NLP, Weight gain, and increased A1C/Fasted glucose

Hi,

Is it normal or typical for A1C and glucose to elevate during a novice linear progression that includes substantial weight gain? At my recent annual physical, I had stellar HDL, triglycerides, and blood pressure readings (first normal BP reading in my life!), but my A1C came in at 5.7% and my fasted glucose was 95. Both are the highest I've ever tested. Typically, my A1C has been in the 4s and my glucose has been in the high 70s-low 80s.

Despite a few setbacks (COVID in June, appendectomy in August), my progress from January to September has been as follows:

Sex: Male -> Still male
Age: 40 -> 41
Height: 5'6" -> This like my sex is stubbornly unchanging :)
Weight: 151 -> 184 lbs
Squat 5RM: 205 -> 275
Deadlift 5RM: 225 -> 330
Bench 5RM: 185 -> 212.5
Press 5RM: 110 -> 135

This is the first time I've actually consumed enough calories to support my lifting goals. I've focused as much as possible on unprocessed foods, including quality meats, vegetables, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, oats, etc. I try to take a 10 minute walk after every meal, per Stan Efferding's advice.

I am interested in any insight you can offer on the A1C and glucose numbers and whether or not I should make some dietary tweaks to get them back down to my more typical results.

Thank you!
Patrick

If it is a single data point I'd retest again in 3 months or so. Do you have a breakdown of your macronutrients? Does diabetes run in your family?

So I wasn't tracking all macros closely, other than protein. Basically, I figured that as long as I was gaining about a pound a week, my calories and carbs were on track. My best guess is something like:

Protein: 150-200 g/day
Carbs: 150-250 g/day
Total Calories: ~3,300-3,500

The carbs primary came from fruit, steel cut oats, potatoes, sweet potatoes, white rice, vegetables, and beer :)

Prior to lifting, I was adhering pretty closely to the Primal Blueprint diet recommended by Mark Sisson. It took a major mental leap to get myself to eat more than 100g of carbs per day! All of my last 3 a1c/glucose readings were conducted while I was on the primal blueprint.

In terms of diabetes, the only case in my family I am aware of is my paternal grandmother, who died of diabetes-related kidney failure. Her overall diet and lifestyle were abysmal though.

What is primal blueprint? This could just be a temporary rebound if you went from low carb to high carb. How is your activity outside of the weight room? How often do you eat away from home and what do you have? What is your waist circumference?

Primal blueprint is basically a Paleo-style approach: no grains, no industrial seed oils, added sugars, keep carbs under 150 g/day, focus on whole foods, etc. I was on that style of eating for 2-3 years prior to starting LP in January. I eat the vast majority of meals at home, as cooking is my primary hobby. I'd estimate that I eat restaurant food 2-3 times per month. I do indulge in cocktails a few times per week, so there is some refined sugar in there that would be worth examining.

The coaches at Starting Strength Columbus took my waist circumference in August and it came out as 36". Prior to starting LP, it was about 32", so there was a pretty substantial jump in the first few months of weight gain.

As for other activity: During LP, I cut out running and other higher intensity cardio workouts, but try to stay active with 2-3 walks per day, biking my kids to school, walking around during work phone calls, etc. As stated above, I also like to fit in a 5-10 minute walk after meals, per Stan Efferding's recommendation. As I'm transitioning into intermediate programming, I was planning on adding some Echo Bike interval workouts into the mix as well.

Thank you for your feedback...I really appreciate the time you put into this board and I love the podcast!

You are welcome. Glad to hear it.

Well you aren't a big fat guy so my guess is this may be a temporary rebound effect from upping your carbs. I'd look into your drinking though because depending on the amount of alcohol and sugar, that could be playing into it.