Low carb didn't work for me.

[zand]

Yes, so you're basically reviewing where you're at all the time and reacting accordingly, which is what I have to do as well. So you're almost where you want to be already, and that's why you've said maybe you'll do the Newcastle diet for a month, rather than the 8 weeks that people normally do? That makes sense. I was disappointed in the Newcastle diet, but then I mistakenly thought it was only 600 calories, because it's called the 600 calorie diet! Silly me, I should have realised that meant 800 calories in total.

 

[douglas99]

Yes, so you're basically reviewing where you're at all the time and reacting accordingly, which is what I have to do as well. So you're almost where you want to be already, and that's why you've said maybe you'll do the Newcastle diet for a month, rather than the 8 weeks that people normally do? That makes sense. I was disappointed in the Newcastle diet, but then I mistakenly thought it was only 600 calories, because it's called the 600 calorie diet! Silly me, I should have realised that meant 800 calories in total.

I only thought a month, as I'm not sure I have enough weight left to lose to make it 8 weeks.
I can't really see the difference between the Newcastle diet, and other weight loss calorie controlled diets, but I've nothing to lose.

 

[Kat100]

@Andy12345 calm down, no-one said it was compulsory. We each have to find the diet right for us, remember? I am sure Douglas will keep an eye on his BG's and bring them down if and when necessary. I think Douglas and Andrew are lucky to have a pancreas that obviously works better than yours or mine. I won't ever be able to eat the things they do, but the odd banana now and then gives me the potassium I need. Maybe I'm not reacting as strongly as you because I don't actually like pot noodle? I don't like steak much either.

Well said zand .....I to have the odd banana ....Kat x

 

[Kat100]

There is so much judging going on, everyone's story , goals and choices are individual .....
I respect everyone for the choices they make , decisions are personal ...
Sharing them is a honour for us all....

 

[douglas99]

And so it's time to finish for the day.
Tidying up still, emptying more tools and boxes from the house.
Today it's been the usual Ryvita and low fat cheese and ham,
A bowl of soup, and salad for lunch,
A cup a soup, (pepper and butternut squash)
Pinched a square of Dairy Milk from one of my kids.
An apple.
For dinner, a salmon salad, low fat coleslaw, a few tuc crackers with 50% fat cheese, a glass of wine
7.6 half an hour ago,
down to 7.2 now.

And a cooker to wire in tomorrow.

 

[douglas99]

So I'm sitting here reading other threads, and thinking how easy it is to panic yourself, because I have.
No disrespect to anyone, because we're all here because we are diabetic, but we're good at controlling it
We are the best of the rest.

No one here is ignoring what they have, and we all want the best for each other.
No ignoring it, some confusion, maybe, because it wasn't expected.
But it’s how to cope that matters.

But back to the point of the post.

I have had an ‘odd’ sensation in my left foot, in fact in my toes.
So, a bit of panic.
Neuropathology.

I’m diabetic, so it follows on.
But I’m reguarly tested. I’m prodded, I’m poked, I’m passed as clear on everything.

Today, in the car, I’m stuck in traffic.

My foot hurts.
I’m driving for miles, one car moves, I move one car length,
Clutch up, clutch down.

I realise.

I’m pressing the clutch down, using just the toes on my left foot,
Not the ball of my foot. Just the toes.
No wonder my toes hurt.
It’s a bl**dy heavy clutch, and my toes have been doing all the work.
And my toes hurt!

Then I used the ball of my foot after that, and it’s better tonight.

So, the point?
In my case, look for the normal problems, rather than look for the diabetes related ones.

You may find it’s better than you hoped for!

 

[douglas99]

Another good day.
I've got the cooker wired in.
Re-hung the radiators, filled the system, National Grid came in and took the cap off the gas meter.
Boiler fired up, and I have hot water.
(Well I will have next week when I get the boiler inspected and certified).
More painting.

Time for a bit of food though, just checked and my blood is at 4.3!

 

[douglas99]

A very low day today.

I know I mentioned the abundance of real ale in the local pubs earlier, and to be honest, there is only so much gloss paint you can stand the smell of.
So down to the local for the Saturday night entertainment, and a few pints.

Even a white cob with a mustard and ham filling.

