Week 12: 8 lb down, CRP halved, glucose still flat?

CRP moving first makes sense if you're losing visceral fat. Scale is slow to show that. My hs-CRP dropped at week 6 before weight really moved.

I saw the same CRP-before-scale thing. But my fasting glucose only dropped once I was 20+ lb down.

20+ lb down? How long did that take you? I'm at week 14 and only down 6.8 lb.

Not everyone loses fast. I stalled weeks 8-11, then dropped 3 lb when I started weighing food again.

That sounds miserable. Did you change protein or just calories?

I'm a trial coordinator for an unrelated study, so I nerd out on this. NCT07401992 is recruiting and only has 62 enrolled; NCT06897475 has 200 and NCT06989203 has 140. None have posted headline results yet. That means most of what we compare here is still n=1 stuff. Your CRP shift could be real, but it could also be a mild infection or lab variance. A retest would tell you more, but I'm not a doctor.

n=1 is all I've got to work with. Ten weeks of tracking labs and food: CRP went 5.2 to 3.0, weight down 7 lb. Fasting glucose parked at 99 and won't budge.

Same pattern. Glucose didn't budge until I lost about 10% of body weight. CRP moved way earlier.

Don't be. The first 5% can take 16 weeks. Then it speeds up a little. Labs stay messy the whole time.

What did yoru doctor say about the flat glucose? Mine wanted a CGM for two weeks before changing anything.

The CGM idea is smart. My A1c was 5.7 at one lab draw and 5.5 about ten weeks after that, but the daily fasting readings jumped around a ton.

I got a CGM for 14 days after my week 12 draw. Fasting number was 99 at the lab, but my sensor showed 92 to 108 before coffee. Weirdly reassuring. I learned my morning readings track sleep more than dinner. Still no big change, just fewer mysteries.

That timeline helps. 14 weeks of logs here and the scale's only moved 6 lb, which is annoying. CRP went 4.8 to 3.2 and glucose 101 to 98 though. I keep it all on paper because apps make me obsessive. Slow, but at least it's a direction.

Week 12 here: 8 lb down, CRP halved, glucose shrugged. I’m calling it a moody lab.

I retested CRP two weeks later and it was 3.4, so not a one-off for me. Glucose still 99. I also had a rough sleep week, so I’m not reading too much into any single morning. Retest was worth it for my sanity.

My clinician suggested a CGM too, but I waited until week 16. It showed my fasting readings rise before dawn, then settle. I just noted it and moved on. No changes made. Data calmed me down more than the number did.

My A1c went 5.8 to 5.6 between week 6 and week 20. Daily finger sticks looked random: 96, 104, 98, 101. I stopped testing every day. Now I check twice a week and actually sleep better.

I hit 10% down around month five. That’s when fasting readings finally moved from low 100s to mid 90s. Before that, CRP was doing all the talking. Weight loss was lumpy, not linear. Week 12 me would’ve hated hearing that.

Trial coordinator’s point landed. I’m one guy with one cuff and too many spreadsheets. My week 12 CRP drop could be real, could be noise. I’ll keep logging weight, CRP, fasting glucose, sleep. No conclusions yet.

Fasting glucose was the last lab to budge for me, not the first. I dropped 14 lb over 4 months and mine sat at 99-103 the whole time, then finally slid to 91 once my waist crossed below 38 in. My CRP dropped way earlier too. Sleep and late dinners messed with my morning number more than the scale did, so I stopped expecting them to move together.

My CRP dropped from 5.1 to 2.3 by week 10, and my fasting glucose did basically nothing: 99 to 98. The surprise was that what finally nudged it wasn't cutting carbs harder, it was sleep. I started tracking my bedtime, and on nights I got under 6 hours my morning number ran 7-9 points higher than after 7.5 hours. Same food, same walking. I also noticed if I ate dinner after 8pm it showed up the next morning. Not saying that's your issue, but if you're only looking at weight and food, the sleep angle can hide in plain sight. Week 12 is still early for some of us.

Glucose is the stubborn ex who only texts back after you stop checkig the scale.

I'd trust the waist and CRP over fasting glucose at week 12, honestly. I lost 21 lb before my fasting glucose moved from 102 to 95, but my A1c shifted 0.4 earlier and my inflammation labs dropped first. What helped me stop spiraling was tracking weekly averages instead of single mornings, because one bad night of sleep or a salty weekend could bump it 6-8 points. Also, 8.4 lb and 1.5 in is legit progress. I started taking waist every Sunday morning, same spot, and comparing it to how my jeans fit rather than chasing the meter. The scale and glucose don't run on the same clock for everyone.

