# Not losing anything and thoroughly fed up!



## Caroline1967 (Jun 11, 2022)

Hi
I was diagnosed a month ago and managed to lose 5ib the first week and then 4.5ib the second week.  For the last two weeks I have lost nothing at all.  I am taking metformin, dapagliflozin, and Gliclazide.  I started the gliclazide two weeks ago so coincides with not losing any weight!  I have lost 31ib  although some was lost very suddenly before I was diagnosed.
When I was diagnosed my GP said to follow the blood sugar diet of 800 calories a day.  I have a lot of weight to lose (about 50k) and have tried to follow a very restrictive diet before and really struggled with feeling light headed and tired.  So I have been eating about 1000 a day - according to the NHS BMI site I should definitely be losing weight on that.

I am trying to decide whether having low blood sugar but not losing weight would in the long run be better or worse than loosing weight but taking longer to get the blood sugar under control.  Not sure if that makes sense!  I am eating low carb and avoiding high fat as I want to put the diabetes into remission.  I kind of think that losing weight is essential.

My DN did say that I would probably come off the gliclazide after my next blood test in July....so another 6 weeks to go.  I kind of want to come off it now to see if the weight loss restarts. 

I am sticking to the eating plan so carefully and really not enjoying it!  (Although that is another story!!)  I am thoroughly fed up that I have not lost as much as half a pound in 2 weeks!

Thanks for listing to my ramblings....hope some of it makes sense!!

Caroline


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## Leadinglights (Jun 11, 2022)

Caroline1967 said:


> Hi
> I was diagnosed a month ago and managed to lose 5ib the first week and then 4.5ib the second week.  For the last two weeks I have lost nothing at all.  I am taking metformin, dapagliflozin, and Gliclazide.  I started the gliclazide two weeks ago so coincides with not losing any weight!  I have lost 31ib  although some was lost very suddenly before I was diagnosed.
> When I was diagnosed my GP said to follow the blood sugar diet of 800 calories a day.  I have a lot of weight to lose (about 50k) and have tried to follow a very restrictive diet before and really struggled with feeling light headed and tired.  So I have been eating about 1000 a day - according to the NHS BMI site I should definitely be losing weight on that.
> 
> ...


When you say low carb, how many grams of carbs per day are you having.
If you are not testing then it could be the carbs you are having are still too much for your body to cope with though with all those medications it should be resulting in lower blood glucose.
Are you drinking plenty as the recommendation if taking the Dapagliflozin  is to drink at least 3 litres of liquid per day.
You may want to look at this link to see how it compares to what you are doing as it is a low carb approach which has been promoted for weight loss and blood glucose reduction. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/


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## trophywench (Jun 11, 2022)

How much physical movement is incorporated into your normal day?  It is utterly normal to lose more weight to begin with on any diet where you need to lose a kilo or 50, for the simple reason you shed water first and that usually happens pdq.  Usually when you do reach a plateau, it shakes things up a bit if you just change something or another - eg what protein do you normally eat - meat?  Could change that to fish or vice versa.

I'm not sure that low fat anything will be doing you any favours either to be honest.  Not suggesting you eat half a ton of fat, just not avoid it completely.


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## Caroline1967 (Jun 12, 2022)

Leadinglights said:


> When you say low carb, how many grams of carbs per day are you having.
> If you are not testing then it could be the carbs you are having are still too much for your body to cope with though with all those medications it should be resulting in lower blood glucose.
> Are you drinking plenty as the recommendation if taking the Dapagliflozin  is to drink at least 3 litres of liquid per day.
> You may want to look at this link to see how it compares to what you are doing as it is a low carb approach which has been promoted for weight loss and blood glucose reduction. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/


