Thread: Dieting problem--please help

I know Bhuzzers can help. Here is what is happening.

Since the first part of December I've lost about 18 lbs. even though some of it I lost twice when putting a few pounds back on after the holidays. I am losing about a pound a week on a 1500 calorie diet. For a few weeks I have been nauseated off and on and have lost my apetite so I have to force myself to eat. It usually starts right around the time I begin to feel hungry. The smell and sight of cooking food makes me nauseated. NO I AM NOT PREGNANT. Had a complete hysterectomy almost 20 years ago and I not on HRT.

When I feel this way carbs help. Yesterday I had a muffin for lunch because that was all I felt like eating. Today I can't stand the sight of the baked chicken I brought for lunch and just ate a fat-free yogurt that has 13 grams of sugar and I feel better.

I am concerned that this may be blood sugar related. My father and grandfather were type 1 diabetics and 3 of my siblings are type 2. I take Metformin for insulin resistance and to prevent diabetes.

Any thoughts out there?

Souzan

Originally Posted by Souzan

I know Bhuzzers can help. Here is what is happening.

Since the first part of December I've lost about 18 lbs. even though some of it I lost twice when putting a few pounds back on after the holidays. I am losing about a pound a week on a 1500 calorie diet. For a few weeks I have been nauseated off and on and have lost my apetite so I have to force myself to eat. It usually starts right around the time I begin to feel hungry. The smell and sight of cooking food makes me nauseated. NO I AM NOT PREGNANT. Had a complete hysterectomy almost 20 years ago and I not on HRT.

When I feel this way carbs help. Yesterday I had a muffin for lunch because that was all I felt like eating. Today I can't stand the sight of the baked chicken I brought for lunch and just ate a fat-free yogurt that has 13 grams of sugar and I feel better.

I am concerned that this may be blood sugar related. My father and grandfather were type 1 diabetics and 3 of my siblings are type 2. I take Metformin for insulin resistance and to prevent diabetes.

Any thoughts out there?

Souzan

are you on a high protein diet?

It does sound blood sugar related to me. I've been off and on and off of a low-suger diet that was recommended by our insurance (Motion Picture Health and Wellness, very active in prevantative heath measures). When using the low-sugar method, I felt *great* provided I ate every 2-3 hours when awake. If I went past 3 hours, I would feel very, very sick.

Now that I'm off that diet regimen, I get sick anytime I eat anything with a bit of sugar, or any hi GI meals. Yogurt, especially, because it is a pre-digested food, wreaks havok on blood sugar. I get dizzy with the first bite (which is partly why it's affectionately nicknamed Crack around here). An hour later I get nauseated and a headache. Same goes for milk, ice cream, and some high-sugar fruits (pineapple, kiwi, banana).

I don't know what Metformin does for you, but if you're not already, you may want to try spacing your meals closer together and looking at the GI load of each so your blood sugar isn't spiking and crashing. Diabetes type 2 runs in my family too, so sometimes I feel like I'm just postposing the inevitable. :/

Thanks ladies.

The diet program I am on is a diabetes prevention program modeled on one developed by the National Institutes of Health. It is through my HMO. I go to a class every week that is taught by a professor from the local medical school. Our next meeting is Thursday morning, so I think I will ask then. The diet is basically aimed at reducing diabetes risk by reducing body fat with increased exercise and healthy eating. Reduced calories, whole grains, less than 30% fat and reduction of refined sugars.

Metformin is a drug that is used by type 2 diabetics. It works by increasing insulin sensitivity and affects glucose uptake and fatty acid oxidation.

I have noticed that small meals closer together reduce the nausea problem.

Souzan

Sounds like our program. Did it originate with the USC study a few years back?

We had a weekly class also, were weighed and measured, etc. Do they not have you eating snacks on a schedule between meals??

Originally Posted by nasila

Sounds like our program. Did it originate with the USC study a few years back?

We had a weekly class also, were weighed and measured, etc. Do they not having you eat snacks on a schedule between meals??

Probably is the same program. Was the USC study funded by NIH? One thing they told us was that the original study was ended early because of the incredible success rate at weight loss, cholesterol and glucose reduction, and maintenance of the changes.

