Starting Again.

[Chris Thailand]

After a recent hba1c of 7 I have gone back to diligent testing to try and find out where I went wrong. I was getting 5s and had come off all meds except for a daily 500mg of metformin. My metformin has now been increased to 2 x 500mg tablets a day (welcome back explosive bowels, I'd missed you) and here are my readings, and diet for the first 3 days of this experiment. I would be grateful for any comments members could make about how you see these and any suggestions you kindly offer.



29/8/2016. 06:30. 82/4.2
Omelette. 2hr 09:40. 104/5.8
Pre lunch. 11:25. 103/5.7
Tuna salad. 2hr 13:30. 100/5.6
1/2 can with vinegarette
Grilled chicken, lettuce onion tomato
Pre dinner. 16:00. 97/5.4
Bacon, 2 fried eggs and mushrooms
2hr. 18:00. 106/5.9
-------------------------------------
30/8/16. 06:30. 93/5.1
Omelette. 2hr. 09:40. 99/5.5
Pre lunch. 11.25. 106/5.9
Tuna salad 2hr. 13:30
1/2 can with vinegarette 92/5.0
Pre dinner. 86/4.8
Black pudding and 2 fried egg. 2hr 16:40. 105/5.8

-------------------------------------
31/8/16 06:30. 99/5.5
Omelette. Forgot meter
Tuna salad
1/2 can with vinegarette
Pre dinner. 16:22. 82/4.6
Bacon, 2 fried egg, mushroom
2hr. 18:26. 102/5.6

-------------------------------------
1/9/16. 06:30.

 

[13lizanne]

Hi Chris, your food choices look pretty good to me. Instead of vinegarette dressing, why not try full fat mayonnaise and, are you frying your food in olive oil or butter? That would up your fat to protein ratio which does help me keep my bg readings down and might help you too. Full fat Greek yogurt tastes delicious and would also help to raise the fat/protein ratio. Can I recommend this site? www.dietdoctor.com for further information which might help. Good luck!

 

[Chris Thailand]

I make the vinegarette with olive oil (4 oil to 2 vinegar) but use soybean oil for frying-love butter but don't like it for frying or for putting on veg; too rich for my blood (boom-boom).
I'll update in a few more days

 

[kokhongw]

If you maintain it at this level, you should be seeing a HbA1c of around 5.5%.

 

[Hiitsme]

Your numbers are looking great so obviously you are making good food choices. Hope you can keep this up and you should see a much improved HbA1c result next time.

 

[chalup]

I would kill to get those numbers, sounds like you are doing great.

 

[Chris Thailand]

I'm going to move this over to the 'what did you eat today' thread

 

[britishpub]

Looks to me like you are on completely the right track.

As long as you can avoid any of those pesky carbs creeping in, you should get a much lower A1c pretty soon I would reckon.

 

[jonbvn]

I would be doing cartwheels if I had those numbers. Well done on the good food choices.

 

[Chris Thailand]

So, as an update, the following shows my diet and numbers for the last couple of weeks. FBGs have come down nicely and I'm pleased with the post prandials apart from the two meals that contained sausages however, it could have been the bread or the HP fruity wot did it so a further experiment is warranted (plus I really like sausages). I've found that rice seems to be acceptable, both brown and hom mali white and I've increased the portion each time until I'm consuming a regular portion. I've added far more Thai food to my diet although we substitute sweetener for sugar if any is required and I'm enjoying eating complex and somewhat challenging flavours (my wife's pat normai gai-chicken with chilli and pickled bamboo-could cheerfully be used in arc-welding).
Anyway, here's the stats. All comments gratefully received.
New blood levels

29/8/2016. 06:30. 82/4.6
Omelette. 2hr 09:40. 104/5.8
Pre lunch. 11:25. 103/5.7
Tuna salad. 2hr 13:30. 100/5.6
1/2 can with vinegarette
Grilled chicken, lettuce onion tomato
Pre dinner. 16:00. 97/5.4
Bacon, egg and mushrooms
2hr. 18:00. 106/5.9
-------------------------------------
30/8/16. 06:30. 93/5.1
Omelette. 2hr. 09:40. 99/5.5
Pre lunch. 11.25. 106/5.9
Tuna salad 2hr. 13:30
1/2 can with vinegarette 92/5.0
Black pudding and egg. 2hr 16:40. 105/5.8

-------------------------------------
31/8/16 06:30. 99/5.5
Omelette. Forgot gluacometer
Tuna salad
1/2 can with vinegarette
Pre dinner. 16:22. 82/4.6
Bacon, egg, mushroom
2hr. 18:26. 102/5.6

-------------------------------------
1/9/16. 06:30. 78/4.3
Omlette. 2hr. 09:40. 108/6.0
Tuna salad 2hr 13:30. 128/7.1
With pickles and vinegarette
Bacon, black pudding, 2 fried eggs 2hr. 18:00. 114/6.3

-------------------------------------
2/9/16. 06:10. 86/4.8
2 Boiled egg. 2hr 09:40. 98/5.4
Slice of cheese
Chicken with bamboo, I tbsp br rice
2hr. 13:30. 115/6.4
Can of tuna 2 hr. 18:00. 111/6.2

