Hello I’ve literally just joined this group and I need help. Over the last 2 years I have put on a considerable amount of weight and feel rubbish about this as all my clothes are too tight and I am uncomfortable. I have tried various ways to lose weight but nothing is working for me. I have just weighed myself after 2 weeks eating 1000 calories a day and regular daily exercise and I haven’t lost anything literally nothing. Understandably I feel demotivated and very low this morning. I am 49 years old and peri menopausal plus I am a type 1 diabetic (I’ve had it since 1976 diagnosed at 5 years old). I have hypothyroidism but this is under control with thyroxine.
This low calorie diet is making me miserable and I am always angry and feeling energyless so I know it’s not right for me. But I need to lose this weight and have no idea what to do now.
I am afraid of eating more calories as I really cannot put on any more weight.
Can anyone suggest a healthier option please.
Written by
MotherPeach
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I'm afraid low calorie diets have probably stopped working for you, as they have for so many of us. The more we restrict our intake, the more our bodies fight back, by avoiding starvation and lowering our metabolism, so that we can survive on less and less. I'm going to give you some things to read, but I suggest you do three things first:
1. Notify your GP, as you may have to reconsider your insulin doses and
2. Join the Thyroid UK forum, to make sure you're being optimally treated for your hypothyroidism healthunlocked.com/thyroiduk
Follow this link to our chat thread and a list of all the activities we run. We've found active participation to be key to success, especially with our weigh-ins and Daily Diary.
Thank you so much this all sounds great and I will start following what you suggest. I’m going to have my thyroid checked to see if my levels are ok and will definitely have a look at the forums you mentioned.
Very few people manage to maintain a healthy bodyfat ratio by starving themselves. It sounds like it ought to work, but mostly it doesn't.
Your diabetes makes things slightly awkward. Insulin is a general-purpose anabolic hormone, and one of its many functions is to promote fat storage (or, equivalently, to prevent your fat cells from releasing stored energy). As long as you are injecting large doses of insulin - which you are, presumably, matching with dietary carbohydrates - you will remain fat.
You need to wind down your carbohydrates to a bare minimum so that you can reduce your insulin to a minimum also; you will replace the carb-calories with fat-calories, just like anyone else doing a low-carb diet. However the dynamics of insulin dosing are rather complex and you will need a proper endocrinologist (not a diabetes nurse) to work with you on this, and you may need close medical supervision during the first few days. Do not attempt to do it all by yourself. If you have to pay for a private consultant, do it; once the outline of your dosing regimen is established, you'll be able to tweak it from there.
When you've got your carbs and insulin down to a sensible level, the fat will just fall away.
Hi thanks for your response. Firstly I’m not actually ‘fat’ a bit overweight yes but fat no. Sorry but I found your comment about staying fat a bit offensive even if it was well intended.
I’m actually very insulin sensitive so compared to others am on relatively lo doses of insulin. I use a pump which delivers insulin constantly to keep my glucose levels at a steady rate and then give myself extra each time I eat. It can be complicated trying to lose weight with the diabetes but I eat a low carbohydrate/high protein diet with plenty of salad foods and vegetables so I do not think this is necessarily an issue. Also it has never stopped me losing weight in the past.
Therefore I am sure the issue is my age/hormonal state/changes in metabolic rate rather than the diabetes.
I will contact my GP today to organise a check of my thyroid.
eh ... well, when I was fat I just called myself fat No offence intended.
Anyway, I would still try to adjust your diet and exercise routine before considering a medical solution. It's true that age isn't kind to us, and it becomes harder and harder to stay in shape. Especially for women. Such is life. But there's still a lot you can do.
Exercise, lots of veg, and minimal carbs is good, but humans have very limited ability to extract energy from protein. We're not obligate carnivores. A low-carb, low-fat, low-calorie diet is pretty much guaranteed to make you feel dreadful.
In the absence of carbs, fat should be your go-to energy source, particularly if you're diabetic; amino acid metabolism is mediated by insulin, and since you're reliant on an insulin pump running open-loop (ie., it cannot sense blood concentrations of either glucose or amino acids), your body is probably dealing with protein even less effectively than a "normal" person would. On the upside, a diabetic can metabolise fat without any impairment.
Really sorry you’re at this point and feeling so down. You’ve arrived at the right place now though! Wonderful advice from moreless and TheAwfulToad above. I started using this forum in February, and followed their advice. I’ve lost 22kg really comfortably since then and can’t believe how in control I feel finally, after years of trying to ‘eat less and move more’ which just didn’t work and made me miserable too.
I really hope you’re in a position to follow up on the information above.
You'll find a way through! Even though it all seems overwhelming at times. These forums here a full of supportive people, and very helpful information.
It doesn’t sound to me like you’re eating enough food which will leave you feeling miserable, tired, low-energy and will inevitably end in giving up and eating lots of food to compensate. And your body is likely to hold onto any body fat as you’re putting yourself in starvation mode.
If you want to calorie count then you need to use the NHS weight loss calorie counter to work out how many calories you need to eat a day for your height for gradual safe weight loss of between 0.5-2lbs a week. Provided you include lots of wholesome foods within that calorie range (proteins, healthy fats, slow release carbs etc) you shouldn’t feel hungry or demotivated!
Given the complications of your various medical conditions I would also support the idea of chatting with your GP to work out a safe way to lose the weight as I’m not an expert on either of your conditions so think that should be your first port of call
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