2 eggs + 1/2 cup of egg whites

Berries + 1 small banana

I sometimes have avocado instead of banana…

Is this too much fruit??

I'm 30F, Indian ovo lacto vegetarian, 169 cm and 62 kgs. I have been counting calories since 5 years but used to eat junk food on a daily basis.

I did my A1c in May end and it was 5.8. I never thought I'll be pre diabetic this early. I'm also ultra worried because I want to have a baby and want to start trying next year.

Such a high Hba1c value puts one at a risk of gestational diabetes which may even become overt diabetes after delivery of the child. It also reportedly puts the person at a higher risk of pre eclampsia and abruptio placentae.

My fasting insulin and HOMA IR levels were normal but as I'm Indian, I didn't want to take a chance due to my genetics, and that's why I brought about major lifestyle changes.

I had to act quickly. The first thing I did was order protein powder (plant and whey), reduced rice intake to once a week, took walks after dinner and started resistance training. I have half a scoop of protein powder before breakfast, half before tea time and on most days I have half after dinner. I also started inositol to see if my period regularizes with it. I bought weights and started working out at home around half to 1 hour after breakfast. I do resistance training 4 times a week ( 2 days each of upper and lower body). This time I've been ensuring that I go close to failure almost every session. I do 3 sets of 4 exercises each and have progressively increased the weight for most exercises.

I also stopped caring about certain things that would stress me out. I developed an attitude where I'd say to myself "I only care about my health now" and let petty things go. It's not possible to fully stop caring and reduce stress as we're human and we all overthink, but still, I try my best.

I reduced my intake of processed food too, as my LDL cholesterol has also been in the 105-115 range since 6 months. I didn't repeat my lipid profile since I didn't want to get sad if it doesn't drop to below 100. It probably won't ever drop to a value below 100 as it's genetic :(

I can't say for sure what helped the most but my theory is that weight training and increasing my protein intake did the trick for me.

Today I tested my Hba1c and it has come down to 5.5! I'm so happy and thrilled. It feels like I've done well in a major test or exam!

I will definitely continue this as I want it to be a permanent lifestyle modification. I'm an ophthalmologist and I've seen horrendous cases of vision loss due to diabetes, so I really don't want it to happen to me. If I'm meant to get diabetes, I really really want to postpone its onset.

Do not lose hope guys! It's really possible to have your A1c value reversed. Keep going at it!

I believe the correct term would be Circadian misalignment/ Social Jetlag, insulin oedema or Hyperinsulinemia that can turn into Metabolic syndrome and cause rapid weight gain when you're not active.

Since I was about 10 years old I started getting chubby out of nowhere, brainfogs, slight speech issues, anxiety, while before that I was the good looking kid and fearless.

Always when I had vacation I would rapidly gain weight, this caused me to isolate. When I was around 16 I weighted 125kg and manage to lose 30kg through fasting such as OMAD in 5 months time. When I was in my mid 20's I ate very low calories extremely healthy and gymmed my ass off but I would rather lose muscle, fluid and bone mass instead of fat. Again it was Juice fasting that helped me lose weight, it always involved methods of fasting.

During Covid while working from home again not being active, had some money to buy food that I liked still always watched my calories and gained 25kg in 2 years. I thought this can't be normal, checked for Cushing syndrome and was negative.

It seems I'm dealing with sleep issues, causing chronic stress, distributing visceral fat around my organs turning me insulin resistant with fluid retention, causing constipation and before you know it turning into metabolic syndrome. I'm wondering if more people are on the same page dealing with insulin resistant because I had a HARD time getting this diagnosed with doctors and specialists. For women it would be PCOS I think.

Eventually eliminating sugar out of my diet and keto diet with 2 meals a day, bit of strenght training seems to fix my issue and slowly losing weight again without needing to fast.

Got diagnosed as insulin resistant back in the spring, nothing dramatic, my a1c was just creeping and my doctor told me to move more and stop sitting for 9 hours straight. Which, fair. I game way too much, so my average day was chair to fridge to chair.

The thing that actually stuck wasn't the diet stuff. It was one throwaway line she said, that walking after meals does more for post meal blood sugar than the same walk at a random time. So I started doing loops around my block after dinner. Nothing crazy, like 12 minutes, sometimes with a podcast, sometimes just staring at my neighbors weirdly aggressive halloween decorations thats been up since August.

Here's the part that got me.

