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'Cured' of Type II

W

Woodall14

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Just wanted to highlight the difference that good diet and exercise can make.

I was diagnosed Type II almost 9 years ago, I took Metformin and Gliclazide and pretty much carried on as normal really, The diabetic nurse gave me nutrition advice which consisted of eat potatoes, bread, rice, veg, meat, don't drink beer and try to get 30 minutes of exercise per day.

Fast forward 8 years and I was 93kg (weight has been up to 103kg and down to 90kg over that period), blood sugar readings of around 10.5 down to 8.5 at best on HB1AC tests but last year I decided enough was enough and it was time to loose some weight and get fit (mid life crisis I guess) so I saw a personal trainer and nutritionalist (well recommended one with solid documented history and a waiting list of 3 months! not one of the 'one more rep' type clowns that stand around in the gym.)

He advised regarding carbs, protein and vegetables, how and why to eat a certain way and what frequency, how close to exercise and how to exercise for maximum benefit, what to eat after exercise etc. and so after just two weeks of this new regime I had to stop taking meds as my blood sugar was dipping too low, I'm now off all meds of any kind for 10 months and just had my HB1AC results through that are 5.1

Basically I eat like this : Protein shake with oats in morning, mid morning 4-5 oz tuna/chicken with salad/veg (two good handfuls) and 3oz new potatoes - afternoon meal similar again 4-5oz of protein meat, with 2-5-3oz of carbs and salad, early evening snack could be 3 oat cakes with peanut butter and a protein shake, evening meal would be 4-5oz meat plus veg (no carbs after 6pm) - then a protein shake to finish off about 30 mins before bedtime. - basically it's just low carb diet but everything is from scratch, no refined sugars, no hidden ingredients, plenty of veg and salad .. with protein .. but carbs in moderation.

Doing that coupled with 6 workouts per week has dropped 17kg off me in 10 months and left me feeling years younger and fitter than ever... and the fat is still burning off, but I'm adding muscle now is it easy? NO it's not.. but the alternative is not something I want to experience as I get older.

I assumed that it was too late to do anything about my type II diabetes but it wasn't, I'm technically cured (although if I eat **** and lay around instead of exercising I know it will return)

For anyone with type II I would urge you to commit to 30 days of change - diet and exercise - and check blood sugar readings at the end - you won't fail to see a positive change if you have put the effort in, nothing feels better than being diabetes free!

... Or you could keep taking pills and eating **** and waiting for a medical cure....
 
Hi, thanks for sharing your story. Congratulations and well done on all your hard work in restoring your health. Your success, after 9 years struggling with this disease is heartening, and proves that it's never too late to try to reverse Type 2 diabetes.

It certainly sounds like you found the will to improve your health, and a diet and exercise regime which works for you. More importantly, you've found a regime you are able to stick to - which I'm sure you'd agree is the key to your success.

Many of us on this forum have had similar success after lowering carbs (to varying degrees - we're all different!)) and increasing exercise. Unfortunately, there would seem to be no "one way" and no shortcuts to success or someone would patent it! The main thing is to take and keep control of blood glucose levels whichever way works for each of us as individuals. Finding what that way is can be a challenging and sometimes lonely journey.

Out of interest, do you intend to continue to use protein shakes in the longer term - or when you reach your target weight (if you haven't already) will you swap them out for real food?

Warmest wishes for your continued good health.
 
Hi Weens, thanks, I just wanted to give a bit of encouragement and share my story

To be honest I wasn't really struggling as such with the disease... more a case of just resigned to my fate and eating processed and takeaway food then stuck in the cycle of tablets to keep things under control as I had no awareness that it could be fixed and gotten back on track to the extent it has, even my diabetic nurse is surprised at my results so I guess that it's not too common a sight where I live.

It was more a lack of knowledge and direction.. that yielded results worth the effort.. that kept me on medication, This is where the trainer helped me massively, he literally changed my life!, but even he says it's 80% diet, 20% exercise to lose weight and get fit.. I'd tried the gym a few times over the years for months at a time and gotten nowhere (I just wasn't eating properly then at all)

Yes I definitely agree that finding a regime that you can stick to is key, I started road cycling as once I'm out on the bike nothing interrupts it, only rain stops that, and I go out on my mountain bike then instead (may as well have fun getting wet and muddy) and now I regularly rack up 20-40 miles at a fair pace and really enjoy this compared to being sat in the gym on the bike, I do weights too though as I feel cardio alone isn't enough for me.

I think I'll probably drop the protein shakes off at some point but at the moment I'm still trying to build muscle as I've still got stomach fat and some chest fat, it's coming off slowly but surely (building muscle seems to burn fat for me ) but as such I don't have a target weight, it's more of a target look I guess, my abs are shadowing through now but I figure maybe it will take another 6 months to get there as I've plateaued out but I'm happy with the slow progress, once satisfied with my look I'll speak to my trainer and figure out a maintenance diet as well as workout routine, depending upon if I want to build muscle or just maintain the look (and blood sugar) I have then

