Carb flu - how to get past it?

[akindrat18]

OK. You’re not going to enjoy this post, but I have to write it and you need to read it.

In preparation for this post, I wanted to do a search of your thread for a post I made to you some time ago, where I stated in pretty clear words, of as few syllables as I could muster just exactly how your actions of that time were f&*^ing with your mind, your body and frankly putting you into a position where you have the revolver od diabetic of Russian roulette at your temple. But, I couldn’t find it. But the search was valuable because it was a real straightener for me, and informed me of even more hard facts which do nothing to disabuse me of my Russian roulette theory.

Bottom line is; these thread have been running, in one form or another since your first post of 25th November 2012. Yes, 2012. That’s almost a year longer then I have been diagnosed.. But the sad, worrying, awful thing about all 38 threads you have created is how few of them indicate any real progress, and certainly their quantum shouts loud and clear that the success you have enjoyed along the way, and don’t get me wrong, there have been some, have been short-lived and not sustained. Unfortunately, that isn’t the way diabetes works for a great outcome. The potential long term consequences of that kind of activity aren’t good, and you know it.

Right now, I can’t decide what is driving your particular brand of self-destructive behaviour. I’m not clever enough to get to the bottom of that, but the bottom line is you need help I seriously doubt we can give you on the Internet. You need counselling. Indeed, you’ve had some counselling, but I don’t know what brought that to an end. Maybe the end of your degree and therefore your time in your Uni city. I don’t know.

But bottom line is you are bouncing around like a diabetic steel ball in a pinball machine; bouncing off the buffers, triggering alarm bells, sometimes happy bells and round you go again, until you come right down the middle of the pinball playing field and straight into the gutter, ending that play of the game.

Absolute bottom line is you have to decide what you’re going to do and stick to it. Choose one set of advisors, whoever that is, and stick with them.

Last night I just couldn’t get the good old Dolly Parton song out of my mind,…… “Here you go again”, and this morning I actually called it up on YouTube, and it really can be applied to you. In the song, Dolly represents you and the person she sings about is your attitude to your diabetes, and your constantly changes in approach to your care, and self care. Watch it and overlay those thoughts.

Now, today, choose your which route you are going to adopt and stick with it. Thus far, the influencers I have read you cite are:

· GP at home
· GP at Uni
· Nurse at home
· Nurse at Uni
· Parents
· Flatmates
· Counsellor
· Hospital Doctors
· Personal Trainers
· T’internet – Here I have no idea if you subscribe elsewhere
. There are probably more I don't understand

You appear to listen to the person shouting loudest at any given moment. That’s simply not going to work. From somewhere inside you, you have to summon up your own voice, your own will and some application.

As I said, at the beginning of this post, I’m sure this isn’t comfortable reading for you. It hasn’t been so comfortable to write either, but I have reached the end of the “There, there” platitudes.

You are a bright young man, who needs to apply a few of those grey cells to steady, progressive thought. You need help, but more than anything else you need to help yourself, and until such times as you decide to help yourself properly, our efforts to support you will be futile.

AndBreathe said "You appear to listen to the person shouting loudest at any given moment. That’s simply not going to work. From somewhere inside you, you have to summon up your own voice, your own will and some application."

I totally agree with this. This is where I was for years, but thankfully the only health issue I had then was my weight. I wasn't diabetic back then. As AndBreathe says, and as I have said before, you need counselling. I don't believe you will find a way forward without good quality help. Please speak to your GP about this. I was referred for 8 sessions of counselling by my GP. The counsellor was so good that I decided to carry on seeing her and have had 25 sessions now. Your issues with food go much deeper than simply figuring out why you binge at any given moment. This isn't about will power or even carb addiction. Carb addiction doesn't take that long to beat if you are dedicated. I don't feel you will be able to beat it until you face some deep seated issues. You probably don't really know what those deep down issues are. I didn't. Counselling is not cheap, but then neither is the kick boxing.

I understand now why I, like you, kept self sabotaging my own plans. There is a reason that your own will can't surface and you end up relying on others. You need help in discovering those reasons and you need it now. If you don't get that help now I can only see a bleak future ahead for you.

I'm afraid only you can do this Akindrat.