Its a 16 week program. We had baseline blood work and then bloodwork at 8 weekis and again at the end. Weekly weigh ins, lectures, Q and A sessions. There is nothing like being held accountable!

I am going to try to be more diligent about having snacks and see how that helps.

my friend takes metformin for her diabetes and has very similar problems. nauseated, can't stand to eat. she has lost a lot of weight - size 10 down to a 4 because she's always so nauseated. i suggest speaking to your dr. about the metformin because it could be the culprit. perhaps there are alternative dosages or medications?

it sounds like you are turned off by things that are harder to digest, like animal proteins. yougurt and mufffins are pretty easy on the stomach and more readily available usable energy for your body. maybe that's why you can stand them. this may be part of the metformin nausea?
hope you feel better soon

I've had extremely good results with the Clean Eating book by Tosca Reno. My blood sugar was like a roller coaster before and it's pretty stable now. (What Nasila says is true: once your blood sugar is stable, you can get a high from one single truffle!)

Without changing your whole program, as it is a medical thing for you, I still think the book would help structure your meals (6 small meals a day) with proper amounts of protein, complex carbs, and nutrients. The information is very clear and concise and easy to apply to everyday life.

Originally Posted by Souzan

One thing they told us was that the original study was ended early because of the incredible success rate at weight loss, cholesterol and glucose reduction, and maintenance of the changes.

Yes, that's it! They couldn't sit there and let the control group *not benefit* from this "lifestyle modification program."

In ours, though, they didn't have us count colories (instead looking at glycemic load of meals) but timing was everything. We learned to carry Gala apples and snack bags of carrots around everyday (aka "hard chews"), since they seem to have the magic balance of fiber and sugar for a between-meal snack -- the one between beakfast and lunch being of utmost importance for keeping blood sugar on an even keel for the rest of the day.

I have Gestational Diabetes and at first when I tried the diet they put me on, it was awful! But, my body has gotten so use to it. When I wasn't diagnosed with it I had constant nausea when I ate something. I was eating all the wrong things at the wrong time.

I am not taking any meds as my sugar has been diet controlled. But if I have something with too many carbs/sugars in it. I feel like crap! No counting calories over here, possibly because most of the foods that I am allowed to have aren't really high cal count. Wish I could have a muffin. :( I do eat six small meals a day, and one wierd thing is I am not allowed to have fruit first thing in the morning, or more than 1 1/2 carbs. The Light and Fit yogurt or a bowl of cereal with milk does it for me. As for the rest of the day, things seem to go well.

I plan on continuing with the diet after I have the baby so I don't get Diabetes in the future as it runs in my family, I am overweight, and Samoan,, and now this! Ugh... But, I am hopeful that it will help me lose weight as I haven't gained anything with the pregnancy.

Metformin definitely has a loss of appetite and nausea as a side effect. I agree talk with your doctor about your medication and your diet. Here is a link on your medication too.

Metformin (Oral Route) - MayoClinic.com

I hope you feel better!

The women that are on the diabetes prevention diet, can you point me towards information on it? I'm on metformin for insulance resistance as well.

Last time I took metformin I lost weight with very little effort. This time I'm struggling with alot of factors working against me including some other medications that usually cause weight gain.

I've been thinking that maybe I needed to try something different. Maybe this is the way to go.

Our program was through our health insurance, but the book that the professor had us use for information and menu recommendations (not written or created by them, but one that they found to be quite in-line with the program) is called The 5 Day Miracle Diet by Adele Puhn. An awful title, I know, but the 5 days is to regulate your blood sugar for what ends up being a lifetime diet regimen. It's available at Amazon.

Thanks everyone. Nasila, in our program the focus is more on changing lifestyle and eating habits than just cutting calories. We were given the formula of multiplying weight times 7 to get daily calorie requirements and then using calorie deficit to lose weight with the stipulation that women would not go below 1200 per day and men not below 1500 per day. Most of my fellow participants are in poor physical condition and heavier than I am. And most also already have diabetes. A lot of the emphasis has been on getting people to start exercising and to change the way they cook. This is the deep south where everything is fried and if not fried, it is cooked with grease or fat or smothered with butter and cream. One of the participants confessed that she had never eaten fish that was not deep fat fried.

