Today I start Day 11, my weight has increased by ½lb since starting, my starting blood glucose level was 9.7, this morning it’s 9.1.
I started off as a couch potato, I’m now doing cardio exercising using the Wii, and walking each day. I use an AB toner and doing 225 situps per day, and using a rowing machine and doing 300 reps. Been doing some form of exercise and increasing it each day since Day 1.

My carb intake is between 20 and 40g per day, my fat intake is around the same. My calorie intake is between 500 and 800 per day. I’ve measured myself and haven’t lost any inches, in fact in some areas I’ve increased by ¼ in to ½ inches. I’m drinking between 1½ to 2 litres of water……..can someone please tell me where I’m going wrong.

I eat Yoghurt 100g twice a day usually with strawberries and blueberries. I eat one main meal consisting of either meat, salad or the last two days my cabbage rolls. and for veggies, either green beans or cabbage or broccoli.

I know everyone’s body is different but I am starting to get disheartened that it doesn’t seem to work for me….why?

Hi karra, I’m sure other more knowledgeable people will be here soon but two thoughts come to mind:

1. Try increasing water – 2-3L
2. You’re building muscle through exercise and muscle weighs more than fat – I bet if you check your body fat % it will be lower than when you started.

karra you seem to be doing it right, I wouldn’t mind betting that you will turn out to be one of those who see nothing for a few days and then will see a large weight loss almost overnight.
Just keep on doing what you’re doing. It’s almost impossible to not lose weight on 800 cals and under 50g carbs per day.

Hi NewLife, I don’t think I could drink anymore water than what I am drinking. I struggle with the 2 litres a day. As for the building muscle, I can feel that my muscles are toning up, and can suck my belly in more than I could before, but it’s just not showing in the measurements, hope by the end of 2 weeks that it will. Am increasing the exercise even more today.

Oh Bill1954 I do so hope you’re right that it just suddenly kicks in and shows me that it’s working for me. Fingers crossed on that one.

hugs
Karra

Bought some Ketostix today from the chemist, I know it’s supposed to be done in the morning which I will do, but just had to have a go when got home from the shops, and it shows I’m not in ketosis. Will do a proper one tomorrow and see how it goes.

Karra, how frustrating for you! You seem to be doing everything right and really trying, so it must feel really unfair you are not able to post any positive news yet, but Bill is right. It is likely you will suddenly see a big loss and it’s not possible to maintain 800 cals a day and not lose weight eventually. Please don’t get disheartened and stick with it. I wonder if upping your fat intake a bit might help to push you into fat burning mode – might be worth a try.

Hope to be reading some positive results from you soon.

It seems very odd that after 11 days of only 500 – 800 calories per day and increasing your exercise, that you’ve gained weight. Could you be miscalculating calories somewhere? Sometimes people forget to include them in drinks, or add dressings to salads and miss those out.

Karra,

What weight are you starting from?

TP

Sunny, yes its’ very frustrating as I’ve managed to lose weight off other diets and even managed to lose 1 stone last year by sitting on my butt snacking on takeaways and eating junk food, so this has really got me stumped. I tried the 5:2 diet last year as well and lost 8lbs before I gave up.

I have been keeping close track of what I’m consuming, the portions aren’t large, not forgetting anything as I like to keep records of it all and since Day 8 I’ve cut down to around 500 calories per day. For some unknown reason my body is hanging onto every inch and pound it possibly can. I honestly have never struggled so much to lose weight on a diet before. If I don’t lose anything by the end of week 2, it will be a change once again to making taking in those bad carbs as in potatoes, though I never ate a lot of them before to begin with. I know a lot would disagree with that, but I have to try something else as it’s just so frustrating doing all this and not seeing any results, when so many others are posting such great results. I’m really pleased for all of you as I know what hard work and determination it’s taking to change those nasty habits and having the support of the forum is just fantastic, it’s a place to learn, to share and not shame anyone.

tree-peony my starting weight was 9 stone 12½lbs. I am now at 9 stone 13lbs….go figure!

hugs
Karra

Dead easy karra
If you are keeping the calories down to 500 per day, you can’t be putting enough fat in your daily intake. Try adding 300 calories of fats and see what happens.
Giving your body fat to burn instead of carbs will help it into ketosis and that is where you want to be.
Give it a go, you have nothing to lose but maybe a lot to gain.

