Type 2: Fasting Experiment To Lower Bg

PatsyB

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,956
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Diabetes
How do you manage counting all them carbs I do not think i could manage that regime but seems like a good way to lower BG L
 

AllieRainbow

Well-Known Member
Messages
207
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
How do you manage counting all them carbs I do not think i could manage that regime but seems like a good way to lower BG L

I use an online food diary, which makes it really easy, and of course you get used to working out the carb content after a while too.
 

AllieRainbow

Well-Known Member
Messages
207
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Today I had my first reading in the 4s since the summer, and only my 5th reading in that range since I began testing.

I am currently eating one meal a day plus a snack of nuts, cheese and olives if necessary, and have increased my exercise over the last week.

I am eating under 5 a day for veggies and mainly raw vegetables rather than cooked, as they seem better for the blood sugar for me. Plenty of fats and moderate protein, and lots of water.

After a very unproductive summer due to fatigue caused by blood pressure medication making exercise difficult and energy levels low, I feel like I am turning a corner. I have dropped around 10 pounds in weight over the last few weeks, and feel a lot better all round, with much better energy levels at the moment.

My doctor said that he would like to see if my lifestyle changes can continue to bring the blood pressure down without medication as it had big side effects for me, and I will be doing another HbA1c test in February, and a review of the blood pressure situation, with self monitoring of BP in the mean-time.

He was extremely pleased with my progress from a HbA1c of 82 on diagnosis in April this year, to 42 on re-testing in August.

My challenge for myself now is to continue to lose weight, exercise and lower the BG and BP with my lifestyle changes.
 
Last edited:

LalaALH

Active Member
Messages
38
This thread is inspiring! I am recently diagnosed with Type 2 and have started bg testing over the past few days. I’d come to the same idea of trying to give my system a rest by only eating when bg was below 6 and was thinking of asting the rest of today - then I happened across this thread! It’s been so useful to see what might happen over the next few weeks. Definitely worth trying 1 meal a day I think.

Just as a thank you - look up the Happy Scale app. You weigh yourself once a day and it mathematically calculates the underlying weight loss, so if you keep doing the right things, you’ll see consistent progress. It’s really helpful! It’s on the Apple app store, not sure about Android.
 

AllieRainbow

Well-Known Member
Messages
207
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
The last few days have seen higher BG readings, I think because I have a cold. Grr!!

On the plus side I made a fathead pizza today which has lowered the daily calories due to being ridiculously filling. Watch out for the carbs in pre-grated cheese as I found mine had added potato starch, which pushed up the carbs a lot but still not too bad for the day. The pizza was very close to a wheat pizza and I added a little psyllium husk for a more bread-like texture.

I also discovered that some sweeteners make me feel terrible - not sure whether it was erythritol or stevia to blame, or both, but I had a bit of Oppo hazelnut and chocolate ice ream and I felt really nauseous, with a really strong and strange aftertaste in my mouth for hours - YUK!!! I think sweet things are off the menu now, even with sweeteners in they are no good for me.

Tastes are changing, slowly, so I am now not bothered about sweet stuff at all. I can see a lot of cheese and nuts in the future...
 

singsteve

Active Member
Messages
27
Allie, I am certified Nutritionist and work within the medical industry. I have just dealt with a situation close to yours and she is now apparently free for the last 6 weeks. Took us three months to get there. My schedule is horrendously bus but I will find time to help if I can
 
  • Like
Reactions: PatsyB

PatsyB

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,956
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Diabetes
congrat s Allie on your reduction of HbA1c
 

AllieRainbow

Well-Known Member
Messages
207
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Here I am again! I have been really stressed out the last few weeks with some family issues and went on holiday to get some stress relief. This plan went badly wrong, and my husband and youngest daughter got terrible food poisoning on the first night.. Not fun at all, and then I ended up ill a few days later with something similar. I was very careful about hygiene, but clearly somehow caught it anyway while looking after them.

As a result the blood sugar has not been great the last couple of weeks, because of being ill, but is now starting to improve.
 

first14808

Well-Known Member
Messages
405
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Stuff happens. May have been the dreaded norovirus that can strike this time of year, and is not fun. Also, being a virus, cleaning with antibacterial lotions and potions won't help. Bleach will though.

But congratulations on your journey, and your willpower!
 
  • Like
Reactions: AllieRainbow

AllieRainbow

Well-Known Member
Messages
207
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Back again after a long break. I have been really ill for weeks with various colds, and I am just at the end of the latest one, and struggling with a cough that won't give up.

