type 2 / metformin / want to put on weight

[Seniz]

Dear all,
Since January 2025, I’ve been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Before that, I had managed to lose enough weight to put my prediabetes into remission, but unfortunately, it didn’t work.
I went from 63 kg down to 50 kg, and my GP confirmed the diagnosis and started me on Metformin—initially 500 mg once a day, gradually increasing to 500 mg three times a day. Despite this, my blood sugar levels still fluctuate—some days they’re low, good, or high.
Now I weigh just 45 kg, and at 150 cm tall, I find myself quite slim. This has become a concern for me.
I’m wondering if you could advise me: how can I gain some healthy weight without raising my blood sugar levels?

Thanks xxx

 

[rebrascora]

What dietary regime are you following to manage your diabetes?

If you are following a low calorie diet then you might be better switching to a low carbohydrate way of eating and including more healthy fats for calories to prevent further weight loss and pehaps increase weight if you are under weight.

You mention that your levels are sometimes low, sometimes good and sometimes high,
What are you using to measure your levels? ie. a BG meter or a CGM sensor system Like Libre or Dexcom?
What sort of low readings are you getting and when are those lows happening?
Also how high are they going?
I am assuming the highs are after meals? If so, are you keeping a food diary along with your readings so that you can see which meals cause the highest spikes?

 

[Leadinglights]

Dear all,
Since January 2025, I’ve been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Before that, I had managed to lose enough weight to put my prediabetes into remission, but unfortunately, it didn’t work.
I went from 63 kg down to 50 kg, and my GP confirmed the diagnosis and started me on Metformin—initially 500 mg once a day, gradually increasing to 500 mg three times a day. Despite this, my blood sugar levels still fluctuate—some days they’re low, good, or high.
Now I weigh just 45 kg, and at 150 cm tall, I find myself quite slim. This has become a concern for me.
I’m wondering if you could advise me: how can I gain some healthy weight without raising my blood sugar levels?

Thanks xxx

Blood glucose does vary throughout the day and night so what you are seeing may just be normal variation in response to food, exercise, etc. The real indicator of your diabetes management would be your HbA1C result, has that changed, gone up, or down.
I would be concerned by your weight loss unless you are just not eating enough protein and healthy fats to replace reducing your carbohydrate intake.
I would suggest the weight loss needs investigating and it could indicate you may be Type 1 or some other non diabetes reason.

 

[Inka]

@Seniz You mentioned some of your family have diabetes and I think some take insulin? It might just be you’re following a family pattern, not that you’re doing anything wrong.

 

[JITR]

I’m wondering if you could advise me: how can I gain some healthy weight without raising my blood sugar levels?

To answer your question, follow a nutritious diet with plenty of protein and healthy fats along with a variety of fruit and vegetables. The Freshwell Meal Planner and Red, Amber, Green food list infographic is a good basic guide to what to eat.

Exercise as much as you can to keep in good shape.

 

[HeatherC92]

Hi,

I have just been diagnosed as type 2 and I am similar to you. I am 45kg and 164cm. The advice I have been given is to snack even if I don’t feel hungry, for example eat your three normal meals ( I eat minimal carbs ). When I balance my plate I always choose full fat options, for eg full fat Greek yoghurts and cheeses and healthy fats like avacado etc. I then got told to snack in between at set times each day if you can. Snack with things that don’t raise blood sugars but are healthy fats/ proteins. I have found nuts, some protein bars with low carbs are good. I sometimes have to force myself to eat so I don’t continue to loose weight.

 

[JimmyBlue]

Hi @Seniz, I am busy trying to put weight on and do this through increasing my calorie consumption while maintaining a less than 130g/day carb intake. As HeatherC92 says, making sure that you snack on healthy things or as per JITR and LeadingLights make sure that you eat more protein and healthy fats as that will boost your calories too.

 

[Inka]

Hi,

I have just been diagnosed as type 2 and I am similar to you. I am 45kg and 164cm. The advice I have been given is to snack even if I don’t feel hungry, for example eat your three normal meals ( I eat minimal carbs ). When I balance my plate I always choose full fat options, for eg full fat Greek yoghurts and cheeses and healthy fats like avacado etc. I then got told to snack in between at set times each day if you can. Snack with things that don’t raise blood sugars but are healthy fats/ proteins. I have found nuts, some protein bars with low carbs are good. I sometimes have to force myself to eat so I don’t continue to loose weight.

That’s a worryingly low BMI of 16.7. I speak as someone who’s very slim myself. It sound like you might need to eat more carbs and maybe have medication to allow you to do so. I’m Type 1 but I’ve tried minimal carb diets two or three times. Apart from other difficulties, I just could not keep weight on even though I was eating loads, including lots of cheese, butter and cream. Without sufficient carbs, some (many?) people can’t maintain weight. Losing too much weight can mean muscle loss, and cause damage.

Looking back, I see you mentioned MODY because your case was quite unusual. Did anything come of that?

 

[Seniz]

What dietary regime are you following to manage your diabetes?

If you are following a low calorie diet then you might be better switching to a low carbohydrate way of eating and including more healthy fats for calories to prevent further weight loss and pehaps increase weight if you are under weight.

You mention that your levels are sometimes low, sometimes good and sometimes high,
What are you using to measure your levels? ie. a BG meter or a CGM sensor system Like Libre or Dexcom?
What sort of low readings are you getting and when are those lows happening?
Also how high are they going?
I am assuming the highs are after meals? If so, are you keeping a food diary along with your readings so that you can see which meals cause the highest spikes?

Hi Thank you for your replied.