@AndBreathe @zand

You are both totally right, I feel like I've been on a Yo-yo for the past several months; neglecting my health, medication, uni work and mental health. 2 days ago I wrote to a local mental health charity to access counselling and below is what I wrote and how I felt at the time:

I am in need of some face to face counselling as I am having major mental health issues as I've been having suicidal thoughts and been feeling depressed for months due to finishing university and dealing with the pressures of assignments, finding work and waiting anxiously for my results. I don't know what to do or who to turn to as I've been speaking with Samaritans which has helped slightly, but last week when I ended up in hospital with high blood sugars as I am diabetic, I just broke down crying in front of my nan and she suggested that I should seek help.

The doctors and nurses that I now see in my home town are useless to the ones that I saw when I was studying in Derby for 3 years. It was at Derby when I got diagnosed with Type 2 in October 2012, in my home town the doctors refused to test me for diabetes.

I've got to admit that in the past the few weeks that I've been bingeing on ****, not testing my blood sugars regularly as my current gp will not supply testing strips for my meter true result, they will only supply wavesense strips for the jazz meter which I don't like. I've tried convincing my gp that LCHF does work, but he will not listen and it gets me really angry and I tell my parents this. My parents are really supportive, but they will still buy biscuits and ice cream and I cannot help myself but eat a couple or have an ice cream cone.

I've tried everything apart from eating to what my blood sugar meter is saying and maybe I need to start doing this from now on and eating high protein, moderate fat , low carb.

 

[zand]

Well done. Keep posting.

 

[AndBreathe]

@AndBreathe @zand

You are both totally right, I feel like I've been on a Yo-yo for the past several months; neglecting my health, medication, uni work and mental health. 2 days ago I wrote to a local mental health charity to access counselling and below is what I wrote and how I felt at the time:

I am in need of some face to face counselling as I am having major mental health issues as I've been having suicidal thoughts and been feeling depressed for months due to finishing university and dealing with the pressures of assignments, finding work and waiting anxiously for my results. I don't know what to do or who to turn to as I've been speaking with Samaritans which has helped slightly, but last week when I ended up in hospital with high blood sugars as I am diabetic, I just broke down crying in front of my nan and she suggested that I should seek help.

The doctors and nurses that I now see in my home town are useless to the ones that I saw when I was studying in Derby for 3 years. It was at Derby when I got diagnosed with Type 2 in October 2012, in my home town the doctors refused to test me for diabetes.

I've got to admit that in the past the few weeks that I've been bingeing on ****, not testing my blood sugars regularly as my current gp will not supply testing strips for my meter true result, they will only supply wavesense strips for the jazz meter which I don't like. I've tried convincing my gp that LCHF does work, but he will not listen and it gets me really angry and I tell my parents this. My parents are really supportive, but they will still buy biscuits and ice cream and I cannot help myself but eat a couple or have an ice cream cone.

I've tried everything apart from eating to what my blood sugar meter is saying and maybe I need to start doing this from now on and eating high protein, moderate fat , low carb.

Well done for reaching out, and I do hope you can begin counselling very soon.

If I could just make a couple of points.

Whilst I sympathise that your GP won't prescribe strips for your preferred meter. What's so terrible about the Wavesense? I have no knowledge or experience of it. But, if he is firmly resolved not to swap your prescription, then you may need to swallow your pride on this one, and get on with it. It is too important that you test so be in a stand-off over your testing tools.

And as far as trying to persuade your GP of the benefits of LCHF, in your shoes, I might be inclined to stop persuading him of any particular diet and tell him you intend to eat to your meter. In other words, reduce or stop the things that spike your bloods, and top up on the things that don't. In reality that means you will be reducing your carbs, and filling up on fat.

Fortunately, I didn't have any of those difficult conversations, as I didn't seen anyone after diagnosis for a few months, by which time my HbA1c had reduced from 73 to 37, and the only feedback I had was "keep doing what you're doing". I feel really hopeful that if you start getting your sugars into line, he will be more interested in your continuing in that way, rather than telling you how to eat.

Do your parents realise you've now bumped off the bottom, emotionally? Perhaps your parents would help you out by cutting back on some of the naughty stuff for a while, until you get into your stride.

