South Beach Diet for possible insulin resistance?

rabt6f
rabt6f Posts: 37 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've been eating 100% healthier than I ever have in my life, for at least a year. I track my calories off and on using my fitness pal and almost always stay within the calorie range by 100 to 200 calories. I've tried eating more calories, I've tried eating less calories, and the weight doesn't budge. I'm 28 years old, with a 2 year old, and have weighed approximately (within 10 lbs), the same weight for 14 years.
In the last year, I've added major exercise to my weekly schedule. I call it major because I never worked out a lot, with this much dedication, and this hard in the past. I've finished Couch 2 5k, and supreme 90.

I STILL WEIGH THE SAME THING THROUGH ALL OF THIS. Never loosing more than 2 lbs at a time, then it comes right back on the next day.

A friend of mine suggested maybe I have insulin resistance that is keeping me from loosing weight. I do have major blood sugar issues and do eat small meals often to keep my blood sugar from crashing. She reports she had the same type of issue, but would only loose 5 lbs or so, before her weight loss would stall. Her doctor put her on the south beach diet, suggesting she may have insulin resistance and she dropped 15lbs pretty quickly, has managed to keep it off, and now the weight loss is slowing, which is good. However she does continue to loose.

I only have about 15 lbs to loose, has anyone tried this? Did it work? I know a doctor suggested I had insulin resistance a few years ago, but I didn't understand it and he just said "eat healthy" and I never followed up.

Replies

  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    What is your current height/weight or weight/bodyfat% if you know it?

    What is your current intake of:

    calories (daily)
    Protein, Carbs, Fats (<--- I need this in grams if you would like me to give you my opinion)

    Do you use a food scale to measure quantities and do you track EVERYTHING and do you do it DAILY without fail?
  • reasnableblonde
    reasnableblonde Posts: 212 Member
    My dietitian suggested I have insulin resistance as well, given my bloodwork results and the very high number of diabetics in my family. One thing he had me do was remove fruit from my diet. I was already controlling refined sugars, but I was eating fruit a LOT for snacks. This was causing my blood sugar to spike, making me hungry, and then I was eating more carbs in response. If you're tracking everything and watching your macros, that shouldn't be the problem. What's your ratio? Is it 60-20-20 for carbs-protein-fat? Maybe you need to change it to 40-30-30.

    I'm interested to see what others say because I continuously gain and lose the same five pounds. It sucks.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    If you think you are insulin resistant get professionally diagnosed, don't self diagnose and self treat.
  • rabt6f
    rabt6f Posts: 37 Member
    What is your current height/weight or weight/bodyfat% if you know it?

    What is your current intake of:

    calories (daily)
    Protein, Carbs, Fats (<--- I need this in grams if you would like me to give you my opinion)

    Do you use a food scale to measure quantities and do you track EVERYTHING and do you do it DAILY without fail?

    I'm going to try to answer this as best as possible. I appreciate the interest. I am 150lbs, 5 foot 4 inches, and last I remember according to a military body fat percentage website, I'm around 30% body fat. I'm a total apple shape, with no doubt. Large thighs, hips, and booty, with no top half. I try to eat the "insanity" version of healthy which is 40- 20 - 20, but my protein is always low. My protein was high based on what my fitness pal recommended. I eat approximately 1600 calories a day and I'm very confident in my ability to measure and track everything I put in my mouth. I feel confident saying that 6 out of 7 days a week, I have only healthy fats in my diet. The 7th day I usually have a piece of pizza and some ice cream, but I make room for it in my calorie intake ( plus or minute a 100 calories a day). I can't get the scale to budge.
  • rabt6f
    rabt6f Posts: 37 Member
    My dietitian suggested I have insulin resistance as well, given my bloodwork results and the very high number of diabetics in my family. One thing he had me do was remove fruit from my diet. I was already controlling refined sugars, but I was eating fruit a LOT for snacks. This was causing my blood sugar to spike, making me hungry, and then I was eating more carbs in response. If you're tracking everything and watching your macros, that shouldn't be the problem. What's your ratio? Is it 60-20-20 for carbs-protein-fat? Maybe you need to change it to 40-30-30.

    I'm interested to see what others say because I continuously gain and lose the same five pounds. It sucks.

    I do eat lots of fruit for a snack. I love fruit so much. I probably eat 3 servings of fruit a day. Maybe I should try to cut that out first and then do the full diet if that doesn't work. Thanks
  • rabt6f
    rabt6f Posts: 37 Member
    If you think you are insulin resistant get professionally diagnosed, don't self diagnose and self treat.

