Low carb didn't work for me.

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Etty

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Douglas, going back to your initial weight loss diet, you say you ate 200g of carbs + protein. How many grams of each was that?

I heard a podcast with a Dr D'Agostino who did a project concerning seizures in US navy divers. IIRC a low carb diet improved matters.
 

douglas99

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200g of carbs and protein, based on 4 calories per gram. I didn't really count the mix. If if was salad, I counted the calories, beans, as calories, some low fat cheese as it's lower calorie,ham, things like that. Again when it got colder, I added more hot food, but avoided fat as it used the calories with out providing any bulk.
But overall, it was mainly veg.

I've read the project, he seems to be taking the line as with usung ketogenic diet to reduce seizures in epilepsy. I have my ticket for enriched air, up to 40% oxygen, but follow all the rules for normal diving.
 

mine

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i think we all share our experience here and its good.
 

1andylock

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I just read through this. Interesting and #douglas99 what a great job you are doing ...diet and the house.
I lost 35 kg 77 pounds after a heart attack that killed me and was brought back several times and one final time that's why i am here now.
I was type 2 because i was a fat Ba"£$%d.
I smoked as well so stopped that. I was living an expat life around the world and instead of staying in the hotel every night watching TV in languages i didn't understand i went out and found bars and drank beer with other expats. It was a great life until the heart attack of course. I have the same job and still go out at nightsto bars but instead of beer i drink tea or sparkling water. I lost weight not by following a diet but by reducing calories i did my own thig read labels tested ate loads of veg and fruit because it didnt spike. Lots of fish instead of meat. No bread or rice or pasta etc. This made me low carb it also made me low fat. Now i cannot stand fat. I don't like it in my food, i dont like it in my mouth and hate it when i see it (on food or as a residue on my plate). So HF is out for me. My numbers are excellent BS and Cholesterol. I take statins and Metformin and Ramapril and Clopidogrel and Aspirin and i am fine with this. I don't get side effects from them so i am lucky here except I have low blood pressure and low pulse rate so some time i get dizzy and sometimes faint but we have played with the drugs a little to help this and it seems to be working. Statins have been reduced and so has the Ramapril. I exercise daily. Walking, running, cycling or gym (i had to do the gym because i had loose skin from the weight lose i couldn't keep tucking it in my socks). I feel great more flexible more active more energy more alive. Just a different life now. As #douglas99 has done he has followed what worked for him. During my journey i followed my meter to maintain the BS at below 5 in the morning before breakfast. And we have to find a way that is good for us. I don't knock others diets but i hate it when diets are pushed by others. We have to find a way and feel comfortable in what we eat. If it works for us then great. it it doesn't then great also.
I don't drink beer now. I was a drinker and could drink for England but as i can only have 1 beer a day now i cant do that i always want another or 2 so i decided its easier not to drink at all. I can still go out for a session but i drink tea instead only problem is its hard to do shots of tea.
Great story #douglas99 keep posting updates and give us some diving pictures.
LCHF is fine if its fine for you. Newcastle is fine if its fine for you. All variants are fine and what ever you are ding to control it all is fine also. My journey is my journey and my body is my body and it needs my way.
Hardest part of weight loss is stabilising the weight when you reach your goal weight. I struggle with this.
 
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douglas99

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A long day today, actually had to do a paying job for someone else.
Changing light fittings at a customers, and discovered water in the roof, so a 4 hour job finished up taking 8 1/2.
Then the rest of the days work.
Home at 8:30pm

But, an interesting test last night.
After reading the thread on chinese food, I thought I'd push my limit a bit.
Like I said at the start, it's a wart and and blog, so peaked at 11.3 BS.

But, this was the test.
Between two of us, a bottle of very cheap 'brut' fizzy wine.
Then just for me, plate 1, plate 2, then I had to upsize the plate for plate 3.


