm about to tell you is strictly anecdotal and not to be taken as advice.

I have found that I can cut carbs, or I can cut fat, but I cannot do both. You need one or the other for fuel; yes, protein is used for fuel as well, but it's not a very good source of fuel.

Carbs give you quicker energy, but your body must quickly either use them or turn them to fat. I have found that when I eat high carb, my energy tends to bottom out quickly and I'm soon left looking for more fuel. I don't lose weight at all, even at 800 calories/day.

Fat is a slower burn, but more constant. When I eat a lower carb, higher fat diet, I have energy to breeze through anything and I'm not nearly as hungry. And I can easily lose 3 or more pounds per week without being hungry or deprived.

So my typical day looks like this:

Breakfast: 1 boiled egg, maybe a piece of string cheese if I'm hungrier. 2 oz fruit if I want something sweet.
Snack: 1/2 cup Greek yogurt with a little bit of fruit in
Lunch: Green salad loaded with colorful veggies, topped with 1 oz cheese and 1-3 oz protein
Snack: 1 oz bag pistachios
Dinner: Green salad, 3-6 oz protein (depending on how hard I worked out, usually 3 oz), diet tonic water
Snack before bed: Another bag of my beloved pistachios

None of that sounds like a lot of food, but I am hardly ever hungry. I mean I get hungry, but it happens right before an appropriate meal time. It's not a constant thought in my brain like it was when I was on the low-fat diets that were all the rage in the 1990s (which is the last time I was skinny).

I also have PCOS which is where my IR stems from, it seems like they both go hand in hand or one tends to cause the other.
To be honest, the only thing I have been practicing from it, as of now at least, is their protein-carb "linking" technique. I have noticed that I am losing weight a little bit faster, not really faster but I don't have stalls and regains as much as I did before, and I am not as sleepy as I would be after eating. I skimmed through most of the book, so the carb-protein linking thing is the only thing that stuck with me and the part about which carbs and proteins "count". I don't remember what it said about lowering fat...
I wouldn't recommend following any diet religiously, I would just try out some "techniques/strategies" for a few weeks and see how you like it, if it works and you feel better you'll be able to tell, and then you can decide to make it part of your own personalized diet plan. I think it's all about finding what works best for you.

As a side note though, if you do also want to try lowering fat and eggs are a staple food for you, you may consider limiting the amount of egg yolks that you eat and eat more egg whites instead. I have an egg allergy, so I don't personally know how much fat an egg contains or much of its nutritional aspects or how egg whites are better for you, but it seems that a lot of people make that switch.

Another side note, when I posted a few questions about metformin and being worried about having my blood sugar drop too low while on it (my doctor briefly considered putting me on it, I have high insulin but low blood sugar), one of the forum members told me that she keeps a timer on her phone that reminds her to eat at least a small snack every few hours. Maybe something like this can work for you. I would definitely recommend counting calories though, you may be eating more calories than you realize and that's why you are having weight stalls. It's very easy to do so with an app like LoseIt! or MyFitnessPal for your phone.

I can see why you'd think I'm eating too many carbs, but I'm really not. I'm eating no bread, only occasional potatoes (& only in small amounts), and only occasional beans. I'm eating fruit, but basically I consider that I'm doing low carb. Perhaps my portions are too small when I get the shaky hands?

It's nice to hear I'm not stalled. My weight was coming off quickly at the beginning so perhaps I got spoiled.

That's good to hear too, because I don't like cutting fat. It sounds like you weigh the protein portion. I estimate everything.

I don't have a cell phone but eating at regular times might be a good idea. I eat breakfast at a regular time but other than that I often forget to eat until I'm hungry. I will look into the calorie cutting as well.

Thanks everyone!

I weigh all of my food. I find it to be much more accurate. For example, I can chop an apple coarsely and measure it in a cup measure, or I can mince it finely. The minced cup will take up the same volume in the bowl, but it will weigh a bit more because the coarser chopped apple will have more air pockets between the fruit pieces. So I weigh it. The difference is probably not nearly as significant as I fear it will be, but I'm a little compulsive that way.

I don't have a lot of time but I'll point out that:

1) Number of meals nor timing of said meals does not affect fat loss or gain. Calories ingested vs calories utilized matters.

2) Different types of food can cause you to be more satiated than others. Most people find limiting carbs and eating more protein and fats to be the easiest way to limit calories.

I'm not a doctor but for a hypoglycemic person I would suggest fewer larger meals would be better than smaller more numerous meals.

Why?

Because it balances out your blood sugar.

I also have PCOS with IR, and I eat a low carb diet, but it's not ridiculously low-carb.

Additionally, if you have PCOS, some studies show our metabolism is slower, and "estimating" or guessing portions may not work, especially if you're closer to your goal weight (than someone who might be 100 lbs more than you are right now).

Therefore, you may want to start weight/measuring your food to see how much you are eating in terms of calories.

I also eat Paleo, which means I avoid grains and dairy. Grains because they spike up my blood sugar too much and dairy because I have an allergic reaction to it. But again, some people in the PCOS community are now saying that dairy is not good for PCOS people because of the added hormones to the supply -- it can affect us who already have wonky hormones.

Hi ya!

I was just curious about what you are drinking...

My own experience, with shakiness, is that it went away after I stopped drinking sugary drinks (tea, coffee and soft drinks)

Not that it made me lose weight. (darn!) But it also helped curb the sugar cravings and frenzy eating.

Because larger meals take longer to digest and your blood sugar levels will be more regular.

I'm not an expert on hypoglycemia but it stands to reason that fast digesting carbs combined with smaller meals would cause greater flucuation in blood sugar levels.

I do want to point out something everyone's failed to mention, as a woman your cycle can greatly affect your weight. Since you've only been at this for a couple weeks you don't know how that has effected your weight. A lot of women will gain weight right before or during their period. They'll then lose that weight as soon as their done.

Just something else to think about