Reply With QuoteWell done. And a happy new year
I received some bad news in July 2020. My HbA1c/blood sugar levels were measured at over 110mmol/mol and, following a trip to hospital, I as officially diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. I'm 51 and was around 3 stone overweight. It shouldn't have been a surprise. At my somewhat inaptly named 'health man' just before my 50th birthday my blood sugar levels were measured around 50mmol/mol, a little over the normal range of 20-41mmol/mol. With regret, I didn't pay attention to the warning then.
Fast forward to last week, I had another blood test. I was delighted to find that my HbA1c was measured at 34mmol/mol, right in the middle of the normal range.
What's made the difference? Six months of a low carb diet. Nothing as extreme as a ketogenic diet, but no potatoes, bread, beer, rice, pasta or other processed sugary stuff. Loosing around 2 1/2 stone in the process has obviously helped.
I post this by way of a public marker that it is my intention to keep my HbA1c in the normal range and also to loose a little more weight if possible. By way of reflection, I wish I had learnt more about the low carb diet stuff earlier in my life. Like many of us in the 50 age range I suspect, I was bought up on breakfast cereals, toast and other carb-rich foods. It has taken quite a re-education on my part to take up an alternative approach. I've enjoyed learning about this from medical practitioners like David Unwin and others.
I don't think you ever truly cured from Type 2 diabetes. However, if I can keep my HbA1c in the normal range I think I'll be officially in remission. That's my next target.
Happy new year to you all.
Well done. And a happy new year
Congratulations! Being a low carber myself and same age that’s fantastic to hear. Include some resistance exercises and you will be sorted. Muscle burns a lot of energy / fat to make and maintain.
Yes, thanks for mentioning this. I'm hoping to start up the pilates classes again. I found these really good when I had back issues several years ago now. Will look out for some good YouTube videos to get started.Originally Posted by Chinnock
Well done that's amazing. I know a few people who had a Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis and went on keto and blood sugar levels are normal
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Thanks Ryan.
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Got diagnosed about 5 years ago, straight away I lost two stone and have weighed the same since,13 and half stone . Eating less carbs is great but I like my food and apart from cakes biscuits etc I eat what I want. One Metformin a day keeps me on track, but I do cycle over a hundred miles a week and swim days I don’t cycle, but with this bad weather cycling is off, as is my health club being shut, so now I am walking 5 miles a day. My Doctor said exercise is the key, he ain’t wrong. I am 65
Last edited by hilly10; 3rd January 2021 at 16:02.
Thanks for posting this. I was diagnosed as type 2 about 3 years ago now, and for the first half of that period had everything tightly under control with the help of a couple of Metformin per day. I let things slip when I was spending weekdays in Newcastle for 7/8 months and still haven't got properly back on track. This thread will be the catalyst to oing largely carb-free again, though... call it my news year's resolution.
Very well done and keep up the positive thing
Out of interest how did the guys who were diagnosed as Type 2 get to a situation where you were diagnosed? Did you have issues that led you to get checked or was it part of routine check ups?
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Well done on your achievements. The proof is here more than once that all of this is possible.
My diet is just dire, and the only exercise I get is walking back and forward between buses and the supermarket each day. That's 30 minutes a day though 5 days a week minimum, which is the minimum that we should be doing. I would cycle more, but the wind up here really puts you off, especially as I live in the countryside. Hopefully I will find motivation before I get a bad diagnosis.
That’s excellent news indeed, well done and keep it up. A lot of us, myself included, need to follow tour example :-)
In my case it was to much cheese rice and most things bad for you, and a sweet tooth.I only cycled once a week and thought that was enough, so sugar levels built up and then it was to late.
Due to having a heart attack 22 years ago I get a well man check up every year and about five years ago after a being border line for a while I tested as type 2 diabetic and took the medication the Doc gave me but carried on as normal, included in my diet back then would be a full English breakfast most days, up to half a loaf of bread a day either with meals or snacks, at least one bar of chocolate but normally a couple and basically anything sweet and unhealthy :)
I joined slimming world and lost 2 1/2 stone in four months I went from 14 1/2 to 12 stone, also lost my man boobs to a great extent :) and went from wearing 36 inch waist trousers to 32 inch and at my next blood test I was no longer type 2, well worth the effort and I am in my 70s.
I was wondering whether you have been able to track your HbA1c levels over this time. I'd be interested to know whether exercise alone enabled you to reduce these?
The final straw for me were things like: feeling parched most of the time and drinking a lot of water; constant need to urinate including getting up in the night (something I'd never had to do previously); generally feeling tired; cuts taking ages to heal; more frequent and common bacteria infections.
Great achievement. Perhaps you would like to share what you had for b’fast, lunch etc. Just to inspire.
Similar for me, being parched and weeing a lot (although sometimes hardly going even though I felt like I was bursting). I was also craving sugar, lost nearly two stone in weight and looked haggard. I actually thought I was dying.