Thanks Bill 1954 I have been wondering why 800 and not less… makes sense when you remember the body chemistry involved…
Cheers

Hi Karra

You are working very hard & not seeing the results you want, that’s not fair. I don’t have all the answers, but I know a woman who might

Jenny Ruhl author of Blood Sugar 101, second edition. Go to, http://wwwphlaunt.com

She is very knowledgeable & looks at & reports on most diabetic research & trials. She is type 2 diabetic, diagnosed 1998 I think. She is highly regarded in the diabetic world by medics. She is American

I’m sure I read that you can go too low on calories & put your body into starvation mode. Your body will then hang on to every scrap of nutrition. Also, we have an “ideal” weight in our heads that may not marry up with where our bodies think we should be. Read the book / site, she explains things very well & helps

Maybe you can get those bloods you want along with the body with just a bit more help
Good luck & persist
Eureka

hi again Karra,

Are you sure you’re Type 2? There is a tendency for the medics to lump us all in the same boat, when actually it’s not quite that simple. What medication are you on?

TP

Thank you to all that responded to my post, you’ve all been a big help and cheered me on to do even more exercise, although Bill you may be right with not taking in enough fats. I will go online and check out HIGH FAT foods, that might be what my body is needing. I thought I was eating too much fats with the eggs, cheese, yoghurt and meat, but it doesn’t look like it. I will give that a try for the last few days of this week and see how it goes. I admit I was scared to eat too much fat what with being told over the years to cut back on fats.

What about eating Pork Scratchings? Any thoughts on these. Here are the nutrional info from the back of a pack.
Per 80g pack 541 cal
Fat 47.2g
of which is saturates 16.8
Carbs 2.8g
of which is sugars <0.1g
Protein 26.8g
Salt 0.43g

I’m not talking a whole pack in one day, but perhaps half a pack???

Thanks Eureka, I will have a look at that site you linked.

Yes unfortunately tree-peony I am type 2, it is inherited from my family heritage. I am a North American Indian, and it runs in my biological family, I was finally diagnosed with it in 2011 and have been on Metformin, which they had to change to the slow release form of it, have tried Glicazide which affected my eyesight, and I refused to take statins for my cholesterol, so this diet has to work for me or else.

hugs
Karra

Hi Karra
Sorry to hear you’re struggling. My guess is you need to increase your fat. I have 35-50g a day. We all struggle at first with the idea of eating fat after all the anti fat propaganda but now I realise Fat is Our Friend. !!😁 You can put butter or olive oil on your veg, much healthier than pork scratchings, eat full fat dairy, especially FF Greek yogurt, the fat on meat, plenty of nuts and seeds.
Re the liquid intake. 10 cups or glasses a day is 2.8 litres. I have 5 cups of tea and 5 glasses of water spread out over the day. ( that’s about one every hour and a half on average)
You could have a look at Jenny Ruhls book ‘low carb problems solved’ (£3 on kindle) which I’ve found very useful.
BTW Jimbob on another thread managed to lose ok while immobilised with a bad knee, and a lot of other people don’t do much exercise but have lost the weight, so maybe so much exercise isn’t necessary!
Best of luck- there will be a solution.
Penny

Hi Karra, just wondered how you were getting on? Any scale movement? I’m in the same position, absolutely no loss in 7 days despite being in ketosis, 30g carbs per day and 800-900 cals. If you are now loosing, there is hope for me! Keep us posted and fingers crossed x

