Almost three weeks into the diet and I am feeling low because of small weight loss (7lbs) and a high blood glucose reading of 6.2. I thought things were going so well, I have been using the ideas and recipes from 2 of the books to average 800 calories per day and not finding it too difficult and I have made sure that I am doing well over 10000 steps each day with daily walks. How could i not lose more weight than that?

I didn’t get too down though as my glucose readings were between 5.9 at the beginning and 5.2, going up and down each day but with a general trend downwards. Then the last 2 days have been 5.9 and 6.2. I can’t see much difference in my diet or exercise. The only thing is, 2 weeks ago I reduced my Metformin from 4 to 2 tablets. Would it take that long for it to have an impact on my glucose levelstoPreviously in the last 2 weeks I have had some of my lowest readings.

Glynlib the rate of weight loss is a purely personal thing. It depends on how much you have to lose, how may carbs you are eating. It’s possible to stay within 800 calories but still have a relatively high number of carbs. Most people try to stick around 30g a day but some people have to go lower than 20g whilst others lose weight on 50g a day. Some of the recipes in the books are rather inaccurate with both calorie and carb count. Are you weighing everything you eat and logging it into a calorie/carb counter? Did you measure your waist etc before you started because sometimes we lose inches even when the scales seem to stick? Are you drinking plentry of water?

You don’t say how long ago you were diagnosed with T2. Are you reducing metformin under medical supervision? I don’t know the dose you are on but if you are reducing medication it may just be a little too soon unless you have been told to reduce the dose by your GP.

So there are so many variables, don’t get down just carry on, you may have just hit a plateau, which is common at around three weeks. You will reach your goal if you continue with this way of eating.

Thanks for the encouragement Verano. I have been taking the recipes at face value and only really looking up calories when checking other foods and recipes. I will now start looking at the carbs too. I am aiming at losing another stone so maybe I shouldn’t panic. Didn’t measure myself at the start, I have a tight pair of trousers that I keep trying on. 😉 they are a little easier round the waist.
It was my idea to reduce the Metformin. Another couple of days with high readings and i will go back to the previous dose.

Hi Glynlib, when reducing meds it should be done slowly, slowly. Even to the point of breaking tablets in half. Not knowing the dosage but cutting meds by half is quite drastic. You should watch your BG reduce and when it has been stable at say 5.5 for a couple of weeks then take 3.5 tablets and watch and wait again for a couple of weeks. This is not a magic bullet and you will not be medication free as quick as 3 weeks.

Thanks,sunshine-girl, I will take on board what you are saying. Too impatient as usual!!

Hope you’re feeling less ‘doom and gloom’ now Glynlib. I would say that although your loss is perhaps a little modest for almost three weeks, our bodies are all unique and will behave slightly differently, so your loss whilst not as much as that of others for a similar period, is right for you. Some of us lose more slowly than others and I can sympathise as I am one of them. The advice from Verano and sunshine-girl is solid and I’m sure if you take it all on board and act accordingly, you will see things improving. I definitely find keeping an eye on the carbs and drinking plenty essential to weight loss.

Best wishes to you for a more rapid loss going forward and be sure to keep us posted.

Hi Glynlib,
I love reading around the subject of this way of reducing weight and one aspect that has occured on the various forums is called the “whoosh” effect and it seems that fat cells object to reducing in size and use water to stay inflated to act as placeholders until the cells can refill with body fat as usually happens when we go on a traditional diet. Than after so many days there is a sudden weight loss and the scales show a good weight loss and I am sure great rejoicing by the dieter. Of course I can’t guarantee that it will happen in your case but we can all hope. This phenomena was documented in the Minnesota Starvation Diet, after a big meal to celebrate the halfway point of the experiment, and the participants were eating more calories than we are. I hope that I have given a true representation of the facts about the whoosh effect, but if anyone has a better version please share.

All the best, Jim.

Hi

My experience may help? My hba1c went up three times while I was following a low carb regime with periods of 800 cals and some IF. Changing things up keeps me going. I was losing weight well but went from 42 hba1c to 48 (!) over the course of a year. The last test done last week shows that is has fallen back to 42 in the last three months. I am hoping that I am now on a downward trend and am now optimistic about it but I was near giving up loads of times!

Good luck.

S