I then switched to a few glasses of scotch when the wine ran out.
So, restraint had to be' restrained' for the test.
Prawns in a bubbly type batter, prawns in a crispy batter, duck pancakes with plum sauce, balti samosas, duck skewers in a sweet sauce, curry chicken bites, breadcrumb battered mozzarella. Char siu and sweet chilli sauce.
So, my BS crept up for a while, peaked at 11.3 at three hours, then fell to 8.5 after 5 hours.
That was about one in the morning, so I went to bed.
Now, I didn't feel any tiredness, (well apart from it being one o'clock, half a bottle of wine, and a fair few glasses of scotch)
But no reaction to the BS level.
And it was 5.8 fasting at 7.30am when I got up for work.
Some pictures of the food.
That was it, plus a few nibbles later on from the remnants.

DSC_0584[1].jpg DSC_0585[1].jpg DSC_0586[1].jpg DSC_0587[1].jpg

Now, today, I got up, had my normal Ryvita, then went out.
I forgot my wallet, and the day went pearshaped, so I got back home at 8:30pm. having not eaten anything all day (not even any Belvita's in the car!) but did have about 4 cups of white coffee. (Milk, not cream)
5.2 when I got home
7.4 after a few slices of pork and veg for dinner.

Oddly enough I didn't feel hungry all day, and didn't feel overly hungry when I got home.

So, for some, maybe terribly bad levels.
But for me, a completely unrestrained, even an overloaded serious over the top, even for me, carb meal, but not horrific levels, but more importantly, no side effects, no tiredness, up for work, and no cravings the next day.
Life's good.

edit, - 6.5 again now!
 
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lizdeluz

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Lchf has been a godsend for me, but no one has to agree with me. I'm lucky that I found this forum - not just because I've benefitted from many people's experiences, knowledge and even mistakes - but also because it's told me what to read so that I can go away and teach myself the reasons for my own choices.

There's so much emotional baggage where food is concerned. I think many people carry their own emotional food baggage with them throughout their lives, much of it stemming from childhood. Layer, on top of that, in our case, our strong concerns about our health because of diabetes complications, and it's not surprising that the debate gets heated.

I like to go away, after a thread like this, and do something completely unrelated. I'm doing a woodcut of a lifedrawing and it's very relaxing and absorbing to chip away at the wood. I went wrong and chipped away a bit I needed to keep, but have found a way round it.

There's more in common between all of us on here than there are differences. Take care everyone. :)
 
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douglas99

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Lchf has been a godsend for me, but no one has to agree with me. I'm lucky that I found this forum - not just because I've benefitted from many people's experiences, knowledge and even mistakes - but also because it's told me what to read so that I can go away and teach myself the reasons for my own choices.

There's so much emotional baggage where food is concerned. I think many people carry their own emotional food baggage with them throughout their lives, much of it stemming from childhood. Layer, on top of that, in our case, our strong concerns about our health because of diabetes complications, and it's not surprising that the debate gets heated.

I like to go away, after a thread like this, and do something completely unrelated. I'm doing a woodcut of a lifedrawing and it's very relaxing and absorbing to chip away at the wood. I went wrong and chipped away a bit I needed to keep, but have found a way round it.

There's more in common between all of us on here than there are differences. Take care everyone. :)

I entirely agree on the emontional baggage.
I let it all go, and I'm happy.
I have no axe to grind over eating, each to his own.

I even eat junk if I need to. For instance, to me, pot noodles are fine, instant porridge is fine, I eat to my meter, I eat healthy where I can, but I'll eat what's there as well if I need to.
I'm not terrified of any food, it would ruin my life if i was. Diabetes won't win, and it won't win by limiting my eating and limiting my life.
So, to me, that's how I want to be. I could let food rule me, I could read any study on the interent, and be scared to get out of bed.
I'm not though, to me diabetes is something I have, but it's not beating me up.

