Is there somewhere I can find out about carbs and severe insulin resistance?

judysinhin

Hello everyone, being new to the program, (2nd day) and being 230 lbs at 70 years old, it goes without saying, I need you and all the help I can get. Knowing I am insulin resistance, I am struggling with the number of calories/carbs the program recommends for me. I'm beginning to question if this is the right program for me. But I have committed to myself I would give it my best shot (do what is recommended) and learn what works and what needs to change.

AnnPT77

Hello, and welcome!

I can't suggest any answers to your direct question, but wanted to reply on your thread for a couple of reasons. One is that we're close in age: I'm 69. A difference is that I've been using MFP for going on 100 years, loss then maintenance. If you have questions about using the program, I might be able to help.

One comment based on what you said: If weight loss is the key goal, the calorie level suggestion is the place to focus.

If you want to eat fewer carbs, which many people choose to do, you can change the carb percent in your goals to any value you think is more appropriate for you. Increase protein or fats or both to get to the right calorie level. Free MFP will force that, because it requires the macro percents to add up to 100%.

Nutritionally, protein and fats are "essential nutrients" in the technical sense that they contain necessary things our bodies can't manufacture out of any other intake. Carbs are more flexible, because our bodies can manufacture carb-equivalents out of fats or protein, loosely speaking. You can set carb level to whatever you like, or simply strive to minimize carbs and eat more fats or protein so calories come close day to day.

A couple of things about calorie level:

If you're struggling to eat as low calories as the app recommends, an option to consider is asking MFP for a slower weight loss rate at the start. Some people find it helpful to start with a quite-small loss rate to get more calories, then gradually reduce calories over a small number of weeks as they figure out how to stay mostly full and happy on lower calories.

Even long term, a slower loss rate - higher calorie goal - helps some people stick with it: Sometimes a slow loss rate can get a person to goal weight in less calendar time than an extreme attempt that causes bouts of deprivation-triggered over-eating, breaks in the action, or even giving up altogether.

Also, it's good to be aware that the calorie goal is just a statistical estimate. Individuals can vary. I'd suggest sticking close to your calorie goal for 4-6 weeks, then using your own results data to adjust calorie goal to personalize it. Roughly 500 calories per day is a pound a week.

I'm cheering for you to succeed, because reaching a health weight has been a huge quality of life improvement for me. Best wishes!

Corina1143

Hi, Judy!
You are in the right place. We will be your cheerleaders.
Remember learning to walk? Or learning to read? Of course not! But you know it didn't happen overnight.
Don't expect your new, healthier way of eating to happen overnight either. It's a learning process. Just go in the right direction. Celebrate your little wins! Forgive yourself for the things you didn't get right today, but will do better tomorrow because of what you learned today.
Welcome!

judysinhin

Hi AnnP and Corina! thanks so much for the great suggestions! It's nice to know how to go! Hey, that rhymes! Ha! Ha! I'm having fun with this. I would like to reset the beginning numbers I set up and I will look for how to do that. :+)