Check when I've come back just

5.2

With results like that it can't be too bad.

Back home tomorrow for a friends BBQ, a few jobs for paying customers on Monday, then back to the house on Tuesday for a bit more re-wiring.
Then off to find a reasonably priced carpet, and see what it costs to have an entire house done in it.

 

[douglas99]

Bit of a late post today.
Got up a few hours ago, tested my fasting BS, 6.2.

It's odd really, I can feel the change from when I wake up, still tired, then I begin to feel more awake slowly, which is probably the result of the liver dump. (Or maybe just my brain realising I shouldn't stay in bed forever)
Mind you I was woken a few times in the night, as now the boiler has power to it,and water in it, it keeps trying to fire up to pre heat the domestic hot water up.
So that's fully turned off again. And that didn't help me much.

The usual ryvita for breakfast, up and down stairs a few times, and a bit more work.

5.2 again. Then I realised I'd forgotten to take my meds this morning!

BBQ at a friends this afternoon, so I thought I'd take them, I'm been told off enough already for one glucose test using chinese!


I was thinking, if I did want to fiddle my fasting result though, it wouldn't take much. A little bit of exercise first thing and I easily take a point off my results very quickly. Can't see any need though, so I even make a point of taking the car to the doctors, rather than a brisk walk.

Another thing I missing, regular gym sessions.
I am spending so much time at the house, the weekends and evening gym have gone astray a bit. It used to be three or four sessions a week, and none it's none.
It's got so bad I've actually suspended my membership until October.
Back to normal in a few weeks though!

Time to drive back shortly.

 

[douglas99]

An interesting afternoon.
A lot of meat.
My friend is a butcher, so good meat, 75% meat sausage, and a good selection of other types of 100% meat.
Lettuce salad.
Bean salad
A few(ish) pringles.
Olive bread.
Coleslaw.
Skipped the white bread today though.
A few cans of beer.
A few glasses of red wine (I wasn't driving)
A nice slice of cake.
More pringles.
Some potato salad.
More sausage, and more wine.

Ok, it's been a long 6 hours I've been there, but reading through the list, it sounds bad, but that's on top of two ryvita so far today.
I think it was a bad time to decide to get back onto the calorie restricted wagon, which seems grown a few extra wheels and gone off without me.
But that;s the beauty of my diet, I can catch up when I'm being anti social.

Then I came back and tested.

4.2

So, very low for me.

So,I'm wondering, it's not been a carb free day by any means.
And I haven't been 'good'
But since I pigged out on carbs a few days ago, my figures overall seem to be lower than they were before.
I don't usually get 4's, I don't chase 4's, I've been comfortable with 5's.

I wonder if there's any connection?
Who knows how diabetes affects you personally?
I reckon we're different, and there any many types of T2, so we all have to find a way that suits us.
Don't give in to it, and you may be surprised at what you can do!

 

[douglas99]

Douglas - Can I ask why you want to do the Newcastle diet?

@zand
With a bit more reflection, based on my personal experiences, particularly of the last week, but also of the last few months.
The Newcastle diet is a very calorie restricted diet, but it's also mainly carbs as energy.
Now, personally, I seem to have found that if I restrict carbs, I seem to have higher BS if I do eat any.
So to me, it's very counter productive for my lifestyle.
If I can tolerate more carbs, I'm going to be in a better place for me.
So, I have decided I will do for a diet that restricts my calories, but also exercise my pancreas.
I have no medical proof, I've stopped believing in meta-analysis, I don't want to be a crusader in the fight, I just want to give myself a 'best shot' for me. If it gets no-where, no one else suffers. I'll tell you. If it gets somewhere, I'll tell you all, you can try it, or tell me I'm wrong.
It won't change my results.
I'll let you all know eventually.

 

[Andy12345]

 

[douglas99]

Your choice, your life.
If you're happy with the diet, go for it.
Clearly it works for you, and you wouldn't want the chance to go back.
I haven't given up yet.
Maybe I will, maybe I'll keep the 4's and 5's my way, but I'm ok with my choice, you're ok with yours, so as long as it suits us, we're good.
If not, then I'll low carb as a last resort.
I'm flexible.