I checked my bloods for the first six months then, after my weight loss I just eat good things. I went for my first year’s check and he said what ever you are doing keep doing it as your blood is bang on. The last four years have been the same. I eat healthy but still have the wife’s homemade cakes and a little of the seeded bread she makes. Rice Pasta Potatoes are a treat and I substitute Cauliflower for potatoes and still have tipple of wine most days. if you exercise as much as I do you can get away with eating most things.
I never eat dinner after 6.30 then it’s a mile walk with the dog. I will never eat again till 10am next day. I was told that going the bed after eating is the worst thing you can do as the carbs etc turn to sugar much faster. All I can say it works for me.
Paul
Fantastic! Many congratulations and great to hear your story.
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Loads of low carb recipes from sites like this: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/recipes
Also, low fat yoghurt and small amout of fruit for breakfast. Porridge oats on occasions. Lunch is stuff like scrambled egg (no toast), fish, sausages sometimes, etc.
Also, more of a Mediterranean type diet which is helped by an amazing deli in our town.
No snacking apart from small amount of nuts each day.
No beer, but plenty of whiskey!
Seriously, I have felt so much better from getting rid of large amounts of processed and unprocessed sugar. I'm determined to keep the new diet in place.
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As you know I have retired two weeks ago (My retirement Watch) I am going to change my way of living with Diabetes in a small way but I think it will help. Dinner as usual before 6pm then next morning before exercise a Yogurt then Breakfast will be 10.30 then lunch 1.30 but that will be fruit only.Loads of low carb recipes from sites like this: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/recipes
Also, low fat yoghurt and small amout of fruit for breakfast. Porridge oats on occasions. Lunch is stuff like scrambled egg (no toast), fish, sausages sometimes, etc.
Also, more of a Mediterranean type diet which is helped by an amazing deli in our town.
No snacking apart from small amount of nuts each day.
No beer, but plenty of whiskey!
Seriously, I have felt so much better from getting rid of large amounts of processed and unprocessed sugar. I'm determined to keep the new diet in place.
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Thanks for this!Loads of low carb recipes from sites like this: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/recipes
Also, low fat yoghurt and small amout of fruit for breakfast. Porridge oats on occasions. Lunch is stuff like scrambled egg (no toast), fish, sausages sometimes, etc.
Also, more of a Mediterranean type diet which is helped by an amazing deli in our town.
No snacking apart from small amount of nuts each day.
No beer, but plenty of whiskey!
Seriously, I have felt so much better from getting rid of large amounts of processed and unprocessed sugar. I'm determined to keep the new diet in place.
Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
Fantastic site with loads of videos and recipes and worth the monthly subscription after the free trial period.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/
Congrats, very impressive! I’m a big fan of low carb diets - sadly not as committed as miss.
Anyway some low carb sides ideas to replace pasta/potatoes/rice
- cooked vegetables like broccoli, beans, asparagus are great with a heap of butter. The key is not overcooking them. Buy the seasonal ones.
- Mash veggies and add cream/butter - cauliflowers are great for this
- creamed spinach, divine with for example salmon or in fact anything
- cabbage is your new friend. Try pan fry Savoy cabbage! Also they are all great oven baked
- veggies in oven covered by cheese
- coleslaw
- Greek salad, be generous with the olive oil
- Waldorf salad
- sauces like hollandaise, with fat fish and asparagus you have a top notch meal
- halloumi and other cheeses like feta
- omelettes are surprisingly versatile
- mushrooms. Try pan fry them with butter, garlic, and toss in fresh parsley at the end. Delish!
- swedes and other root vegetables are lower in carb than potatoes and great roasted. Same with squashes
- nuts are great for snacking if you are peckish, but learn which are lower in carbs
- stews and the likes (curries etc) can often be topped up with additional stuff to avoid the need for a side altogether.
- peanut butter is amazing, just buy the unsweetened!!
Yesterday, Mrs K mentioned different diets for different blood groups. Never heard of this before but does seem to be a thing. Is it quackery or there's science behind it?
For example, BG O - high protein, plenty of meat, less dairy, beans and grains; BG A - less meat but plenty of fish, fruit, grains and vegetables.
Congrats OP. I feel that everyone should have regular health checks although very aware that sometimes ignorance is bliss.
Exercise and low carb diets can work but there are tastier and less strenuous ways of losing weight and losing it permanently. I've mentioned Prof Tim Spector's books previously ... he's interviewed on R4 most weeks ... and recommended by Nigella L
http://www.tim-spector.co.uk/the-diet-myth/
... and his latest book is a revelation https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spoon-Fed-a...a-917748243110
dunk
Last edited by sundial; 5th January 2021 at 01:13.
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
Recent Tim Spector interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPJQcF4yUDA
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
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