To think there’s no point being hungry if the weight isn’t coming off?

[Flaribeau]

The doctor has told me to lose weight because I’m at risk of diabetes. I’m absolutely starving but virtually no weight is coming off! I haven’t had a single biscuit or packet of crisps, no takeaways or alcohol at all, I’ve cut right down on carbs, I’ve started walking for an hour a day, and I’ve still only lost 2lb in an entire month.

AIBU to think being hungry is absolutely pointless if I’m not losing weight? Everyone says you lose loads in the first few weeks but I haven’t. I was expecting to have lost half a stone by now. I’m suffering for no reason because the weight isn’t coming off 😭

About the slices. Op said it's gluten free bread. They are usually tiny bastards

Yes I know it is. The poster I replied to seemed to think she only had one tablespoon of rice for dinner full stop.

Hi. First time poster so please be gentle with me :)

I hate being hungry OP! That sounds really miserable.

From what I've read, there's another way of reducing insulin resistance by cutting out the fat which blocks the insulin receptors - thus increasing insulin sensitivity. Then you can eat the fruit and starchy foods without spiking . My mum did it - she was eating so much and couldn't believe she would lose weight but she did and her doctor was so impressed. She was able to come off her meds.

I've linked a clip to Dr Neal Barnard on the Forks over Knives website. If you go to the home page there's a film of the same name which includes quite a bit on diabetes and diet.

Good luck and I hope this helps! :)

Webinar: What Causes Type 2 Diabetes (It's Not Sugar!) and How to Reverse It, With Neal Barnard, MD, FACC - Forks Over Knives

At the beginning of the year, I was diagnosed pre-diabetic. Scary thought! I have been on every diet ever heard of, I reckon, in the past. Nothing seemed to be working for me now I'm older. I decided to give Intermittent Fasting a go, downloaded an app called Bodyfast, (the free version, no need to pay for a "coach" which is actually just an algorithm) and read up on what to do and what NOT to. So I decided to do 16:8 to start with. That means fasting for 16 hours and then being able to eat in my 8-hour window. Nothing happened! So then I started tracking calories too (people doing IF will say it's not necessary, but it worked for me). It took me 5 weeks to see any difference on the scale BUT, my BP came down a huge amount, my blood sugars were back in mid-normal range and my IBS is loads better. After the first 5 weeks, my weight came down bit by bit. No magic loss, but enough to keep my bloods normal. I've plateaued a few times in the 6 months I've now been doing it, but carried on regardless. I was/am not doing it for the weight alone, although I am pleased that I have now dropped a couple of dress sizes. The benefit of calorie-counting alongside IF, for me, was that I could still have wine and occasionally, chocolate or biscuits, I just counted them into my daily calories so it was up to me if I "wasted " my daily allowance (I don't think wine etc IS a waste, lol). I changed my routine to 18:6 once I got used to fasting for 16 hours, so now I fast from about 7 at night till 1 o'clock (lunch time) the next day.
Eating protein before fasting is a good way not to get too hungry (it takes your body longer to digest). I eat a normal meal every evening with the family - last night we had take-away fish'n'chips and wine, but I wouldn't recommend that every day, lol.

I realise everyone is different, but for me, the benefits of IF are the improvement in my general health ( I "feel" better, even though before I never felt ill) and the fact that it is so flexible. Going out to dinner? Just alter my hours that day so that my "eating window" stays open. We went away last week to a hotel where we were on B&B - so I ate breakfast every day (just not a fry-up every morning - had that twice in the week!) ate a light lunch (with gin or wine, lol) and went out-out to eat/drink every night. Basically, I abandoned IF for the week. I put on 4lbs, which was pretty good, considering alcohol featured daily, and that I'm a sucker for an ice-cream!
Tested my glucose again when we got back - still all OK, so now I'm back to shedding those 4 lbs, to start with.

You don't need to make yourself miserable, to do this. Experiment with IF to find a pattern which works for you. There's a Facebook page called "Intermittent Fasting with the Bodyfast App". You can get some good ideas from there, but ignore the zealots that tell you you're "not doing it right". If it's working for you....
Good luck! I hope you find the right solution for you x

Definitely. '4 slices a day' and 'on a 'diet' shouldn't be in the same sentence.
Good luck OP - it's really tough x

I don't want to be the UPF dick @Flaribeau, but you seem to be eating a lot of processed food.

What bread is your toast made from.

Tinned soup.

Curry for dinner, I'm going to guess (given what else you eat) that you use a jared sauce?

That's UPF for every meal.

I can sympathise as I struggle to lose weight. People assume that if you are overweight it’s because you eat chocolate, biscuits, crisps, cake, full fat milk, have regular takeaways, etc, and that isn’t always the case.

A few years ago, I lost a lot of weight, as I caloried counted my food and tried to keep below 1200 calories. Plus I was doing 6 - 8 Spin classes per week, walking the dog for an hour a day, Pilates twice a week and a gym session or two. The weight gradually dropped off, but it was slow and only a pound or two a week and it took 18 months to get to a size I was happy with.

Good luck with trying to lose weight. I don’t know what the answer is, but maybe keep a food diary and in a few months go back and see your GP.

This is also not a 'normal' diet. It's low carb.

Where were you last weighed? If it was at the GP using their very accurate scales there could be a mismatch between that and your home scales. So it is possible that you have actually lost more, but your scales aren’t accurate.

I personally would calorie count because that means you don’t have to go without chocolate etc as you can include it in your diet.
I am terrified of sugar now so I won’t eat chocolate. Even a spoonful of plain rice is giving me a panic attack because I’m scared of developing diabetes.