Thanks Meredex for enquiring…hugs
Today is Day 14 for me on the BSD, and after following it, eating more fat, and low carbs, no falling off the wagon, and cutting out all fruits except strawberries and blueberries which I put in my full fat Frage Total Yoghurt, I can safely say my blood sugar levels have not fallen, and I have not lost any weight whatsoever. I have therefore gone back on Metformin as of yesterday to get the blood sugars down. Today I experienced another hypo, at 5.2 ,tried to get rid of it by eating two strawberries and when that failed I had a quick small swig of orange juice for such emergencies.
I purchased some Ketostix a few days ago and have checked at various times of the day, before exercising, after exercising, or waiting till a few hours after exercising and I am not in ketosis, so basically it means I am not burning fat. I do know that I am toning the muscles, as I actually felt one on my side the other day, had to get hubby to check it out for me as I got scared I developed a lump of some sort, but hey ho it’s a muscle, so the only conclusion we can come too is that my muscles are being toned and as muscle weighs more than fat, that is why I am not losing weight, cause my body is definitely not burning any fat. All measurements are still the same as when I started.

How is everyone one else doing? Anyone experiencing the same as me???

hugs
Karra

Hi Karra,
So sorry you still haven’t had an improvement in your blood sugars or weight loss. It has to happen soon on 800 cals per day and you are doing everything right. How low is your carb intake, and are you counting carbs?
It did take about two weeks for my blood sugars to start coming down, so you might see some better results very soon. I kept my total carbs to 50g or less per day. I think 50g is the max you can have to still achieve ketosis.
I’m also wondering what symptoms you had that felt like a hypo? 5.2 isn’t a hypo it’s a normal reading. Under 4 is a hypo usually. It might be that your body is so used to higher sugars that it felt wrong for you to have the lower reading. When you first start having lower blood sugars you can feel a bit anxious and jittery until you get used to it. I used to have a 20g slice of cheese and take little pieces of it at a time so it lasted about five minutes. That helped to take my mind off the jitters, the fat stopped the hungry feeling, and the 5 mins of doing nothing calmed everything down. Followed by a glass of water and all was right in the world again lol.
A hypo will cause you to be very uncoordinated and clumsy and also have mental confusion. Metformin doesn’t cause hypos unless taken with other diabetes meds.
I’m really hoping you see some great results soon after two weeks of hard work 🙂

Cherrianne, I’m taking in approx 20 – 30g of fat per day, and around the same for carbs as I’m not really eating a lot. Somedays I’m just not hungry and then some days I could eat everything in sight.
I’ve gone from being a couch potato to walking the dog everyday going a little further each day. I have mobility problems so I’m taking it slower to get my legs strengthed and using a rowing machine. Am also doing 500 – 700 situps per day.
Regarding the hypo I used to get them around the 8 – 9 range of blood sugar testing as my readings used to be high teens and low 20’s, I went off the Metformin when starting this diet and no hypo’s as they were pretty consistent between 8.0 and 9.9, but due to starting the Metformin again yesterday, it dropped to 5.2 and yes most people wouldn’t experience a hypo at that reading, but I did, but managed to bring it back to 6.4 after the sip of orange juice and strawberries. Tonight it was 7.4 so that’s good.
I can always tell when one is coming on, as I get a weird feeling in my stomach, sort of like a hungry pang, but it’s a burning sensation, which is the first indicator, then I get the shakes really bad, get clumsy and anxious, hence why I keep orange juice in the house for emergencies. Just means I have to be a little more careful now that I’m back on Metformin and exercising…..will see how it goes.
I’m hoping to see some results soon.

Anyone know how much fat I should be consuming per day?

hugs
Karra

Hi Karra
That fat level seems very low to me. I have double that. 35-60 g per day.
Penny

Hi Karra,
I can see why you’d have a hypo feeling if your body was used to such high readings. Very unpleasant for you and you will need to be careful to lower your blood sugars a bit more slowly until you get accustomed to it. Could you try halving your metformin dose so you are allowing your liver to release stored sugar, but without risking a hypo?
I agree with Penny that you need more fat in your diet and you have cut your carbs quite drastically, especially as you’ve increased your activity level so much.
Fat will encourage your body to burn fat, it also converts more slowly to energy so will help to smooth out the peaks and troughs of your sugar levels.
Try eating some complex carbs too for the same reasons, add some beans or lentils to soups and stews perhaps, or a little cooked quinoa or chick peas to a salad.
Just a little bit of tweaking here and there might make the difference for you. I hope so 🙂

