Insulin resistant
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LowCarber50
Posts: 7 Member
I was wondering if eating low carb or keto has been successful for others for weight loss fort hise that have been diagnosed with insulin resistance? I am having a really hard time losing weight.. I would love to hear if others have been successful and how many carbs a day do you eat / and calories to lose.. I am female, 5 ft 7 and 230lbs.. my weight has really crept up over time.. I seem to be able to gain weight no problem but can't seem to lose at all.. Any insights / suggestions appreciated.
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Maybe just maybe keto diet isn't for you.
when i started keto around a month ago, i decided that i needed to revert my fatty liver and my insulin resistance. LCHF diet is usually one of the best diets to treat insulin resistance. I started around 103kg and i am 183cm tal, no gall bladder too. in the beginning i was even stricter than the norm trying to zero my net carbs.
Since you are very insulin resistant means that you have high concentration of glycogen in your body, so when you cut carbs and sugars, your insulin drops and your body will consume much of your glycogen store and you will expel the water excess that comes with that, so in the beginning you will lose a good amount of weight before even getting in ketosis and fat burning for real. In my case i was pre diabetic and with fatty liver and i lost over 5kg in a week due to glycogen losses, but this won't happen overnight btw, keep going and don't eat carbs.
if you are thinking of keto beware of the "keto flu", since you are depleting sugars your brain starts screaming before settling down with the ketone bodies so keep track of your electrolytes and other minerals/vitamins to get past this phase quickly. After 3 weeks or so my body got used to this state now i don't even crave for sugars/carbs anymore, but i refeed some carbs in a cheat day.
Once in a month i also do some Fasting that last around 18h and then i break the diet in the cheat day and i immediately go back to the diet afterwards.
For losing fat/weight, you also need to do a cutting diet like me, that means that you need to eat less than you would expend in the day after all you got some reserves inside you. For that there are many TDEE calculators and such...MFP tells me that i need 1800 cal per day for cutting, but i feel full for day after 1200 or so and i rarely get on that mark and i feel fine, of course that i still have more than 10kg to lose in the next 6 months and i am really pumped to do so, probably when i reach 15% body fat i will need to increase my calorie intake.
Just make your goals small and feasible and be consistent about them.
At this moment i lost more than 10kg since i started the diet and i don't feel horrible and such, so keto is a keeper for me. Avocados are my best buddies.
Hope it helps.
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@LowCarber50 - I'm insulin resistant, and have had hit and miss luck. I'm still struggling to get consistent, but every time I got my insulin levels to go down, my TSH shot up, and I've spent some time trying to get my TSH stabilized while my insulin is stabilized, to just feel level...then add back in dietary restriction.
As insulin resistance is more or less pre-diabetes or pre-prediabetes, it might help to look at diabetic progress, too...
I found that I also seemed to have cellular energy resistance, which means that my cells didn't want to intake a large volume of ketones, either. I'm kind of looking at doing a low carb, low fat diet for a while to reset my insulin sensitivity and such, but I don't do well with excess restriction, so I'm very reluctant.
I discovered that I can't fast for long due to not having a gallbladder, and having resultant acidic digestive pyrotechnics, but periodic fasting or extended fasting can really help re-sensitize the cells to insulin - making them act more like "normal cells."
I would probably look into various fasting protocols - intermittent fasting, alternate day fasting, delayed meal fasting, extended fasting...and work towards getting full into ketosis first - to aid with fasting/hunger reduction, etc. - just to see what your options are and what might work for you and your lifestyle...
Even if you incorporate a fasting day a month, it can REALLY help reduce that insulin resistance, and help make it easier to lose weight...
I don't know what else you might have going on that might complicate the IR/weight loss issues, but I know my IR goes hand in hand with my PCOS, hormone imbalances, and hypothyroidism, all of which add degrees of difficulty in long term weight loss...
Good luck!2 -
@LowCarber50 it took a couple years for the lab reports to prove I no longer had a hint of insulin resistance. While I still eat high calorie I do it keeping total carbs just under 50 grams daily and have about the same macro as yours. I have been eating this way since Oct 2014 and slowly seeing better lab results and physical health improvements. I was very sick at the age of 63 when I accidently went LCHF and knew nothing about Keto. I did not lose the first pound for 45 days but since I have lost about 50 pounds even though weight loss is not my stated objective. Time is on our side it seems.3
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In my case, it worked wonders and it worked quickly.
"Insulin resistance" is a fairly vague diagnosis. Different tissues can have different levels of insulin resistance.
We usually consider 3: liver, fat cells, and muscle.
In the case of the liver, 2 things seem to help. Keeping blood glucose in check and reducing "fatty liver."
Low carb helps with both of those, but calorie restriction is probably the main thing that helps reduce fatty liver. Probably why Jason Fung has had so much success with fasting.
In the case of fat cells, same factors -- keep blood glucose low so insulin doesn't inhibit lipolysis, and reduce intake so you start shrinking the fat cells.
But in the case of muscle tissue, exercise is key. Your muscles are a huge glucose sink. Exercise. Resistance training is probably best.
In my case, I did all three: reduced carb intake, reduced caloric intake (which was easy on LC), and exercised.
My TG/HDL improved (a good proxy for IR) and my fasting insulin dropped.6 -
LowCarber50 wrote: »I was wondering if eating low carb or keto has been successful for others for weight loss fort hise that have been diagnosed with insulin resistance? I am having a really hard time losing weight.. I would love to hear if others have been successful and how many carbs a day do you eat / and calories to lose.. I am female, 5 ft 7 and 230lbs.. my weight has really crept up over time.. I seem to be able to gain weight no problem but can't seem to lose at all.. Any insights / suggestions appreciated.