I feel best when I can eat something every 2 to 3 hours. Love the idea of packing gala apples. They are one of my favorite snacks.

I was talking to my sister about all this tonight and we remembered our dad getting sick to his stomach if dinner was not served on time. He used to say that he was so hungry that he was to nauseated to eat. We used to think he was just a tyrant about meals, but now I think I understand. Unfortunately I can't ask him about it because he died of diabetes complication when he was younger than I am now.

Thank you all for your suggetions. I am going to talk to my doctor about this.

Souzan

Originally Posted by Souzan

This is the deep south where everything is fried and if not fried, it is cooked with grease or fat or smothered with butter and cream. One of the participants confessed that she had never eaten fish that was not deep fat fried.

Souzan

lol, you don't know how good that sounds right now! ..l;,

I like this thread! I added it to my subscription. It is great that people are preventing it!

My uncle died from it two years ago at the age of 56.

Souzan, it does sound like your blood sugar is starting to crash when you feel nauseated.

You should try to keep some snacks with you just in case you are out and about: dry-roasted nuts (buy in bulk and pack in a baggie), toss an apple in your purse every day, etc.

I go through this as well and have been in some sticky situations (no food, sick to my stomach etc). As a last resort I will eat anything but I try to have peanut butter crackers if my snacks don't hold me over.

Thank you, everyone, for your support and good suggestions.

After observing that the nausea starts around 10:30 in the morning (3 and half hours after eating breakfast) and around 7 in the evening (3 hours after my afternoon snack) I decided to try adding more protein at breakfast and small complex carbo snack every two hours. And trying to make regular meals smaller so that the food intake is more steadily spread out throughout the day.

I found toasted whole grain bread crusts help if I start to feel quesy. Chew them slowly and it helps.

So glad to hear that the toast things help you. I was worried when you had not replied back (I kept imagining gallbladder attack or something like that).

I actually found the toast crusts at the grocery store. They crusts of multi-whole-grain artisan bread. Very nutty and satisfying. I figured some complex carbs like that would be what I needed and I was right. I just chew on a few of them and and I feel much better. Plus helping to get more fiber.

Metformin is the gold standard for insulin resistence but does have a number of gastointestinal symptoms. When I first started taking it I had problems with bloating, flatulence, and intermittent constipation and diarrhea. That lasted for a bout two weeks and then settled down. It also helps that I am taking acidophilus capsules daily.

One thing I will say is that since getting on the medication my weight loss has shown more loss of abdominal fat than anything else. As of this weekend I've lost 20 lbs since the first part of December. I had a really stressful summer and fall and had put on quite a bit of weight, all in the abdomin as happens with stress/cortisol fat gain. I think I am actually starting to get a hint of a waistline again!

Souzan

Originally Posted by Souzan

Metformin is the gold standard for insulin resistence but does have a number of gastointestinal symptoms. When I first started taking it I had problems with bloating, flatulence, and intermittent constipation and diarrhea. That lasted for a bout two weeks and then settled down.
Souzan

That's what happened to me . . . or very similar. I am type-2 and taking a combination (metaglip). I was nauseated to the point that I could barely eat plus the constipation blah, blah, when I started this med back in August. It took me about a month but then I adjusted. Such a great way to kick-start the diet, sheeeesh.

I do have to be careful not to let my bloodsugar too low with this med. I can start to feel it the minute the nausea kicks in . . . if I wait too long I will literally start shoving things into my mouth. I told one of my friends at work that when I say I am ready to go eat that I mean it . . . just warning her that I am not being rude or anything, just the bloodsugar has dropped. I told her that she probably didn't notice that if it is low sometimes I am almost on auto-pilot. I try to plan the snacks too . . . but I work the type of job which when you are absorbed you can forget about eating which isn't good. Thankfully, I've been able to work from home a lot and am dreading the change to a new project at the end of May because I might have to travel ..cr.:

On the other hand . . . I also have allergies. This time of year when they start to kick in, that mucus which stuffs up the nose/throat drains into the stomache and that causes nausea too until I eat something . . . yoghurt seems to help settle the stomache for me.