Frustrated Diabetic

[forbey]

To date, I have been in ketosis for 3.5 weeks.

When I went back on Atkins my fasting bloos sugars were in the upper 300s. Currently they average between 250 and 300.

I'm eating almost no carbs, although, I have allowed myself to eat a few nibbles occasionally.

! am usually between moderate and large on the ketostix.

My appetite is fine, I mean drastically reduced.

If I use insulin to bring down the sugars to where they are supposed to be my weight goes up, if I don't use insulin my glucose numbers don't come down far enough and my weight stays the same.

My weight has fluctuated between 288 and 293 with no real weight loss.

I am cutting down servings of protein. I have gone caffeine free. I'm drinking over a gallon of water a day, plus decaf coffee and sugar/caffeine free soft drinks.

I am also working on increasing my walking.

It is really getting frustrating!

Where do I go next!

[goin2befit]

Re: Frustrated Diabetic

Sorry to hear you are having such trouble. If you can post us a daily menu of what you ate at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. How often are you eating? How much protein, carbs, fat are you consuming a day. I'm sure if you can provide us a little more detail someone will for sure be able to give you some advise.

[forbey]

Re: Frustrated Diabetic

Thanks for the quick response. Unfortunately, my life is a crazy mess. Time is tight and taking time to count every gram of fat, carbs and protein is next to impossible. I can keep track of what I eat and approximate measurements.

The usual diet I try to keep fairly constant and boring for breakfast and lunch, dinner is where we try to spice it up. Breakfast is usually bacon and eggs or just bacon. Lunch is a salad and a large cheese burger without the bun and drown it with water!

Exercise is a constant problem, having been so big for so long, my ankles and knees are in poor shape. I'm up to a 20-minute quick walk a day. On the weekends, I get more work around the house and garage that seems to work better than walking.

[goin2befit]

Re: Frustrated Diabetic

Here is a link on counting carbs:

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/main-atkins-diet-forum/87102-do-you-have-actually-count-carbs.html

So it is okay if you don't, but you have to be careful.

Breakfast seems okay. If possible I would advise to eat the eggs and bacon and also a few carbs from veggies, like spinach with the eggs or a little onion and red and green peppers.

Lunch is ideal. Salad (about 2 cups) and a cheeseburger is fine.

You didn't mention dinner so I would assume it is similar to lunch. Either another cup of salad or 1 cup of cooked veggies like cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, etc.

Being diabetic you should really be eating 3 meals with 2 snacks to keep your glucose balanced without so many drops. Carbs will help stabilize the blood sugar. Your snacks could be celery sticks with cream cheese, a couple of devil eggs, or a small serving of tuna salad.

Water is good. Are you drinking around 64 oz minimum? Honestly at a higher weight you will feel better drinking more then that, more like around 100 oz. Are you drinking "diet" soda or anything else.

As for the working out. You have to start somewhere so 20 mins is great. You can build from there little by little. Make sure after you workout you have a protein snack. This will also help.

Give it time. I know it has to be hard and frustrating, but it can be done.
Hopefully some others with more knowledge can pop in and give some more advise.

[liv]

Re: Frustrated Diabetic

Almost no carb is not the Atkins programme. We do eat carbs. Mostly from veggies

Soft drinks - in plural. I would cut those out.

Give us your menu and maybe there are things that needs to be tweaked.

[forbey]

Re: Frustrated Diabetic

Everything appears to be there with a few exceptions. Dinner is pretty much as you indicated. We use dinner for our opportunity for variety. The dinner you listed is relatively low in fats and protein. Was that intentional? I mean, should I be sticking to a veggie dinner?

As for blood glucose and snacks... My blood sugars have NEVER been accused of being low. Last night, before dinner my bg was 251, this morning my fasting bg was 300

Yesterday was a treat day... I went to a chinese buffet. While I probably over did it on the protein/fat side, the food was cooked in front of me with no sauces (water and hot past) lots of veggies. I did allow myself a treat in the form of 1 crab rangoon (instead of 3 to 6), 2 small rice-rolled sushi and a fortune cookie. It never seemed to effect my state of ketosis.