You've had periods of great improvements in the past, so you can do it, and you must remember that. A journey begins with the first step, so just concentrate on metaphorically getting one foot in front of the other.

 

[Totto]

Hi @akindrat18 You don't need to convince your GP LCHF work. You only have to convince yourself. You are an adult now, with a degree. Make your own choices and stand by them.

And test, regardless of meter make. You can buy the SD codefree meter with the cheap test strips if you want to.

 

[akindrat18]

Well done for reaching out, and I do hope you can begin counselling very soon.

If I could just make a couple of points.

Whilst I sympathise that your GP won't prescribe strips for your preferred meter. What's so terrible about the Wavesense? I have no knowledge or experience of it. But, if he is firmly resolved not to swap your prescription, then you may need to swallow your pride on this one, and get on with it. It is too important that you test so be in a stand-off over your testing tools.

And as far as trying to persuade your GP of the benefits of LCHF, in your shoes, I might be inclined to stop persuading him of any particular diet and tell him you intend to eat to your meter. In other words, reduce or stop the things that spike your bloods, and top up on the things that don't. In reality that means you will be reducing your carbs, and filling up on fat.

Fortunately, I didn't have any of those difficult conversations, as I didn't seen anyone after diagnosis for a few months, by which time my HbA1c had reduced from 73 to 37, and the only feedback I had was "keep doing what you're doing". I feel really hopeful that if you start getting your sugars into line, he will be more interested in your continuing in that way, rather than telling you how to eat.

Do your parents realise you've now bumped off the bottom, emotionally? Perhaps your parents would help you out by cutting back on some of the naughty stuff for a while, until you get into your stride.

You've had periods of great improvements in the past, so you can do it, and you must remember that. A journey begins with the first step, so just concentrate on metaphorically getting one foot in front of the other.

Wavesense is not bad, but its not that good as the results in the past tend to differ significantly. But with the true result, it is more accurate than the wavesense. My parents have been helpful, but my dad will not step back from the carbs. Yesterday, I had to pick out biscuits and chocolate bars for my family when I was shopping at aldi with my mum. My mum fully understands the situation that I'm in and does her best to get healthy foods in now as when she sees me when I come from the gp I look frustrated as they do not listen. The kickboxing training has been helpful, but I miss going to a proper gym and now stuck with a yearly membership that I didn't even want, but my mum insisted.

Today I will be getting my test strips at midday and I feel OK after having bowl of porridge and black tea. The porridge had 16 grams of carbs. With milk it had 27 grams so I skipped the milk and just added water. I went swimming for the first time in months 2 days ago and I felt fantastic afterwards.

 

[AndBreathe]

Wavesense is not bad, but its not that good as the results in the past tend to differ significantly. But with the true result, it is more accurate than the wavesense. My parents have been helpful, but my dad will not step back from the carbs. Yesterday, I had to pick out biscuits and chocolate bars for my family when I was shopping at aldi with my mum. My mum fully understands the situation that I'm in and does her best to get healthy foods in now as when she sees me when I come from the gp I look frustrated as they do not listen. The kickboxing training has been helpful, but I miss going to a proper gym and now stuck with a yearly membership that I didn't even want, but my mum insisted.

Today I will be getting my test strips at midday and I feel OK after having bowl of porridge and black tea. The porridge had 16 grams of carbs. With milk it had 27 grams so I skipped the milk and just added water. I went swimming for the first time in months 2 days ago and I felt fantastic afterwards.

I know you must love your Mum and Dad, and that's to be commended, but with respect, I would be inclined to ask your Mum to pick out her own treats when you both go to Aldi. If she were in your shoes, could she cope with actively choosing the very things she is trying to avoid?

I'm sure she doesn't mean to be thoughtless, but I think a conversation is probably in order.

I'm in UK at the moment, and missing my daily swimming in the ocean, but here, I live a long way from the sea, at it's a bit colder here! Never mind, I'll stick to peddling round the village on my bike.

Good luck with it all.

 

[Mike d]

Nothing wrong if you accompany the kick boxing with remedial work of your own and on your own. Try it and get walking and (especially) up and down stairs. Don't overdo it but it's free and will have you feeling better.