Thank you for taking the time to reply.  I am having between 50 and 60g of carbs a day.  My GP told me to give them up completely which I don't think is possible!  I am testing before and after I eat and don't have an issue with BG going up too much.  I did once after eating pasta so haven't tried that again.  I have a 2 litre bottle of water which I finish every day and have more in the evening but I doubt if I am drinking quite as much as 3 litres.  I will have a look at the site you suggested and hopefully it will give me some help too!
Thanks
C


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## Caroline1967 (Jun 12, 2022)

trophywench said:


> How much physical movement is incorporated into your normal day?  It is utterly normal to lose more weight to begin with on any diet where you need to lose a kilo or 50, for the simple reason you shed water first and that usually happens pdq.  Usually when you do reach a plateau, it shakes things up a bit if you just change something or another - eg what protein do you normally eat - meat?  Could change that to fish or vice versa.
> 
> I'm not sure that low fat anything will be doing you any favours either to be honest.  Not suggesting you eat half a ton of fat, just not avoid it completely.


Thanks for replying.  I have just had a month off from work as initially I was quite unwell when I was diagnosed and then my vision was terrible so I couldn't work.  I went back to work on Monday and walk around a lot for my job but I don't do a lot of exercise as such.  I keep feeling that I should and then the feeling goes away!  I don't eat red meat but probably could eat a bit more fish.  
The low fat things dates back to following other diets when it was eat more carb and less fat.  Obviously eating carbs is a no go now but I find it quite hard to think that fat is ok!
I think my real issue is that I am not enjoying anything I eat but will tolerate it as I need to lose weight.  If I am not losing weight then I can't see the point of sticking to the diet!  I don't miss sweet things but I would kill for a bowl of pasta!!LOL
I did think of stopping the medication to see if it helped with the weight loss but even I know that is not a sensible thing to do!
Thanks for your help.
C


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## Leadinglights (Jun 12, 2022)

Caroline1967 said:


> Thanks for replying.  I have just had a month off from work as initially I was quite unwell when I was diagnosed and then my vision was terrible so I couldn't work.  I went back to work on Monday and walk around a lot for my job but I don't do a lot of exercise as such.  I keep feeling that I should and then the feeling goes away!  I don't eat red meat but probably could eat a bit more fish.
> The low fat things dates back to following other diets when it was eat more carb and less fat.  Obviously eating carbs is a no go now but I find it quite hard to think that fat is ok!
> I think my real issue is that I am not enjoying anything I eat but will tolerate it as I need to lose weight.  If I am not losing weight then I can't see the point of sticking to the diet!  I don't miss sweet things but I would kill for a bowl of pasta!!LOL
> I did think of stopping the medication to see if it helped with the weight loss but even I know that is not a sensible thing to do!
> ...


I had real problems with my eyesight when I reduced my carbs in one fell swoop and by reading on here realised that was an effect of reducing blood glucose too quickly. 
The amount of walking you do in your job hopefully will give your weight loss a spurt, when I retired and was not doing the amount of walking, I put weight on.

What is it about your meals you are not enjoying, people have said metformin can give some foods a metallic taste so not pleasant.
What sort of things are you eating, post a few meals and people could make a few suggestions.

You could try black bean or edamame bean pasta as it is much lower carb.


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## trophywench (Jun 12, 2022)

Well, see, my brain says 'change _something_' to encourage your body to react differently - and exercise is merely one of those things it's up to us to change.  Yeah walking about at work is 'exercise' but so is eg housework and gardening and this ain't actually a weightloss diet - even though a side effect of it should cause weight loss.


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## Vonny (Jun 12, 2022)

It is so dispiriting not to lose weight when you are trying so hard....it always makes me want to eat cake! But I stay strong. Thing is, your body doesn't actually know what a week or a fortnight is. You could suddenly drop a couple of pounds when you're not expecting to. Also, if you're not enjoying what you are eating, that doesn't bode well because you need to sustain a new way of eating. You mention low fat which doesn't really fit with a low carb diet as you need something to compensate for the low amount of carbs, otherwise you'll feel hungry.
Wishing you all the best as I know from experience how hard it is x


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## Caroline1967 (Jun 13, 2022)

Leadinglights said:


> I had real problems with my eyesight when I reduced my carbs in one fell swoop and by reading on here realised that was an effect of reducing blood glucose too quickly.
> The amount of walking you do in your job hopefully will give your weight loss a spurt, when I retired and was not doing the amount of walking, I put weight on.
> 
> What is it about your meals you are not enjoying, people have said metformin can give some foods a metallic taste so not pleasant.
> ...