Well today I woke up to a nice reading of 6.4 (due to taking the Metformin again) and tonight I just did a reading and it was 5.8…woo hoo! Just hoping my body can handle the lower reading without a hypo tonight.
I’ve increased my fat intake today by eating Mr Porky pork scratchings. They are an 18g bag and I had four of them, but boy with all that fat it kept me full for hours, then tonight I had my 3 cabbage rolls and some green beans and I’m still full.
I’ve consumed 698 calories for the day and less than 10g of carb and around 40g of fat.
Still all a learning curve to me.
Now if I can just shift some of this belly fat I’d be a very happy bunny.

hugs
Karra

Well that’s a positive step forwards Karra! Just need to get the scales moving!! My scales haven’t moved in 10 days! Getting really frustrated now, I even changed the batteries in my scales! How can a person not loose weight on 30g carb, 800-900 cals high fast and in ketosis? I am that exception to the book 🙁
Keep me posted x

Hey Meredex, we seem to be the exception to the rule don’t we!! Well I’m starting Day 16, and still no weight loss, not even an ounce, so I can only attribute it to toning the muscles through my exercising and as muscle weighs more it’s keeping my weight at the same each day unless I’m just a real oddball. My husband says that I am looking better, and I’m developing a proper waistline and I did feel that muscle the other day, so I’m going with that theory. Unfortunately I’m still not in ketosis, but after reading another website explaining ketosis, I’m not sure if being in Ketosis is a good or bad thing. Too much reading me thinks.
Are you exercising at all while doing this diet? If so, maybe you’re like me and toning those muscles and eventually that fat will burn off as well, cause I certainly don’t want to end up muscular…lol

Keep me updated on what you’re doing re exercise, and everything else. BTW my blood sugar reading this morning was 5.5 and no ill effects and was 5.8 last night.

hugs
Karra

Karra that is great progress that you aren’t getting the nasty hypo feelings. I admire you for sticking with it despite seeing no movement on your scales yet.
If your body shape is changing there’s definitely something happening. Loved ones can often see it before we can so your hubby would be right 🙂

Ok own up…..who stole 1¾ lbs from me overnight?

There I was happily sleeping away and must have been in a sound sleep as I never even felt them being lifted from me, it wasn’t until I got on the scales this morning that the theft was discovered. Of course to be honest, I didn’t really want them, so feel free to keep them….lol

I’m so pleased, finally some progress

hugs
Karra

Hi,
Perhaps you are gaining muscle weight, Karra? Its hard to ignore that weight gain but keep at it, just a minor set back yeah for now.

Karra, at last Yippee 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
So happy for you, it’s going to start dropping off now. Well deserved after all this time x

Karra,

Just wanted to echo earlier advice you were given. 5.2 is NOT a hypo. You may have hypo feelings (because of the contrast to what your body is used to), but 5.2 is actually near the top of normal blood sugar ranges (when not influenced by recently eaten foods). Trying to keep your BG above 5.2 will sabotage your efforts to achieve control of your BG. Rest assured that as long as you are in normal BG ranges (above around 3.9), it is not an actual hypo and you will be better off (long term) if you don’t feed it carbohydrates.

As to why you are not losing – building muscles increases the glycogen they store. To store one gram of glycogen, requires 3 grams of water. In addition, dramatically increasing muscle activity injures the muscles, causing inflammation. Inflammation retains water. So the dramatic shift in muscle activity, plus redoubling your efforts when you didn’t initially experience weight loss, might well keep you at the same place on the scale. Aside from water, you are certainly losing weight. It is likely just that you are retaining more water to repair those muscles and support new glycogen storage.

Glad to hear you’re seeing the scale change – but thought it might still help to see an explanation of why it might not have been moving before.

Just been reading your story Kara and I was so impressed with your determination in sticking to the regime without any results in over 2 weeks, most people would have given up before now. It will encourage a lot of others to stick at it, now you finally have some losses.

Well done and hope you lose lots more soon, you will certainly have a firmer sleeker figure with all that exercise.