I have been looking into sugar and the immune system, and it seems that higher blood sugar is a big problem, so I am starting 2019 with a big determination to get to grips with it after a few weeks of not doing as well as I should have.

I am still very overweight, so I am looking at getting off a fair few kilos over the next few months by a combination of intermittent fasting and calorie reduction. There is plenty of fuel on board, so I have a lot to go at.

I have managed to get a few pounds off so far, and will be reporting progress in my signature. No exercise at the moment as I am still feeling too ill, but once I am better I will be looking at adding in daily exercise again in order to attack from that front as well, and improve insulin resistance.

Dealing with the diabetes is a very long haul, and the hardest thing seems to be keeping focus and not getting discouraged and back into denial. I have set myself some small but clear targets to get myself back to a healthy weight and deal with the diabetes, so here we go!
 

Ponchu

Well-Known Member
Messages
292
Today I had my first reading in the 4s since the summer, and only my 5th reading in that range since I began testing.

I am currently eating one meal a day plus a snack of nuts, cheese and olives if necessary, and have increased my exercise over the last week.

I am eating under 5 a day for veggies and mainly raw vegetables rather than cooked, as they seem better for the blood sugar for me. Plenty of fats and moderate protein, and lots of water.

After a very unproductive summer due to fatigue caused by blood pressure medication making exercise difficult and energy levels low, I feel like I am turning a corner. I have dropped around 10 pounds in weight over the last few weeks, and feel a lot better all round, with much better energy levels at the moment.

My doctor said that he would like to see if my lifestyle changes can continue to bring the blood pressure down without medication as it had big side effects for me, and I will be doing another HbA1c test in February, and a review of the blood pressure situation, with self monitoring of BP in the mean-time.

He was extremely pleased with my progress from a HbA1c of 82 on diagnosis in April this year, to 42 on re-testing in August.

My challenge for myself now is to continue to lose weight, exercise and lower the BG and BP with my lifestyle changes.

Congratulations. It’s inspiring to read.

Can you speak to side effects on BP meds?
 

jpscloud

Well-Known Member
Messages
729
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Congratulations. It’s inspiring to read.

Can you speak to side effects on BP meds?


Brilliant AllieRainbow, thanks for posting - I'm finding posts like this very inspirational.

Ponchu, I am on two BP meds, and just starting low carb/IF - I must get cracking with my bp monitor and see what's happening there. Would be most interested to hear others' experiences too.
 

AllieRainbow

Well-Known Member
Messages
207
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Congratulations. It’s inspiring to read.

Can you speak to side effects on BP meds?
the side effects were extreme exhaustion, to the point where I was asleep most of the time and had no energy to do anything. The second lot of medication had this effect after the first tablet, while the first lot took a few days to get to this point.

I feel that the side effects set me back massively by making me unable to do any exercise at all. I am still dealing with the weight gain I had as a result, although it is starting to go downwards again now several months later.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jpscloud

AllieRainbow

Well-Known Member
Messages
207
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I am at the end of week 2 for my 2019 attempt to get the weight off. I decided that a combination of very low carb and calorie restriction would be the best bet to shift some weight quickly, in a version of the Newcastle Diet with real food.

The protocol is between 800-1200 calories per day, eating when I am hungry, with around 200 calories in above ground vegetables.
Otherwise very low carb, and plenty of water. Cream or butter in coffee. To avoid things chugging along too much the same, I have also planned in a "feast day" once a week, where calories will be around 1200-1800, but still very low carb.

I am still testing various foods to see what reactions I am getting, as I hadn't tested properly for weeks and things got away from me a little over the winter.

I have had a series of colds from well before Christmas that are still ongoing, and realised eventually that my carbs were high enough to have a negative effect on my immune system. At the beginning of last week I took the carbs lower, and concentrated on water, rest, and a multi vitamin to boost the immune system, and stopped doing things that seemed to interfere with optimal immune function. The result last week was a steady worsening of symptoms, which I took as a positive sign that my immune system was more able to fight back, and then a couple of days of feeling truly dreadful with lots of immune symptoms - runny nose, sneezing etc. Today I woke up feeling much better with the cough on its way out.

I introduced some gentle exercise yesterday to help my recovery and work on improving insulin resistance.

