Pre Diabetic So Confused!

[mamaherrera]

I am a 35 year old female I did Peat for a while, but I never like to do "extremes" so I modified it on my own a bit. I hear Peat in the back of my braid, but like I said, to follow something super strict, it's hard for me because I have a family and I like to eat with them and eat out once a week or twice. I am 5'3 and weigh 116 pounds. I want to build muscle and have a small layer of fat on my lower abdomen which I'd love to get rid of. So I worked with a trainer who gave great training,but the diet was ridiculous: low carb/low cal.

Anyways, regardless of my training, these are my lab results (before the trainer) and I wanted to share with you all for advice. And I take lots of supplements: multi, amla, magnesium glycinate, vitamin d, b complex, b folate (natural form), d-pinitol, iron, Nac, taurine, lysine, vitamin e, curcumin, cq10. And now I want to try bitter melon and fenugreek with ALA
Cholesterol is always 215-231, with LDL high: 160 and HDL 51
Anti-thyroglobuin is less than 40, estradiol 31, ferritin 29, free t3 3.6; FT4: 1.3, Progesterone .6 SHBG: 102, TOtal testosterone less than 20, free testosterone less than 5. Anti-TPO-Ab: less than 10 and TSH 2.71 Vitamin d: 40

I'm happy that my testosterone is low because I have been told I have PCOS, metabolic syndrome and I had lots of hair shedding, not great regrowth. I want to boost my ferritin because they say that supports healthy hair growth. All the sex hormones were from when I was in the follicular phase.

My biggest problem is my A1C: 5.7 so pre-diabetes. My mom has diabetes and I would love to prevent that. I would love to reverse my A1C, as in the past I've had it 5.3 which is still good. I would like to lose the belly fat that I carry so that I have a waist line.

I want to start with simple changes so that I'm not overwhelmed. I would like to also improve muscle mass and I'm not sure if doing 2 days of fast walking is better or worse than 5 days of fast walking, to help with sugar. I am so lost and confused. And I don't want to do extreme, but add some Peat stuff in that would really help me.

 

[ecstatichamster]

What is your diet like now?

 

[mamaherrera]

 

[mamaherrera]

 

[mamaherrera]

That is what I ate yesterday, both pages

 

[thebigpeatowski]

I am 5'3 and weigh 116 pounds....and have a small layer of fat on my lower abdomen which I'd love to get rid of.

I'm having a hard time picturing 116 pounds as needing to lose ANY fat....build more muscle sure, but more loss??? I dunno.

 

[Pointless]

This worked for me in tolerating more sugar. I don't have a glucose meter, so I can't say for sure it's lowered my blood glucose, but I'm much more tolerant of sugar.

Using Vitamins (biotin) For Improving Glucose Control

I would look into upping your biotin and maybe some of the other B's that haidut mentions. Then you can increase your calories without gaining weight.

 

[CarbAppreciator]

My advice to you is to take your inability to burn glucose seriously. One thing we can learn from Peat is how important oxidative metabolism is to health, when we lose the ability to burn sugar, we lose our health. Peat focuses a lot on pufa, iron and radiation. Those all severely limit glucose oxidation. He also focuses on fat/carbs and how lower fat can optimize carb burning. I think, because of genetic imprinting, some people can eat higher fat and still burn glucose, while others struggle with sugar wasting until they go really low fat. Fat is the hibernation macronutrient, and some people are more susceptible to it than others based on their past health. Your cronometer data is not only high in fat, it is also high in pufa and iron. If motivation is a problem, I understand, but if that's the case, I suggest you read some of Peat's articles. Start with the iron article, then a pufa article, then the radiation article. Then move on with the diabetes articles. Once you read that info, I think you will be very motivated to optimize your diet.

 

[mamaherrera]

Now I don't mind dropping fat, but I don't want to go lower than the minimal 20%. Would 22% be a good place to start lowering fat?
And how do you avoid radiation?? It's not that I"M unmotivated, but I don't want to go extreme. Iron right now, I need to improve my ferritin, because due to having a gene mutation, I don't do methylation well, and my ferritin is very low. But I would be willing to lower fat. I just want to start making small changes. . ..

And I don't necessarily want lower body fat, but I would like to improve hormones or whatever it is so that the fat would become more evenly distributed. But yeeh, this trainer I had put me on a very low calorie diet, so I'm putting myself back to maintenance. I do take lots of b vitamins due to my gene mutation.

 

[InChristAlone]

1700 calories is very low. If you are weight stable on that low of calories I would say your metabolism is not doing well. What % Cal's is fat,carbs,protein? Why is your weight bad? That is a great bmi. Women try to attain such lean body weight but unless you are really into fitness I just don't see the reason to be concerned about your weight and can cause orthorexic attitudes. Eat to increase metabolism not to lose weight.