Thankfully my eyes seem to be returning to normal now.  I can see distances ok now just need to take my glasses off for close work which is no hardship although does make my £600 varifocals a bit pointless!!!lol

With regard to food….I have obviously had to change my diet completely.  I miss pasta and rice and bread!  I have found some low carb bread which isn’t too bad but it’s not the same!  I think I am just feeling a bit sorry for myself to be honest!  I have bought some edamame and mung bean pasta to try tonight.  I think I would cope with the diet if I were losing weight, as I am not at the minute it just seems a bit of a slap in the face!

I drank 3 litres yesterday and ate some lovely full fat yogurt so who knows what will happen this week!

Caroline


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## Caroline1967 (Jun 19, 2022)

Thought I would post a bit of an update!  Have been eating full fats some of the time but still sticking to low carb and have lost 2.5 lb this week! Much happier about that!


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## Mrs Mimoo (Jun 26, 2022)

Caroline1967 said:


> Thankfully my eyes seem to be returning to normal now.  I can see distances ok now just need to take my glasses off for close work which is no hardship although does make my £600 varifocals a bit pointless!!!lol
> 
> With regard to food….I have obviously had to change my diet completely.  I miss pasta and rice and bread!  I have found some low carb bread which isn’t too bad but it’s not the same!  I think I am just feeling a bit sorry for myself to be honest!  I have bought some edamame and mung bean pasta to try tonight.  I think I would cope with the diet if I were losing weight, as I am not at the minute it just seems a bit of a slap in the face!
> 
> ...


stay cheery, your diet will save your life in the end. Have you found LivLive bread yet? its in Waitrose and it's only 3g of carbs a slice. Also, Slimpasta from Holland and barrat and amazon. Yes it's a bit slimy but if you rinse, drain and pat dry with some plenty kitchen roll it's edible and a pasta substitute.  I now mostly eat lean protein and green veg but I do like a pasta carbonara. I can have one using white cabbage or slim pasta as pasta!


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## arthurocannon (Jul 31, 2022)

@Caroline1967 Don't give up on your attempts to lose weight. Have you considered adding a cup of green tea twice a day to your diet? It's packed with nutritional benefits and is a great addition to a diet. Sometimes losing the weight can be hard, but you have to believe that your efforts are actually making a difference. I would recommend a simple activity such as an exercise bike to regulate your movements. This will definitely get the heart pumping and can help to shed some pounds. 30 minutes to 1 hour per day on the bike in front of the television is a great way to accomplish this.


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## Drummer (Jul 31, 2022)

I am pretty sure it was the attempt to do low carb AND low fat which threw a spanner in the works - we need fat for so many functions and processes, plus all our hormones and lots of structures in the body are dependant upon lipids of one sort or another.
I was badgered for decades to eat a low fat low calorie diet, and assured that if ONLY!! I did it properly I would lose weight easily - never happened.


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## Caroline1967 (Jul 31, 2022)

Thanks for the replies.
Things are a bit better now and I am loosing just over a pound a week...not a massive amount but enough!  More importantly my HBA1C has gone down from 120 to 58 in just 3 months!  I am very pleased about that.

I need to sort out some exercise now.  I have a stationary bike which I will dig out and have a ride on I think!
Thanks for the support

Caroline


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## Windy (Jul 31, 2022)

Well done on your excellent HbA1c reduction, and also, a pound a week weight loss seems like a win to me. Keep it going, you're doing well, Sarah


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