Water, I routinely drink 1 gallon of water plus water in the morning and evening. My coffe is now decaf and occasionally I drink a diet decaf soft drink, but my quantities have been cut way down from previous quantities. Now they are simply a treat verses the norm.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Frustrated Diabetic

>> I'm eating almost no carbs,>>

Atkins isn't "almost no carbs".

>> Yesterday was a treat day... I>>

There's no "treat" days on Atkins, either.

>>It never seemed to effect my state of ketosis.>>

There's more to Atkins than having your pee turn a stick a color. That could be your blood sugars doing that ...

Every "treat day" has it's consequences ... even if your pee doesn't show it.

[forbey]

Re: Frustrated Diabetic

Liv: When I say no carbs, or almost no carbs, I mean no bread, no pasta, no sugar. I eat plenty of veggies to include simple lettuce and tomato salads, califlower, broccali, green beans, celery... most veggies. When it comes to vegetables, I am not picky.

I know I need to cut the diet sodas out totally, but where it used to be a 12-pak a day, it is now a can or bottle every couple of days.

[forbey]

Re: Frustrated Diabetic

>> I'm eating almost no carbs,>>

Atkins isn't "almost no carbs".

>> Yesterday was a treat day... I>>

There's no "treat" days on Atkins, either.

>>It never seemed to effect my state of ketosis.>>

There's more to Atkins than having your pee turn a stick a color. That could be your blood sugars doing that ...

Every "treat day" has it's consequences ... even if your pee doesn't show it.

Please refer to my comments to Liv on the "no carbs". I get carbs, just not in the form of the usual suspects.

You said Atkins is not a "No Carb" plan, then you tell me there are no "treat days". To me a treat is when I allow myself to get a few carbs, and I do mean few. I'm not talking about treats in the form of pies, cakes, cookies, ice cream, I'm talking about allowing something like the rice around a sushi roll, or allowing a few chick peas to hit my salad.

I am still in Induction, so my intake of carbs is very low. Is it 20 grams, I'm not sure, but if my body NEEDS 20 grams of carbs to survive, I should be able to eat ZERO carbs, because it can take that much and more from my BLOOD

Last time I checked, ketone test strips test for ketones, not sugar. If they registered sugar the same way they registered ketones they would be totally ineffective for the Atkins Plan because you could never tell what was floating in your urine (ketones or sugars). I have all the signs and symptoms of being in ketosis. Change in breath odor, body odor, urine odor, decreased appetite, increased energy, plus the extreme change in the test strips and a reduction in my blood glucose of from near 400 to at or below 300.

I just need to get my blood glucose levels to where they are supposed to be and lose some weight.

I openly admit and request help in figuring out what I am doing wrong; however, replying in "bumper sticker" terminology, without providing a tad more information would be better served by not replying at all.

Like I said, it is getting frustrating!

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Frustrated Diabetic

>>Is it 20 grams, I'm not sure, b>>

Then you should be counting.

And it's "net" carbs.

>> Like I said, it is getting frustrating!>>

I'm sure it is.

However, eating off plan isn't helping you ... and yes, eating sushi and chick peas right now is cheating ... neither are Induction foods.

>>I should be able to eat ZERO carbs,>>

A diet of meat and water? That's not Atkins ... nor is it healthy.

>>ketone test strips test for ketones, not sugar. >>

True.

This article might help you:

https://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/atkins-low-carb-dieting-faqs/82407-article-ketostix-color.html

Relying on the color your pee turns a stick isn't telling you if you're doing Atkins correctly.

