I am just beside myself with frustration!

[Abra]

I wish I remembered my exact diagnosis date, but it was nearly three months ago. Almost immediately I came here, started doing serious low carb, read Bernstein, and have kept my carbs between 30-50 gms/day ever since.

Right away I dropped 10 lbs and was having BG averages in the 103-110 range. But since then I haven't lost ONE SINGLE POUND, and my numbers have been creeping up again, seldom under 100 now, and I've even seen a few in the 130-140 range. It seems to be mainly DP, and it doesn't matter when or what I eat before bed or on arising, it just goes up anyway.

I've been away from my exercise routine because I injured my hip in an exercise class that was much too strenuous, so I've been getting in some walking, but nothing like I was before. Other than that, everything is exactly the same as it was when I was doing a lot better.

Caffeine gives me a 30 point spike, so there's no coffee to cheer me up. I haven't had anything sweet or starchy in over two months, nor any fruit, nor even as many vegetables as I want. I'm not losing weight, my BG isn't where it should be, and I just want to cry! Well, actually, I do cry, but that doesn't help.

And now I'm living in France, where the advice is "diabetics need to eat sugar to provide fuel for the engine, in fact, they should just eat a normal healthy diet." I'm having a hard time dragging myself to a doctor here to get told that, when what I probably really need is Metformin.

I'm mainly just venting and ranting, but honest, if you have any advice, I'd love to hear it. I'm at my wits' end with this ****.

[foxl]

Oh, don't blame it on France or French MD's -- I hear the same.

Ignore.

And have you tried lowering fat intake at all? It can help you lose weight.

[dbaratta]

.



And now I'm living in France, where the advice is "diabetics need to eat sugar to provide fuel for the engine, in fact, they should just eat a normal healthy diet." I'm having a hard time dragging myself to a doctor here to get told that, when what I probably really need is Metformin.

I'm mainly just venting and ranting, but honest, if you have any advice, I'd love to hear it. I'm at my wits' end with this ****.

My opinion, Metformin is not a bad thing. maybe get them to give you 500mg once a day just to see if it helps. I am told you can take up to 2000mg a day (that is what I was on for a bit). So ask away......seems like you miss your exercise though. :confused:

[Abra]

I haven't tried lowering fat yet, because, what the heck is supposed to fill me up if I take the fat out of what I eat? I already feel really deprived, and it's only eating cheese when everyone else eats dessert that's keeping me from screaming!

[jer.lawrence]

My wife's a really big dessert eater (I'm not, so this may be completely irrelevant to you), but I find if I just take a bite or two of whatever it is that she's having, that usually satisfies my "sweet craving."

But, like I said, I don't have much of a sweet craving. :/

I'm sorry that you're having trouble with the weight loss, you should see if you can get on the Metformin.

[SueM]

I know you wont want to hear this, but if you tried eating a bit more you might find the weight coming off. I suspect your body has gone into survival mode as not getting enough nutrients.
Have a good look at the glycemic index and load as a way to lose weight and keep your numbers down.
Best wishes
Sue

[jer.lawrence]

Sort of along those lines, how often do you eat? I never used to eat breakfast and now find that I'm able to lose more if I eat 3 or 4 small meals a day, rather than the two large ones I was used to.

[Abra]

I really think I eat too many calories as opposed to too few. I've done Weight Watchers before, lost about 70 lbs on that (it all came back eventually) and I know I'm eating more points than they'd allow me, based on the fat content of what I eat. I do eat three times a day, always, and rarely I have a little snack in the late afternoon. But I thought, and those Atkins types always say, that you don't need to count calories if you're not eating carbs. Maye that doesn't hold true when IR is part of the equation.

It seems so unfair. And I feel like a whiny brat!

[fgummett]

Can you give examples of what you are eating... might be able to give some suggestions.

When you say "feel really deprived" do you mean you are hungry, or just missing out on what the others are eating? My experience of eating "very low to no" carbs was no hunger between meals. I find my meals rich, tasty and filling.

It is important to get enough fat? It has been given a bad rap... our bodies need it and it does satisfy.

As for calories I really do believe that we do not need to count them -- just like every other animal -- eat real whole food (avoiding refined/concentrated carbohydrates) and it is likely you will end up eating fewer calories than you have done in the past anyway.

Do you have any Ketostix to test for ketones..? I find these provide useful feedback to let me know that I am in fact burning fat.

Did you start off with an "induction phase" or just cut back gradually?

Go for a walk every day and cut out that over strenuous exercise class... activity is not supposed to lead to injury.

[Abra]

Frank - every morning lately I eat the same breakfast, a cereal I make with ground flax (about 1/3 - 1/2 cup of flaxmeal) with a tablespoon of ground almond and a splash of cream.

Lunch today was 1 1/2 eggs, boiled and stuffed with tuna, about a cup of fresh fennel with olive oil, some olives, maybe 10, and a couple of pieces of cheese.

Dinner last night was poached monkfish with homemade mayonnaise, then roasted daurade (a fish that I don't know the name of in English) on a very small bed of sautéed fennel, eggplant, shallot, and sundried tomato, with Camembert and almonds for dessert. Plus wine.

I'd say that's pretty typical, except that really good fish is only available once a week, so normally there would have been meat and chicken on the menu, but the carb part would be the same.

I've been walking a lot more here, although the hip I hurt in that class is still plaguing me. I'm not hungry, and if I am I eat something. I feel deprived for other reasons, like we live next door to a bakery and my husband has croissants every morning for breakfast, or because the French always have dessert, or because just seeing fruit in the market practically brings tears to my eyes. In fact, this afternoon I'm going to test eating half of a tart apple with some cheese and see what that does to me.

I don't have ketostix, I'm not sure whether or not they're available here. And no, I didn't reduce gradually, just went to trying 6-12-12 as soon as I read Bernstein. I've never done Atkins. I will appreciate any advice you have for me!

[fgummett]

Hi Abra,

I've also never done Atkins.. I read his book last, after Taubes (GCBC) and Bernstein (D Solution)... I'd already started very low carb eating for myself and I guess I'm not one for following recipes anyway ;) BTW I was not impressed with Atkins' book myself... too much hype and not as much substance as the other two.

Looked up Daurade and I guess it is also known as Sea Bream -- I'm still none the wiser, but jealous that you have access to the richness of the Med :T

You mention a longing for fruit and I wonder if berries are still in season there or is it too late? Can you find some brambles/blackberries on one of your walks? If not can you get frozen berries? I regularly have a small handful of (frozen) wild blueberries. For me the paradigm shift was to have "cream with a few berries" rather than a "bowl of fruit with a dollop of cream"... see the difference?

I wonder about your cereal based breakfast... if it were me I'd be noshing on fried bacon and local fresh eggs... perhaps with a few berries as discussed above. Or maybe a small but tender steak... maybe you have wild meat like boar available too?

I don't see so much green veg in your example menu... be aware of the carbs in shallots and tomatoes... I guess Id be tempted to use them more as "seasoning" than as my vegetables.

I must say again I am jealous of the choice you must have around you... the cold weather is rapidly approaching here in Atlantic Canada :(

[Granny Shanny]

(((Abra)))

I can testify to Frank's mention of cream with a few berries. I actually took a coupla bites of sweetened-with-sugar strawberries that I'd fixed for the kids this week, combined about 1:1 with heavy cream. Dodged the bullet. Don't intend to try it again any time soon, but I was astonished, to say the least!

[ShottleBop]

From your description of your diet, Abra, and the BGs you're reporting, it looks diet alone may not be enough for you. If you can't get the French medical system to prescribe Metformin, what about trying insulin? It would give your pancreas a rest.