My son is insulin resistant and metabolic syndrome and type2 diabetic. I should say he WAS! He weighted over 400lbs and could never ever seem to loose weight. He went on a low carb actually Keto diet as I had done lots of reading and managed to persuade him to try at least for a while. That was a year ago. he now weighs about 280lbs and while he still wants to loose more (he's 6ft and big built anyhow) he has been free of Diabetic meds for 9 or 10 months and has no sign of type2 nor is he pre-diabetic.
It worked for him and although I think he is and may always be insulin resistant (he's like a male version of PCOS, which runs in our family!) so he will always have a carb problem he now knows how to loose weight and keep himself healthy, he works out and he is now very very muscled and fit as well.
For me I think Keto works and is certainly worth a try. Good luck.6 -
Thanks for the input, I have never been tested for anything and don't know any levels, the "insulin resistant" term came from a naturopath doctor I saw.. and mentioned leptin.. I am reducing my calories, and counting everything and joined a gym and am trying different exercises 3 or 4 times a week.. but its only been a few weeks.. I am thinking keto while maybe very good for me might be to low carb.. I seem to be around 30 - 35 with the carbs coming from veggies. I am pretty committed to losing weight and getting fit It is just surprising to me that it is so hard to come off, guess I need to be patient and keep working at it..2
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I am guessing there is a way to check insulin levels.. etc I definitely have some more research to do.. I have always been very healthy, blood work good, but the last couple of years have just consistently gained weight
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MD's usually diagnose it in terms of "metabolic syndrome" or pre-diabetes.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/metabolic-syndrome/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20351921
if you have three or more of these traits or are taking medication to control them:
Large waist circumference — a waistline that measures at least 35 inches (89 centimeters) for women and 40 inches (102 centimeters) for men
High triglyceride level — 150 milligrams per deciliter,(mg/dL), or 1.7 millimoles per liter (mmol/L), or higher of this type of fat found in blood
Reduced high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol — less than 40 mg/dL (1.04 mmol/L) in men or less than 50 mg/dL (1.3 mmol/L) in women of this "good" cholesterol
Increased blood pressure — 130/85 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or higher
Elevated fasting blood sugar — 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L) or higher
Some also test insulin and can calculate HOMA-IR:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeostatic_model_assessment
Either way, you can get some metrics that help you track improvement on your diet.
Lliver tests are also useful. ALT, AST, and GGT can indicate liver damage and/or fatty liver.
If your only symptom is gaining weight, and you're not gaining it mostly in the belly, then it could be something else.2 -
For me, I kind of eased into low carb by accident by just cutting back on breads and sugars to lower my blood glucose after primary doc warned me about my A1C level. After losing 4 pounds over 5 months I heard about keto (article on someone who ate nothing but bacon for 30 days, and a book by Gary Taubes) and started getting serious about LCHF and started seeing rapid weight loss at 3-7 pounds per week, although that has slowed down a little lately. Plateau?
Keep at it and give it some time!1 -
LP-IR Score 60 High <=45 01
INSULIN RESISTANCE MARKER
<--Insulin Sensitive Insulin Resistant-->
Percentile in Reference Population
Insulin Resistance Score
LP-IR Score Low 25th 50th 75th High
<27 27 45 63 >63
LP-IR Score is inaccurate if patient is non-fasting.
This is from the sample report that you will see a link to below. It was this test that I ordered on line and drove 40 miles to a Lab Corp office to get the blood drawn. As you will read this is not a universal standard but can be helpful. I needed to know my LDL particle size and count so the IR info was just a nice plus.
lifeextension.com/Vitamins-Supplements/itemLC123810/NMR-LipoProfile-Blood-Test2 -
I found how they calculate LP-IR here:
Lipoprotein insulin resistance score and risk of incident diabetes during extended follow-up of 20 years: The Women's Health Study
Looks like it should track closely to TG/HDL. (It also correlated pretty well with hsCRP.)2 -
Thanks everyone I will review all the info.. my bloodwork was fine before and no blood pressure problems, I will keep researching and trying
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I haven’t watched this yet but I noticed he details what is discussed and it mentions “Insulin Resistance and what to do about it”
Might be helpful.
http://www.thefatemperor.com/blog/2017/12/6/fat-emperor-at-fit-ceo-conference-dublin-setting-the-record-straight-4 -
I am insulin resistant, and have had great success so far. I am Keto, and eat one meal a day. Intermittent fasting can also aid along with Keto to drop insulin levels. I have found that it works great together.
If someone would have told me that I would be able to fast with out getting hangry several months ago I would not have believed them.
I hope you find the plan you need!4 -
Lots of issues. I myself think Jason Fung is on to it. May suggest you check out www.optisingnutrition.com the gentleman is an engineer and approached it brilliantly. It ties to insulin response to various foods. Not glucose. I am not doing it service by my explanation. But do. Check in to it. Keep up the effort4
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thanks I will look at the website
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Look at eatingacademy.com that is a great website!2
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My dad died last year at 68 from diabetes complications. 11 of his siblings are type two. At 38 I was insulin resistant/pre diabetic and 123kg. Today at 43 I am completely free of any issues and 79kg. My doctor says I am in no danger of developing diabetes. I have no doubt whatsoever I would now be full blown diabetic if I hadn’t gone low carb when I did.7
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@DietPrada - HECK YES! That is frankly amazing. Congratulations for taking charge of your life!! Wowza.0