-------------------------------------
3/9/16. 07:30. 97/5.3
Chicken/bamboo/egg, rice
2hr. 10:30. 116/6.4
Sausage, mushrooms 2 fried eggs
2hr. 17:00. 127/7.1

-------------------------------------
4/9/16. 07:40. 91/5.0
Chicken/bamboo/egg/rice
2hr. 11:45. 130/7.2

-------------------------------------
5/9/16. 06:30. 90/5.0
Ham and 1 fried egg
2hr. 09:40. 105/5.8
Egg mayonnaise salad
2 hr. 13:30. 98/5.4
Pre dinner. 15:30. 105/5.8
2 sausage/ 2 slices wholemeal bread with butter
2 hr. 18:30. 158/8.8

-------------------------------------
6/9/16. 06:30. 95/5.3
No strips
-------------------------------------
7/9/16. 06:30. 75/4.2
Ham and egg.
2hr. 09:30. 97/5.4
Beef with bamboo, brown rice
2 hr. 13:30. 92/5.1

-------------------------------------
8/9/16. 06:30. 90/5.0
Ham and egg
2hr. 09:30. 97/5.4
Beef with bamboo, brown rice
2hr. 13:30. 94/5.2
2sausage with mushrooms and egg
2hr. 18:00. 156/8.7

-------------------------------------
9/9/16. 06:30. 71/3.9
Omelette 2hr. 09:30. 97/5.4
Grilled chicken
2hr. 13:30. 107/5.9
Bacon egg mushroom
2hr. 18:30. 96/5.3

-------------------------------------
10/9/16. 08:00. 78/4.3
Chicken/bamboo, chicken/ginger, rice. 2hr. 11:00. 108/6.0
Chicken/bamboo, chicken/ginger, rice. 2hr. 18:00. 96/5.3

-------------------------------------
11/9/16. 08:30. 78/4.3
Chicken/bamboo, chicken/ginger, rice. 2hr. 108/6.0
Chicken/bamboo, chicken/ginger, rice. 2hr. 18:00. 82/4.6

-------------------------------------
12/9/16. 06:30 73/4.1
Omelette. No test
Ham and cheese.
2hr. 13:30. 110/6.1
Black pud, mush, bacon and eggs
2hr. 18:00. 125/6.9

-------------------------------------
13/9/16

 

[bulkbiker]

Looks good to me.. ever thought about skipping a meal? ... Yes here he goes about fasting again...
Maybe not eat breakfast. Also no mention of what you are drinking only water or tea coffee ....?

 

[Chris Thailand]

Hi! There's a few days in those stats where I just eat once or twice and I sometimes do breakfast to breakfast fasts (though not in the last fortnight) although since I tend not to eat after 16:00 breakfast is normally a welcome meal. As for drinks I have maybe 4 mugs of tea (splash of milk and a sweetener), lots of water and the occasional can of Coke Zero/glass of very dilute Robinson's no-added-sugar lemon squash-none of which have an impact on my readings. I sometimes treat myself to a sugar-free boiled sweet but the resultant toilet activity means it's a rare treat indeed. Thanks for taking the time to comment!

 

[Hiitsme]

Hi
You seem to be doing really well. It might be worth checking the carb content of the sausages as that can vary a lot. Your figures look a lot better than mine and although my HbA1c has gone up to 34 it is still very much within normal. Can you keep this up? If so I would assume a much lower HbA1c next time.

 

[Chris Thailand]

Hi! I'm doing ok with it so far and hope to continue but my need for a great big sandwich is assuming biblical proportions. We have a short break planned for the coming weekend and I know I'll fall at the breakfast buffet. I'm considering popping a glycazide as an aid to deal with what WILL be a self-control fail but am not sure if it will work or even if it's entirely ethical (I have a stash from when I used to take them). I'm becoming aware that my ****** last test was pretty much the result of monthly treats becoming weekly then daily and that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom (from diabetic complications). I have some foods I slipped back into enjoying and need to test but I'll wait until after my next test as I need to succeed on my next numbers (I have an overinflated competitive gene and I'm a ****** loser) but ,that done, I'll test and be damned.
As for the sausages; living in Asia it's a gift that English-style pork sausages can be found at all-and they certainly don't carry a label! I'm just glad they don't contain what the local ones do!
Thanks for taking the time to comment!

 

[Hiitsme]

When I was on holiday this year I had cooked breakfast (large amount) and then nothing except water until evening meal. As it was a hotel I just chose things that were somewhat sensible but did include a desert each day. I did a lot of testing and only once did I get a high reading (over 8) and realised that I had eaten the piece of fudge they had put with the coffee. A walk soon dealt with that. Did a lot of walking which I am helped.

 

[Chris Thailand]

It's the bread at the buffet breakfast. It's the bread.

 

[Chris Thailand]

That said, it will be a breakfast to breakfast fast. It'll have to be as I'll be full as an egg!

 

[jonbvn]

Chris can see the sausages and the 2 slices of bread spiked your BG. I know the joys of living in SE Asia very well - spent 3 years in VN. Miss the pho.

 

[Chris Thailand]

Hba1c test result of 6.5 today. Disappointed it's not lower but it's only 7 weeks since the last test of 7.1 and I assume there's a hangover from that. Next test in January so we'll see.

 

[Hiitsme]

Good progress and hopefully an encouragement to keep going.