My morning readings track my sleep way harder than they track my weight. Back in weeks 4-9 I was averaging about 5.5 hours a night between a toddler and a work deadline, and my fasting number sat at 101-106 even in weeks I lost 1.5 lb. Two straight weeks of getting 7 to 7.5 hours and it slid back to 93-96 with nothing else changed. Worth logging sleep next to the number for a couple weeks.

Hi, I’m only week one so I have zero answers, but that CRP drop is really interesting. Small question: were both fasting glucose labs drawn around the same time of day? I’ve been tracking mine at home and 7am vs 9am can look like a totally different person, same weight and same dinner. Also, did the CRP change come with any less joint stiffness or puffiness you can feel, or is it only showing up on paper? Hope that’s not too nosy—just trying to learn what to track.

Veteran of the flat-fasting-glucose club here. There was a thread last year where several of us saw CRP and waist move first, while fasting glucose just sat there until around months 5–6. What finally made mine more useful was tracking a 1-hour post-meal number instead of only morning. Fasting is such a narrow snapshot, and it can stay stuck while post-meal excursions are already improving. Curious—have you looked at A1c or post-meal at all, or only fasting?

Mine was similar: fasting glucose was the last thing to budge. What finally helped me spot it was the “kid-adjacent” eating—toast crusts, a few crackers while packing lunches, handfuls while clearing plates. I started using the snack drawer only at set times (cheese stick + fruit) and closed the kitchen after 7:30 for two weeks. Morning numbers shifted before my weight did. Do you track your last bite time? Chaotic evenings were my blind spot.

My n=1 spreadsheet says fasting glucose is a lagging indicator. At week 12 I was down 9.2 lb and mine went 99→97; by week 17 it finally dropped to 91, after waist moved another inch. Single mornings are noisy, so I switched to a 14-day rolling average. CRP halving that fast makes me wonder if there was a separate inflammatory driver—mine tracks alcohol and a bad knee more than fat loss. Are you using a CGM, or just quarterly labs? If CGM, what's your overnight average versus the morning fingerstick? That split would tell you if it's dawn effect vs true baseline.

Fasting glucose is a poor early proxy for insulin sensitivity. It’s mostly overnight hepatic glucose output, so it can sit at 96 while A1c, fasting insulin, or postprandial numbers improve. Did you get those? CRP halving and waist -1.5 in suggest visceral fat/inflammation is responding before the fasting snapshot. I tracked a CGM for a month: fasting stayed 95–100, but my 2-hour post-meal excursions dropped first. If you have A1c or ALT, that’d tell a clearer story than the morning number alone.

Fasting glucose is partly a liver/dawn-phenomenon number, so it can lag while weight and inflammation markers improve. In the trials, A1c and post-meal glucose sometimes shift before fasting glucose looks dramatic. Do you have a baseline A1c, fasting insulin, or HOMA-IR? That’d tell a different story than one morning glucose. My n=1: fasting stayed 97–99 until about 15 lb down, then slid to low 90s; what moved earlier was my 1-hour post-meal reading on a CGM (160s → 130s). If you can borrow or rent a CGM for two weeks, the overnight vs. post-meal split is pretty clarifying.

Total newbie here (day 4), so I’m mostly reading and taking notes. Did your labs include A1c, or just fasting glucose? I’d be curious whether the average glucose moved even if the one fasting snapshot stayed flat. Also, was the draw at the same time and after the same fast length as your baseline? I’m only tracking portions and water so far, no labs yet, but I’m trying to learn what’s actually comparable. Following your update—8 lb and 1.5 inches sounds like real momentum, even if one number is lagging.

Standardizing draw time made my “fasting” glucose readable. I’m a landscaper, so mornings are weather-dependent—some labs happened after loading crews at 5am, some after sleeping in. Same sleep window, same draw time, no late snack got the trend to settle. CRP dropping hard while glucose barely budges isn’t odd; they aren’t synced. Waist down 1.5 in is real progress. Are your labs drawn on off days or after work mornings? If it’s mixed, 98 vs 96 may just be timing.