 

[andcol]

Hi Douglas. You are experiencing the same as me. With more carbs I get lower averages. I graphed this and what happens is I go up and come down fast and then go stable at a lower level than when I have less carb. Then you trickle down faster and get a release from your liver bringing you back up but not as far and then go down again and around you go. I find I cycle between 4.7 and 5.2 but will initially go to 4.3 before the first liver dump comes. I have also pushed this down lower by targeted exercise and managed to drive it down to 3.8 but when I do this I get a large liver dump (and go woozy for a minute or two) pushing up to 5.5 (I don't do these experiments often it gives you terribly sore fingers). This is why I think some level of carbs is good for you once you manage to sort out your system - did you read my thread about increasing carbs http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/moving-from-low-carb-to-higher-levels.58491

 

[douglas99]

@Andrew Colvin
It seems you have a similar journey to me.
I think I have a bit further to go, but hope I can catch you up.
Exercise and weight loss seem to be key to this process, but I, as you, seem to have found that some tolerance to carbs along that path is also required.

I know it's said by some we are all hunter gatherers, and catching and killing the wild boar and sabre tooth tiger is the only way we should live.
Maybe my ancestors were the more lazy ones, that just sat around a tree, and ate roots and nuts all day. And weren't eaten by the sabre tooths on a bad day.

 

[paul-1976]

"Stay tuned for the next episode..." Cool! A soap opera thread! You never know what'll be next eh folks? Starts off with straight in there with a negative post Re Low carb {No surprises there eh!} then morphed into a 'DIY SOS' show style 'blog' and now it's all about the Newcastle Diet despite the OP reporting a now normal BMI level?? "...Oh well,as long as the OP is enjoying it eh!

 

[Andy12345]

its sureal

 

[andcol]

But don't forget the origin of our higher sugar levels was survival during the ice age and therefore low carb is likely to drive to warmer bodies through raised base level. Not a problem without the higher carb levels.

Totally agree about exercise and losing weight. I can drop three mmol in ten mins when I want now

 

[douglas99]

"Stay tuned for the next episode..." Cool! A soap opera thread! You never know what'll be next eh folks? Starts off with straight in there with a negative post Re Low carb {No surprises there eh!} then morphed into a 'DIY SOS' show style 'blog' and now it's all about the Newcastle Diet despite the OP reporting a now normal BMI level?? "...Oh well,as long as the OP is enjoying it eh!

I'll bite, because it's part of my life.

As I've said. and won't repeat, because it's explained already, low carb didn't work.
For me.
Not for you.
Not for the next poster.
Just me.
I'm big, it's my life, I can decide what I'm doing with it, so I'll move on.
So, yes, it was a very, very,very, big negative for me.
If you can't handle the fact your diet didn't work for me, I don't know why.
If you don't think a 4, or 5 is good, or a fasting of 5 or 6, or HbA1c of 35 isn't good, and doesn't match your figures, that's fine, because I'm not chasing numbers.
I'm just saying what mine, on my diet, are.

As to the 'Newcastle Diet, I don't want an easy answer, if it does work, and if you remember 'War Games,''Goddammit, I'd **** on a spark plug if I thought it'd do any good ...'

 

[AndBreathe]

Me too. I've been eating increased carbs, although nothing like the Kings of Carbs, Douglas and Andrew, for a few months now. Over that time, my HbA1c has continued to fall, as have my levels in general. Until my current pot of strips, which are reading high (and I've compared with another meter too now), I was seeing at least 2 out of 3 readings a day in the 3s, and 5s were a distant memory. Obviously, I do go above 5 as my last HbA1c is 5.1%, but I'll share what's going on there when I have proven (or not) my hypothesis.

This evening my evening meal was a a sort of re-run of last night. Today's plans went awry and the leftovers planned for tomorrow were consumed today. On these strips (running 0.5-0.6 higher than other batches) I was 4.4 before dinner and 4.5 after. This meal included a decent serving of rice, as I was very hungry.

Having got skinny, and more active, my body seems to have almost woken up. I'm concluding my primary issue was some pretty hefty insulin resistance which has been alleviated by getting rid of the visceral fat. I appreciate I probably need to keep a close eye on my levels, but I can do that. I just wish my initial drop in cholesterol levels had been sustained.