Still not crazy about your porridge, but hey, at least you're on your way

 

[Kingsland]

Wow, that was some straight talking!
Congratulations of your weight loss, you must have been doing something right. Can't you take tiny baby-steps into low carbing instead of going bang-slam into cutting down from (what was it?) 150g per day to 50? how about starting with 100 this week?
If you really crave sweetness - have you tried Wensleydale cheese with cranberries ........ ok there's carbs in the fruit but now that many, also greek yoghurt with a few berries? Diabetic ice cream is a bit 'iffy' but acceptable so long as you don't eat the boxfull, but if you can make your own from double cream and sugar ....... its delicious.
Bite the bullet and tell your friends - honestly they really DO try their best to help (well they do if they're really friends).

 

[akindrat18]

I know you must love your Mum and Dad, and that's to be commended, but with respect, I would be inclined to ask your Mum to pick out her own treats when you both go to Aldi. If she were in your shoes, could she cope with actively choosing the very things she is trying to avoid?

I'm sure she doesn't mean to be thoughtless, but I think a conversation is probably in order.

I'm in UK at the moment, and missing my daily swimming in the ocean, but here, I live a long way from the sea, at it's a bit colder here! Never mind, I'll stick to peddling round the village on my bike.

Good luck with it all.

I've had the conversation with my parents and my mum says that she buys the junkfood for my dad, as he only snacks on junk food like crisps and biscuits. Today I was unable to receive my test strips as the pharmacist said that they will be available tomorrow morning. Today I had a salad wrap for lunch, snacked on some fig rolls, Jaffa cakes and nuts (naughty I know), then for my dinner I had white fish cooked in olive oil, mixed herbs and a ginger and chilli spice, with deepfried sweet potato fries and a slice of seeded bread with mayo. Just now I've had a digestive, cookie and a oaties biscuit.

Wow, that was some straight talking!
Congratulations of your weight loss, you must have been doing something right. Can't you take tiny baby-steps into low carbing instead of going bang-slam into cutting down from (what was it?) 150g per day to 50? how about starting with 100 this week?
If you really crave sweetness - have you tried Wensleydale cheese with cranberries ........ ok there's carbs in the fruit but now that many, also greek yoghurt with a few berries? Diabetic ice cream is a bit 'iffy' but acceptable so long as you don't eat the boxfull, but if you can make your own from double cream and sugar ....... its delicious.
Bite the bullet and tell your friends - honestly they really DO try their best to help (well they do if they're really friends).

The weight loss, I was still eating packets of biscuits every few days, not so much now as my appetite for junk food has decrease significantly. Its when i'm outside when I really give up, but when I was out today outside of subway, I bought some meatballs and cheese and I felt full from that one single pot for only £1.40.

 

[zand]

I know my situation is different to yours akindrat, but what I did when I became diabetic was to tell the family that I would no longer be buying biscuits, snacks, fizzy drinks, crisps etc, and that if they wanted them they would have to buy them themselves. My son sometimes pops out to buy snacks for himself and my husband but I still refuse to buy them.

 

[akindrat18]

I know my situation is different to yours akindrat, but what I did when I became diabetic was to tell the family that I would no longer be buying biscuits, snacks, fizzy drinks, crisps etc, and that if they wanted them they would have to buy them themselves. My son sometimes pops out to buy snacks for himself and my husband but I still refuse to buy them.

My situation is different as its like I get asked to go to my co-op shop to get essentials such as bread, milk, juice, eggs etc. Then my mum will say to get a bottle of wine, coke and biscuits, snacks, crisps for my dad as I still do not have a job yet.

 

[zand]

My situation is different as its like I get asked to go to my co-op shop to get essentials such as bread, milk, juice, eggs etc. Then my mum will say to get a bottle of wine, coke and biscuits, snacks, crisps for my dad as I still do not have a job yet.

Yes I understand. I would have found that difficult at your age too. You will need to be strong to not succumb to temptation. You have to find your own way round this and other problems for your own sake. I hope you can managed to stay focused.