Broke student + dorm dining hours = my “fasting” glucose was really “midnight cereal” glucose. I added two columns to my spreadsheet: last bite time and sleep hours. CRP dropped, glucose stayed stubborn until I stopped inhaling granola at 11pm and kept cottage cheese/Greek yogurt + frozen berries in my mini fridge. Also a 10-min fake commute around the dorm after dinner. Are you tracking meal timing and sleep? That explained more for me than the scale did.

Tbh Curious whether you have an A1c or any CGM data. In the trials, 12-week fasting glucose is a narrow snapshot; mean glucose and post-meal excursions can improve before the morning number budges. My n=1 was similar: CRP and waist moved first, fasting glucose sat at 95–100, but my CGM average and post-dinner peaks dropped. Also, CRP isn’t purely fat-driven—poor sleep, a minor infection, or a flare can move it. Was your CRP checked twice, or just baseline/week 12? If you have an A1c, I’d look there before assuming glucose isn’t responding.

Road warrior here. My fasting glucose was stubborn too at first — what actually moved first was my post-dinner number and how I felt after hotel breakfast. I started tracking what I eat before the airport: lounge pastries vs. a bag of almonds + string cheese, and my next-morning

CRP is the fast KPI; fasting glucose is the laggy, noisy output. Mine sat 95–99 despite 15 lb down, then finally drifted into the high 80s after I added 2x/week full-body lifting and a 15-min post-dinner walk. Sleep debt and late dinners still move it more than the scale does. Are you tracking those two variables?

I’d want fasting insulin and trig/HDL, not just glucose. In my n=1, CRP fell around week 6 while fasting glucose sat at 97; what moved first was fasting insulin and ALT. Are you comparing same draw time, sleep, alcohol, and prior-day carbs? Fasting glucose is a laggy, noisy marker. If CRP dropped that much, I’d also ask what else changed—sleep, stress, dental stuff, anti-inflammatories. Do you have pre/post triglycerides or hs-CRP from the same lab? That’s the pair I’d trust more than

Hi, brand-new here — week one and still figuring out which end is up, so I mostly lurk. Your CRP drop is really interesting. One thing I’ve been tracking (pre-med, just my own nerdy spreadsheet) is that my fasting glucose reads higher after a bad sleep or a later-than-usual dinner, even when my weight doesn’t budge. Did your sleep or dinner timing shift at all over those 12 weeks? I’m curious whether that could explain part of the flatness while inflammation and waist are improving. Wishing you luck — 8.4 lb and 1.5 in is not nothing!

Cafe owner here, and the food-business grazing is so real. My fasting glucose stayed flat even while weight/waist moved; what finally shifted it was tracking my last bite time, not just portions. I’d “taste” soup, trim pastry, finish a broken cookie during close—easily a mini-meal at 8:30pm. I started keeping cut veg/hummus in the walk-in and sparkly water at the register, then ate my real dinner by 6:30. Fasting went from high 90s to low 90s over another month. CRP dropping like yours is a great sign. What time are you usually done nibbling/tasting at the cafe?

I saw the same lag. My 12-week: CRP 3.9→1.8, fasting glucose only 102→99, but trigs 156→112 and ALT 38→27. Glucose didn’t budge until I was down about 15 lb, then it slid to low 90s. I track a 14-day rolling average instead of single labs because one bad night shifts it. Did your panel include trigs/ALT or fasting insulin? Those moved earlier for me than glucose. Also curious whether

Our little hospital lab only does fasting draws before 9, and my insurance only covers them quarterly, so I started jotting sleep and supper timing next to the numbers. My glucose was flat-ish too, but it ran 8–10 points higher after nights I slept under 6 hours or ate late. The CRP drop is the win I’d frame. Are you tracking sleep or evening meals with your labs? A 15-minute walk after supper was the only thing that gently nudged my morning number, and it took a few weeks. Not dramatic, but it helped me quit staring at just the scale.

Airport/hotel person here. My fasting glucose was the last thing to budge, and it bounced way more than CRP. What finally made my spreadsheet make sense was logging sleep + travel: red-eye weeks, my fasting ran ~6–8 pts higher even with the same food; after a week of hotel-gym walks and eating dinner at a normal hour, it settled. Do you have A1c or any post-meal/CGM-ish data? Fasting alone is a tiny keyhole when your schedule changes city to city. Also jealous of that CRP drop—mine is stubborn.

Fellow broke student here. My 12-week was similar: weight and CRP moved, fasting glucose just yawned. What actually explained it was post