Ominu wrote: »

Hi, I've recently been diagnosed as Type 2 Diabetic and have been trying to lose weight on all sorts of diets with 4 hardcore gym visits a week to no avail. I found the Ketogenic / LCHF diet and have started that. The first week I lost 4lbs and the next I'd put them back on! I researched this and guessed I was overdoing the protein. I now have 20g or under carbs per day, between 60-85g protein and use butter, coconut oil and olive oil liberally. I'm still not losing weight particularly quickly - I read people losing 80lbs since Spring on here and I'm nowhere near that. I've been doing this for a month now. I know my main issue should be getting my blood sugars on track but weight management is a big part of managing diabetes - I don't want to have to take pills! Any advice would be gratefully accepted!

Welcome! You've made the right choice, there's nothing better to control/reverse T2D than LCHF. As you say, your main issue should be getting BG on track, weight will follow.

Can I ask what are your values? Fasting BG, after meals BG, fasting insulin or other lab you have? And what is a typical meal, what do you eat and what do you avoid?

Not losing weight particularly quickly is still losing and going in the right direction. Some people lose faster than others, don't worry too much about that. People losing 80lbs since Spring were probably much heavier than you to start and likely male.

::flowerforyou::

Take measurements, I tend to see nothing on the scale or even an increase on the scale all while my hips and waist measurements are going down...the scale is not the best indicator for everyone.

@Ominu I'm in the same boat with a recent (mid-August) T2 diagnosis. First let me say, this is a marathon not a sprint. You can't FORCE the weight off your body. You have to look at this as your body needs time to heal, and you don't get to set the schedule for that. One presumes that you didn't develop T2 overnight, that it took years of eating high carb to make you sick. Therefore expecting to have significant weight loss in one month isn't reasonable. Your body has other traumas to deal with: whole-body inflammation, fatty liver, taxed islet cells, plus probably numerous other things.

So relax. You've chosen a great way of eating for looking after your T2. I second @Sunny_Bunny_ 's suggestion to look into Dr. Jason Fung's stuff (youtube, intensivedietarymanagment dot com, dietdoctor dot com). If you can get a handle on all the things your body needs to fix it might help you feel less urgent, less like you are behind the eight ball and this has to happen right now.

Breathe, you got this. We both do.

Is your doctor requiring you to go to a nutritionist for the glucose strip script? I would be demanding the prescription for scripts from him or or he would be fired. If you cannot get them by script, perhaps you can go down to Walmart and buy their Relyon Brand, they are pretty cheap.

I am a type 2 diabetic and brought my A1C down from 7.2 to 6.2 in two months by eating a low carb diet. I test 6 times a day. Before meals and 2 hours after meals. The 2 hour after meals is what is important here. By seeing what foods raise your glucose, you can eliminate them from your diet. My average glucose is now 98 and my smart phone app called ontrack predicts an A1C of around 5 next testing date (which is in Feb). There is a whole lot of information on the sticky posts at the beginning of this forum and I found this site to be of immense help: dietdoctor.com. Click on the diabetes tab, that info is free and is like attending a diabetes seminar.

By the way, this LCHF diet is absolutely wonderful, I have lost 22 pounds so far and my meals are incredible. Welcome to this way of eating!

Edited for clarity

Ominu wrote: »

@KetoGirl_ZC also, my GP practice refuses to let me have blood glucose testing kit so I don't know anything else. I've also been refused a referral to a dietician, but from what I've heard about dieticians recently they encourage carbs!

You don't need a doctor's permission to test your BG. I was diagnosed last year as type 2. They have these for under $20 at Walmart and most pharmacies. I would highly encourage you to buy one. Look at the cost of the strips of the one you are buying because that is typically where you will end up spending the most money. If you get a prescription for one, they will give you the meter free, but it will be one where the strips are ridiculously expensive - even with insurance.

Test in the morning after fasting for at least 8 hours. Ideally, you want this number to be under 100, but don't freak out if it is higher. There is something called the dawn phenomenon which you can google which will likely make your reading higher.

More importantly, test 2 hours after eating a meal. Start now. Ideally, you would have been able to test this before starting this WOE to get a baseline. However, it is good that you are still early so you will see this number begin dropping as your body becomes fat adapted.

As for not losing fast, that is good IMO. If you keep your protein in line as well as your carbs and don't lose too fast, you will find you don't end up with the saggy skin as much as those who lose really fast. You will also find it is easier to maintain after you lose.

Personally, the speed of my weight loss was not rapid, although I had a couple of times where there were short bursts with big drops. Overall, I lost about 45 lbs to get to the weight where I believe I belong. I know that is not as big of a drop as many people on here, but I had joked for 20+ years that the only way I would ever be under 200 lbs would be to have something amputated. Now, I am holding steady between 178-180 with no problem (I'm 6'1").

Ominu wrote: »

Oh the whole I'm feeling far more positive today than I did yesterday, thanks to all you lovely people who have offered such great support and advice. Thanks very much, I feel so much more motivated to carry on and look even deeper into this way of eating. I use Diet Doctor for keto approved LCHF recipes but has any of you guys found that the macros on there don't always correlate with those on MFP?

I'm not sure what you've set your MFP macros to but there is some flexibility. Meaning that you don't have to hit every days macros spot on or anything.
One day, you might be under on protein by 15g and the next you might be over a bit... same with fat and even calories overall for that matter. Have a goal of 1400 calories but aren't hungry and it's time for bed and you only ate 900 that day? No big deal. You don't need to make it up either, your body will take care of that for you. Another day you might be actually, truly hungry and can't keep calories under 1400 (just an example number I'm using), so it's ok to go over sometimes too.
It all balances out over the course of the week in the end.