It's not the same at all, but I have an Aunt who I visit once a week. Every week she offers me cake and biscuits. Every week I eat cheese and berries and have sparking mineral water to drink. She considers that what I am having is 'rubbish' lol. Every week I explain that carbs are toxic to me, if I have too many my eyesight is at risk. It gets irritating after a while. She has also tried little tricks to make me eat what she calls treats, things like buying too much ice- cream and then insisting that I share it with her to use it up. It was fairly easy to wash mine down the sink when she wasn't looking.

However you handle your own situation you need to win these battles. You are a young man with your whole future ahead of you. Please take care of yourself.

 

[Arab Horse]

My situation is different as its like I get asked to go to my co-op shop to get essentials such as bread, milk, juice, eggs etc. Then my mum will say to get a bottle of wine, coke and biscuits, snacks, crisps for my dad as I still do not have a job yet.

I have a great deal of sympathy for your situation. You are dependent on your family and they are not helping you. My husband is the same; we now shop, cook and eat separately as he won't change his appalling diet and eat anything healthy.

I am not always as good as I should be (and I am old so should know better) but I have a "forbidden list" which I don't eat e.g. cakes, donuts, breakfast cereal, potatoes (apart from pinching a couple of chips or potato wedges when my son and his family visit and I have cooked them), rice, pasta, porridge (didn't eat that anyway), ice cream although I did have one at a horse show a couple of weeks ago (the first one for 2 years), crisps, fruit juice (didn't drink fizzy pop etc before diagnosis, just fruit juice, thinking it was healthy), you get the idea. Try making a forbidden list. You will notice that I haven't put bread on my list although it is forbidden for me. That is because I do occasionally have a slice of seeded/granary/rye bread but not often.

I really miss my fruit which I used to eat a lot of, particularly grapes. I still have my grapefruit before my breakfast (now eggs instead of cereal) and it doesn't raise my BS. I also sometimes have a few berries with cream or Greek yoghurt, delicious, but don't ever buy grapes as I know they will spike my BG and so must remain on the "forbidden list".

You are so young, it must be so hard for you, but I really worry about your long term health problems if you don't get your glucose under control. Does your Mum know of all the terrible things uncontrolled diabetes does to you; blindness, amputations, renal failure to name but a few? She may have absolutely no idea what a terrible thing it can be if not kept under control. I am paranoid about my son getting it as it is largely genetic whether you get it or not and I worry that he has the genes to make him succeptable to getting T2.

I was told to eat the same things a you were; totally wrong for me but initially didn't know any better and really wasn't getting anywhere with my glucose control; but as I was a biomedical scientist I researched on the internet, found this forum and all the helpful people who were doing the lchf and totally changed my diet. I never felt ill with my diabetes and despite my very high glucose had absolutely no symptoms but once I amended my diet my glucose levels reduced dramatically although as I was never ill I don't feel any different but know for my long term health (not that long at my age) I had to stick to low carbing.

Good luck and I hope you get the support you so desperately need.

 

[akindrat18]

I've majorly slipped up . Yesterday I went to my niece and nephews christening and afterwards went to the buffet that they had put out and the majority of the food was carbs and I totally gave in. The only food that had no carbs were cheese and pineapple cubes. The rest were pork pies, sausage rolls, pasta, chips, battered chicken, garlic bread, crisps, sandwiches etc. The salad was all gone when I got their and so were most of the cheese and I felt like . To top it off, I drank like 6 pints of Carling and 3 pints of diet coke whilst their and then had some cake and ice cream. When I got home with my parents we all had a nice long nap and then steak, chips and peas later on.

Their is no way for me to check my sugar levels as my meter has been chewed up and the doctor refuses to give me a new one as I no longer need to test. He then said that I could possibly have IBS as I have been burping, farting and hearing strange sounds coming from my gut for the past 2 weeks, so now I've got blood tests in 2 days and a week after an appointment with the diabetes specialist nurse which has took almost 3 months to get one .

Lately though, I've been thinking of skipping breakfast to reduce my sugar levels in the morning as I've been having cereal for the past week, due to not being able to afford any high fat or protein foods in. On the bright side though I am now under 20 stone and everyone that I know can tell I've lost weight.