Hi Neohdiver, another fabulous informative post from you. I am starting to put together some tips for starters which a few of us are working on. I have copied and pasted your post to my notes so it can be added when the thread notes are completed. You will be given the credit for the posting!! 🙂

Thanks cherrianne for the encouragement xx

Neohdiver, thank you for the informative info regarding hypo’s. Even my diabetic nurse called them hypo’s, so not surprising with the little knowledge and ill advice given by them over the years.

Aw thanks barby. Normally I would haven given up but I knew I had to stick this one out, as I don’t want to live the rest of my life on medication. It was just a matter of tweaking things for me that would work.

I’m still struggling though to consume a lot of fat in my diet. I am below 500 cals today, had 100g of roasted ham, 100g of green beans and a bit of a salad and a small slice of toast. This afternoon I ate a 18g bag of pork scratchings, only to increase my fat intake.
So I reckon my fat intake for today is 8.3 from the pork scratchings, 0.3g from the green beans, the salad is non existent as it was only lettuce, 1 radish and about 1/8th of a cucumber and I didn’t even eat all that. The fat from the dressing is less than 1g, and 2 grams from the slice of toast so around 12g of fat and carbs around 12g. But I am absolutely stuffed and couldn’t eat another thing. Some days I’m just not hungry.

I had to cut back on the water intake as it was affecting my sleep so badly, getting up every night between 4 and 5 times, it was ridiculous, so now I’m drinking about 3 glasses of it in addition to my 3-4 cups of tea a day.

hugs
Karra

It seems to me that perhaps unlike some of us, you don’t have that much weight to loose and that’s why you’re not seeing the massive loss that others here have experienced, also the pork scratchings would have an incredible amount of salt in them which would lead to water retention.
They’re definitely not something I would consider as good food to have, the whole point of the diet is to move away from processed foods and retrain ourselves to eat a healthy low carb diet.

Hi Karra, why not ditch the salty pork scratchings and have some nuts – whole unsalted almonds, sunflower seeds etc – plenty of healthy fat and no salt 🙂

Hi all, I’m pleased to report that I’ve lost a further 1½lbs overnight, so that’s a total of 3 lbs in 3 days, considering it took 17 days to start losing them I’m very happy and hope it continues.
I made a few adjustments, one of them being taking in less water than recommended mainly because I was getting up 4-5 times during the night and it was really affecting my sleep pattern which then affected my overall general health, so now am drinking 3 – 4 glasses per day in addition to any coffee or tea I’m drinking.
Also because I am such a fussy eater, never been big on eating meat (and definitely not the fat on it) I struggle with finding foods high in fat. I started having Yoghurt 2-3 times a day to up my fat content, I’m sick of yoghurt at the moment, sick of eggs as well, so somedays my fat intake is pork scratchings which is 8.3g of fat per bag. Don’t need to worry about the salt in them as it’s 0.5g, they may taste salty but they don’t contain a lot of salt and the carbs are <0.1g, so I eat them for their fat content only, otherwise I wouldn’t be taking in that much fat. All my food I’ve been frying up has been done in butter or olive oil.

hugs
Karra

Hi Karra
do you like cheese ? it’s great for upping the fats.
My treat is a coconut flour flatbread spread with Greek yoghurt and topped with slices strawberries, you could use whipped cream for added luxury (and fat)
Other options are Mascaponi or cream cheese
Hope that helps.

Hi Karra
I m so pleased for you.
Re upping fat -I ve been scouring my brain over this!- butter and olive oil on veg, peanut butter and tahini ( I put them in my bowl of home made soup) , avocado, bacon ( today I had salad with chopped up bacon and avocado in it) nuts and seeds, olive oil in salad dressing, because I use soya yogurt ( no fat!!) I add a teaspoonful of organic sunflower oil to my yogurt- it doesn’t have a taste. You could do that even with FF yogurt . Curry- if you follow a recipe they always have loads of oil in them.
Hope this helps.
Penny

Hi karra
Very pleased you are making progress on many levels. Your persistence has been rewarded.
Eureka