A week before Christmas in 2016 I was diagnosed as a T2 in a random blood test when staying overnight in hospital for a routine operation on my knee. I had no symptoms, though I was a tad overweight (BMI 36ish). I had a BG of 18 (FBG 14.1 the following morning) and a HbA1c of 74.
I was sent home with a glucose meter and insulin (6 units, twice a day) and began testing, initially at 6am and 6pm every day and also a couple of hours after some meals. I also began walking every day, a mile or two to begin with though this increased over time. I addition I cut carbs to about 120g/day from about 1500 Cal/day. I cut out puddings, sweets, biscuits etc and cut down on portion sizes of things like bread, spuds, rice, pasta etc.
After 6 weeks I was getting FBG values below 5 with values 2 hours after food never above 7 and usually under 6. At this point I cut out the insulin completely, which had no impact at all on my BG levels. I continued with the same diet, gradually increasing exercise as it became easier and continued losing weight.
I did keep a food diary from diagnosis onwards and published it in this forum, together with BG readings from February onwards
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/thr...orning-and-what-did-you-eat-yesterday.117017/
During the summer my weight reached 154lbs (11st), a total loss of 87 lbs and I decided that this was enough.
I had also had a HbA1c reading of 32 to go with the measurements taken myself.
At this point I gradually increased calories to 2000/day and carbs to about 180/day which have maintained my weight and BG values for several months now. My latest HbA1c, done on 20/12 has arrived in the post today and is 31 so I am pleased with that.
Occasional splurge days when I have had 230ish g of carbs have not caused any problems though I do intend keeping these as rare events. Even these heavy days though I am still well within NHS recommended 300g/day ( which I do think is far too high) and my normal daily intake is well below recommended levels.
If this information can help anyone else I would be very pleased, Whilst I do think that the Eatwell Plate is abject nonsense for diabetics, I also think that for many people a very low carb diet (with or without high fats) is not necessary. It can be seen from my food and exercise diary that it is possible to achieve excellent results eating fairly normal foods, just taking care not to overdo the carbs and ensuring that plenty of exercise is done.
Happy new year and good luck to all.
I was sent home with a glucose meter and insulin (6 units, twice a day) and began testing, initially at 6am and 6pm every day and also a couple of hours after some meals. I also began walking every day, a mile or two to begin with though this increased over time. I addition I cut carbs to about 120g/day from about 1500 Cal/day. I cut out puddings, sweets, biscuits etc and cut down on portion sizes of things like bread, spuds, rice, pasta etc.
After 6 weeks I was getting FBG values below 5 with values 2 hours after food never above 7 and usually under 6. At this point I cut out the insulin completely, which had no impact at all on my BG levels. I continued with the same diet, gradually increasing exercise as it became easier and continued losing weight.
I did keep a food diary from diagnosis onwards and published it in this forum, together with BG readings from February onwards
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/thr...orning-and-what-did-you-eat-yesterday.117017/
During the summer my weight reached 154lbs (11st), a total loss of 87 lbs and I decided that this was enough.
I had also had a HbA1c reading of 32 to go with the measurements taken myself.
At this point I gradually increased calories to 2000/day and carbs to about 180/day which have maintained my weight and BG values for several months now. My latest HbA1c, done on 20/12 has arrived in the post today and is 31 so I am pleased with that.
Occasional splurge days when I have had 230ish g of carbs have not caused any problems though I do intend keeping these as rare events. Even these heavy days though I am still well within NHS recommended 300g/day ( which I do think is far too high) and my normal daily intake is well below recommended levels.
If this information can help anyone else I would be very pleased, Whilst I do think that the Eatwell Plate is abject nonsense for diabetics, I also think that for many people a very low carb diet (with or without high fats) is not necessary. It can be seen from my food and exercise diary that it is possible to achieve excellent results eating fairly normal foods, just taking care not to overdo the carbs and ensuring that plenty of exercise is done.
Happy new year and good luck to all.
