Very pleased with myself!

SkinnyLizzie

Active Member
Messages
41
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi, Everyone, I'm so pleased with myself, I've just had my annual check up and the Dr. said I was a model patient! All my readings, BP, weight etc are excellent and my HbA1c has gone down from 57 mol, when first diagnosed in 2012, to 46 mol now. All my efforts with my diet and exercise are paying off and I feel so goooooooood. If anyone is interested in what I eat and how much I exercise I'm more than happy to tell you.
 
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Well done SL , no wonder you are so happy and long may it continue for you :)
 
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SkinnyLizzie

Active Member
Messages
41
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Aw! Thank you for all the congrats you lovely people and for those who want to know, I'll post about my diet and exercise regime sometime tomorrow, no time at the moment.
 
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Adelle0607

Well-Known Member
Messages
456
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi @SkinnyLizzie! Congratulations on your results you must be very happy! X yes we are interested to know how you did it, you can share it with us would love to hear how you managed w your diet and exercise :)
 
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TheFish

Member
Messages
23
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Tablets (oral)
Congrats :) I've had to change my check up due to working away from home ( now 10 th sep ) hope my results are good too lol
 
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sanguine

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3,340
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Great stuff Lizzie well done!
 
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SkinnyLizzie

Active Member
Messages
41
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi everyone, Here are the details - First of all I'll set the scene-
I was in very good health [I thought] and because of my age I was called to the surgery for one of those general check ups. My Dr. was as surprised as I was to discover I had type 2 and high cholesterol. I have always been slim, never smoked, drink only a glass or two of red wine per week, have a good diet [my diet as it was then was approved by the Desmond team, I just needed a few tweaks due to being diabetic]
So, as I was told to try control it by diet
I swapped all white potatoes for sweet potatoes except for a couple of roasties on Sunday. I made sure that all bread was whole grain and all pasta was wholemeal. I cut out almost all sugar added type foods like cakes, puddings, biscuits and desserts and the one spoon of sugar that I normally had in drinks. I limit fruit to no more than two per day.
and although I didn't do any specific exercise at that time, I walked a lot, gardened, ran around after the Grandchildren etc.
Diagnosed Aug '12
Age 65, weight 9 stones 10 lb, well within the ideal weight for height ratio. Statistics, 36 - 32 - 36 [room for waist improvement]
HbA1c 57 mol. Cholesterol 8.5 all else, BP, BMI etc was fine.
Check up result now
Age 67 at beginning of Oct. Weight 8 stones 10 lb - I didn't set out to lose weight, being already slim, and am now bordering on being underweight, the loss just happened through cutting out added sugar. Statistics now 36 - 30 - 36 so the weight loss has sorted my waist out!
HbA1c 46 mol cholesterol 4.3. BP etc all fine.
Typical diet now -
Breakfast
5 days a week 50g porridge oats with 300ml almond milk [the 29 cals one] a sprinkle of either ginger or cinnamon and sometimes a few blueberries. [Very occasionally I'll have two eggs on 1 slice of wholegrain toast] Saturday breakfast is a treat 1 pancake with apple cooked in cinnamon and about a teaspoon of maple syrup. Sunday mackerel, the hot smoked sort which I heat in the microwave + 1 slice whole grain bread.
Lunch - one or other of these or something very similar 2 slices whole grain bread with ham and tomato or avocado or cheese and tomato or tuna or humous with veg sticks or 2 poached eggs on 1 whole grain slice of toast. In addition I always have an apple or very occasionally a peach.
Main meal pretty much anything but majoring on veg and using whole grain carbs, + sweet pots, basmati rice or cous cous. eg. lasagne, shepherds pie, mousaka, grilled fish, spag bol, chilli and so on. If I make a pie it's only single crust and to compensate a bit for the pastry I don't have any other carbs eg. sweet pots, with it.
Desserts I don't have desserts now as a general rule, if I do it's likely to be a few strawberries or one scoop of ice cream and that only happens about once every 6 weeks.
Snacks
A handful of mixed nuts or a couple of oat cakes with cheese, or similar.
Drinks No more than two 'proper' coffees per day, all the rest are decaff. Max half bottle of red wine per week, tap water, at night one hot choc [low calorie variety, I like Weight watchers, it says to use 3 teaspoons which is 5.5 g carbs but I only use 1 teaspoon].
No sugar in drinks and I don't add milk either.
After a few weeks I discovered that I'd lost my sweet tooth and no longer even fancied a slice of cake or whatever.
Naughty food Very occasionally, someone's birthday for eg. I'll have a very thin sliver of cake minus the icing it probably amounts to just 1 'normal' slice in a whole year. At Christmas I'll have a small mince pie with a teaspoon of brandy butter on no more than two occasions. The only sweet things that I still really enjoy are Thorntons Viennese truffles. My husband buys me a small pack [about 10 chocs] for my birthday and at Christmas and I have one per day and compensate by having one less slice of bread. I love fish and chips but only have it about 3 times per year.
I don't feel at all deprived, mainly because I feel and look so much better for cutting out added sugar. I would no more want to eat a dessert, or other 'bad' food now than I would want to eat worms.
Exercise
Once diagnosed I started to do a bit more walking and then after a few months I injured myself while playing with my Grandson and ended up seeing a chiropractor. As part of my treatment he gave me some rehab exercises to do to strengthen my core muscles and because I liked the
effect they were having on my body, a flatter tum for one thing, I kept asking him for more exercises and I also took a Pilates class. I did the class once a week but incorporated the moves that I had learned into the routine I was doing with my chiro exercises. After 6 months of that I was flexible enough to do what I'm doing in my photo and was the envy of all my 60 something friends. Danny, my chiro, then suggested I see a colleague of his who is qualified in all things to do with core strengthening etc and who would tailor my exercises specifically for me and my rate of progression. I now do the following - every morning 30 half press ups [on my knees rather than toes] 20 squats 20 towel stretches and 50 heel raisers. Every evening I do about 30 minutes - 20 squats, 40 single leg teaser crunches, 20 double leg teaser crunches, 7 full press ups [gradually trying to do more of these] and 20 half press ups, 20 jack knife, 50 glute walk, plank - either holding for 3 mins or with 20, alternate, single leg lifts or 10 with alternate opposite arm + leg extensions. Obviously I worked my way up to this by doing 30 minutes of much easier exercises to start with and then Luke [my exercise guru] gradually got me to do harder and harder ones. I see Luke for 40 minutes of one to one every four weeks and it only costs the same as if I was attending a Pilates class each week but I get personal attention, so a] it doesn't cost much, and b] it's well worth the money. I no longer have baggy, saggy, flabby bits and I can do all sorts of things that I hadn't been able to do for several years like squat down and then down stand back up effortlessly and touch my toes.
It was a bit hard at first to find time [and the inclination] to exercise that regularly but I kept at it and now it's as much a part of my routine as cleaning my teeth and I really miss it if for some reason I don't do it and not doing it only happens about once every three months if that and there is always an insurmountable reason for not doing it. If any of you have bothered reading this far, I seem to have gone on a bit! and if you want to ask me about anything, please go right ahead.
 
