Thanks. I have done Keto diets, Atkins, weight watchers, slimming world, low carb, low fat, paleo, calorie counting, Noom, just about everything. I lose a couple of stone and then pile it back on - and more - because i find it is not sustainable. I lose motivation, I get depressed then I feed my face with sugar and takeaways. Sorry to be rude but you are still assuming I don’t know how it works chemically. I haven’t read anything in the last week about diet and nutrition that I didn’t already know.
my issue is anticipating my failure in maintaining a suitable diet. Because that has been my downfall since I was a child.
Not rude at all, you'd be surprised though how often people say they know what they're doing and then... Don't. So we tend to double-check. It's a concern-thing, not a "you can't possibly know what you're on about" thing. Also, it's not about losing weight. Weight loss is more of a happy side effect while you're getting blood sugars down via low carbing. And less visceral fat usually means better insulin sensitivity. (So if you do lose weight, be careful not to overshoot insulin... Your needs may change as your body changes).
I've fallen off the wagon a bunch of times. Because of grief, because of stress, because my husband came home with heaps of chocolate around Christmas... I just get back on after a day, or a week, and continue the diet I was on. I don't throw my hands in the air and go, "Well, I knew I was going to f*** this up, so forget it". I KNOW I will screw up here and there. Kind of comes with being human. But being doomed to failure doesn't mean I can't try again. I haven't had pus leaking from my toes for years anymore, no more thrush, less pain, less fatigue, infections and inflammation, less eye trouble, so it's been worth it, and toppling off the wagon didn't change that, those were just blips.... Oh, and about eyes: With better control of your blood sugars, be it with insulin injections, medication or diet, there's less sugar distorting your vision. Your brain's been compensating for it all this time, so it needs a few weeks to get used to the new normal. So if things are worse, vision wise, right at this moment, that's actually a good sign. Provided the eye-check doesn't come up with retinopathy. (And even that can improve as your blood sugars do). But if it's a sugar-eyeball-brain thing, don't go to Specsavers just yet, just get some 2 quid reading glasses to get you through those few weeks.
One last thing: Diet isn't for everyone. Is it better in the long run? Yeah. Less chances of the D escalating, less chance of complications, than with medication-only, less side effects, and for me personally, less depression to boot... But it isn't for everyone.
You do have a choice here. You could try cutting some carbs and getting meds as support in the background, you can do meds-only, you can do diet-only.... No-one's putting a gun to your head and forcing you to do it this way, or that way... It's your body, your health, and you have a say in all this. A lot of people here go the diet route and are perfectly happy with that. Others tumble into a deep depression because due to other issues there's little food options left to them, or food was a big part of their joie de vivre, or... There's lots of reasons one may not want to go the diet-only route. You're not supposed to be a prisoner of a diet you hate. It's impossible to keep up if you don't enjoy what's on your plate. I have a couple of conditions that have food triggers. That means there's a bunch of keto foods I can't touch without suffering for it. (And I do mean suffer; rheumatism, IBS and migraines are no fun) But there's still enough left for me, like eggs, veggies, poultry, meat, fish, goat's cheeses etc, that I don't feel I'm missing out on anything, and what I do eat, I love. That works for me. Might not work for someone else though, and I don't expect it to.
You do you. There's nothing rude about choosing what is best for you, whatever
you decide that is.
Jo