 

[mamaherrera]

It's probably low also because I need more muscle mass. I just don't want to get overwhelmed with everything, . . . I just want small steps in making great changes for my health. I don't want to lose weight, I just want to transform the hip/waist ratio, I've got belly fat more than proportion with the rest of me. Not a lot, just a little. My carbs yestrday for example were 41%/fat/28% and protein 30% I"m willing to improve that, suggestions are appreciated.

 

[PakPik]

Iron can initiate/worsen sugar metabolism: it definitely is one of the biggest player in the setting of lipid peroxidation and glycation of proteins as seen in insulin resistance. Specially the combination of PUFA+Iron is perfect recipe for that.
Unless a person has a genuine iron deficiency, iron ingestion is better kept under control.

 

[InChristAlone]

With that high of protein along with that low of carbs you are probably having some cortisol going on to keep blood sugar up, which can cause belly fat. I'd increase sugar calories to boost metabolism. Look into Kate Deering fitness, she has a peaty book as well.

 

[CarbAppreciator]

If you have iron deficiency, which RP thinks is very rare these days, I would suggest eating liver, as heme iron is less dangerous. The rawfoodsos "In defence of low fat" article is a great read and convinced me that some people really do need to go to the extreme to re kindle their oxidative aparatus.

 

[lindsay]

The first thing that jumped out to me right away (aside from the fact that you are pretty much right in line with the weight you should be for your height and I wouldn't lose anymore) - when did you have these blood tests? Because your progesterone is WAY low, especially considering your estrogen is quite a bit higher. Again, this would matter in relation to when your blood tests were taken during your cycle, but the low progesterone would certainly explain your issues with both PCOS and belly fat.

I would focus on making sure you get adequate nutrition, as well as supplementing some progesterone. Even if it's just topical, it should help. I've definitely lost some abdominal fat since I started applying the stuff to my abdomen. But really, I wouldn't worry about weight/fat as much as I would focus on your glucose and PCOS.

 

[mamaherrera]

so you recommend her book? So what % would you suggest for each macro? I can do liver, like once a week?? And how do you make the carrot salad?? Do you have to use ACV?? I cant stand that.

 

[mamaherrera]

What kind of progesterone do you use?? ANd you put it right on your belly?? And how do you know the dose? MY lab tests were when I was on my period. . . I would try progesterone, but I need help in dosing/usage and what kind.

 

[lindsay]

What kind of progesterone do you use?? ANd you put it right on your belly?? And how do you know the dose? MY lab tests were when I was on my period. . . I would try progesterone, but I need help in dosing/usage and what kind.

I have used Kenogen's Progest-E and also the Simply Progesterone from Health Natura (thank you Blossom for introducing me to this other brand!) - I like them both. Thyroid also helps a lot with the progesterone, as well as managing blood sugar.

I don't have PCOS, but I was in early menopause at age 30 and couldn't function super well without the thyroid and progesterone - at the time I was using progesterone orally. However, applying to my abdominal and chest regions helped me lose some fat that I had accumulated there - it took a couple of months though. If your blood tests were taken during your period, that could explain your low progesterone to estrogen ratio; however, I think someone who has PCOS should benefit from progesterone. As well as making sure your liver can detoxify estrogen.

It doesn't look like you are eating a lot of PUFA, so that's good. But you might benefit from more nutrient dense foods. And your TSH is also fairly high - mine was around 2.5 and I was experiencing a myriad of problems (menopause at age 30 being the big one). I would stop focusing on losing fat and your weight and start listening more to what your body needs. I had very little success with de-stressing and healing until I stopped doing hard exercise and started focusing on things that I enjoyed - like riding my bike, yoga, etc. I also eat a lot more fat than I used to and actually lost weight doing so, while still eating carbs - mainly from fruit, OJ and sugar. Everyone is different though, so try to figure out what works for YOU.

Regarding the progesterone, I follow the same guideline - figure out if it works for you. That being said, I now apply mine topically - just squirt it in my palm, mix with orange essential oil and a bit of lotion and apply. I've also done the apply-to-gums method in the past and that worked well too. So it's all experimental to see how you feel best.

 

[mamaherrera]

Thanks, so what macros do you use?? At least so I could see an example. someone up above told me to eat super low fat. And I try with PUFA, I"m not gonna be extremist and give up my eggs though either, cuz that stresses me out. so just once a day, apply progesterone and how can I monitor if it's too much or if it's helping?? IN temperatures?? And do you use it throughout your cycle?? so my TSH is high?? What does that mean? Usualy in the past it's always 1.3 or 1.8. But I'm curious to know what a high TSH means?? I do have a thyroid nodule that they're watching, so i hope it doesn't mean that's gone bad. I"m too scared yet to try thyroid, but any help you can give me with little adjustments, I will take and try. thanks

 

[thebigpeatowski]

And how do you make the carrot salad??

What kind of progesterone do you use??

And how do you know the dose?

I would try progesterone, but I need help in dosing/usage and what kind.

how can I monitor if it's too much or if it's helping??

And do you use it throughout your cycle??

so my TSH is high?? What does that mean?

You've been on this forum for THREE years....have you ACTUALLY READ any of Peat's work???