Hi, I am a TOFI with 40 years history of eating whole foods, healthy lifestyle and have always been on the BMI healthy weight scale. After a fasting blood glucose of 6.6 at the GP’s started the diet in late March and have kept to the principles of food types and kept carbs to 50 g per day . GP was the one who advised look at Prof Taylor’s research etc.

Through May all blood readings were great ; in the non diabetic range. I was so happy- I was then 9 stone. I have found it difficult to stop losing weight and have carried on losing despite best intentions. Since beginning of June all fasting readings have been in the pre-diabetic range 6.4-7.00 included again!. Most of the post-prandial readings have been in the non-diabetic range two hours after a meal, below 7.8. I have not changed anything I eat. I seem to have returned to having fasting blood glucose levels of the pre-diabetic. The only thing that has changed is that I am now 8 and a half stone. What is going on? This does not make sense to me. I am more exercised than ever and slim as a whippet. I have not been extra stressed and indeed have been on a relaxing holiday by the sea, not eating out but continuing to cook my own food. Any ideas?
Secondly I would rather not have lost quite so much weight and 9stone seemed to be optimum. Have tried extra oils, fats, nuts seeds etc. which has stopped the loss but not created any gain….thinking about increasing carbs a bit with in between meal snacks until I get back to that weight…any ideas??
( I should add I was previously vegetarian with occasional fish and now I have had to increase fish and reduce the grains, pulses and beans. Also discovered in March, I had high cholesterol of both sorts but still too high….preferred low fat yogurts etc but had to switch to high to try stop weight loss…..people have recommended red rice supplement for the cholesterol but was hoping to sort out the glucose levels first! ) Feeling pretty dismal as I have tried so hard. Tofa

Hi Tofa

I’m so sorry you are feeling so down and dismal as you have done so well.

Firstly I must say I am not an expert, and maybe it is time for you to go and consult your doctor again with regard to th fasting blood sugar levels (which presumably you are testing yourself). However, if you look at Bill54’s posts he often talks about fasting BS being unexpectedly high, and that he does not now take any notice of them. He relies on testing blood ahead of and after meals and sees this as a much more reliable measure.

I am sure he will pop on here to advise you, or you could add something on one of his threads which he will be alerted to.

With regard to the weight loss, do you know what your Base Metabolic Rate is? Try looking at this site

http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com

into which you put your own details, and your activity levels, and then see how many calories you need to maintain your weight.

Then you can set your carbs – perhaps you will respond well to 50-75g per day, you could try – and if you then set your calories at the maintenance level it tells you, it will help you set fat and protein.

And that will give you the guidance on how to plan your menu going forward.

So long as you keep carbs (relatively) low, you will maintain your blood sugar levels you’ve got from the BSD, and then the additional fat and protein within your carbs should maintain weight.. May I also recommend a book – which you should probably leaf through quickly, as I did (very scientific, though extremely interesting) – it’s called The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Eating by Jeff Volek and Stephen Phinney , and is available on Kindle – and go to pg 211 where it talks about how to achieve a balance of nutrients for maintaining weight.

Good luck and please keep us posted. No need at all to despair, please don’t.

Hi Igorasusual,
Thank you so much, sometimes feel I am managing my pre- DT2 totally on my own, but have now managed to make a GP appointment albeit in 3 weeks time and will request Hba1c. I wasn’t offered one before which strikes me I should have been after the initial 6.6 reading…(my bro was in Aus)!! Anyway it will be interesting to see how it comes out and strangely comforted that Bill54 does not put too much store by morning fasting levels (they were encouraging when they were low of course!) I did notice a previous thread about raised glucose levels, but had missed the bit about the reliability of Hba1c and not getting depressed by fasting levels. (I guess if pre-meal testing, then it would preclude snacking in between meals, even if snack is low carb/no carb ish to get a better result?!)

Thanks for the recommendations…much appreciated,….will calculate my metabolic base rate on the website you recommend and look at p.211 on Art and Science of low carb eating, on kindle…sounds v. helpful. On the brighter side have given at least 3, T2 people BSD book and one of them is an excellent cook and has invited us to supper, so turned out to be quite a good wheeze!!.
Thanks Tofa

Glad to be of any assistance Tofa.

I think the fasting BS results are likely to be misleading. May be worthwhile searching the term here to find some relevant threads for further reassurance?

And great you have booked for the test with the doctor which will give you a much more general BS reading.

Good luck with the rest – keep us posted. 🙂

Hi Tofa
as Igorasusual says I have given up on the fasting readings as they are so erratic because of the dawn effect.
I did manage to get them down in the 7’s by having a small fatty snack before bed, this helps reduce the amount of stored sugar released by the liver overnight but a couple of days ago I did a quick morning reading and it showed 7.2
I don’t eat breakfast so my fasting goes on until lunch and I now know that my sugar is much lower post lunch than pre.
I concentrate now on taking my readings pre and post dinner where my readings are typically mid 4’s pre and mid 5’s one hour after.
The great thing is, I had a HbA1c test taken just 4 weeks in to the diet and despite the high fasting readings my results came back as pre diabetic and on the borderline to being normal so the doc told me I could stop my meds (I had already stopped one of them)
I’m confident that I will be pronounced clear on my next blood test in September.
Keep doing what you’re doing and stop worrying about those horrible fasting readings would be my advice.

Thanks Bill. I do have a snack of yogurt before bed as previously suggested by Cherrianne . Have currently given up testing fbs for a few weeks . Pre meals seem a good idea but have often snacked in between due to hunger and aware of not losing more weight! Have read threads on high glucose readings before which I found helpful. Blood test hba1c on Thursday… Fingers crossed. Thanks Tofa

Hi Tofa

Just wondered how you are doing?

Have you managed to stabilise both your weight and your blood sugar?

Was thinking of you, and hoping everything has worked out well for you in the last month since this thread. 🙂