Advice for diabetic mom. I think I hit a plateau right from beginning.

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Hello,

I have lost a few pounds only in the last six months. I have been doing gyming and yoga almost five days a week. Also weekly once yard work. Yard work and walking work wonders on my sugar levels. But even if I add a spoon of rice to my diet my numbers go up. My biggest challenge is a thick waist line. All the weight is there. I have stick legs and toned body otherwise.

Please any advice on how to loose pounds for diabetics is welcome. I think I have hit a plateau now. :(

I logged in on another site since September and it shows I almost two thousand calories every week that I saved. But I did not loose weight. I did log very honestly and almost daily.

On the plus side I am doing more elliptical now since I started six months back. Thirty minutes with burn out of 247 daily. Plus yoga twenty to thirty mins. My waist line has loosened a bit although it still shines, since rest of the body has trimmed out more.

My AIc went down by .3 points too. But I feel my hardwork is not being compensated.

I am a very busy mom of two kids under five. And no joke taking them to gym everyday with me.

Thanks.
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Replies

  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    Dont see how being diabetic is relevant. If it was, then you wouldnt have lost any weight....
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Weight loss comes down to calories in<calories out. If you aren't losing, you're eating more than you think, regardless of any health issues. How do you measure your food: food scale, measuring cups, eyeballing portions? How do you determine your burns on the elliptical? Do you eat back all your exercise calories?
  • FitFitzy331
    FitFitzy331 Posts: 308 Member
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    Your diary isn't public so we can't see what you're eating. At first most people do not buy a food scale and either use measuring cups or guess how much they are eating. This leads to inaccurate food intake so if you do not have a food scale or are not using it for everything you put into your mouth, then you are eating more calories than you think.

    My mom is diabetic and her doctor told her that she needs to lose weight to keep her diabetes in check, she bought the same food scale I have and within the first day I got a call from her telling me the scale must be broken because 1 serving of cereal can't be that small. No, it really is. Weigh everything you eat, measure out everything you drink and you'll notice a change soon.
  • Patttience
    Patttience Posts: 975 Member
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    Um for those who don't know it is harder to lose weight when you are diabetic because your body converts carbs into fat pretty fast and seems to struggle to break it down.

    I'm not diabetic but i've picked this up from around the ridges.

    Anyway as you know you do have to cut back on the carbs but you probably also know that eating carbs with low GI foods should slow things down in a positive way a bit. I take it you know all about GI? If not, then you should learn about it. the glycaemic index and glycaemic loading are concepts that diabetics more than the rest of us need to understand .

    Eat more protein and fat to compensate for the carbs. Fat for energy and protein because you need to eat enough anyway to recover from all the workouts you are doing. Also your brain may need to use the protein for energy if its not getting enough carb energy, at least in the beginning. You might even want to look at low carb diets. I did it for 6 weeks. I think trying to keep your carbs around 100 is a good idea. This will mean eating a lot less processed carbs and keep your vegetables up. Fruit is fine too but high in carbs as well. If you want to go this route, you need to read up on it from a variety of sources. I do not believe you need to live the induction diet of Atkins. Rather i think you are better off not going too low because its too restrictive and this can ultimately cause problems for people.

    Also look into the fast diet 5:2. There is a website and a tv show you might want to check out. The website is called the fast diet and you should read the faq, the southern hemisphere thread and various others. There are a number of ex diabetics over there. Some of them combine the fasting diet with low carbing.

    And yes you will lose weight more slowly when you have diabetes. So you must be more patient. Take the long term view. Don't run yourself into the ground with exercise. Diet is ultimately the most important thing. Fibre is very very good. look at this program:
    Catalyst - Gut Reaction Part One on you tube and part 2. Read Gut Flora on wikipedia after you've watched the show. You probably won't understand it if you read it before.


  • minideema
    minideema Posts: 30 Member
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    Patttience wrote: »
    Um for those who don't know it is harder to lose weight when you are diabetic because your body converts carbs into fat pretty fast and seems to struggle to break it down.

    I'm not diabetic but i've picked this up from around the ridges.

    Anyway as you know you do have to cut back on the carbs but you probably also know that eating carbs with low GI foods should slow things down in a positive way a bit. I take it you know all about GI? If not, then you should learn about it. the glycaemic index and glycaemic loading are concepts that diabetics more than the rest of us need to understand .

    Eat more protein and fat to compensate for the carbs. Fat for energy and protein because you need to eat enough anyway to recover from all the workouts you are doing. Also your brain may need to use the protein for energy if its not getting enough carb energy, at least in the beginning. You might even want to look at low carb diets. I did it for 6 weeks. I think trying to keep your carbs around 100 is a good idea. This will mean eating a lot less processed carbs and keep your vegetables up. Fruit is fine too but high in carbs as well. If you want to go this route, you need to read up on it from a variety of sources. I do not believe you need to live the induction diet of Atkins. Rather i think you are better off not going too low because its too restrictive and this can ultimately cause problems for people.

