Question - first time reintroducing carbs/sugar

turnitaroundat40

Hi everyone,

Oh my goodness, I feel like I’m drunk. Except I’m not. I’ve been so good and careful about my food intake and logging and exercise; and today, for the first time in around 6-7 weeks, I blew it. I’ve been so careful and conscientious but today; had a lot of personal stress and reverted back to old habits.

I have PCOS and almost 6 years ago I had gestational diabetes. My doctor suggested Ozempic back in January when some bloodwork wasn’t looking 100% and I mentioned my weight bothered me.

I decided to not take the Ozempic (it’s still sitting in my fridge, unopened since picking F up from the pharmacy.) I wanted to try one more time to get my act together. So I eat much, much less. I don’t eat back my exercise calories, and I’ve pretty much avoided all possible cards and sugars. I’ve felt great. Barely any hunger. Very stable. And I’ve lost 25 lbs.

Today, I said to heck with it; I’ll eat a few fries and some breaded fish. I ate a cookie and a handful of chocolate covered raisins. And I snacked on goldfish crackers. That’s on top of my usual tofu stir fry I had for lunch and some over medium eggs I had for breakfast.

Wowzers!!! Has that screw up really hit me hard! My vision is off, my balance, I feel woozy like I’m drunk, but I haven’t had anything g to drink my balance is all funky that I have to hold on to things to not fall over. A very concrete and hard experience to remind me what happens to my blood sugar levels, and how my hunger is triggered and all the other bad effects of eating not to plan.

I have learned the hard way to stick to the program long term so I never feel like this again. I feel like I just got off a spinning/vomit inducing ride at an amusement park.

My question is:
- Although I have at least 75 lbs to go; I’m scared to the day I go I to maintenance. How to avoid this happening?
- Is this an extreme or normal reaction? Has anyone else experienced this?
- Do I just ride it out until it goes away?
- Is there something I’m doing wrong?

Thanks in advance for any insights!

tomcustombuilder

Don’t overcomplicate things. Weight loss is all about your weekly calorie amount.. that’s it. Don’t get sidetracked on the noise outside of that.

AnnPT77

turnitaroundat40 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Oh my goodness, I feel like I’m drunk. Except I’m not. I’ve been so good and careful about my food intake and logging and exercise; and today, for the first time in around 6-7 weeks, I blew it. I’ve been so careful and conscientious but today; had a lot of personal stress and reverted back to old habits.

I have PCOS and almost 6 years ago I had gestational diabetes. My doctor suggested Ozempic back in January when some bloodwork wasn’t looking 100% and I mentioned my weight bothered me.

I decided to not take the Ozempic (it’s still sitting in my fridge, unopened since picking F up from the pharmacy.) I wanted to try one more time to get my act together. So I eat much, much less. I don’t eat back my exercise calories, and I’ve pretty much avoided all possible cards and sugars. I’ve felt great. Barely any hunger. Very stable. And I’ve lost 25 lbs.

That loss is great - kudos to you!

Today, I said to heck with it; I’ll eat a few fries and some breaded fish. I ate a cookie and a handful of chocolate covered raisins. And I snacked on goldfish crackers. That’s on top of my usual tofu stir fry I had for lunch and some over medium eggs I had for breakfast.

Wowzers!!! Has that screw up really hit me hard! My vision is off, my balance, I feel woozy like I’m drunk, but I haven’t had anything g to drink my balance is all funky that I have to hold on to things to not fall over. A very concrete and hard experience to remind me what happens to my blood sugar levels, and how my hunger is triggered and all the other bad effects of eating not to plan.

I have learned the hard way to stick to the program long term so I never feel like this again. I feel like I just got off a spinning/vomit inducing ride at an amusement park.

I'm sorry to hear that. It sounds like a learning experience, which is good . . . but not always pleasant.

I'd observe, though, that our bodies get used to our routine, and switching up routine can be problematic.

Example: I've been vegetarian for nearly 50 years. If I accidentally eat something unknowingly that has (for example) meat broth, I'll have a bit of digestive distress. (I've sometimes discovered that I ate meat broth by first noticing that I felt a little sick then investigating. This is not just psychosomatic. There's research supporting the idea that vegetarians' digestive systems, including the gut microbiome, are adapted to that eating style, and need an adaptation period if there's a dietary style change.)

My personal experience is not an indication that eating meat is inherently wrong for humans, or even that eating meat would be physically wrong for me. It's just a sign that my body has adapted to a particular eating style, and freaks out a little if I do something differently.

There's small-scale research hinting that the vegetarian-to-omnivore transition (or the reverse) may take a couple of weeks. It's a natural thing, in either direction. That people need to adapt doesn't imply that either vegetarianism or omnivory are generically bad eating styles.

Personally, when it becomes necessary for me to move to assisted living (I'm 68!), I expect I'll need to start eating meat/fish again in order to get adequate nutrition in an institutional setting. I expect to have some digestive ups and downs for a few weeks when that happens, but I expect I can adjust. It's normal, NBD.

My question is:
- Although I have at least 75 lbs to go; I’m scared to the day I go I to maintenance. How to avoid this happening?