>> I just need to get my blood glucose levels to where they are supposed to be and lose some weight.>>

1. Count your net carbs.

2. Stop having "treat" days.

[forbey]

Re: Frustrated Diabetic

Just conducted an experiment, peed on a keto stick and it turned color. Then took a glucose tab from my diabetes supplies, disolved it in water and tested it with a keto stick, no change in color.

If I'm testing my urine and I don't have ketones present, but I have glucose, there will be no change in the color of the stick.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Frustrated Diabetic

Focus on peeing all you want ...

Do you have any comments on what else I wrote?

[forbey]

Re: Frustrated Diabetic

>>Is it 20 grams, I'm not sure, b>>

Then you should be counting.

And it's "net" carbs.

>> Like I said, it is getting frustrating!>>

I'm sure it is.

However, eating off plan isn't helping you ... and yes, eating sushi and chick peas right now is cheating ... neither are Induction foods.

>>I should be able to eat ZERO carbs,>>

A diet of meat and water? That's not Atkins ... nor is it healthy.

>>ketone test strips test for ketones, not sugar. >>

True.

This article might help you:

www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/atkins-low-carb-dieting-faqs/82407-article-ketostix-color.html

Relying on the color your pee turns a stick isn't telling you if you're doing Atkins correctly.

>> I just need to get my blood glucose levels to where they are supposed to be and lose some weight.>>

1. Count your net carbs.

2. Stop having "treat" days.

First you tell me that it might be the sugar in my urine that is changing what I'm seeing on the stick, then when I say the sticks test for ketones not sugar you say "true". Which one is it?

While I am sticking to primarily the Induxction Phase, I've been doing it for FOUR WEEKS, so if I want to begin adding carbs NET or OTHERWISE, I can and should still be able to loose weight. The first two weeks there were NO treat days. In four weeks there has been two. Still under the MAXimum of 20 carbs as indicated by the rules of induction.

Read what I have written, I never said I was on a meat and water diet, get it right or leave it alone.

Atkinsgal08, it truely must be wonderful being PERFECT & obnoxious. Me I'm just obnoxious. So, to avoid moving from frustrated to PEED OFF, I WILL not respond to you any further!

Have a lovely day!

[poobears1972]

Re: Frustrated Diabetic

I think the point that is trying to be made is the sticks are wildly inaccurate. You don't even have to be on a diet to spill keytones into your system. Most people would be showing keytones in the mornings since they haven't eaten since dinner the night before but that doesn't mean their body is burning fat and losing weight. Also if you don't drink enough water you will register on the sticks but again it doesn't mean you will lose weight.

You can be dropping pounds like crazy and not change color on the sticks because you have a lot of water in your urine etc. If they are kept in too humid or moist of an enviroment they will not work right, if they get old they won't work right.......

To try to follow this plan based on the stick is not going to work. Most people would be better off if they just threw the sticks away and started paying more attention to how their body feels. If you are eating off plan and having rice etc you will not get the results you are wanting to achieve. While you may justify it by saying I deserve it or it won't hurt me, in the end yeah it will keep you from getting the results you see from people on plan. Each small cheat can set you back a week in weightloss. Remember the intent of the plan is not to just stay below 20 net carbs a day. It is to eat from a specific set of food that gives your body maximum fuel to burn fat.

Those that try to tweak the plan are usually the ones that fall off and come back later to do it right. This plan works and it works well as you see from the many weightloss posts but only if you commit 100%. Only you can decide if that is what you want to do or not.

[2big4mysize]

Re: Frustrated Diabetic

what does your doc say about your sky high blood sugars?

you do realize you are doing irreverible damage to your body every minute your blood gluocse level is too high so weight loss should be secondary to getting control of that right now.

did you have a GTT with insulin draws like Dr Atkins recommneds to see how to control your problems better?

Since protein will be converted to glucose in the body a big cheeseburger for lunch which would be ideal for somebody with normal glucose levels is not ideal for diabetics with blood glucose issues even while eating a low carb plan.

You are going to need either better medication or less glucose potential foods being eatten.