 

[CollieBoy]

I've majorly slipped up . Yesterday I went to my niece and nephews christening and afterwards went to the buffet that they had put out and the majority of the food was carbs and I totally gave in. The only food that had no carbs were cheese and pineapple cubes. The rest were pork pies, sausage rolls, pasta, chips, battered chicken, garlic bread, crisps, sandwiches etc. The salad was all gone when I got their and so were most of the cheese and I felt like . To top it off, I drank like 6 pints of Carling and 3 pints of diet coke whilst their and then had some cake and ice cream. When I got home with my parents we all had a nice long nap and then steak, chips and peas later on.

Well, only thing to do now is to draw a line under it, don't do it again, and carry on!

Their is no way for me to check my sugar levels as my meter has been chewed up and the doctor refuses to give me a new one as I no longer need to test. He then said that I could possibly have IBS as I have been burping, farting and hearing strange sounds coming from my gut for the past 2 weeks, so now I've got blood tests in 2days and a week after an appointment with the diabetes specialist nurse which has took almost 3 months to get one .

Contact your meter manufacturer. they give you the meters, not the GP!

Lately though, I've been thinking of skipping breakfast to reduce my sugar levels in the morning as I've been having cereal for the past week, due to not being able to afford any high fat or protein foods in. On the bright side though I am now under 20 stone and everyone that I know can tell I've lost weight.

Congrats on the weight loss!
I find a couple of eggs are more filling than cereal (and quite cheap!)

 

[purplepenguin]

Hi @akindrat18

I think @AndBreathe has said pretty much everything that you need to hear. I have been in your situation but ultimately you have to make a choice between living and dying, because, quite frankly, you are killing yourself with your current routine. You are very young and have a great life in front of you but at this rate you could be dead before you are 30, or at least full of diabetic complications. I know this is harsh but remembering these things is the way I stay on track and don't pick up the carbs despite the cravings.
I hope you don't mind me saying, but your parents really need to get a grip and realise what damage they are doing to you. Do they actually realise that by having these foods in the house they are in effect killing their own son? That being said, it is your choice to eat these things, but they are not making the choice easy.
Having read a fair few of your posts, I'd recommend that you dump the cereal for breakfast right away. It starts you off on a bad track at the beginning of the day and you then have an uphill struggle to get your BGs remotely ok. I have a real issue with the idea of eggs but for the good of my health I am eating them, you will have to make compromises and sacrifices, and it is not easy.

I wish you well and hope you get yourself sorted very soon before you really start to feel the effects of this nasty condition. I also apologise if you feel that I have been harsh, but sometimes we need to hear this stuff before we make any changes.

 

[akindrat18]

Hi @akindrat18

I think @AndBreathe has said pretty much everything that you need to hear. I have been in your situation but ultimately you have to make a choice between living and dying, because, quite frankly, you are killing yourself with your current routine. You are very young and have a great life in front of you but at this rate you could be dead before you are 30, or at least full of diabetic complications. I know this is harsh but remembering these things is the way I stay on track and don't pick up the carbs despite the cravings.
I hope you don't mind me saying, but your parents really need to get a grip and realise what damage they are doing to you. Do they actually realise that by having these foods in the house they are in effect killing their own son? That being said, it is your choice to eat these things, but they are not making the choice easy.
Having read a fair few of your posts, I'd recommend that you dump the cereal for breakfast right away. It starts you off on a bad track at the beginning of the day and you then have an uphill struggle to get your BGs remotely ok. I have a real issue with the idea of eggs but for the good of my health I am eating them, you will have to make compromises and sacrifices, and it is not easy.

I wish you well and hope you get yourself sorted very soon before you really start to feel the effects of this nasty condition. I also apologise if you feel that I have been harsh, but sometimes we need to hear this stuff before we make any changes.

I get where you are coming from @purplepenguin, but my parents do give a **** about me and my condition. They are proud that I have lost 5 stone in a year, but they can't afford to shop for me and themselves separately and I don't have enough money to support a lchf diet. They have a rule in the house that anything in the fridge, freezer or cupboards is for anyone. Like tonight, I bought a dozen eggs for myself and my parents both had omelettes leaving me with 4 eggs. Then they asked me to go get some coke, cakes, biscuits and chocolate from the shop and when I came back I could not reject being offered some.

