I have been working on lowering my A1c, which is around 5.5 to 5.7. I lost 2 inches off my waist, which is now around 31 inches, but there have been no meaningful changes in my A1c. I cut my carbs by 30 percent and now eat about 150 grams per day, but again, no meaningful change.
Now I am trying to increase my soluble fiber intake. I already consume about 30 grams of fiber per day, but most of it is insoluble, I increase it to 40g.
Here is my question. I have been wondering whether I might be training too hard, causing my liver to produce more glucose to fuel the workouts.
My first meal is very low in carbs, just a peanut butter sandwich and a serving of yogurt. Then I do 45 minutes of cardio(mostly z2), followed by barbell training. I am currently running the Bodybuilding II template. On barbell off days(tuesdays and fridays), I do cardio for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, with around 35 minutes of vigorous activity.
Good to hear from you again. Seems like we’re still working on getting your metabolic health sorted.
On the one hand, losing 2” around your waist should improve insulin sensitivty and metabolic health, mainly due to the reduction in “belly” or visceral fat. That waist reduction is likely associated with a ~6kg weight reduction. If you haven’t lost weight, then I’d want to investigate this a bit further.
Regarding your dietary changes, it’s also good that you increased fiber, though I’m not sure the type matters much. We would encourage a wide variety of sources, if possible.
For your training, no, there’s no chance you are training too hard or too much in a manner that affects your A1C at all. I would recommend doing conditioning before barbell training in almost all cases, instead opting for the reverse order.
Regarding this issue, I think you have done an excellent job trying to DIY it. However, I believe you would benefit from additional guidance from a professional. I think cutting off the learning curve will help you get their faster. We are available for consultation to help if that’s something you’re interested in.
Thank you, Jordan. I have two consultations scheduled, one with an endocrinologist and one with a dietitian, in about two months. In the meantime, I am trying to help myself as much as I can.
One thing I was considering is that it might be the cardio. My doctor thinks I may be doing too much, so I was trying to rule that out. I know that one of BBM mission is to educate doctors on exercising, but its a blind spot for most professionals rn, its difficult to navagate that
I also messed up the waist measurement. I use the metric system, and I know you also can. It was actually a 4 cm reduction and 3.5 kg lost over about 4 months. I should have used metric from the beginning.
At the moment, they think things seem stable. However, if things worsen or remain too stable without improvement, I will seek a second opinion.
Yea, it’s definitely not too much cardio but I can understand it can be challenging for physicians to be well steeped in exercise science. I would prefer that they exercised a bit more caution around phrasing, but that’s another topic.
It seems like you’re highly motivated to make changes, but so far, have not been able to really get a satisfactory result. I think having more of a working relationship would likely be helpful. If/when you’re up for it, we’ll be here.