Ever since I was diagnosed in 2003, I have been taking Metformin and an Insulin stimulator. First Gliclazide and then Starlix. I am desperate to loose weigh and lost 30 pounds last year on low-carb. Despite sticking to the low carb, I stalled for 3 months and got very despondant. Last week I saw my diabetes nurse and formulated a new strategy. Add a Metformin 500 with my midday meal and drop the Starlix. Let’s hope the 2 pounds i’ve lost since then stays off and isn’t just a blip like i’ve had before. The blood sugars are slightly down too staying around 5.4 instead of 5.7. Keep your fingers crossed folks. I’m daring to be a bit more optimistic. I’m still a shade over 200lb and would like to get down to about 180, which is still quite a lot, but I am fairly tall 5 feet 8 inches and over 60, so I’d end up with a load of slack skin.
Keep finger crossed and hope this works!
Congratulations on losing the weight that you lost.Just stay with your low carb regime(I hate to call it a “diet”).
Hana,
Starlix boosts insulin so it could fight against weight loss.
I just ended one month of very low carb dieting–about 20 grams a day tops–which is the level that lets me stop injecting insulin. Over the month I lost 2 lbs of real fat and three pounds of water which went the first two days)
I’m finding that for me the key seems to be to keep the protein to the right level–which is MUCH less protein than I would have thought. This is what Dr. Bernstein writes in his book and it works for me.
I put together a protein calculator when I was working this out, at http://www.phlaunt.com/lowcarb/proteincalc.htm
What I noticed is that as soon as my protein goes over the right level two things happen:
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I get hungry and eat a lot more
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Urine gets a nasty ammonia smell
If you eat low carb and eat protein, the body will turn it into carb and burn it off. If you keep protein to the level that supplies glucose for the brain and muscle repair and nothing else, the body will burn fat. If you don’t eat enough fat to supply all energy needs the body uses body fat.
I’m logging calories carbs, fat, and protein with software because it’s the only way I can lose. I can eat maintenance calories so easily it isn’t funny.
It is a ton harder to lose weight now for me than it was 20 years ago! But it’s doable. I hear you about the slack skin. I got down to 137 but ended up stringy around the neck. My avatar photo shows that. I’m better about 5 lbs heavier when the face fills out.
It’s great that you are taking steps to become a more healthy you. Keep up the good work! Remember though, that you can be healthy at every size. Don’t get bogged down with the weight loss and lose track of your diabetes management goals.