I lose a lot of weight then gain it back and Diabetic Am I the only one?

[Tiewarrior]

First of all, I am diabetic and have been for about 8 years. Until this years I could control my blood sugar through strict diet. I have also noticed that when I try to lose weight, I tend to lose a lot and then following the diet I end up gaining it all back. My body seems to adapt to it and decides to gain weight?  I have tried a lot of things, does anyone have suggestions? 

[Dominique]

First of all, it’s not at all uncommon to lose a bunch of weight, and then regain it. In fact, it seems it’s what’s happening in the vast majority of cases. Losing weight is the "easy" part, keeping it off is the more challenging part. On this subject, you may want to check How the heck are you keeping it off ?!?, a recent topic started by @Daves_Not_Here.

Based on your description, things seems to happen as follows:

1. you realize you’re too heavy for your own good and decide to do something about it

2. you embark on a diet, making drastic changes to the quantity (and possibly quality) of food you eat, and perhaps increase your activity level too

3. you eventually reach your goal and say "mission accomplished"

4. you revert (possibly subconsciously) to your old eating habits, and perhaps decrease your exercising

Usually, the more weight you lose and the fastest you lose it, the stronger the drive to gain it back is. This is well explained in Losing All Your Weight At Once by Dr. Mike Israetel. I know there are community members who have been able to lose incredible amounts of weight (like halving their body weight in one year) and been able to keep it off. Power to them for that, but I believe it’s the exception rather than the rule.

What you may want to consider is making smaller changes to your eating and exercising habits, but making them permanent. Don’t view your diet as something that has an end date. Instead, find a way of eating and exercising that you can sustain in the long term. 

[GershonSurge]

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@Tiewarrior wrote:

First of all, I am diabetic and have been for about 8 years. Until this years I could control my blood sugar through strict diet. I have also noticed that when I try to lose weight, I tend to lose a lot and then following the diet I end up gaining it all back. My body seems to adapt to it and decides to gain weight?  I have tried a lot of things, does anyone have suggestions? 

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Back when winter famine was a real possibility, people used to put on weight before winter started. However, if they put on too much weight, they couldn't fit in the sleeping bag with their neighbor's wife, so they became insulin resistant. Most people focus on the sugar, but when a person is insulin resistant, they also cannot absorb fat in to the fat cells. After some time, the fat hangs out in the muscle cells instead of turning to fat and guards the doors so no glucose can get in. Eventually, the pancreas gives up and stops making enough insulin.

Given that what is in the paragraph above is generally correct, it's not your fault that you are losing and gaining weight. It's just chemistry.

If you are interested in getting rid of the diabetes in about two weeks and losing weight effortlessly with no calorie counting, check out www.drmcdougall.com. Join the forum there and ask the same question you asked here. 

[MagsOnTheBeach]

Are you following it with the same care and passion that you had when you started?  Do you weigh daily?  I find when I backslide that I'm telling myself I'm being strict, but I find I am underestimating serving sizes and not writing every bite down.  I skip food groups and eat too many of others.  If you weigh daily you'll be able to catch gains more quickly so they are smaller and easier to lose.

My hardest lesson has been that I can't go on a diet, I have to follow a diet forever. 

[Dominique]

@MagsOnTheBeach: if memory serves, you’re eating as prescribed by the DASH diet (one of the better approaches to eating IMO). Were you diabetic or pre-diabetic before your weight loss? If so, how much weight did you have to lose in order for diabetes symptoms to go away. Asking as I’m kind of sceptical two weeks of changing your eating habits can affect diabetes symptoms much, let alone getting rid of it altogether (my understanding is once you have diabetes, it’s for life, all you can do is control it, like no longer having to take medication for it). 

[MagsOnTheBeach]

I was prediabetic and had gestational diabetes with my pregnant.  My blood pressure was also staying in the mid 140s over 90s.  When I got this news I did the worst thing and ignored it for a year.  Last Christmas, I spent most of the 2 weeks in bed, super lethargic and tired.  I realized then that I had to make some big changes.  I looked up some diets and saw DASH was the number one diet for health and decided to give it a shot.  Many people have quick results with blood pressure using the DASH for Weight Loss book by Marla Heller, many weighing in my range (I started at 234), lost between 10-18.  I lost 14lbs in 2 weeks but my blood pressure took about 8 weeks to lower.  My first appointment for a full physical was in March.  By then my blood pressure was at 110/58 and my a1c was normal.  I was at 198.

[Tiewarrior]

A lot of what this Doctor says makes sense to me. I have experienced most of what he is talking about. Thank you for the like and pointing this out to me. 

[Tiewarrior]

I am trying to keep the passions for losing the weight high. I feel much better now I'm going to the gym regularly and only weight once or twice a week. I started portion control by weighing out my food. 4 oz of meat, 4 ounces of greens, Once cup of overnight oats, two pieces of whole wheat toast, toasted with banana and PB2 spread. 

[Dominique]

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@Tiewarrior wrote:

A lot of what this Doctor says makes sense to me. I have experienced most of what he is talking about. 

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Two doctors were mentioned in this topic, but I’ll assume you’re referring to "mine", as the other one would disapprove of your meat eating. Just in case: he’s not an MD, he’s "Dr." on the basis on holding a Ph.D. in Sport Physiology. Not that it really matters, as most MDs don’t know much about nutrition anyway.

In case you’re interested, he has co-authored an e-book called "Understanding Healthy Eating" that I have previously mentioned in this other topic as well as this one. You can get a pretty good idea of the book’s content by listening to the two-part podcast referenced in the latter topic. You can also listen to this other podcast on the same subject.