    Also look into the fast diet 5:2. There is a website and a tv show you might want to check out. The website is called the fast diet and you should read the faq, the southern hemisphere thread and various others. There are a number of ex diabetics over there. Some of them combine the fasting diet with low carbing.

    And yes you will lose weight more slowly when you have diabetes. So you must be more patient. Take the long term view. Don't run yourself into the ground with exercise. Diet is ultimately the most important thing. Fibre is very very good. look at this program:
    Catalyst - Gut Reaction Part One on you tube and part 2. Read Gut Flora on wikipedia after you've watched the show. You probably won't understand it if you read it before.



    Thanks for understanding. I try to eat less carbs, but they seem to be in everything. Eating more fat and protein gave me a solid pot belly. So much that I looked pregnant due any time. Exercise has reduced the belly fat so I look a bit respectable. I am relying on slow fat burn on elliptical and yard work. Since I get tired, I like to exercise slowly. Will check out the links u gave. Thanks. I was looking for that kind of links too.
  • minideema
    minideema Posts: 30 Member
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    malibu927 wrote: »
    Weight loss comes down to calories in<calories out. If you aren't losing, you're eating more than you think, regardless of any health issues. How do you measure your food: food scale, measuring cups, eyeballing portions? How do you determine your burns on the elliptical? Do you eat back all your exercise calories?


    I burn 247 on elliptical at fat burn mode everyday in thirty minutes. The machine tell me so. I use cups now to be sure. I was guessing till now. It's shocking! Oil just one tsp is 37 calories? I realized oil plus nuts were killing me. Since I am diabetic and like to snack on low carbs, nuts came as easy tasty option.

    But I have been doing this two months and no change in weight.
  • minideema
    minideema Posts: 30 Member
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    eldamiano wrote: »
    Dont see how being diabetic is relevant. If it was, then you wouldnt have lost any weight....
    Being diabetic means I can't eat carbs. My husband can eat one cup rice but I cannot eat more than a tsp of rice. I have to fill in with carrots and cucumbers. Plus I get tired. Six months on elliptical and my progress is only thirty mins on light mode.
  • minideema
    minideema Posts: 30 Member
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    malibu927 wrote: »
    Weight loss comes down to calories in<calories out. If you aren't losing, you're eating more than you think, regardless of any health issues. How do you measure your food: food scale, measuring cups, eyeballing portions? How do you determine your burns on the elliptical? Do you eat back all your exercise calories?


    Your diary isn't public so we can't see what you're eating. At first most people do not buy a food scale and either use measuring cups or guess how much they are eating. This leads to inaccurate food intake so if you do not have a food scale or are not using it for everything you put into your mouth, then you are eating more calories than you think.

    My mom is diabetic and her doctor told her that she needs to lose weight to keep her diabetes in check, she bought the same food scale I have and within the first day I got a call from her telling me the scale must be broken because 1 serving of cereal can't be that small. No, it really is. Weigh everything you eat, measure out everything you drink and you'll notice a change soon.

    I agree the amount of calories in a tsp of oil and nuts are shocking. The only month I lost weight was when I quit non veg including eggs completely. For a month only though.i realized chicken was very high in cals. So it's just fish and egg whites for me.

    But you are right! Portions are shocking.
  • nuvimi
    nuvimi Posts: 103 Member
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    minideema wrote: »
    I burn 247 on elliptical at fat burn mode everyday in thirty minutes. The machine tell me so.

    Machine calorie counts are grossly overstated and should never be used.

    minideema wrote: »
    I use cups now to be sure.

    Buy a food scale and weigh everything in grams. Then log it in grams. You're wasting your time measuring anything but straight liquid in "cups" or "spoons".

    minideema wrote: »
    Being diabetic means I can't eat carbs. My husband can eat one cup rice but I cannot eat more than a tsp of rice. I have to fill in with carrots and cucumbers. Plus I get tired. Six months on elliptical and my progress is only thirty mins on light mode.
    minideema wrote: »
    I agree the amount of calories in a tsp of oil and nuts are shocking. The only month I lost weight was when I quit non veg including eggs completely. For a month only though.i realized chicken was very high in cals. So it's just fish and egg whites for me.

    But you are right! Portions are shocking.

    I started to type out a long response to all of this, but I'm convinced I would be wasting my time. You have a way that you are determined to do things, regardless of what the science says. You have an answer, an argument, and an excuse ready for every person in this thread who has tried to help you so far. Until you get past that, you will not progress. Maybe in a few years you'll be ready for an actual change.
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    minideema wrote: »
    eldamiano wrote: »
    Dont see how being diabetic is relevant. If it was, then you wouldnt have lost any weight....
    Being diabetic means I can't eat carbs. My husband can eat one cup rice but I cannot eat more than a tsp of rice. I have to fill in with carrots and cucumbers. Plus I get tired. Six months on elliptical and my progress is only thirty mins on light mode.