To be honest, without following any specific diet plan, I simply cut out all the carbs and sweets I used to enjoy—and gradually, I lost all the weight.

Two hours after eating, if my blood sugar is around 7, I generally feel good.

My GP D.Nurse gave me BG mater it is call GLUCOFIX TECH GK.

Two days ago, around 6 p.m. after work, I checked my blood sugar and it was 4.1—even though I had lunch at 1:30 p.m. I am not really sure maybe i dont eat enough? but if i eat than it goes up
Sometimes it drops to 4.1. One time, I ate bulgur wheat salad, and 4.5 hours later, my sugar level was 14.7

I will try food diary...
Depending on how I feel, I usually check my blood sugar about two hours after a meal.

xxx

 

[Seniz]

Blood glucose does vary throughout the day and night so what you are seeing may just be normal variation in response to food, exercise, etc. The real indicator of your diabetes management would be your HbA1C result, has that changed, gone up, or down.
I would be concerned by your weight loss unless you are just not eating enough protein and healthy fats to replace reducing your carbohydrate intake.
I would suggest the weight loss needs investigating and it could indicate you may be Type 1 or some other non diabetes reason.

On August 11th, I’m going to give blood and see the nurse. On August 19th,
I’m hoping my HbA1c has dropped, but honestly, I’m not so sure.
I really hope I’m not type 1—I’d be very upset if I were.

xxx

 

[Seniz]

@Seniz You mentioned some of your family have diabetes and I think some take insulin? It might just be you’re following a family pattern, not that you’re doing anything wrong.

Thank you for your reply.

Yes you are correct.

I really hope I’m not type 1—I’d be very upset if I were."

xxx

 

[Lucyr]

I really hope I’m not type 1—I’d be very upset if I were.

Why upset? Have you had any tests for type 1?

 

[Seniz]

To answer your question, follow a nutritious diet with plenty of protein and healthy fats along with a variety of fruit and vegetables. The Freshwell Meal Planner and Red, Amber, Green food list infographic is a good basic guide to what to eat.

Exercise as much as you can to keep in good shape.

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, I’ll take a look at those meal plans.

xxx

 

[Seniz]

Hi,

I have just been diagnosed as type 2 and I am similar to you. I am 45kg and 164cm. The advice I have been given is to snack even if I don’t feel hungry, for example eat your three normal meals ( I eat minimal carbs ). When I balance my plate I always choose full fat options, for eg full fat Greek yoghurts and cheeses and healthy fats like avacado etc. I then got told to snack in between at set times each day if you can. Snack with things that don’t raise blood sugars but are healthy fats/ proteins. I have found nuts, some protein bars with low carbs are good. I sometimes have to force myself to eat so I don’t continue to loose weight.

Thank you for your reply. I love yogurt and cheese, but my cholesterol is high too . Still, I’ll look into your advice and try to follow it religiously

xxx

 

[Inka]

Thank you for your reply.

Yes you are correct.

I really hope I’m not type 1—I’d be very upset if I were."

xxx

MODY is a genetic form of diabetes and different from Type 1 @Seniz

 

[Seniz]

Hi @Seniz, I am busy trying to put weight on and do this through increasing my calorie consumption while maintaining a less than 130g/day carb intake. As HeatherC92 says, making sure that you snack on healthy things or as per JITR and LeadingLights make sure that you eat more protein and healthy fats as that will boost your calories too.

Thank you for your answr
I’m going to read and listen to every piece of advice from the group. It’s hard to find the right balance on my own.
Funny enough, I’m 50 years old, and my whole life I’ve had to answer people asking why I’m overweight or why I don’t lose weight. Now, people are criticizing me for being slim!"

xxx

 

[Seniz]

Why upset? Have you had any tests for type 1?

I think managing type 1 is even harder—I haven’t managed type 2 properly yet. I’m also scared of sudden drops in my blood sugar (type 1 medications cause) . I get anxious about going out, worried I might suddenly feel unwell and panic.
Right now, I only have HbA1c blood tests and home tests. Are there any other blood tests I should be doing?

 

[Inka]

There are blood tests that can help determine diabetes type if there’s doubt @Seniz They are the Type 1 antibodies test and the C Peptide test. Tests for MODY are different.

Was your dad diagnosed with Type 1? Or Type 2 on insulin?

 

[rebrascora]

4.1 is a normal reading for a non-diabetic person, so I wouldn't be overly concerned about those. Hypos are actually considered true hypos when they are 3.5 or below. Those of us on insulin and medicines like Gliclazide consider below 4 as hypo because we need to preserve our hypo awareness as much as possible plus those medicines can drop you dangerously low if you have accidentally overdosed, so if we can treat it before 3.5 then it will come back up quicker.

It sounds like your insulin production is able to cover your basal needs (the glucose trickled out by your liver day and night) hence you are getting some normal readings and perhaps covering some of your food too, but it perhaps isn't able to release enough to cover high carb foods like the bulgur wheat you had.

I agree that a C-peptide test would be useful as this can indicate how much insulin your body is able to produce. The test would be best done when you have eaten a good amount of carbs and your levels are high. This is called a stimulated test because the high BG levels should stimulate your pancreas to produce as much insulin as it can to bring your levels back down. If you are sent for a C-peptide test then it would be important to have something carb rich before the test so that your levels are high (mid teens ish) when they take the blood sample. I think a fasting blood test might be less helpful for you because your liver output is probably quite low with having a low body weight.

The above is all just speculation on my part but putting the information that you have given us together that sort of makes sense of the readings you are getting at the moment. Removing a lot of the carbs from your diet may be masking the fact that you have limited insulin production.