Being shown the yellow card

[Goodnessknows]

I was told on the 13th of February that I was pre diabetic and also my BMI needed serious attention. I weighed in at 90 kgs at 5.7inches tall and 70 years of age. One week later I was off on a two weeks cruise around Indonesia. I came back weighing 85kgs and today am 84kgs. Cut down on wine and banned carbs - i.e. potatoes, bread, rice and pasta. Saw the TV programme Truth about Carbs - shocked to see the starch in a bowl of rice equates to 25 sugar cubs. As a result of my cut down my BP has dropped, I no longer feel tired and, to my mind the most amazing of all, my feet didn't swell in the holiday heat. I feel great and am aiming for 75kgs.

[S11m]

Hi, Goodnessknows

I am 69... and trying to get below 100kg... but I am 6' 3".

I am glad you managed to lose weight on holiday.

Are you just going to cut down on carbs and sugar, count calories, Not Eat All Day (NEAD)... or what are your plans?

[Goodnessknows in reply to S11m]

I followed the advice on Diabetes UK and did the research. I am not counting calories at all. As I understand it the way the pancreas works (which produces insulin) is to burn fuel. Carbs are fuel. Proteins are amino acids. Athletes eat carbs because they need the fuel to produce energy. Any carbs you don't burn off are stored as fat. Ketosis (check this with diabetes uk) is the process whereby if the pancreas isn't being fed carbs for fuel it seeks out ketones (fat storage cells) and uses that. The interesting thing is that the body cannot store proteins so gets rid of the excess. It's been just over three weeks and it works for me. I can sit down with half a chicken if I really want to - which I could not manage. I'm also attending the gym. Apparently it's best to exercise not too long after a meal so the glucose is burnt off. I'm fully expecting that when I go back for my check up in June I will be down to 75kgs. Not feeling tired helps. Hope you find this of interest. Best of luck.

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Goodnessknows]

Excellent reply 😊.

[S11m in reply to Goodnessknows]

I am glad you "have it sussed", and I am glad you are getting good advice from Diabetes UK.

My theory is that surplus glucose gets stored as fat in the evening or night, so I do not eat after 14:00 - and I usually walk a few km after that.

[Veeee in reply to Goodnessknows]

This would be a little difficult if one was a vegetarian.

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Veeee]

Hello and welcome Veee

Actually, a low carb diet is suitable for everyone, there is enough protein in dairy, pulses etc and lovely healthy fats in cream, eggs and cheese. 😊

Are you wishing to join the forum for help and support with your own weight loss journey? Let me know and I’ll sort out an official ‘Welcome’

Best wishes

Indigo 😊

[Goodnessknows in reply to IndigoBlue61]

There is a vegetarian case quoted on Diabetes.UK who was shown how to alter her diet to lower her blood glucose.

[hallamfatty in reply to Goodnessknows]

Please be careful and continue to take medical advice. I know health professionals who believe a prolonged "keto" diet to be worse for the heart than smoking. Using ketones is a survival mechanism of the body to avoid starvation - it isn't normal metabolism. Having said that I am also trying to swap white and refined carbohydrates for "green carbs" -i.e. carbs found in vegetables, whilst keeping up my protein intake. And you are doing much better than me weight loss wise, just be careful that the weight loss doesn't come at a high price. Wish you all the best.

- And be careful of documentaries, some an distort the facts. I haven't seen "The Truth about Carbs" but there isn't enough available amylase in the human body to convert all the starch in rice into sugar, most will be lost as roughage (good for dieters).

[TheAwfulToad Visitor in reply to hallamfatty]

>> Using ketones is a survival mechanism of the body to avoid starvation - it isn't normal metabolism.

This really isn't true, and I honestly can't understand why people think that it is. That so many self-proclaimed experts don't understand basic mammalian biology is beyond shocking.

Once your body has stored some fat away for a rainy day, it has to recover it again when blood sugar falls. How else could it do that except by burning fatty acids and ketones? What would it do with dietary fats if it couldn't do something similar with them? Your body has no mechanism for converting fatty acids into glucose (although it can perform that trick with certain amino acids and the glycerol backbone of a triglyceride - this is the basic reason there is no biological need for carbohydrate).

Different organs have slightly different preferences for different fuels. Your heart, for example, prefers to run on fatty acids, lactate, ketones, or glucose, in that order.

Goodnessknows : make sure you're eating some additional dietary fat to make up for your reduced carbs. Although your body can turn amino acids (protein) into glucose and ketones, it's more of a waste-not-want-not thing for recovering energy from cellular repair processes. Humans, unlike obligate carnivores, lack an efficient metabolic pathway for extracting energy from protein. Fat, in contrast, can be burned as rapidly and efficiently as carbs ... if you give your body a chance to do so. There are a growing number of athletes (especially endurance athletes) who are "fat fuelled".