Having cereal for breakfast is addictive for me as I don't stop at one bowl sometimes and I can't imagine having anything different. I tried two boiled eggs on two rounds of bread and it felt like i was having dinner or lunch. I know I need to ditch cereal and the milk (as I also drink too much of it), but I just cannot do it. I also eat when I'm bored or feeling emotional which is mostly everyday and still waiting to see a counsellor.

 

[ButtterflyLady]

Well done on losing 5 stone! I am quite late to the party and have only read a few of the posts in this thread, but already some things stand out for me.

Your parents might say they give a ****, and they might want to give a ****, but their actions don't show they give a ****. Actions speak louder than words - that saying would be among the top few things I have learnt in my 42 years.

The amount and type of junk food your parents are eating probably costs more than a well planned LCHF diet would cost. So, cost is just another excuse.

Reading these posts is like hearing about an alcoholic young man whose parents offer him alcohol every day. It's called enabling, and it's associated with denial - on your part and on theirs. You seem to be in denial about their enabling.

In my experience, the only way off this merry go round is to stop the excuses. Each of your parents needs to take responsibility for their actions, and you need to take responsibility for your actions.

You have several barriers that make it challenging for you to stick to a healthy diet and lifestyle at the moment (eg finances, living arrangements, family attitudes, issues with GP). While these barriers make it challenging to achieve your goals, they do not make it impossible.

I think your anger at things like what your GP says, is a symptom of depression. As your general health improves, your depression should improve and I think you won't feel so angry so often.

I suggest exploring any and all ways you can get counselling asap. Is it possible for a GP to refer someone to free counselling in the UK? (I don't know as I don't live there). Counselling would give you the perspectives of an adult other than your parents and other family members, which I think would be a good thing.

Just out of curiosity, what is your degree in? Mine is in the social sciences. Achieving a university degree is a great thing. I am confident that when your health is better you will be able to get a good job that you find rewarding and fun. Then you can live independently and at last stock your own fridge and pantry.

Your weight loss so far is awesome, keep up the good work and I wish you the best.

 

[purplepenguin]

I'm sorry but all I hear are excuses. I don't know the exact situation at home but if it were me and my parents asked me to go and buy junk food for them even though they know I'm addicted and it will kill me if I eat it, I'd tell them to get it themselves. If they want it that badly they will go and get it themselves. As for not being able to turn it down, yes you can! You have to. It is definitely not easy to do and I sympathise as I have been there and struggle with this daily, but you need to put yourself first rather than your parents' feelings. Also, maybe time for a regime change and that anything in the fridge that you buy for your diet is your alone. Would they expect their alcoholic son to get their alcohol for them? Sugar is more addictive than heroin and you are in full addiction at the moment. You need help and they need to support that, even if it means keeping their junk in their bedroom/car/work/wherever you cannot get at it. Harsh but true.

It is obvious you can lose weight as you've already lost 5 stone. You should be really proud of that. Try to remember how it felt as the weight kept coming off, and use that feeling to get yourself back on track.
You deserve happiness and health, you are young and could potentially get off all meds if you make a change now. I wish I had done the same 10 years ago when I was in my 20s, rather than burying my head in the sand and now suffering for it.

 

[Kingsland]

This is going to be hurtful, but someone's got to say it!
Dare I say - grow up, get a grip and forget about this silly binging - you are being utterly pathetic! There, sorry to be so brutal but you're a big boy now and really must take responsibility for your own actions and stop blaming your parents for your woes.
Have you tried re-reading all the wimpy excuses you've made on these pages, and considered all the sympathetic and helpful advice others have taken time to offer you? Please, please stop killing yourself and start cutting out all those poisonous carbs. If you are out of work, couldn't you take responsibility for cooking the family evening meal then at least you'd get one low carb meal a day - you've got the time! or do you spend your time flopping around feeling sorry for yourself and eating jaffa cakes and chocolate?
Have you read Viv's modified Atkins diet article on the top of these pages? Also, ask your local library to order 'Reverse your Diabetes' by David Cavan, they'll do it for free - and although I think he makes rather over-the-top claims, he does talk a lot of sense. You've already been advised to real Dr Atkins 'Diet Revolution' - did you bother? What did you think of it? Any academic comments to make? Do some research and take responsibility for your own health or you will surely DIE!