One week later, and two kilograms lighter after following my version of a low-carb diet with the metformin, I went to see the recommended dietician. Very friendly lady who had a similar ballooning problem when she returned to the Netherlands after spending several years in Central Africa.

The diet she has given me can be summarised as follows:

300 grams meat, chicken, fish, nuts, egg or cheese
800 grams mixed vegetables
500 grams mixed fruit
about 3 tablespoons oil.

All of that divided into three portions across one day.

She calls it a low-carb diet, but I had my doubts. So I fed it t into Mastercook, using chicken for the protein part, and what do I get?

1517 calories
69.6 grams fat
178.1 grams carb (39.6 grams fibre)
50.8 grams protein

Percentage wise:
40.6% fat
46.2% carbs
13.2% protein

Low-carb? Not! In fact, 178 grams of carb is worth nearly 9 slices of whole grain bread. Hmm.

Better description would be grain-free, starch -free, even high-fibre. But there are carbs a-plenty! Cut out some of that oil, and the percentage carb shoots up way high!

So far results have been less dramatic than during my first week on metformin. Not that I'm eating anywhere near that amount of fruit or vegetables; my stomach is the size of a fist, not a football.

We'll see how it goes. I'm blogging the diet elsewhere. If you want to follow the progress, leave a comment and I'll add a link.