Insulin Resistance Diet?

I haven't seen that specific diet but if it's like the one that most people I know who have PCOS or pre-diabetes, it's probably fairly low in carbohydrates. There are special groups in these forums for low carb dieting and possibly even for those conditions specifically. I'd highly suggest you take a look there. It's always best to get support from people who are going through the same thing you are.

I started that diet almost 3 years ago and I lost (and have maintained) a 101 lbs weight loss! I LOVE that diet and I cannot recommend it enough.

The one thing that you need to master is the 30 carb to 15 protein ratio. This is not restricting the foods that you eat, rather it's teaching you how to properly portion your foods. The key is a big portion of meat, small carb, tons of veggies.

With the help of MFP I was able to visually see that carb ratio with every meal that I made. Just eat what you like and weigh it out!

Also, add me as a friend to see my diary. I haven't been logging (since I'm snowed in) but I'm always posting stuff.

wow.. that almost came out wrong... BEST of Luck

RavenLibra wrote: »

there is a type II diabetes group.. I was recently ( sep-2014) with type II I don't really participate in the group and I don't know about eating every 2-3 hours... although I make sure I get in 3 meals/day and a light (fruit like an apple or an orange) snack in between meals... I need to take my meds with food...IF you really want to help yourself out.. the BEST way to take yourself off the "edge" is to begin lowering your Body fat% and start working out regularly... regular cardio helps your body pump up the natural hormones... and don't get all "anti-carb" what you want out of your food is "slow release carbs" so stay away from things like white bread, white rice, white flour, potatoes and quick release sugars... from things like soda and pulpy fruits that need to be skinned like mangoes, pineapple, melons... Good carbs.. are like colourful fruits and vegetables... fruits with skins... like berries, (but not jams or jellies that have added sugar) apples, oranges, grapes, think of foods that take time to digest and absorb... you want slow release carbs... leafy greens and all kinds of proteins (nuts, eggs, meat, poultry, cheese etc.) and there's nothing wrong with fat... all within reason... bes to fluck to ya

Hahaha! I know that's a typo, but definitely the best line I've read all day! Particularly when spoken by an ostrich.

When I was first diagnosed my doctor drew out a diagram like this:


@toscarthearmada I love how you describe this lifestyle as one of balance. Which I think is so much more important than following one diet or another. Especially any diet which forbids macros, forbids foods. It's keeping everything in balance and never getting too hungry or too full that is important.

@ditsyblond17, you may not appreciate those midday snacks right now but they really do help keep everything stable. But baby steps. Change one habit on another until you have it all figured out.

I have PCOS and insulin resistance. I have lost 85lbs by eating very low carb. I mean low too - less than 30g of carbs a day, and as little sugar as humanly possible! (I have around 20g a WEEK). I have a fair bit of fat in my diet and moderate protein. Loads of non-starchy veggies, good quality meats, natural fats and a small amount of dairy. I avoid milk and yogurt due to the sugar content. I workout (weightlifing & kickboxing) 3-4 times a week with the odd swim chucked in for variety. Even by following a low fat low calorie diet I only lost a few pounds very slowly. Google LCHF. Best of luck! x

I have insulin resistance and read that book. I more or less follow those guidelines, although not 100%. I think it is OK to pair carbs with fat rather than protein and I try to space out my protein throughout the day. My diary is open if you want to look at it. So far have lost 50+ lbs without difficulty. I also exercise a lot, which is crucial I think.

If you are insuline resistant, do yourself a favour and do not follow random miracle diets you read about. Either talk to your dr and ask for a sample meal plan, or try the American Diabetes association. Here: www.diabetes.org. They have plain and simple instructions on how to change your lifestyle and eating habits and their advice not only is effective, but actually much simpler to follow than most special "diets" you will google about.

I am diabetic too and I do eat 5 to 6 times a day (usually 6). I eat 3 main meals and then 2 or 3 snacks. The snacks are usually my fruit I eat, serving of blueberries, serving of strawberries, apple, orange, tangerine. (fruit has natural sugars and I have learned to eat them seperate from my meals. I will add berries to my breakfast off and on though). I also eat a string cheese, or cheese and crackers, 1/2 or 1 serving of pepperoni with 1 oz cheese.

Your snacks do not have to be a meal. just a handful of almonds (1 oz), a can of v8 juice. etc

BZAH10 wrote: »

RavenLibra wrote: »

there is a type II diabetes group.. I was recently ( sep-2014) with type II I don't really participate in the group and I don't know about eating every 2-3 hours... although I make sure I get in 3 meals/day and a light (fruit like an apple or an orange) snack in between meals... I need to take my meds with food...IF you really want to help yourself out.. the BEST way to take yourself off the "edge" is to begin lowering your Body fat% and start working out regularly... regular cardio helps your body pump up the natural hormones... and don't get all "anti-carb" what you want out of your food is "slow release carbs" so stay away from things like white bread, white rice, white flour, potatoes and quick release sugars... from things like soda and pulpy fruits that need to be skinned like mangoes, pineapple, melons... Good carbs.. are like colourful fruits and vegetables... fruits with skins... like berries, (but not jams or jellies that have added sugar) apples, oranges, grapes, think of foods that take time to digest and absorb... you want slow release carbs... leafy greens and all kinds of proteins (nuts, eggs, meat, poultry, cheese etc.) and there's nothing wrong with fat... all within reason... bes to fluck to ya

Hahaha! I know that's a typo, but definitely the best line I've read all day! Particularly when spoken by an ostrich.

