"You may never be thin again"

I don't even LOOK at cheese anymore. it makes me hungry cos it's so salty, and it constipates me. no wonder I never pooped when I was a kid, being italian we had romano cheese 3 times a week, on spaghetti or soup. so I am trying these 3 months going cheese free and see if it helps my cholesterol, altho I have slipped a couple of small times.

go check your dried fruit carb grams, i'll be here to catch you when you faint raisins and nuts go directly to my butt! not in a good way!!!

EDITED TO ADD: also i've been reading lately to have protein (or fat), never plain carb, to keep your insulin from shooting up too high? altho you had good glucose readings, still, the insulin will make you fat, not thin, right? i've really cut down on fruit, period. i've like cut down my variety of foods, and am trying to figure out what I can deal with adding back in.

Yes, I have already checked dried fruit - 5 piece of dried apricots=25 g carbs. Almonds are not so bad. Beans - lots of carbs, but it is bundled with protein so it is ok. Nuts are also carbs bundled with protein and fat so it is OK.

And even plain no filling greek yogurt =8 g.

If insulin makes me fat, fruit clearly is my problem. And I live right by a lovely, cheap fruit stand, making fruit ever so available. And tempting.

My endocrinologist said that a good snack is a HALF apple plus peanut butter, or plus cheese (again, this bundling together blunts the rise in blood sugar). HALF apple. I can eat several Gravenstein apples. Easily.

How does ANYBODY snack on HALF an apple? thats absurd! It will activate my stomach acids, and actually be a false alarm. My stomach acid won't know this and will continue to work, waiting for food that's not arriving and bcoz of all the activity in my stomach, I'll now be hungry as hell! And need a meal instead of a snack...

Wow HB, I admire you for even considering this

so - first question - are you eating a substantial breakfast? I find this makes a HUGE difference in my eating patterns for the day. And do you eat BEFORE you get TOO hungry? and I try to concentrate on protein. like greek yogurt, chicken, fish. and avocado is my main fat. I can't keep peanut butter or cheese in the house, I cannot do portion control with it. same with nuts and dried fruit. I get my chocolate fix from one or two cocoa-coffees per day.

Well thank you, but, you know, HALF apple - I do not think I will go to that territory, that is just insane. What am I going to do with the other half? It will turn brown while I keep it for next time.

But I WILL add protein or fat. I won't eat cherries alone as I used to. That I will do. That is already a step for me, because I love fruit-only snacks.

I've never eaten just a half of an apple. I've heard you shouldn't eat grapefruit when you are on Xanax. Is this true?

That is a question for your doctor. I asked my GP whether I can eat grapefruit with my set of drugs and she said Yes.

it's grapefruit and cholesterol lowering drugs. there should be a sticker on the bottle saying so if it's a problem. or often pharmacies give you an insert. or just google it.

they do have tiny "lunchbox" apples now, but not in all the flavors. that's why I hate most diet plans, they are not tailored for the single person. "use one eighth of an avocado", and then avocado is not mentioned the whole rest of the week! Or half a banana - like THAT'S gonna happen!

Yes, that is a problem, right on - I do not always eat a nutritious breakfast and then I am starving. Now I need to take Metformin WITH breakfast so eating in the morning becomes really key.

Chicken? Often get rotisserie chicken and share it with my cats. I eat dark meat for its iron and they get the breast part. Everyone is happy! My cats also lick the tub from the greek yogurt after I am done. As you can tell, we co-exist pretty peacefully. My single living has gotten that much better since I acquired cats. Less lonely and have someone to take care of. And, when I fry fish, I give them a portion too.

I have to stay below 1300 calories to lose weight and I lose best at 1300 calories and less than 80 grams of carbs per day. I get a minimum of 60 grams of protein a day.

I used to eat 1100 a day and I lost weight, but the loss reversed as soon as I returned to normal eating. In general, eating less than 1500-1800 without medical supervision is considered unsafe - this is just FYI. I drove myself to anemia by eating 1100 a day.

Mine is medically supervised I was actually put on 1200 a day but I found that 1300 is my magic number.

Good for you! How much do you exercise a week?

I try for 2-3 miles a day 5 days a week. I have a heart rate monitor and I try to spend at least 25 minutes at my target heart rate.