>> there isn't enough available amylase in the human body to convert all the starch in rice into sugar

Unfortunately this isn't true either - which is why eating too much rice results in obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Salivary amylases initially snip starches into dextrins and simple sugars like maltose; hydrolysis continues in your stomach (acid), and then completes in your small intestine (diastatic enzymes again). When rice is cooled and reheated, it tends to form "resistant starches" that are hydrolysed more slowly, but your body will still recover all or most of that energy.

[Goodnessknows in reply to TheAwfulToad]

The glucose constituent in rice is also lessened if you freeze it then defrost it. Another little piece of advice from the TV programme. Actually I should say here that I eat a large amount of green vegetables and fruit. It's the processed carbs I don't eat. I also ensure I burn off what I take it. Sometimes I do about ten minutes on my own little exercise bike after a meal because I know this will burn off the sugar. I should also point out that I go to the gym for one hour five times a week and always walk there - amazing how many people arrive in a car! Even on holiday I did half an hour at the gym every day followed by a swim. I should also point out that I do not have a heart problem and as an ex yacht skipper am probably stronger than most people of my age - including men. I still have muscle mass.

[Goodnessknows in reply to hallamfatty]

Not true. Have you ever seen a Sumo wrestler? They gorge on rice and are known to develop diabetes at a very young age. I should mention here that I don't eat processed carbs but do eat lots of greens and fruit. Man is - or was - a hunger gatherer which means he either caught his food (meat and fish) plucked it from the ground (green and root vegetables) or from trees (fruit) or foraged (birds eggs). Honey was a rare treat and not so easily accessible in the days when bees were wild and not kept in hives. I should point out here that I do not have a heart condition so am not very worried on that score. Plus I've never smoked and don't look my age. I've also still got muscle thanks to the years not so long ago when I lived on a sailing yacht.

[IndigoBlue61]

Very well done Goodnessknows 😊👏🎉. Super result, and proof that small changes add up to a big difference 😊. Whatever you are doing it is clearly working so I would stick with that 👏👏👏

[lucigret]

Well done Goodnessknows, a cruise and a loss of weight is a great achievement. Not feeling tired, no swollen feet, lowered BP......what a lot of non scale victories to celebrate - you're doing great 😁

[Maria821]

Well done goodness knows that's such a great achievement. I'm like you and I don't count calories and it's amazing how cutting right down on carbs and naughties ie crisps chocolate and cake can make a massive difference. I too hoe to land around 75 kg long term. Here's to us achieving it xx

[Merlechops]

What a brilliant start you have made. I’m sure that will be at 75kg or less soon. Sensible approach and great attitude. Fantastic that you’ve done it while on holiday as well. You rock😉😉😉

[S11m]

You could NEAD (Not Eat All Day) and have no supper. Perhaps you could eat some sustaining cheese with your lunch?

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to S11m]

Why would GoodnessKnows change anything S11m???? She is doing really well on a totally manageable and sustainable plan. I’m sorry but I think your response is unnecessary, I know you mean well and OMAD is working for you, but not helpful in this case.

[S11m in reply to IndigoBlue61]

I am sorry, but I think your response is unnecessary and unhelpful.

I did not mention OMAD, and I rarely use it.

Should I not have responded to Goodnessknows without reading all her posts for the last two months?

[Goodnessknows in reply to S11m]

You wouldn't find two months of posts anyway. If what you are doing works for you, all well and good. In my case I'd be eating the furniture by teatime.

[S11m in reply to Goodnessknows]

I am glad that what you are doing works for you - and it takes the body a while to get into "fat burning mode" to enable one to Not Eat All Day without "eating the furniture".

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to Goodnessknows]

Hahaha!!

[Goodnessknows in reply to S11m]

That is absolutely the wrong route. The whole point is that a healthy diet should be sustainable. At no point should you feel hungry and I don't. Starving only lowers the metabolism and when there is no food or fat to fall back on the body compensates by taking muscle - a big no no.

[S11m in reply to Goodnessknows]

Some advice on this forum is a matter of opinion, or not suitable for everyone...

...but there is an order of magnitude difference between "Not Eating All Day" (NEAD) and starvation - and NEAD stimulates the metabolism rather than suppressing it - as calorie restriction does.

I have been sustainably "Not Eating All Day" for over six months - exercising after my last meal of the day.

[Goodnessknows in reply to S11m]

I will stick to the advice on the Diabetes UK site. It works for me.

[Goodnessknows in reply to S11m]

I do eat cheese for lunch and never go without a meal. Still losing.

[Craftyperson]

Well done you especially loosing on a cruise holiday. Keep up the good work