pre-diabetic and on low-carb diet but losing too much weight on that

Hi Georgia.  Your fasting is perfect!  To stop losing weight, you need to eat more food.  Add some snacks that you don't eat.  If you're exercising, ease up on that a little.  If your blood sugar is totally controlled by your low-carb diet now, you might add a little carb back in for breakfast or lunch.  I know it's tricky to balance the blood sugar and to gain some weight back but I don't have any other suggestions than these.

A good multivitamin might help to metabolize your carbs. I like Rainbow Light because it is comprehensive with essential micronutrients such as molybdenum, manganese, etc., and with at least 200 mcg of chromium which is very important for glucose maintenance.

I test my fasting glucose level first thing every morning. This may sound obvious but one thing that has really helped is not eating late night dinners. By not eating past 7 pm the night before my sugar level is much lower the next morning. I know that full diabetics are supposed to eat almost continuously but we are pre-diabetic. I heard that we need to give our pancreas ample rest between meals in order to stimulate glucagon production. I don’t know if that theory is correct but I do know that it really helps to lower my fasting glucose levels.

One theory why the French can eat a high fat diet and have low heart disease and diabetes rates is because they do not eat between meals.

Thanks all for responding.  Sites such as these are very valuable to us.  We are talking to people who have experience.  Georgia.

Hi Georgia,

For someone who is loosing too much weight, I would recommend adding more carbs and protein. You may be too much in a state of ketosis, where your body is burning up the calories too fast (this is a great place to be if you want to loose weight, but as you've said, you have passed that point). To put on a little bit of weight you could increase the carbs a bit. I don't know if you're counting and how many grams you're currently eating, but from what I've seen, 150 g of carbs or so a day should be an amount that would stop weight loss and perhaps put a little back on. You would need to play with this and see what works for you. Also, it depends on how much you exercise or move each day or week.

More protein can also slow weight loss, and add some weight. Like Lanie said, add more protein to 1 or 2 meals a day, and add some carbs. Good snacks might be nuts, seeds, and nut butters with vegetables. For example: celery dipped in almond butter, leftover chicken (or tuna) in a lettuce wrap with a bit of mayo and cheese (fats are good!), some additional fruit (if you can handle it)...like a fruit/yogurt smoothie (or berries are really low GI and very full of antioxidants). Or deviled eggs (or plain boiled eggs)... Just a few ideas.

And don't forget to enjoy yourself! Many people would like to be in your position!


In addition to what BabeintheWoods said:

***Another thing I have read about the French Paradox (the reason that the French have such low rates of CVD, diabetes and other diseases, even though their diet is not considered healthier than others ) is because they totally enjoy themselves at meal times. It is a long, drawn out event, very relaxed and no stress. Without the stress hormones to negatively affect the way the food is digested, they have much lower rates of heart disease, and other health problems. We should all relax and enjoy our food!

Georgia, when my doctor became concerned and prescribed my blood sugar meter, my A1c was about 6.1 (can't remember exactly) but my fasting for the prior two years was about 125.  Don't forget that the A1c is only an average of about 90 days so it doesn't tell you the highs or lows.  The daily blood sugar readings are what's important: the fasting and the post-prandial (2 hours after eating).  Diet and exercise have an immediate effect on blood sugar.  Long term effects would be better A1c results, perhaps weight loss, and overall better health.  I don't know why your A1c would be higher.  Somehow your blood sugar must be rising on average to do that.  What raises the blood sugar would be carbs, eating a LOT of food at meals, no exercise, possibly some medications.

It's hard to know exactly why your blood sugar may be rising.  The factors that affect the blood sugar can be: eating too many carbs, being too sedentary, eating too much food in general, being overweight, being insulin resistant.  Insulin resistance means that although your pancreas is producing insulin, your body isn't metabolizing the glucose running around in the body.  (Of course, it's more complicated than my description.)  If a person is insulin resistant, a low carb eating plan is very helpful, but because every person is different, it's hard to say how a particular person's blood sugar will behave.  Milk has carbs.  Chocolate milk has sugar.  Cocoa has some carbs by itself.  Read labels on these containers to understand where these carbs are coming from.  Before I understood all this and before I bought Richard Bernstein's book on diabetes, I was having postprandial numbers in the 140's to 160's.  Also, some medications for other conditions may raise blood sugar, so it's good to know this if you're taking other meds.