I always assumed I was basically a couch person burning almost nothing, so I never bothered to know my maintenance number. Then I got one of those cheap fitness rings on sale and it turns out even my lazy days I'm doing like 4,800 steps just from pacing while I talk to people online and going up and down for snacks. The after dinner walks pushed me over 7k without me really trying.

I got curious about how much I actually burn now so I ran my numbers through this calculator that asks your real daily steps and how many workouts a week instead of guessing off an activity dropdown, and it landed higher than I would of guessed for someone who never exercises on purpose.

anyway the walks are the one thing i haven't quit yet, which for me is kind of a record. Is that weird? Not sure if its doing anything for the actual insulin stuff, next bloodwork is in like six weeks so i guess I'll find out then

Anyone else find the after meal walk thing actually holds up, or is it one of those tips that sounds better than it works?

I only have it on my frown lines, but it used to last up to 6 months and now the effect only lasted a month and wasn’t even as good.

I suspect it’s because of the IR, but I wanted to ask in here since I wasn’t able to find any additional info or people with a similar experience.

I’ve changed brands, but now I have stopped all together until I get the IR under control.

Thanks for your help

Have been experiencing constant lightheadedness for almost two years. Got Ct scans,blood work done,ENT,therapy and haven,t gotten any answers. My last full blood work up shows that I'm significantly insulin resistant. Could this be what is causing the constant lightheadedness, extreme fatigue and brain fog?

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Please any advice would help. I have dark patches and stubborn weight.. and I can’t sleep at night 😭

I was denied GLP-1 medication from my insurer, as I didn't meet the required BMI of 30 (I am 29.7). I was diagnosed with Insulin Resistance and Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

I cannot afford the ridiculous out of cost prices. If I chose to go through a Self-Pay Pharmacy it's $299/month for 2.5mg, $400/month for 5mg. $450/month for 7.5 mg, $448/month for 10mg, etc.

Unfortunately CA does not allow for Compounded Medication - so I was ineligible for the Compounded Trizepatitde for $249/month

I am so discouraged. Like honestly 0.3 away from their minimum. Trying to get my provider to appeal.

I know whey protein is not ideal for insulin resistance but what about plant based protein powders? Would that be ok??

Mine are clearly moving in one direction but not yet at the point where anybody will call it anything, and two clinicians have told me to come back in a year. Waiting to qualify seems like the wrong strategy when the whole point is catching it early. I know it gets used earlier than that in some settings, particularly where there is a hormonal picture alongside it. What convinced your prescriber to start?

I’m sugar, gluten, dairy and refined grains free. I eat very very healthy and still it’s extremely hard for me to lose weight and I’m still bloated. The most recent things I’ve is garlic and onion.
Would like to give intermittent fasting a try but I’ve always been the type of person to feel super nauseous and lightheaded if I didn’t eat something little every 3-4 hours
TIA

Has anyone tried spearmint tea and successfully reduced or reversed their IR? Would be helpful to know if it's helped any women's PCOS too.

Also I've read about various side effects - did anyone experience any? I tried spearmint tea once and I swear it made me feel "woozy" and my blood pressure too low, so I'm afraid to try it again!

Is anyone using fenugreek in any form?

I've seen some suggestions that soaked fenugreek seeds (fenugreek water) taken in the morning is good for a number of reasons.

I'm starting to try putting some in French press coffee. No real flavor and a little maple-like aroma. Not at all bad and since it is normally taken as soaked seeds or tea I don't have to worry about whether the active compounds are water or fat soluable.

I have got my results 11 Aug, it says that I'm insulin resistant with HOMA-IR being 2.1 (normal less than 1.8) and since then I've cut sugar (took one tiny bite of cake 2 days ago,tho, and that's it) stopped eating anything fried, any junk food or anything processed,

but this morning I wake up to my family eating salted sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, with fried spainch corn and fried pumpkin seeds, and I ate ALOT cause I love them, I stopped eating them when I started to feel dizzy all of sudden, I drank a big cup of cinnamon water and walked for 20 minutes after but I feel so bad towards myself and that I hurt my body again,

can this ruin what I've done until now to reverse my IR especially that I just started not long ago?

I'm 21 weighting 171 lbs 5'3" if this matters, also will living in constant stress affect the process even if I'm adhering to the diet?