    Ok without trying to sound rude, my question still stands. How does being diabetic mean you cant lose weight? The fact that you cant have carbs seems irrelevant to me and would suggest that you are just making up a lot of calories consuming fat, for instance.
  • Patttience
    Patttience Posts: 975 Member
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    minideem, i think for someone like you counting calories is essential.

    Fat and protein only gave you a pot belly because you were eating too many of them. You can't eat to your hearts content and lose weight. No one can.

    No one can really afford to snack much on nuts. I've been doing it lately and boy am i going to pay for it. Nuts are for use in small quantities only. So they are best as a garnish or just a little bit for extra flavour.

    So chicken has a lot of calories but we all need a certain amount of protein every day so you can't stop eating protein though you can choose different types of protein and you can and should adjust your portion size accordingly.

    It does sound like you just want to eat a lot of food all the time. But you can't lose weight by eating a lot of food unless its only vegetables.

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Welcome! You might want to check out the groups here. I believe there is one or more for people who are insulin resistant or have diabetes, and you would find great advice there. Your doctor also should be able to help you with some dietary guidance or a referral to a nutritionist.
  • minideema
    minideema Posts: 30 Member
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    Patttience wrote: »
    minideem, i think for someone like you counting calories is essential.

    Fat and protein only gave you a pot belly because you were eating too many of them. You can't eat to your hearts content and lose weight. No one can.

    No one can really afford to snack much on nuts. I've been doing it lately and boy am i going to pay for it. Nuts are for use in small quantities only. So they are best as a garnish or just a little bit for extra flavour.

    So chicken has a lot of calories but we all need a certain amount of protein every day so you can't stop eating protein though you can choose different types of protein and you can and should adjust your portion size accordingly.

    It does sound like you just want to eat a lot of food all the time. But you can't lose weight by eating a lot of food unless its only vegetables.


    Thank you, I got that too the moment I started logging the calories. I was eating the curries alone.
    And I have some good news from me, looks like I did loose some lbs in last ten days. Since I upped the exercise and started using measuring cups.
  • minideema
    minideema Posts: 30 Member
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    eldamiano wrote: »
    minideema wrote: »
    eldamiano wrote: »
    Dont see how being diabetic is relevant. If it was, then you wouldnt have lost any weight....
    Being diabetic means I can't eat carbs. My husband can eat one cup rice but I cannot eat more than a tsp of rice. I have to fill in with carrots and cucumbers. Plus I get tired. Six months on elliptical and my progress is only thirty mins on light mode.

    Ok without trying to sound rude, my question still stands. How does being diabetic mean you cant lose weight? The fact that you cant have carbs seems irrelevant to me and would suggest that you are just making up a lot of calories consuming fat, for instance.

    Thank you, and you are not rude at all. I got that point you are trying to make here the moment I started logging the calories. I was eating the curries alone. Since I just cannot eat the accompanying rice or wheat bread.

    And I have some good news from me, looks like I did loose some lbs in last ten days. Since I upped the exercise and started using measuring cups.
  • minideema
    minideema Posts: 30 Member
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    I started to type out a long response to all of this, but I'm convinced I would be wasting my time. You have a way that you are determined to do things, regardless of what the science says. You have an answer, an argument, and an excuse ready for every person in this thread who has tried to help you so far. Until you get past that, you will not progress. Maybe in a few years you'll be ready for an actual change.
    [/quote]


    I also refer to the app for calories burnt. You are not wasting your time, please type in your response.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    edited November 2014
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    Buy a scale. You can get one for about $20.00.
    Eat lots of veggies: broccoli, swiss chard, kale, spinach, romaine, cabbage, mushrooms, asparagus, avocados, okra, cauliflower, bell peppers, snow peas, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, winter squash, brussels sprouts.
    http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/28/6/1526.full.pdf&embedded=true
    When you have very good control of your blood sugar (A1c), the weight loss will get easier. Be patient.
  • minideema
    minideema Posts: 30 Member
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    RodaRose wrote: »
    Buy a scale. You can get one for about $20.00.
    Eat lots of veggies: broccoli, swiss chard, kale, spinach, romaine, cabbage, mushrooms, asparagus, avocados, okra, cauliflower, bell peppers, snow peas, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, winter squash, brussels sprouts.
    http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/28/6/1526.full.pdf&embedded=true
    When you have very good control of your blood sugar (A1c), the weight loss will get easier. Be patient.

    Thanks a ton! This is the point I agree on. For diabetic blood sugar control is best way to loose weight.

  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
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    I just want to know what being a mom has to do with any of this.
  • nuvimi
    nuvimi Posts: 103 Member
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    I just want to know what being a mom has to do with any of this.

    The same thing that being diabetic has to do with it - nothing.
  • minideema
    minideema Posts: 30 Member
    edited December 2014
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    nuvimi wrote: »
    I just want to know what being a mom has to do with any of this.

    The same thing that being diabetic has to do with it - nothing.

    You are not concerned. You are just rude person who cannot think from other persons constraints. Mind your own buisness as far as my posts are concerned.