My Blood Sugar Monitor and Weight Loss adventure.

Hello All,

Like you, I have been battling the bulge most of my life. Over recent months, I started worrying that soon enough, I would succumb to the Diabetic problems of my family. I decided to start to work real hard to finding a solution for my weight loss.

I read a book on insulin resistance, and decided to give this a shot. I am a frequent flyer of Weight Watchers, and tried many other options, however, I lose for a while, and once I plateau, it's over. I went on a plateau for over 3 months the last time. I increased my exercise, and tried every recommendation made. At one point, I was eating a weeks worth of grilled chicken and spinach, and the scale was not moving.

At that point, I realized that there must be a reason this keeps happening. Gave up for a little while, and then decided to come back with a vengeance! My vengeance worked, and I lost 15 Lbs in the first 3 weeks, and better yet, 4 inches off my waist. I went on a little hiatus, and now am back. I figure these posts would keep me focused, and maybe help some others. I also want to note, on my hiatus, I did not gain one pound. I followed my formula for combining foods, and at least maintained.

Here are the pretenses to my experiment:
1) My metabolism is special, and until I understand it, it will not work with me.
2) Food is not my enemy, I need to stop going to war with it, (because it always wins), and start to come up with a strategy to use it to help me.
3) Every plan I go on is developed by someone, that assumes every person is the same. I need to figure out how I tick.
4)No one likes exercise, but if I can get a snapshot (beyond my waist size) of how it is working on my insides, its easier to stick with it.

My hypothesis:
- In nursing school, I learned that hormones (especially insulin, and glycogen) have everything to do with weight and fat gain. They also help fat burn. If I could learn what foods, effect my body by raising my blood sugar, I can win the battle and keep my body in a state of burn.
Yes, I know it's the glycemic index, however, I wanted to measure it for myself. I didn't want to look in a book everytime I ate. In addition, the majority of the foods in a glycemic index book, are measured individually and not as a complete recipe. It became too complicated for me to figure this out. So I found a solution, Blood Glucose Monitor.

-If I can learn which foods raise my blood sugar, and figure out what the optimal blood sugar numbers are for my weight loss, then I can beat my metabolism at it's own game.

Rules:
- If supplements are used, they are logged as a food, and tested against the blood sugar model.
- Testing is as follows:
1) When I first wake-up. I will tell you after a while, that did not help. The first few times my sugars were low. After a while, I got the psychological bump, and they were over 100 until I ate.
2) Before I put food in my mouth.This includes my morning coffee.
3) 2 hours after I eat.
4) Before I go to bed, especially if I had a late dinner.

Findings:
So far, this is the most interesting thing I have ever done, and I am losing weight, but more importantly, feel good. No more sugar cravings, no more confusion on good and bad foods, and am actually have had many surprises with the results.

Examples:
1 egg, english muffin and 1 slice of cheese VS. 3 egg whites, spinach, a little feta, on an english muffin.
Results after 2 hours: 157 vs. 101

30 Minutes of exercise
Results before exercise = 101
Results after 30 minutes of walking = 87

Duration of time between eating Carbs
Result: realized that if I ate Carbs within 2 hours of the last time I had carbs, my blood sugars would remain high.

Ice Cream:
Result: Low Fat Ice Cream with Natural peanut Butter with no sugar added did not raise my blood sugars.

These are just to name a few. I will keep you all informed on a daily basis. Everyday I learn something new.

Today, I realized using My Fitness Pal, that my large coffee that I sip on all day, is keeping my blood sugars high, because the sips keep reintroducing sugar in my system. So technically, I am constantly adding small amounts of sugar to my body through out the day. It's better for me to drink my coffee in the morning, without babysitting it, and this will allow my blood sugars to stop bouncing around all day.

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Good luck on your journey. What is your typical fasting blood sugar in the morning ? Have you had an HbA1c test ?
  • racha6400
    racha6400 Posts: 5 Member
    I did have an A1C test, and it showed I am pre-diabetic. That is what prompted me to start the research and change my habits. I absolutely love the changes I have made, and am doing well. I lost another 2 LBS this week. My morning blood sugar averages in the 85 range right now. I have not found it useful to monitor it, only because they rise when I am really hungry, which seems to be a normal reaction.
  • LAW_714
    LAW_714 Posts: 258
    Interesting post. A lot of work, but interesting to keep the tracking log.
  • kimosabe1
    kimosabe1 Posts: 2,467 Member
    I am type one for nearly 30 years and for four months i didn't lose-i upped by calories from 1200 to 1350 and i started losing again. For sure eat exercise calories back :-)
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    Interesting, thanks for sharing. Just a question, what did you put in your coffee? How high did it keep your blood sugar?
  • KellySue67
    KellySue67 Posts: 1,006 Member
    This sounds very similar the "eat to your meter" theory to keep blood sugar levels lower . The idea is that you test 1hr and then 2hrs after meals and then replace those things that cause your blood sugar to spike above 140 with other alternatives. Many times this turns out to be more of a ketogenic kind of diet. It sounds good in practice, but I guess I haven't gotten to the point where I feel that it would be sustainable for me. Good luck with your continued journey.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    I did diet control for gestational diabetes. It was interesting. Raspberries were the best fruit, and the only cereal I could eat was plan bran flakes with splenda. So yeah, fiber was very important.
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    Is it hard to get a blood sugar tester? Do I need a doctor's ok to buy one? Now I want to do this lol
  • Glycogen is not a hormone.
  • richardheath
    richardheath Posts: 1,276 Member
    Is it hard to get a blood sugar tester? Do I need a doctor's ok to buy one? Now I want to do this lol

    You can but them at Amazon.com. The meter itself is cheap (I brought a "spare" for something like $1 plus shipping), but the test strips can get pricey. Not sure it would really do much good if you are not diabetic though, as your sugar levels should be kept fairly constant by your hormones.

    @OP - as a pre-diabetic myself, this is similar to what I did at first, although I had actually lost my weight by then. I used to call it "eating to the meter" and it gave me a good idea of how much I could eat of say pasta in one meal. Now I know, I only rarely check!
  • racha6400
    racha6400 Posts: 5 Member
    I use this with what I learned from the Insulin Resistance Diet. I kind of take it a step further. I am starting to learn that carb foods combined with the right amount of protein, can achieve the same type of blood sugar balance that high protein foods have.

    For me, it is beyond just the BS, it's learning to eat foods my metabolism likes.
  • racha6400
    racha6400 Posts: 5 Member
    Sorry it is a polysaccharide molecule that is created during glycogenesis. Was trying to keep it easy!
  • racha6400
    racha6400 Posts: 5 Member
    Just to answer some people's questions on how I am doing this, here is where I am today.

    Before Breakfast - 111
    Food: 1 english muffin, 1 egg, 1 slice of ham; Large Coffee with Milk and sugar
    2 hr after eating: BS 110

    After exercising for 30 minutes walking.
    BS-80

    My breakfast was pretty good because it brought me back down to where I was before. Had it spiked, it wouldn't be good.