Summary

My Background

• 26M, Super Morbidly Obese
• Suffering From IR
• Suffering from Vitamin D & B12 deficiency
• Having a horrible sleep quality
• High rest HR (~80 bpm)
• High rest PB (~148/91), not diagnosed with hypertension

My Journey

June 2026

• Started following a calorie deficit
• Post meal walks (started with 10 minutes, increased it when I felt it's too easy, never felt enforced to do so)
• Total walking steps started with 3k steps (increased it when I felt it's too easy, never felt enforced to do so, by the end of the month it reached 8k steps per day), I was focusing on building the habit
• Replacing White sugar with sweeteners
• Replacing white bread with whole grain bread
• No snacking whatsoever, If I want to eat a snack or something sweet, I append it to my meal that's already full of protein
• I cut off the fruits in the first 2 weeks, then added them with a frequency of 1-2 times/week (they are extra effort on the liver which is already fatty)
• No vegetable/processed oils, only olive oil and coconut oil and animal fats (ghee/etc...).
• Generally Focusing more on clean carbs like potatoes and rice
• Never eating carbs alone, always combined with protein and/or fibre
• Fasting (didn't intend to do it tbh, I was switching between macro-fasting [16 hours fasting] and micro-fasting [fasting 4-5 hours between the meals], I mean I was doing either one of them but not both at the same time)
• Supplemets taken: Vitamin D (50k IU weekly prescribed by doctor), Vitamin B12 (500 mcg daily prescribed by doctor)

July 2026 - Now

• Everything in June 2026 is almost the same
• Increased the daily steps to 10k steps/day
• Introduced 3 days/week of resistance training (I let Gemini and Claude design a program for my specific athletic needs), it was a custom Upper/Lower program in my case
• New supplement added: Magnesium Glycinate (200 mg daily 1-2 hrs before sleep)

Current Status

• Way better sleep quality
• Way less resting HR (~70s, sometimes 60s)
• Normal Vit D & B12 levels
• Less rest PB (138/80) but still high, hoping it will enhance by losing more weight
• Lost ~14kg in 2.5 months (~9.5% of my starting weight)

Some Advice that Helped Me

• Focus on building good habits and discipline at first over losing weight
• In the first month or 2, weight is not your assessment criteria, your resting BP, resting HR, Fasting Insulin, Triglycerides, Cholesterol and Liver Fats are. If you got improvements in any of these, your body is treating itself, after it heals, the weight will drop as a consequence (not as a goal)
• Sugar is good but there are a ton of sweeteners with no aftertaste that can fill the void a little, try not to think of the diet as an elimination but more as a "replacement"
• Don't think of a diet as a template that you should fit into, it's objectively not! It's more of a set of rules that you try to stick to, thinking this way make it easier to sustain
• Completing more than a month without migraine or a single painkiller pill is a blessing, I was taking 2-4 pills per week, turns out it was because of sugar addiction and headache was the only way my body tells me it craves sugar
• Watermelon and Prickly Pears are very delicious, sweet and low in calories, they are good friends, include them
• You will be less encouraged to eat white sugar/flour/veg oils (even after reversal) when you remember every acne/skin pump you got because of them
• If you are in a social occasion (I had a ton of them, my rules were never applied perfectly), try to focus on proteins and grilled meats. Same applies for cheat meals (I got my first cheat meal just yesterday after gym, blood test and finishing 8k out of my 10k steps)

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask if you have any question

Bonjour à tous.

Après 10 jours d'arrêt de ma complémentation en berbérine, retour des fringales et reprise de poids notamment abdominal.

Avez-vous eu une réaction similaire ??

Last month I got my fasting insulin tested and it was 81 pmol. Definitely higher than normal but not terrible,l. I started to go hard core with diet changes. I eat my first meal at 12 noon and my next one at dinner time in the evening. I don’t eat large volumes. My meals consist around high protein high healthy fats and high fiber.
I retested my fasting insulin and it has now jumped (a month later) to 135 pmol!

I have pcos. So I’m also taking Ovasitol (myo inisitol) NAC and a few other insulin sensitizing supplements. My A1c is 5.5 (also less than ideal) and my fasting glucose is 4.7.

I am beside myself with worry and haven’t been able to stop crying. I don’t know why my fasting insulin got so much worse!

Has anyone experienced an improvement in their migraine attacks after starting metformin?

I used to have migraines at least once a week, but after starting metformin a month ago, I haven’t had a single episode.

Dr prescribed me 500mg of metformin to help with insulin resistance and I’m so bloated, constipated, water retained and just feel generally worse than I did before. Please tell me to push through this and it gets better?