Yikes, apologies, guys! I've been away on holiday and have been neglecting this forum!
Thank you to everyone for their kind words and encouragement. It is pretty much solely because of all of you that I've managed to get to this point. This forum was a lifesaver for me when I was first diagnosed and in a pretty bad place emotionally. Honestly, I cannot thank you enough.
To answer a couple of questions:
That's brilliant news, very well done. Can you share how you did it with us, please?
Initially, I went super low-carb (<20g of carbs per day, predominantly from vegetables) and dropped some weight. Unfortunately, a couple of months of being in ketosis seemed to exacerbate some sensitive bladder issues!, so I began to reintroduce some lower GI carbs, such as pasta and wholemeal bread--up to 100g per day. To my surprise, I found that I could tolerate them quite well. This tolerance keeps improving as I lose more weight (e.g. I ate an 80g serving of pasta last night and the highest number I saw was 5.6, and I was back to 4.5 after 3 hours). Since diagnosis, I have lost about 30kg. From my highest weight, I have lost 46kg in total. I also exercise regularly, though I wasn't exercising at all when I was low-carbing. My current regime is a 30-40 minute moderately-paced walk, a couple of aerobics classes, and a few gym sessions per week. I should reiterate, though, that my numbers were already quite good when I started exercising, so whilst exercise is a fantastic tool in the diabetic toolbox, diet (in my case, low carb) is the sledgehammer!
I think I was lucky in some ways, because if you look at my numbers at diagnosis, I had essentially just tipped over the line between prediabetes and diabetes. Add in the fact that I had so much weight to lose (I still have about 15kg to go to be at the top end of my 'ideal' weight range), and possibly my age (30s), I was in a fairly good position to 'reverse' the diabetes.
That's a fabulous result, and interesting where your current BMI is.
What are your personal objectives from here, going forward?
Lose the rest of the weight! At least 15kg, to get to a healthy BMI. Continue with regular exercise. And, probably most importantly, not slip back into my previous eating habits (I was a terrible emotional/binge eater). I plan to be on a lower-carb diet for life, sticking to lower GI carbs as much as possible.
And, uh, for those of you who may be questioning my initial diagnosis, I first received a 7.8 fasting BG during a regular 'check-up' blood test. That alerted my GP to the potential diabetes diagnosis. I was then referred to take the OGTT, for which I received the below results (including a fasting BG of 7.6). I had not been low carbing in the week leading up to the test, nor do I suffer from any medical conditions, or take any medication that may adversely affect BG. I was fasting for the appropriate time prior to the test and I am not a smoker. I was obese at diagnosis, and I have a very strong family history of diabetes type 2. I hope that helps clarify things.