That is almost as bad as when I sent an email to my boss and in the subject line I typed the, worked over shift. The problem was I left out the F on the word shift and had sent it before I noticed what it said. Glad my boss has a good sense of humor. She sent me back a reply and said she laughed so hard she almost wet her self. That, that was the best typo she has ever seen... OOOpppsssie LOL

We'll, sometimes the authority has earned it. Sure beats "appeal to the internet". I have lost over ninety pounds and my diabetes is in remission due to following authoritative, conventional advice. Before that, I held off diabetes from insulin resistance for ten years, then held off requiring insulin for an additional ten years. I have eaten carbs, protein and fats in moderate amounts throughout. I ignored anyone who told me bacon was bad for me.

jgnatca wrote: »

We'll, sometimes the authority has earned it. Sure beats "appeal to the internet". I have lost over ninety pounds and my diabetes is in remission due to following authoritative, conventional advice. Before that, I held off diabetes from insulin resistance for ten years, then held off requiring insulin for an additional ten years. I have eaten carbs, protein and fats in moderate amounts throughout. I ignored anyone who told me bacon was bad for me.

Weight loss will do that by default, good for you......

I'm referring to the diet aspect and not lifestyle. A very good friend of mine is a Dr. and has exercised regularly most of her life as part of the maintenance for her diabetes and is not overweight, probably most would say she's thin. She's followed the low GI and other authoritative regimens throughout and she still required insulin injections to manage her blood sugar levels. We always talk about health, because I'm a nutritional a geek that way and 5 yrs ago after a terrible time with her diabetes I suggested that she reduce her carbs to very low levels, reduce the amount of wine she drank, increase her protein and fat to compensate. Just to let you know this didn't happen overnight because her views on fat and cholesterol prevented her from understanding the benefit of going very low carb which was based on authoritative etched in stone in your face conventional dogma. Anyway after many many emailed scientific studies to support my view she decided to try it. She no longer takes injections and her blood sugar are normal and is off medication.

Personally if controlling blood sugar is key, and then reducing it to very low levels shouldn't sound like a foreign language, but on an authoritative level, that could appear to be too restrictive based on low carb studies on lipid profiles, renal function, and long term metabolic effects of very low carbohydrate diets are unclear and the dogma surrounding so they just don't go there. I would suspect that will change in time, but that doesn't mean it can't be implemented, only a little critical thinking and some research is required imo.

aggelikik wrote: »

neanderthin wrote: »

aggelikik wrote: »

If you are insuline resistant, do yourself a favour and do not follow random miracle diets you read about. Either talk to your dr and ask for a sample meal plan, or try the American Diabetes association. Here: www.diabetes.org. They have plain and simple instructions on how to change your lifestyle and eating habits and their advice not only is effective, but actually much simpler to follow than most special "diets" you will google about.

Not really, most of their recipes are geared to lower carbs but most of their diet plans are well over 100g's a day, some as much as 200 on a calorie reduced diet. Nothing wrong with taking a more aggressive stance on carbs, it is a disease after all and reducing carbs to low levels help tremendously and is more effect, especially for women with PCOS as well. You simply fell for the appeal to authority card.

They are giving medical advice, that will help someone deal with their illness, in an effective way that does not require unnecessary sacrifices. As someone who has PCOS and is insuline resistant, I feel far more reassured by following my dr's advice (which is exactly the same as the one in the link I posted by the way), than treating carbs as the devil, or following other advice found on dr google, miracle diets from people sellign books, or following anecdotal stories about what worked for strangers. PCOS and insuline resistance are medical issues, that have been around a long time, and how to deal with them is hardly a mystery to the medical community. Every endocrinologist I have seen the last 20+ years, gave me pretty much the same simple guidelines. And yet there are countless miracle diets and weird cures all over the internet. I wonder which one to trust for a medical problem, the dr or the internet... Tough decision.

Carry on then.

aggelikik wrote: »

To add anecdotal stories to why consulting with a dr is always a good idea when making decisions affecting health, including the simple decision to follow a new diet quiet different than the one previously followed, a relative of mine, who was for the last several years on a very low carb diet (something between Atkins and paleo, mostly Atkins), without once in all these years talking to a dr, recently was diagnosed with gout. His fear was developing diabetes, hence the choice of diet, he ended up with something different and rather painful. A simple dr consultation would have told him a long time ago that this specific diet might work for others, but was not safe for him.

Most if not all people that I've known with gout were not on a low carb diet, but I understand where your coming from, disease and ill health should be diagnosed by a Dr. and fortunately I've got one that understands nutrition pretty well, most don't.

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

You had surgery with your doctor's guidance to get you started as well, correct?

Not quite. I've been successful at holding type 2 diabetes at bay (but not lost weight) for over twenty years by following conventional advice.

The first ten years I was pre-diabetic, and remained so by controlling my diet as a diabetic would.

The next ten years I controlled diabetes through a combination of diet and Metformin, but did not lose weight.

After gaining another ten pounds, I could not control blood sugar with Metformin and diet alone, and we started to look at other options. I was referred to the bariatric program.

I lost thirty pounds following conventional advice from a dietitian.

I had the surgery and had immediate reversal of diabetic symptoms. This is a known benefit from bariatric surgery and it is not completely explained by weight loss alone.

I've been conventionally losing weight ever since, eating a moderate amount of carbohydrates and all the other macros.