I do 500 calories a day.. Mt Pdoc and Tdoc are aware .. Because of my ED this diet is even tough for me as I would prefer to go lower .. But I made a promise to my Tdoc that I would not go below 800.. Yes I trust and respect him that much .

What model of HRM do you have? Are you liking it? Do you run or walk?

Had one Gravenstein apple with breakfast, one with lunch and one with afternoon snack. Small apples. If I do not eat them now, when would I eat them? They are in season for two months only, and they are my favorite food. So the low carb diet would need to wait until October .

So I have a question about this very low carb diet.

I have perfect digestion: I never get diarrhea or constipation. Part of it is probably simply being blessed with well-working intestines, part of it is high level of yogurt and kefir consumption, but some part must be simply high fiber intake. And that partly comes from "forbidden fruit". Sure, I can safely eat less fiber - as is, I often eat twice the daily norm - but there is some limit; if all I eat is protein with some fat, where will the fiber come from? All from non-starchy veggies - would that be enough?

As I said, this is brutal. I had broccoli with a little olive oil and Trader Joe's Instant Oats and Flax for breakfast. This means:
Breakfast Totals

220.6 Calories
6.46 Fat
0
160 Sodium
35 Carbs
5 Fiber
7 Protein

So in terms of calories (a breakfast is supposed to be 300 cals) I have room for a small apple, but in terms of carbs, I do not! I have used up my carbs allowance. It sucks!

Ewww, Metformin. I hope it goes well with you. It causes stomach problems for a lot of people. My dad has been on it since I was a little girl and he's been sick to his stomach pretty much my whole life, always in the bathroom.

I didn't read the whole thread, so my question is why are you limited to 35 carbs? The goal we teach for diabetes for women is 45 g carb per meal.

If you have pre-diabetes and you're looking for weight loss help through meds, you could look into Victoza or Byetta. I know Victoza is under trials right now to see if it is going to be put on label for pre-diabetes, so it may be unavailable for that right now through insurance, so it may be expensive. These are injectable meds, though. But folks with type 2 who go on them lose weight like crazy, saying "It's been years since I felt full." We had one lady not only improve her blood glucose control but also lose 30 lbs in about two months, just because she was finally able to control her portions. People tend to tolerate Victoza better than Byetta (nausea and vomiting.) They react to your GLP1 hormone which is what makes you feel hungry or full to my understanding.

it means you need more protein, not more carbs. the protein will help you conserve muscle mass and not raise your insulin. if you're doing fine in terms of fiber? that's why i'm starting with protein and fat, and THEN adding carbs. that's how south beach does it, that's what my T did to lose 40 lbs and keep it off. btw now he is RIPPED. have an egg or ricotta? some unsweetened soymilk or yogurt on the oatmeal?

I am not only not prediabetic, I have borderline LOW blood sugar - 71, the normal range being 70-100. I take Metformin purely for weight loss. At first I lost some weight but then it stopped. I am on a low dose though, precisely because of my borderline low sugar. I have no ill GI side effects from Metformin whatsoever, it is just not producing the desired weight loss yet.

35 g comes from her advice to eat 30-45 g per meal and 15 g per snack. A small apple is 19 g. But I will now eat greek yogurt instead of oatmeal for breakfast and then I can also have an apple, to my liking. I have had an apple for snack with PB today, which was yummy.

Well, a piece of fruit the size of a tennis ball is considered a 15 g serving of carb, that's because it contains fiber. So having your apple is good. One key piece of advice that I have from the registered dieticians I work with is that if a diet limits you on your intake of healthy foods such as fruits and veggies, it's a sign it's a bad diet! (Especially veggies! But fruit also if you do not have diabetes.)

I have a co-worker who goes on these crazy fad diets. She's not even very over weight, maybe 15-20 lbs if that. Anyway, she was once on a diet that didn't allow her to eat any veggies at all.... and she had to take vitamins instead. Such a diet is extremely unhealthy and should be avoided at all costs! Of course, she doesn't listen to anyone unless they are an advertisment.

I would concentrate on calories and not worry about carbs if your not prediabetic. Obviously your body can handle them if your blood sugar is borderline low. Maybe try to limit unhealthy carbs from sugary foods and cakes etc, but healthy carbs are ok.

That is good to hear, as I was extremely upset about the apparent prohibition of fruit. I love veggies, but it is boring with veggies alone. I will count an apple as a snack-appropriate 15 g of carbs. Thank you for the advice!