Insulin Resistance Diet

[ElbowPrincess]

Is there anyone else doing this? I didnt know where to put this thread, as even though its lower carb, its not ketogenic. Hope it's ok to have here! Ive tried really low carb (less than 30g a day) and I just couldnt sustain it :( even though I love all the science behind it. So I am giving this a go instead.

Here's the book

Basically, its a diet for those who have insulin resistance. If you can answer yes to 3 or more of the following, you probably have it ....

If you are in the obese BMI catagory or above
If you store weigth mainly around the tummy area
You have PCOS
Your tummy measures 35 inches or more (40 inches for men)
Depression
Hypoglycemia
Brain fog
Skin tags in the neck area, underarms & chest
Dark skin patches in the arm pits, between thighs, neck etc
Carb, especially sugar, cravings
Sleepiness after a meal
Poor sleep at night

So, how the diet works - you balance your carbs with protein. No more than 30g of carbs per meal (15g for snacks) paired with at LEAST 15g of protein. You can eat as much protein as you like though, thats just the minimum to balance the carbs. 3 meals a day, 2 snacks (plus extra veg/proetin snacks whenever, if you are hungry). Carbs must be 2 hours apart. A typical day would probably look like this ...

Breakfast - 30g Carbs, 15g (or more) protein, as much veg as you like.

Snack - 15g carbs, 7g protein, as much veg as you like.

Lunch - 30 g C, 15g P, veg

Snack - 15g C, 7g P, veg

Dinner - 30g C, 15g P, unlimited veg.

So a max of 120g of carbs in any day, spaced 2 hours apart.

Now, this is where it differs from the usual low carb diet .... dairy, pulses, legumes and nuts count as protein not carbs. So a glass of milk will balance out a slice of wholegrain toast. Beans (no added sugar) would balance out a small baked potato. Fruit are carbs (apart from apples, pears, cherries, grapefruit, those ase classed as already balanced), potato & corn are carbs plus all your pasta, rice, bread etc.

Still with me? Ive no idea if this diet will work, this thread is just to document my progress and see what happens. Would love others to join in too!

Well done elbow! Will give it a try tomorrow then Is there any restriction with fat?

Thanks Herdy too sounds like you have got some good support from your therapist, reassuring she has given this the green light for you

giraffe, you dont need to know anything in mackerel or sweet potato? sweet potato is a non-countable carb, and mackerel is protein :) You just need to know carb content of white potatoes, grains, pasta, rice etc. The book recommends low-fat, but I am really against that (probably why my weight loss is minimal).

Elbow, I'm really against low fat too so I didn't go low-fat last time and won't be this time either.

Thanks Giraffes

I'm back from my appointment. My ED therapist wants me to keep note of any binges/disordered eating episodes that I have during the next month. If the frequency doesn't increase while I'm following this plan, she's fine for me to stay with it as long as necessary.
I'm starting tomorrow.

:) Hopefully you will be fine. Ive had no binges at all since starting, nor wanted to. I am seeing this as just a positive life style change to heal my body.

Oh thats interesting about non countable carbs, best get the book I think.

I looked at this thread because of blood sugar issues but if I can find a healthier pattern of eating I will be so happy. When I do paleo propely I feel quite in control of my eating and its healthy stuff but I need to be able to find a method which will allow me to eat one slice of white bread from time to time or a small piece of cake etc without it turning into a carb fest. Fingers crossed this will help us

I am already seeing great results just 2 weeks in :)

Non-countable carbs are ALL veg except white potatoes and corn, all legumes & pulses, all dairy. Dairy, legues & pulses count as PROTEIN.
Countable carbs are potatoes, corn, grains, breads, pasta, rice, sugar etc.
Meat, eggs & fish, as much as you like as long as it covers at least half of your carb intake at that meal.

At least 2 hours between eating carbs. No more than 30g of carbs at a time, balanced with a minimum 7g protein.

^ thats the basics, but it is better to read the book :)

Thank you Elbow so if I am careful about choices I wouldnt need to count much anyway. Really pleased you are seeing good results

One thing I am going to try tomorrow is making sure I plan and put my snack on a plate and eat it consciously rather than just nibbling on nuts and grapes and malteesers all day long.

ooops, forgot to mention that fruit is countable, so you wouldnt be able to snack on geapes all day anyway! do you have a copy of the book?

No I think I will get a copy. Interesting about the fruit. Have not done very well at not nibbling so far today - quite a few macademias have been consumed. I am reading game of thrones and its too easy to read and graze.

Impressed. Read book

They are allowed though, so need to beat yourself up. You dont want to make this a chore, just a healthy easy way of balancing your food :)

Oblomov, did you get cut off there? :)

Really like the sound of this. I low carbed for a while but find it too restricting. I have in the past had good results with cutting out wheat and sugar but still eating things like porridge or German style rye bread. I've just down loaded the book onto my kindle and will hopefully read it tomorrow.

Was going to attempt low carb again from Monday but might try this instead.

Have been so bad for last month. Eating so much crap. Feeling sick but still eating. .

Hi chipping!

Oh and I love pulses and beans esp in winter so it would be perfect.

Yeah, its so comforting to eat a lovely bowl of stew full of meat, veg & pulses at this time of year!

Have ordered the book to my library :) Interested to read more about balancing blood sugar and why some carbs are free!

Ate a pudding last night that wasnt linked & balanced (bakewell tart & custard) and have been awake most of the night :( lesson learnt!

Hope your feeling more balanced today - harder after a rough night but you can do it

Yep, have had a fab day, appetite still quite reduced. Had egg & bacon granary roll this morning, a prawn salad for lunch, and no snacks so far. Having a pork & mustard wholewheat pasta dish for tea, and that should be that for the day :) how are you finding it?

Wow that sounds excellent! Still waiting for the book. Currently munching on pistachios which are a tiny bit higher in protein than carbs so pretty balanced so long as I don't eat the whole packet and chicken stir fry for dinner.

giraffes, on this plan, nuts are not counted as a carb, they're a protein, you don't need to link and balance them .

Elbow your food today sounds lovely.

I'm doing ok. Need to go and do a grocery shop as my fridge is a bit bare, last time I did this I found a little bit of planning ahead was helpful but kept things generally quite flexible.
Haven't had any cravings since I started a couple of days ago.

I haven't managed to read the book yet but did have a much better day today that I have been having!

Healthy granola for breakfast with some blueberries, milk and Greek yoghurt. Lunch was soup - a covent garden skinny Goan chicken and lentil. Having gammon steaks for dinner although not sure I will be able to as had root canal filling today and tooth quite sore. Not sure what I'll have.

giraffe, nuts dont need to be balanced either, they are just counted as protein :)

Cider, that soup sounds lovely!

Herdy, fab that you arent getting cravings :)

No snacks at all for me today, just havent needed them! Breakfast at 9.30am, lunch at 1.30 pm and dinner at 5pm. I wold have had a snack if I needed it, had some 9 bars, milk & carrot sticks at the ready. I am loving the 9 bars, the pumpkin one is just so tasty!