    Great suggestion, How is insulin resistance diagnosed? My friend has a medical diagnosis of PCOS, her triglycerides are very high, she is over weight, not losing weight, so the doctor said insulin resistance. I'm not super over weight, don't have PCOS, I'm sure my triglycerides are high (always are), and I'm not over weight. Is that what the doctor will look at? If that's it, plus my blood sugars that I track and I know they fluctuate often, then why get professionally diagnosed.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    What is your current height/weight or weight/bodyfat% if you know it?

    What is your current intake of:

    calories (daily)
    Protein, Carbs, Fats (<--- I need this in grams if you would like me to give you my opinion)

    Do you use a food scale to measure quantities and do you track EVERYTHING and do you do it DAILY without fail?

    I'm going to try to answer this as best as possible. I appreciate the interest. I am 150lbs, 5 foot 4 inches, and last I remember according to a military body fat percentage website, I'm around 30% body fat. I'm a total apple shape, with no doubt. Large thighs, hips, and booty, with no top half. I try to eat the "insanity" version of healthy which is 40- 20 - 20, but my protein is always low. My protein was high based on what my fitness pal recommended. I eat approximately 1600 calories a day and I'm very confident in my ability to measure and track everything I put in my mouth. I feel confident saying that 6 out of 7 days a week, I have only healthy fats in my diet. The 7th day I usually have a piece of pizza and some ice cream, but I make room for it in my calorie intake ( plus or minute a 100 calories a day). I can't get the scale to budge.

    If you would like further input (from me, anyways), I need your protein, carb, and fat intake averages in grams . thanks.
  • LauraDotts
    LauraDotts Posts: 732 Member
    A doctor has already suggested that you probably have insulin resistance. Your family has a history of diabetes. You can't lose weight. Your blood sugar levels fluctuate a lot. Go South Beach. You'll know in a month if it is working.
  • lovechicagobears
    lovechicagobears Posts: 289 Member
    If you think you are insulin resistant get professionally diagnosed, don't self diagnose and self treat.

    Great suggestion, How is insulin resistance diagnosed? My friend has a medical diagnosis of PCOS, her triglycerides are very high, she is over weight, not losing weight, so the doctor said insulin resistance. I'm not super over weight, don't have PCOS, I'm sure my triglycerides are high (always are), and I'm not over weight. Is that what the doctor will look at? If that's it, plus my blood sugars that I track and I know they fluctuate often, then why get professionally diagnosed.

    Your insulin level is measured, not your blood sugar. You need to have blood work done.

    My doctor had me do a fasting glucose test (not a glucose tolerance test; don't get them confused). I fasted for 12-14 hours, had my blood drawn, and then they gave me a list of food to eat. Exactly two hours after I ate that food, they drew my blood again. The food list had things like orange juice, pasta, banana, potato, bread, glass of milk - a good mix of starches, fructose, glucose, and lactose.

    My insulin level after fasting for 14 hours was three times the normal level of someone who just ate. After I ate, it was much, much higher. My A1C was completely normal, somewhere around 5.6, so that's why a simple blood sugar test wouldn't have been enough.

    The insulin level and A1C (which they should do at the same time) will tell your doctor if you need to be prescribed Metformin/Glucophage or if you can control it with diet alone. I'm on 500mg of Metformin every day, and I'm supposed to follow a low-carb/low-sugar diet. I'm not perfect, but I do try. I notice the most weight loss when I keep my carbs around 100 per day. If I go to 150-200, my weight loss stalls. My longest plateau was eight weeks because I kept my calories in line but didn't watch my carbs well enough. As soon as I spent a week keeping them in check, I lost three pounds.

    Good luck. :)
  • Rocbola
    Rocbola Posts: 1,998 Member
    Don't cut fruit from your diet, cut fatty foods from your diet!!!

    Fat inside your muscle cells leads to insulin resistance. The South Beach Diet will only exacerbate your problems.

    There are many articles in peer reviewed literature that back this.
    http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=intramyocellular+lipid+role+in+insulin+resistance&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart&sa=X&ei=sULJUISqIsy6yAGl3YCACw&ved=0CC8QgQMwAA

    http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/51/1/144.short
  • issyfit
    issyfit Posts: 1,077 Member
    The goal of the South Beach plan is to keep your blood sugar even throughout the day. In phase 2 you can have your fruit, just aim for lower sugar fruits and eat them with some protein to slow the digestion. What I love most about South Beach is that phase one rids you of your sweet cravings.
    South Beach was first developed by Dr. Agaston to help his patients prevent diabetes and heart disease. The weight loss was a nice side effect. I would think it would work well for insulin resistance, but like others have said--check with your doctor.

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