Finally saying hi — 20 lbs down, glucose up

Sep 2

Hey everyone, Ned here. 47, work nights at a parts warehouse, two teenagers, and a wife who's convinced I've lost my mind. Spring is when I finally got serious about the food side of things — cut the beer way back, killed most of the drive-thru runs, walking a few miles most days. Sleep still stinks thanks to the shift, but I'm logging food and weighing in most mornings like a guy with a spreadsheet problem. Down about 20 lbs and the jeans fit again, which honestly I did not think was going to happen.

But my last physical had my fasting sugar at 104, when it used to sit in the low 90s. Doctor kind of shrugged it off. Anyone else see that happen partway through losing weight? Did it settle down on its own, or was it something to actually worry about?

Sep 2

Same thing happened to me around week 10.

Sep 3

Same here, but mine went 89 to 103 while I lost 18 lbs. It settled after more rest and dinner carbs. CGM showed dawn effect.

Sep 3

Dawn effect was my first thought too. Are you checking right after waking or later?

Sep 3

Sleep might be the bigger variable than dawn effect. I saw fasting glucose drop 8 points just going from 6 to 7.5 hrs.

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Sep 3

Waist down 3 inches and lifting 4x is great. LDL can jump on low-carb-ish cuts. Was your fiber decent?

Sep 4

I'm 39 and 9 weeks into a cut. My A1c stayed 5.3 but fasting bounced 95-108. Stress and poor sleep wreck mine.

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Sep 4

With that fasting bounce, did you test before or after coffee?

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Sep 20

I test before coffee. Training fasted at 6am then eating at 11 made mine look worse.

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Sep 21

I had a similar stretch: 205 to 182 over 16 weeks, fasting glucose rose from 92 to 101, then came back to 94 after I stopped cutting so aggressively. What helped me was looking at the whole week, not one lab. My CGM showed a clear 5-7am rise, then stable daytime. If you're sleeping 6.5 and lifting 4x, recovery debt could be part of it. Not saying that's your case, just my pattern. Also, my LDL went from 98 to 127 during that cut, then settled once calories came back up. I track waist, sleep, and resting HR now, not just fasting glucose.

Sep 22

I'd push back a little on recovery debt being the main driver. My resting HR went up 6 bpm during my last hard cut and fasting glucose followed.

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Sep 27

What did your CGM show overnight? If it's flat until 4am then climbs, that points one way. If it's erratic all night, maybe sleep.

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Sep 28

Congrats on the 22 lbs. I'd kill for that waist change. Are you planning a maintenance phase soon?