Here are the results so far:

Baseline at start of Real Food Newcastle Diet (7th January 2019):
Weight: 119.8 kilos (264.2lb/18st 12.2lb) - BMI: 39.0 - Waist:Height Ratio: 68%
FBG: 8.4 mmol/l

Week 1 (14th January 2019):
Weight: 118.2 kilos (260.8lb/18st 8.8lb) - BMI: 38.5 - Waist:Height Ratio: 67%
FBG: 7.1 mmol/l
Week 2 (21st January 2019):
Weight: 116.1 kilos (256.0lb/18st 4.0lb) - BMI: 37.8 - Waist:Height Ratio: 65%
FBG: 7.6 mmol/l

So far I have lost 8.2lb and around 4cm from my waist, with no significant changes elsewhere, so it looks like I am losing abdominal fat first as should be expected.

I will keep going and see what the results are over the next 6 weeks, and then make a decision on whether to carry on or change the protocol.

Mood-wise I am feeling very unstressed compared to normal, and a lot calmer in general.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chook

bulkbiker

BANNED
Messages
19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I am at the end of week 2 for my 2019 attempt to get the weight off. I decided that a combination of very low carb and calorie restriction would be the best bet to shift some weight quickly, in a version of the Newcastle Diet with real food.

The protocol is between 800-1200 calories per day, eating when I am hungry, with around 200 calories in above ground vegetables.
Otherwise very low carb, and plenty of water. Cream or butter in coffee. To avoid things chugging along too much the same, I have also planned in a "feast day" once a week, where calories will be around 1200-1800, but still very low carb.

I am still testing various foods to see what reactions I am getting, as I hadn't tested properly for weeks and things got away from me a little over the winter.

I have had a series of colds from well before Christmas that are still ongoing, and realised eventually that my carbs were high enough to have a negative effect on my immune system. At the beginning of last week I took the carbs lower, and concentrated on water, rest, and a multi vitamin to boost the immune system, and stopped doing things that seemed to interfere with optimal immune function. The result last week was a steady worsening of symptoms, which I took as a positive sign that my immune system was more able to fight back, and then a couple of days of feeling truly dreadful with lots of immune symptoms - runny nose, sneezing etc. Today I woke up feeling much better with the cough on its way out.

I introduced some gentle exercise yesterday to help my recovery and work on improving insulin resistance.

Here are the results so far:

Baseline at start of Real Food Newcastle Diet (7th January 2019):
Weight: 119.8 kilos (264.2lb/18st 12.2lb) - BMI: 39.0 - Waist:Height Ratio: 68%
FBG: 8.4 mmol/l

Week 1 (14th January 2019):
Weight: 118.2 kilos (260.8lb/18st 8.8lb) - BMI: 38.5 - Waist:Height Ratio: 67%
FBG: 7.1 mmol/l
Week 2 (21st January 2019):
Weight: 116.1 kilos (256.0lb/18st 4.0lb) - BMI: 37.8 - Waist:Height Ratio: 65%
FBG: 7.6 mmol/l

So far I have lost 8.2lb and around 4cm from my waist, with no significant changes elsewhere, so it looks like I am losing abdominal fat first as should be expected.

I will keep going and see what the results are over the next 6 weeks, and then make a decision on whether to carry on or change the protocol.

Mood-wise I am feeling very unstressed compared to normal, and a lot calmer in general.
Welcome back to the fold and you are doing great...
 

AllieRainbow

Well-Known Member
Messages
207
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
A good result today for fasting blood sugar - 5.8 this morning. Day one was 8.4. There is a downward trend and by the end of the 8 weeks it should be a a lot better than the start.

I am feeling a lot better for kicking out the carbs and sticking to under 20 per day, and have a lot more energy than the first week.

My mood has been very even, and I am still feeling very unstressed compared to last year, which seemed like one long stressy nightmare most of the time.

I am fasting today, as I am not feeling hungry at all, and I will see when I want to break the fast, whether 24 hours or longer. At the moment I am carefully listening to my body and eating when hungry, and stopping as soon as I feel that I have had enough, just before the satiety point.

Carb intake has been going down steadily, and is closer to 10-15g most days.

Update - I ended up not fasting all day as I felt that I needed to eat, but got the lowest reading so far for BG this time of 5.2, so something is working now to get the levels down. At the start of January I was looking at 7s and 8s or higher all the time, and now I am looking at mainly 6s with the odd 5s and 7s.
 
Last edited:

AllieRainbow

Well-Known Member
Messages
207
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Not great results this week - FBG is higher, and there is some weight gain. I suspect this is partly to do with what seems to be a chest infection developing. I am still trying to get into the doctor's for an appointment - none available today, so I will have to ring tomorrow first thing.

I noticed my sugars going up a lot over the last few days, and I am feeling like ****, and this cough has been hanging around for 6 weeks now.