Problems-any help gratefully received.

This topic contains 4 replies, has 2 voices, and was last updated by Dummerchen 10 years, 6 months ago.

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Pip-Squeak

5:52 am
29 May 14
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Hello All. If anyone can give me any help with any of this I’d be very grateful. I have suffered from odd eating patterns all my life and at the age of nineteen had my first blackout/faint from not eating in the morning. I went to the doctors and he just said what did I expect if I didn’t eat breakfast, I should eat more. I’ve always been a big eater right from being a small child. As a result of trying to avoid more fainting attacks I’ve become a consistent Frazer. I piled on a couple of stone in my early twenties which I’ve never managed to keep off despite repeated efforts. However, I managed to lose a stone in time for my wedding four years ago by near starvation then piled it back on with an extra two stone afterwards. I’ve managed to lose almost all of the extra two stone I put on but decided to try 5.2 for the health benefits and to hopefully shed some visceral fat. However, I have had several near faints and regularly have to lie down to prevent an attack, I drink lots of water so it’s not due to dehydration. I’ve now taken to having milky coffee to try to prevent the fainting (counting the calories in the milk of course) but feel I’m probably missing out on the health benefits of the diet. Also, I’m not losing weight really due to over eating on my non-fasting days. I don’t really want to go to my doctors as whenever I visit them I find them off-hand and patronising. I really want to get myself into as healthy a state as possible but feel my body is controlling/overriding my mind. Can anyone shed any light on this or offer any advice? Thank you.

Pip-Squeak

5:55 am
29 May 14
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EDIT. The above post should say “consistent grazer” not Frazer.

Dummerchen

6:10 am
29 May 14
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Pip, I know this feeling just too well. I have been a fat kid, oh wait, the puppy fat was just so cute … unfortunately it stayed with me. I followed all this clever advice I gave to my own patients: six small meals a day, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, bla bla bla. I got fatter every year and became diabetic, quelle surprise.

Earlier this year it hit me like a freight train: all this eating (and eating the recommended low fat, therefore high carb diet) keeps insulin levels up. Insulin makes you insulin resistant if you have the right genetics, insulin resistance and ever higher insulin levels make you pile on the pounds, keep you hungry (!) and when you don’t eat, you feel faint quickly.
Detailed explanations can be found here: http://kidneylifescience.ca/general/how-do-we-gain-weight/
(@simcoeluv: read his blogs. All the studies you asked me about are linked there and a few more)

To cut a long story short: with 5:2 I also changed my diet a bit. Less carb, more fat, keep protein moderate. You know what? I am no longer grazing all day, feel full after a fairly small meal and the weight is slowly coming off. The constant need for fuel is gone. Oh yes, diabetes under control without medication. Brilliant.

I have no idea if you are also blessed with insulin resistance but it is something worth considering as a lot of people have this genetic trait.

Pip-Squeak

6:23 am
29 May 14
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Thank you for that Dummerchen, my father had type2 diabetes and died from a heart attack in his early sixties due to bad diet and diabetes complications. I’m about 2.5 stone overweight but was always slim until my early twenties when the helpful doctor imparted his wonderful advice. So in your opinion should I just stick with it and hopefully the symptoms will subside. Thanks for taking the time and trouble to reply.

Dummerchen

6:35 am
29 May 14
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Not knowing you or your blood test it is hard to give firm advice. 😉

But you might find that cutting down on carbs, in particular the refined and processed variety, can help keep hunger at bay and stop this awful grazing-hunger-faint-cycle. Also, If you feel faint and need a fix, try to go for something slow release, an apple or a pear, a handful of nuts (careful with the calories on fast days though) a hard boiled egg, and see if that helps.

There are a few people who do not get on with fasting. If you belong to this group then nothing will help. But the constant grazing and urge to eat sounds suspiciously like insulin to me.