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cold ethyl

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3,210
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Diet only
Well done. I suspect the fact that you were already relatively slim has meant that you have been able to lower your levels whilst still eating a fair amount of carbs. I know I'd not be able to eat that much bread , porridge etc on a regular basis and see a downward trajectory.
 
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Drummer mum

Member
Messages
21
Hi Skinnylizzie.
Thanks for your detailed post it has really helped me reading it this afternoon. I was diagnosed a couple of months ago and started out on Novomix 30 then moved to no Insulin but Gliclazide. I've been struggling with the dosage and the DN has recommended I try managing with just diet and no tablets as I'm having to snack constantly to keep me from Hypo-ing.

Reading about what you eat sounds very much like what I would normally consume in a day. I am very slight (and always have been) at 5'2" and 8st 5! So really don't want to lose weight. Your post made me sound 'normal' and realise that I'm not alone with this.

Great work though, I'm impressed!
 
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SkinnyLizzie

Active Member
Messages
41
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Well done. I suspect the fact that you were already relatively slim has meant that you have been able to lower your levels whilst still eating a fair amount of carbs. I know I'd not be able to eat that much bread , porridge etc on a regular basis and see a downward trajectory.
Hi, I think part of the reason I can cope with the carbs is that I do my main, 30 minute workout, about 1 hour after my main meal. It's a very strenuous 30 mins that raises my heartbeat and makes me break into a sweat. Do you exercise much? I know quite a lot of people don't for various reasons.
 
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SkinnyLizzie

Active Member
Messages
41
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi Skinnylizzie.
Thanks for your detailed post it has really helped me reading it this afternoon. I was diagnosed a couple of months ago and started out on Novomix 30 then moved to no Insulin but Gliclazide. I've been struggling with the dosage and the DN has recommended I try managing with just diet and no tablets as I'm having to snack constantly to keep me from Hypo-ing.

Reading about what you eat sounds very much like what I would normally consume in a day. I am very slight (and always have been) at 5'2" and 8st 5! So really don't want to lose weight. Your post made me sound 'normal' and realise that I'm not alone with this.

Great work though, I'm impressed!
Glad to be of help! I think the very strenuous 30 min workout that I do every day has as much to do with it as what I eat. Certainly my glucose levels have fallen much faster in the last six months which is when my workout started to get much harder [thanks to my trainer!]
 
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cold ethyl

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,210
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi, I think part of the reason I can cope with the carbs is that I do my main, 30 minute workout, about 1 hour after my main meal. It's a very strenuous 30 mins that raises my heartbeat and makes me break into a sweat. Do you exercise much? I know quite a lot of people don't for various reasons.

I do about 40 plus minutes a day on exercise bike, usually in two 20 minute sessions, one after breakfast and one after main evening meal. It does help but I haven't really pushed the boat out carbs wise. Bread doesn't agree with me much anyway so not a great loss, apart from ease. Tried some Sukrin bread this morning that I made and binned it- vile.
 
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