Are you using different tactics now than you plan to use in maintenance? Personally, I wouldn't recommend that, at least not all the way through loss, if you have an alternative.

The big goal, in my opinion, is staying at a healthy weight long term. I feel like that becomes more likely if, sometime during loss we do this:

* Experiment with eating and activity habits
* Find out what works best for us personally
* Practice that until it's autopilot daily habits (not requiring much conscious attention)

- Is this an extreme or normal reaction? Has anyone else experienced this?
- Do I just ride it out until it goes away?
- Is there something I’m doing wrong?

Thanks in advance for any insights!

I have not experienced that, but I didn't start from a point of really non-nutritious high calorie eating - rather, just too many calories, but mostly nutritious food. I just needed to cut portions, plus change portions/frequencies of calorie dense foods, not revolutionize my eating style

One of the things I decided, when starting to lose, was that I wasn't going to do anything to lose weight that I wasn't willing to do long term - ideally forever - to stay at a healthy weight, other than a sensibly moderate calorie deficit until I got to goal. That put a premium on learning habits I could continue forever.

I don't necessarily think you're doing anything wrong now. Sooner or later, though, I'd encourage you to start experimenting and establishing habits that you think you can continue forever in maintenance. Maybe low carb will inherently be it: If so, you're on course. Or maybe you can train yourself to enjoy low carb forever, which would also work. But if low carb won't work for you forever, I'd encourage you to gradually evolve your eating to a style you think you can keep up forever, and that ideally can continue almost on autopilot when other parts of life get demanding.

There's a caveat, though: As we age, sometimes we develop irremediable health conditions that limit our options. For example, if a person develops diabetes, they will need to manage carb intake - maybe not squeeze carbs to an absolute minimum, but certainly pay attention to them. But absent fixed limitations of that nature, I think it's relevant to expect some level of personal adaptation to a particular eating style.

Just my opinion based on biased personal experience, though. :flowerforyou:

I think you're facing some personal questions about weight loss strategy and maintenance strategy, and how they're the same or different. That's absolutely a thing to work out. In my experience, though, it's totally worth the effort.

I'm wishing you the best possible outcomes!

PAV8888

Did your issue resolve? Have you had any follow up blood tests after the ones that were not 100%?

neanderthin

Sounds like you had a bout with reactive hypoglycemia which also may be reacting to your medication. Not sure your doctor is the person to ask, considering their Ozempic conclusion on some bloodwork of yours but if possible contact an agency or caregiver that understands and deals with diabetes might be the better route. Hope your feeling better about it. I know I can't consume much sugar because of how it effects me and have been low carb for quite a long time, which is how I manage that aspect of my diet.

sollyn23l2

"an agency or caregiver that understands and deals with diabetes"

That would be a doctor, by the way. Specifically an endocrinologist. Please do see one *if* you become concerned and it continues to be an issue.

Melwillbehealthy

Yes, I’ve felt like you mentioned. I’m diabetic too, and my dizziness was probably caused by my blood sugar going crazy. If your doctor prescribed ozempic for you, you should follow his/her advice and take it. Once your symptoms and blood sugar are under control you can revisit taking ozempic. I would not fool around with diabetes.

rileysowner

turnitaroundat40 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Oh my goodness, I feel like I’m drunk. Except I’m not. I’ve been so good and careful about my food intake and logging and exercise; and today, for the first time in around 6-7 weeks, I blew it. I’ve been so careful and conscientious but today; had a lot of personal stress and reverted back to old habits.

I have PCOS and almost 6 years ago I had gestational diabetes. My doctor suggested Ozempic back in January when some bloodwork wasn’t looking 100% and I mentioned my weight bothered me.

I decided to not take the Ozempic (it’s still sitting in my fridge, unopened since picking F up from the pharmacy.) I wanted to try one more time to get my act together. So I eat much, much less. I don’t eat back my exercise calories, and I’ve pretty much avoided all possible cards and sugars. I’ve felt great. Barely any hunger. Very stable. And I’ve lost 25 lbs.

Today, I said to heck with it; I’ll eat a few fries and some breaded fish. I ate a cookie and a handful of chocolate covered raisins. And I snacked on goldfish crackers. That’s on top of my usual tofu stir fry I had for lunch and some over medium eggs I had for breakfast.
Wowzers!!! Has that screw up really hit me hard! My vision is off, my balance, I feel woozy like I’m drunk, but I haven’t had anything g to drink my balance is all funky that I have to hold on to things to not fall over. A very concrete and hard experience to remind me what happens to my blood sugar levels, and how my hunger is triggered and all the other bad effects of eating not to plan.

I have learned the hard way to stick to the program long term so I never feel like this again. I feel like I just got off a spinning/vomit inducing ride at an amusement park.

My question is:
- Although I have at least 75 lbs to go; I’m scared to the day I go I to maintenance. How to avoid this happening?
- Is this an extreme or normal reaction? Has anyone else experienced this?
- Do I just ride it out until it goes away?
- Is there something I’m doing wrong?

Thanks in advance for any insights!

If you are finding low carb/keto working for losing why would you stop it and go back to the Standard American Diet that got you fat and unhealthy in the first place to maintain?