• Keep up to date with Ausbb via Twitter and Facebook. Please add us!
  • Join the Ausbb - Australian BodyBuilding forum

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.

    The Ausbb - Australian BodyBuilding forum is dedicated to no nonsense muscle and strength building. If you need advice that works, you have come to the right place. This forum focuses on building strength and muscle using the basics. You will also find that the Ausbb- Australian Bodybuilding Forum stresses encouragement and respect. Trolls and name calling are not allowed here. No matter what your personal goals are, you will be given effective advice that produces results.

    Please consider registering. It takes 30 seconds, and will allow you to get the most out of the forum.

Insulin Resistant..need help

M@YHEM

Member
So a friend of mine is Insulin resistant and is on 'meformin' to regulate the production. She trains her guts out on deficit diet but continues to put on weight.

I thought that maybe Intermittent Fasting could help with this. What are peoples thoughts.

Thanks in a advance.
 
so she's pre-diabetic?

what sort of macros is her diet? LC/Keto?

how long has she been eating at "deficit"?

has any sort of body re-composition occurred during this time that may render weight as a poor metric of progress?

does she have any data on her thyroid function? any chance she may be hypothyroid or hashimotos or something?
 
Last edited:
so she's pre-diabetic?

what sort of macros is her diet? LC/Keto?

how long has she been eating at "deficit"?

has any sort of body re-composition occurred during this time that may render weight as a poor metric of progress?

does she have any data on her thyroid function? any chance she may be hypothyroid or hashimotos or something?


Ill be looking into her current diet and working from there. From what she has told me she did 8 weeks of boot camps and specific diets(from a PT friend, whom I don't trust to know much about much) and has a zero effect. Possibly even putting on weight.
 
Last edited:
I received a msg from her.

"I did do a little research and saw the increase in polycysistc ovary syndrome (PCOS) cases rose once the cervical cancer injections took place. so thats what i have polycysitc ovary syndrom. i also have endometriosis and have had 5 surgeries. I have a lot of trouble with my hormone production and regualtion which is also made wose by PCOS and the insulin resistance. I am having some blood tests next week to see where all my levels are at as well."
 
maybe suggest that she asks her doc to include t3 and t4 (thyroid function) tests at the same time. even if it doesn't show anything useful now, it can go into her file and may help later on down the track.

ignoring all of her other issues in play, long periods of HIIT, boot camp style training combined with a heavy calorie deficit is very likely to slow her metabolism somewhat.

really interested to hear about her special diets...
 
Insulin is a form of growth hormone and will put on weight. If her blood glucose levels aren't right, she takes more insulin and will put on weight, no matter what her diet/exercise routine is like. My wife is type1 diabetic. Took her years to sort that shit out.
 
maybe suggest that she asks her doc to include t3 and t4 (thyroid function) tests at the same time. even if it doesn't show anything useful now, it can go into her file and may help later on down the track.

ignoring all of her other issues in play, long periods of HIIT, boot camp style training combined with a heavy calorie deficit is very likely to slow her metabolism somewhat.

really interested to hear about her special diets...

Ill get her to have them checked too. Like I said the boot camp was only about 8 weeks. Her friend probably put her on some 1000cal diet or something ridiculous like that, the PT is affiliated with that ashy bines fad.
She is a big girl and has been for quite some time(not sure of exact weight) she must be 90 plus.
 
Insulin is a form of growth hormone and will put on weight. If her blood glucose levels aren't right, she takes more insulin and will put on weight, no matter what her diet/exercise routine is like. My wife is type1 diabetic. Took her years to sort that shit out.

Was it a matter of fine tuning the macros or types of food, did she try keto?
 
Yes diet is incredible important so it's going to be hard for anyone to give advice without that starting point. But at this stage I'm sort of assuming you are correct in your assumption she started bootcamp and some crazy 1000 Cal plan, which is not the way she should be going.

Now I admit I am not a doctor or anything close but this is from reading I have done.

Sounds like her hormones are completely fucked up. Diabetes, PCOS and endo are all caused or can be made worse by crappiness in hormone levels and production.

Dropping the weigh she has will make everything better in the long term so that should be her ultimate goal. But doing it in sudden and drastic ways that are advertised everywhere and often targeted at women such as meal replacement shakes and sudden high intensity crappy exercise programs that are seen in things such as bootcamps can just make everything worse by messing up hormone levels further.

So she needs to be on diet and exercise that is sustainable while getting her to a managable weight. Limited carb diet would be the first thing to start off with. Keto would probably be good if you can get her to make the transition and stick with at least low carb.

The other thing is to get her to ditch the shit cardio like bootcamps and get her into a muscle gym to work with the weight and iron. Resistance training has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity so this is really the way to go. Plus it's awesome.

When doing my own research into eating styles I read quite a bit on marksdailyapple and other paleo/primal sites and forums. While I don't agree with everything on that site the basic premise is to eat clean foods with relatively low carbs and weight train. And this is what you friend should really be looking to do. Anyway on those forums there are heaps of women saying how eating like this has helped with PCOS and endo symptoms enormously.

She really wants to get off metformin as soon as she can so her body doesn't start to rely on it.
 
Yes diet is incredible important so it's going to be hard for anyone to give advice without that starting point. But at this stage I'm sort of assuming you are correct in your assumption she started bootcamp and some crazy 1000 Cal plan, which is not the way she should be going.

Now I admit I am not a doctor or anything close but this is from reading I have done.

Sounds like her hormones are completely fucked up. Diabetes, PCOS and endo are all caused or can be made worse by crappiness in hormone levels and production.

Dropping the weigh she has will make everything better in the long term so that should be her ultimate goal. But doing it in sudden and drastic ways that are advertised everywhere and often targeted at women such as meal replacement shakes and sudden high intensity crappy exercise programs that are seen in things such as bootcamps can just make everything worse by messing up hormone levels further.

So she needs to be on diet and exercise that is sustainable while getting her to a managable weight. Limited carb diet would be the first thing to start off with. Keto would probably be good if you can get her to make the transition and stick with at least low carb.

The other thing is to get her to ditch the shit cardio like bootcamps and get her into a muscle gym to work with the weight and iron. Resistance training has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity so this is really the way to go. Plus it's awesome.

When doing my own research into eating styles I read quite a bit on marksdailyapple and other paleo/primal sites and forums. While I don't agree with everything on that site the basic premise is to eat clean foods with relatively low carbs and weight train. And this is what you friend should really be looking to do. Anyway on those forums there are heaps of women saying how eating like this has helped with PCOS and endo symptoms enormously.

She really wants to get off metformin as soon as she can so her body doesn't start to rely on it.


Thank you, some great points. I'll take them on board as I'll be seeing her tomorrow to have a chat about all this stuff.
 
Last edited:
I was hesitant to suggest straight Keto because carb restriction to that degree is linked to thyroid down-regulation which is definitely not going to help at this point. that said, carb control and low-GI is probably important. something like paleo might be worth considering - simply restricting carbs (but not eliminating them) and focusing on good quality foods could be helpful.
 
Top