I can relate to the woodcut.
A bit is gone you didn't want gone, but you look at it, and you realise it doesn't really matter, you can make something out of it still. It's different, it's not what you had planned, it may be better, it may be worse, but you work at it, and you finish up with something you've made yourself.
So the path changes, but you're happy with what you end up with.
If it is better, that's good.
If it is worse, you realise you can use what you learned, and the next one is even better.

And as to mistakes, if you've never made a mistake, you've ever made anything!
 
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douglas99

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To follow on, as a general muse on life in general, and to show how you can be sucked in to believing what you want to believe, if you have pre-conceptions on what you eat.
http://www.hngn.com/articles/38940/...crease-risk-heart-disease-diabetes-stroke.htm

Full of scary stuff, but a key point.

'Researchers also found that a chemical called bisphenol A (BPA), which is used for packaging the noodles in Styrofoam containers, can be an influencing factor. '

So anything, from your 'bulletproof coffee' to your portion of chips can be equally bad.

Life's too short to worry, and pick and choose what's real, and what isn't.
 
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douglas99

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And with that, 5.1,and time for bed.
So goodnight to you all, and to paraphrase,
'may your diet go with you'
if you can remember that far back, and were there at the time.
 

semiphonic

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Ignorant people, diabetes!
Some time ago (7months!!) I was a newly diagnosed T2, I was in a whirlwind I didn't know how or why I had diabetes as I had none of the 'classic' symptoms. I found this forum and most people told me to go LCHF. For a long time both the LC and HF parts of that equation were really important to me. But I started to want some of the 'normal' things in life; chips every now and then, bread if I wanted it, even a couple of biscuits every once in a while. So I binned the HF part of my diet and started eating to my meter, what (for me) a revelation! I started to be able to tolerate carbs and now even though I get the odd spike after eating, I know that I am in control. My latest HbA1c is in the 'non-diabetic' range.

I wish I had something in my life like diving, but I don't, so I just walk my dog for hours on the South West coast path, the pictures I have would blow you away!

Will I get diabetic complications if I carry on the way I am? I don't know. Either way. All I know is that I'm healthier than I have been for about 25 years, if I still get diabetic complications well at least I tried....
 
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mine

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Type of diabetes
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Some time ago (7months!!) I was a newly diagnosed T2, I was in a whirlwind I didn't know how or why I had diabetes as I had none of the 'classic' symptoms. I found this forum and most people told me to go LCHF. For a long time both the LC and HF parts of that equation were really important to me. But I started to want some of the 'normal' things in life; chips every now and then, bread if I wanted it, even a couple of biscuits every once in a while. So I binned the HF part of my diet and started eating to my meter, what (for me) a revelation! I started to be able to tolerate carbs and now even though I get the odd spike after eating, I know that I am in control. My latest HbA1c is in the 'non-diabetic' range.

I wish I had something in my life like diving, but I don't, so I just walk my dog for hours on the South West coast path, the pictures I have would blow you away!

Will I get diabetic complications if I carry on the way I am? I don't know. Either way. All I know is that I'm healthier than I have been for about 25 years, if I still get diabetic complications well at least I tried....


i think i wants to be fair. diabetes are at risk of all the complications but it does not mean it could not happen to other healthy individual. you have just took one of the risk factor away.
 

semiphonic

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Ignorant people, diabetes!
i think i wants to be fair. diabetes are at risk of all the complications but it does not mean it could not happen to other healthy individual. you have just took one of the risk factor away.

Your point?
 

douglas99

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Some time ago (7months!!) I was a newly diagnosed T2, I was in a whirlwind I didn't know how or why I had diabetes as I had none of the 'classic' symptoms. I found this forum and most people told me to go LCHF. For a long time both the LC and HF parts of that equation were really important to me. But I started to want some of the 'normal' things in life; chips every now and then, bread if I wanted it, even a couple of biscuits every once in a while. So I binned the HF part of my diet and started eating to my meter, what (for me) a revelation! I started to be able to tolerate carbs and now even though I get the odd spike after eating, I know that I am in control. My latest HbA1c is in the 'non-diabetic' range.

