January/February weight loss thread

[Triskeliongirl]

What does this all have to do with weight loss?

Well, when we eat carbs, we put our bodies in a hormonal state where insulin>glucagon. In simple language, insulin is a fat storage hormone while glucagon is a fat accessing hormone. If someone has really good glucose tolerance, then the time they spend in this state is small, so it shouldn't effect weight loss. But the more impaired your glucose tolerance is, the more time you spend in this state of insulin>glucagon. For me it meant I felt like I was starving on the bike, despite having glucose coarsing through my veins and fat stored all over my body And I was, cuz I still didn't secrete enough insulin to get the glucose into my cells, but as long as I was making a little insulin it kept glucagon down so I also couldn't access stored body fat either (and I was symptomatically hypoglycemic but when I would measure my BS I found out I was hyperglycemic when I felt this way). That is how I gained weight eating 1200 cal a day and biking 100 miles a week!

Like you Catherine this also happened as I cycled more. I think it was cuz I thought I needed to eat more carbs to cycle. It also happened cuz coincidentally our son's GF was eating with us a lot, and vegetarian, so we started to eat more pasta and dishes with a higher proportion of carbs to protein. I finally made the connection when I passed out after eating a plate of pasta and having my body temp plummet to 96! With the help of a very good endocrinologist we sorted it all out.

Another observation I've made is when I was heavier and rode with heavier women, they ate carbs constantly on the bike. As I leaned out and rode with leaner, faster, folks, I noticed they ate a lot less (both in terms of amount and frequency). Many also consume protein/carb combo drinks. I forgot to say that in addition to my protein drinks I eat almonds on long rides.