Four slices of white bread is a lot if you're dieting.

Could you try an 'open' sandwich (one slice with toppings on it) or a 'naked' one (no bread just fillings)?

I think you'd be better off adding mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach to your eggs in the morning rather than white bread. It would keep you full longer.

Maybe have the foods you enjoy once or twice a week and be focused on protein and veggies the rest of the week. Then you'll feel full and not so deprived.

There's no point comparing what you're eating to what other people 'get' to eat. You have your own body to take care of.

Walking is really good for you, but not effective for weight loss. You burn very few calories on a walk. One hour a day won't do much for your weight, but it's probably great for your mood, your back, your eyes etc so keep doing it.

Just keep going, you will get there. Realistically I agree you are eating too much bread, basically you are eating over a whole loaf a week, it all mounts up.

Nairns Oatcakes are your friend, especially with peanut butter. Lose the bread - eat oatcakes instead.

And yet she refuses to give up the pleasure of eating bread.

Work out what your calorie deficit is to loose a pound a week (online calculator)

Use something like nutracheck for at least a month so you get used to what that calorie amount means

Eat protein and fibre (fibrey veg as well as whole meal carbs ) with every meal so you aren’t hungry. Swap white carbs for whole meal. Don’t eat more than 2 pieces of fruit , and berries or apples rather than tropical. M

Then see where you see after a month - I think right now you are eating stuff that is high in calories (full fat Philly and peanut butter) and not enough stuff that is filling.

You need to measure it all properly for a bit, it will work fine.

I would consult a dietician. I did and it made a massive difference, I have lost 3 stone at a steady rate of 1-2 lb per week. No food was banned, we just adjusted portion sizes. After the first 3 days I never really felt hungry either.

And tinned soup is garbage. Full of salt and sugar and is miserable. It's also a very set portion which might be making you feel deprived.

Could you do batch cooking of your own vegetable soup and freeze it? If you make it yourself you can control what's in it- just stack it with vegetables, water and a little stock. Then you can eat as much as you like of it, knowing it's just veg and water- and fill yourself up.

Sorry I meant to suggest you add lentils, beans etc to your soup when you make it as well. It will be way more filling and stop you craving bread to go with it.

Did you post before? Not about weightloss but freaking out abput warning about diabetes?

Well done on losing weight OP. I've recently lost 2.5 stone, have another 2 st to go. You've got to find what works for you - we are all different. Top tips...

Drink loads! I buy flavoured sparkling water and in the evenings I'll sip a litre of that rather than reach for the crisps. I have a bottle of water on my desk and make sure I refill it 3 x during the day.

Eat protein. For snacks I'll grab hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese on lentil cakes, cooked chicken or ham.

For breakfast I'll have a smoothie, then a snack at mid morning, lunch is a lentil soup, then evening meal with the family but double protein and veggies. Perhaps a protein yogurt as a dessert.

YANBU to feel like this, but YABU to say it's not worth it.

Diets are hard, really bloody hard.
Have the NHS offered you a pre-diabetes course?
You need to find alternative foods that you enjoy, and are simple to make - not always easy.

Drink more water. And remind yourself that small steps are good. 2lb a month is nearly 2 stone a year. A year from now you could be 2 stone lighter. And this doesn't mean being hungry for a year, your body will get used to the reduced amount of food. 2 stone lighter is a great achievement, 4 stone in 2 years.

Try looking at the times you are eating. Everybody's body is different. Would you be better off eating a bigger meal at breakfast/lunch to stop you feeling faint, and a lighter meal before bed?

Is snacking a problem? What healthy, low carb food can you snack on?

Allow yourself the OCCASIONAL treat. And don't give up just because you have an off morning/day. Better to just reset and continue your good work.

And if you are being totally honest with yourself. Eating less calories than you're burning and still not shifting weight, keep a detailed and honest food diary and see your doctor. Be prepared to push and not be fobbed off.

It is bloody hard, and it's totally normal to feel as you do. But keep at it, and drink more water!

OP you are funny - but you need to drop the drama and just measure and count stuff and eat protein and fibre to fill up.,

If you do that you will loose weight

Blood sugar needs to be under control for the weight to start coming off. Low carbing and walking helped to kickstart my three stone weight loss, but it was very slow in the beginning. Think long term lifestyle changes and over the space of a year or so. Loads of info on the diabetes.org boards if you're looking for inspiration on food ideas. Congratulations on the weight loss and keep at it- it will happen.

It took me a long while to realise it was the carbs that were making me hungry. I'd always seen bread and potatoes as necessary to fill me up, but actually I'm much less hungry now I don't eat them. The carbs just cause high blood sugar, followed by crashes an hour or two later. It was really hard giving them up (I love bread!) but after the first few days I realised I was much less hungry, and less obsessed by food and how hungry I felt.

I've now lost 4 stones. Still got a way to go but the weight is coming off steadily. Seriously, low carb has saved my health, and possibly my life.

Looking at what you eat, I'd say try having the eggs for breakfast but no toast (have an omelette or scramble them with butter). Then a big salad with protein (chicken or tuna or cheese or prawns) with some mayo. Dinner could be the curry with no rice but veg on the side.

You need to eat low carb but eat more fat (butter, mayo, cream, nuts) to satiate you. It's counter intuitive when we've all been taught that fat is bad, but actually your problem (if you're in danger of diabetes) is likely to be insulin resistance, and restricting carbs is what is needed.

Pop over to the low carb bootcamp threads on here - lots of help and encouragement there, and no judgement!