I wish I had something in my life like diving, but I don't, so I just walk my dog for hours on the South West coast path, the pictures I have would blow you away!

Will I get diabetic complications if I carry on the way I am? I don't know. Either way. All I know is that I'm healthier than I have been for about 25 years, if I still get diabetic complications well at least I tried....

I completely agree with your viewpoint.

Getting diagnosed gave me a wake up call on life.
I didn't dive before the diabetes.
It was only when I had lost the weight, and became a lot more active, I realised what I could be doing with my life, that I took up the diving.
 
A

AnnieC

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A while ago my post said that I did not follow Lchf
I don't ....there said it again ...I did not get an easy time for saying it at the time , and I was shocked to learn that I was considered brave by pm messages sent by people that had tried to speak,up in the past ....this made me feel very sad .... :(

Good to see that there is so much more support now to those who feel they can be more open about their diets ...
Know one should feel,that they have to justify what they eat , what works for one will not always work,for another ...
I am delighted to hear that Douglas is doing well on chosen diet ... :). Lovely to hear this

I have lost 3 stones on mine ...and I am delighted ...last two hba1c tests were 39% 5.7 delighted .....I am in a better place than I was two years ago ..
I respect all diets that individuals choose ..we are all so different and none of this is easy ....big congratulations to,us all I say , as none of this will ever be easy .... Kat

Going back on my summer break now ....

You are so right people did get a negative response if they did any other diet but LCHF so they just stopped talking about it. Hopefully now as you say whatever diets we as individuals choose to do will be respected by others and we will not be knocked back about it if it is not LCHF.
Good luck and well done to all those who are managing their diabetes with whatever diets they choose to do
 
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douglas99

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Just been out with my daughter to get her A level results.
I'm pleased to say, she got what she wanted, and is off to uni in a few weeks.
(Bit of pressure to finish the house now!)

Celebrated at Costa, with the 'All Day Breakfast' roll all round, and a Americano with skimmed milk.
 
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Brunneria

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Just been out with my daughter to get her A level results.
I'm pleased to say, she got what she wanted, and is off to uni in a few weeks.
(Bit of pressure to finish the house now!)

Celebrated at Costa, with the 'All Day Breakfast' roll all round, and a Americano with skimmed milk.

Congrats to your daughter! Great achievement.
 
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douglas99

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Well, just been out for an Indian with her to celebrate.
Lamb curry, spinach and cheese side dish, okra side dish, poppadom, shared a bottle of sweetish rose with her, and had a few lagers, and in deference to my pancreas, just a few spoonfuls of basmati.
Came home and tested, 5.5. Result!
 
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douglas99

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It's been an interesting week for me.
I've had highs, and lows.
I've been criticized elsewhere for letting my BS get to 11.3.

Why?

I'm a grown up, I've half a century behind me.
I’ve blogged what I’ve done, what I’ve eaten, and not suggested for one second anyone else try my lifestyle.
I’ve listed the bad foods that push me up, and what I’ve had that kept me low.
I’ve stated my reasons for why I have my diet, and stated why other diets quite simply don’t work for me.
I’ve got good numbers when I choose to have them, so why can’t I be allowed to push my limits?

It’s my life, and I intend to enjoy it.
Diabetes isn’t ruling me, and it’s not going to limit me.
I’m actually doing more since I was diagnosed, then I was before.

Simply because I don’t want to be Captain Ahab, spending my entire life, indeed wasting my entire life, in the pursuit of the great whale, I seem to be upsettingsome people.

‘Call me ishmael’
 
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zand

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@douglas99 you followed a GI diet, I follow LCHF. I don't believe we are so very different. Both LCHF and GI reduce carbs. The thing that put me off the GI diet was that things like carrots were higher GI than I would have thought. So that's why I never bothered adapting it to suit me by introducing calorie counting alongside it. I believe that just as 'not all calories are equal', not all GI counts are equal either. It's down to how your own body reacts to the food, not what some laboratory test says. Same applies with LCHF, some people seem to have problems with any root veg. I have tested after eating both raw and cooked carrots, decent portions and I don't have a problem with them at all. Potatoes are a different matter! So I agree with you in that you have to follow the diet that suits you best and then adapt it to suit you even more.

What really interested me about your post though was the bit about exercising the pancreas. This is something that I have wondered about privately, but didn't like to say because I have seen no studies about it and thought it may be only me thinking it. I have only ever expressed this thought to one other person before! Personally I still have a lot of weight to lose and my BG's are not under good control right now either as I have lapsed for a while. However when they are good, I too experiment with a higher carb level - not in the same way as you, I tend to eat more fruit, adding grapes and bananas, peaches etc. to the usual mixture of berries. So mine is more a nutrition based slightly higher carb intake for the moment at least. I'm not sure my pancreas will ever cope with the amount of carbs you have and I'm a bit jealous of you! I have been wondering how to cope with long daytrips out in the Winter when family will be eating junk. Before I was diabetic, I used to take sandwiches made with seeded wholemeal bread and I may revert to this after reading this thread, but first I need to get back on track with my BG's. Most of these trips would also involve a couple of brisk walks of 1-2miles each.
 

AndBreathe

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It's been an interesting week for me.
I've had highs, and lows.
I've been criticized elsewhere for letting my BS get to 11.3.

Why?

I'm a grown up, I've half a century behind me.
I’ve blogged what I’ve done, what I’ve eaten, and not suggested for one second anyone else try my lifestyle.
I’ve listed the bad foods that push me up, and what I’ve had that kept me low.
I’ve stated my reasons for why I have my diet, and stated why other diets quite simply don’t work for me.
I’ve got good numbers when I choose to have them, so why can’t I be allowed to push my limits?

It’s my life, and I intend to enjoy it.
Diabetes isn’t ruling me, and it’s not going to limit me.
I’m actually doing more since I was diagnosed, then I was before.

Simply because I don’t want to be Captain Ahab, spending my entire life, indeed wasting my entire life, in the pursuit of the great whale, I seem to be upsettingsome people.

‘Call me ishmael’


Douglas - You are a provocative poster; you always have been, in the time I have been here. In lots of ways I quite like that. It can initiate decent debate and flush out contra opinions. This forum (and all similar places) need a variety of posters, taking a variety of approaches. That, I believe, is critical for newly diagnosed folks who want to garner mixed options, which will allow them to formulate their own plans. It's not healthy to have one single message on a forum like this. If one approach suited everyone, this forum wouldn't exist. We would just read the leaflets we're given at diagnosis and skip happily off into the sunset.

But, moving forward, I also believe in exercising my pancreas (and allowing my liver to look after me), although maybe not quite as vigorously as you and @Andrew Colvin do, on a regular basis. Once my numbers came into rein, my brain kept butting into my thought processes screeching "use it or lose it", when I considered carb consumption.

I thought I had stabilised my weight, but this morning I've lost again; bringing myself under 50kg. Being a shorty, my BMI is 19.1, so still in the healthy range, but I'm getting to be too boney. I would like to nudge up to just over the 50kg mark, and think I am going to use mainly carbs to do that - just up everything a bit for a while. I'm not expecting any detrimental impact on my bloods.

I've often referred to my relationship with diabetes as being like living with a pesky little brother. You know; someone who irritates the heck out of me, who has different interests, but is going to be with me for the rest of my life. Right now, after my last bloods, that pesky little brother is taking up too much head space, but he'll be back in his rightful place before long.

I'm also interested in your journey to living your dream. From memory, you're getting your metaphoric ducks into rows, so that your work life balance can swing well away from work?
 
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