I just hope more people get the message that type II can be 'reversed' for some of us through exercise and diet and they at least try it to see encouraging results
 


well done and congratulations, you truly worked on your body and has succeeded and this is great news and will encourage other type 2 diabetics to do the same, I am like you, working on keeping active and doing fitness eating healthy to rid the high suger levels, i am not at a worse stage of diabetes a low one though i know i have the chance to get my body under control and keep it in the norm zone, i am slowly getting there and hope i conquer it like you, I am very happy to hear that you care about your self and have done something about your health and i want to encourage you to stick with it keep at it and you shall keep it at bay hugs xx
 
well done for your success in keeping fit and healthy and it is very true eating healthy and exercise is important it is the man made processed artificial foods that are destroying peoples health, people need to be body aware and food aware and drink aware what harm is happening to there own body, many people are getting lazy or not getting enough exercise the one thing some do is get hooked on computer games or computers losing track of time just sitting down a lot and not realizing how much they need to do to keep active in between and have a better healthier life style so i hope the message does get across to those who are blind to all they should be paying attention to. i encourage you to keep on looking after your body as you are one that will conquers diabetes getting in control of it not it controlling you hugs x
 
Well done you for sticking to it and getting results, so glad you have the physical fitness, tenacity and capabilities to do all that.
 

Some of the blame for you being resigned to your fate lies with your diabetic nurse who should have done more to encourage you to try a structured diet & exercise regime, and not just rely on medication. It is in their remit to provide knowledge and direction in that regard.


Your trainer deserves a medal for his enlightened approach to your medical issues. The fact that your diabetic nurse is surprised at your results speaks volumes. Her poor advice led to you having to control your diabetes with drugs for a long period, instead of tackling the real issue of your diet. I hope she's suitably ashamed.


It sounds like you'll achieve that six-pack before too long... best of luck - although I don't think you'll need luck cos you've clearly got the motivation.

Woodall14 said:
I just hope more people get the message that type II can be 'reversed' for some of us through exercise and diet and they at least try it to see encouraging results
Click to expand...

I hope so too, because we know it works.
 
I think some of the health professionals are not giving all advice or correctly advising, i had my diabetic check yesterday my first one, i did not get weight and height check she should of done it then decide to do it next month, she did the foot test wrong never asked me to close me eyes while she was doing it i closed them any way yet she put the needle under me foot only not on my toes, now i am glad i watched the video in advance over the foot check if i did not i would not of known how it should of been done , the doctor in the video stated your eyes must be closed so your not looking at where the needle it touching your skin it gives a better indication if you have a foot problem or not plus the toes are important to check, she did not do it, she nearly never gave me the cholesterol check the doctor wanted me to have i had to tell her to do it and show her the paper i kept lucky enough to get her to do it the hba1 ? not had that done not sure if i will get it, there are things she missed out. i know she never weighed me and checked my height yet she thinks she did, my doctor checked me weight not my height, i was not given any info or advice about hyper or hypo, none of these was brought up not even my gp talked of it i had to be thankful i already knew of this from when i had gestational diabetes so i can understand how people feel when there are failings in the system, if i did not know any of the info which the gp i am under was not my gp when i had pe and gd, i would of been blind to the info not knowing it was there and could of ended up worse off in health because i experienced hypo and hyper and for a doctor or nurse not to tell you what to do, your knackered a persons life at risk could easily go in a coma so there education in basic failed there big time, and it should not happen,it is there duty to tell people all important info give guidance what to do not to leave it for a education course months down the line they need it now. i just hope no one else is going through this if they are something seriously wrong in health system.it needs addressing.
 
I love your success story, Woodall14. It clearly confirms what I have been learning since my diagnosis as a type 2 diabetic in July 1991.

My diagnosis fasting blood sugar reading was 468 mg/dl. I was supposed to be on several anti-diabetes pills. Luckily, I was able to convince our family physician to allow me to try 'my way' on condition that I pass a stress test. After passing this test, he told me to be very very careful not to kill myself with daily exercise.

23 years later, I am still alive, healthy, strong, and very happy that I feel much younger than my actual age of 78 1/2 years. My anti-diabetes med has always been daily exercise, a total of 2 hours/day (warm-ups and cool-downs included) in four 30-minute sessions (before each meal and before bedtime) of indoor power-walking combined with modified push-ups, and jogging in place.

What foods have I been eating? Heart-healthy, natural, fresh (raw or cooked), unprocessed, and whole (mostly carbohydrates). As expected, carbohydrates have been giving me high blood sugar levels 4x/day (fasting and after-meal) but they have never bothered me maybe because they are short-lived and temporary. I have never had hypos, diabetes complications, and have always been enjoying life like I have no diabetes. My past A1c's were from 5.2% to 6.3%. The one I had on September 30, 2013, was 5.7%.

Bonny
 
well done bonnie your another true inspiration to others to succeed and beat diabetes, very proud of you well done.hugs x
 
Well done...well done...well done! Can we have pictures of the six pack?

You know, it wasn't until we moved to Cambridgeshire 3 years ago that I even saw a diabetic nurse. Before that I was just put on meds, had nothing explained, was not told how serious it was so did nothing about it for years. If diabetes is an epidemic, then money is certainly being wasted in just giving people drugs with no education to accompany them. That's not to say we can't educate ourselves. We can, we're not stupid, but often we don't. The many stories telling the same thing on here bear that out. The why we don't is complicated and very individual, but the people who know - the various health professionals - could do more.

Now I have a spot on DN, and things are changing for me. It's still hard work, but the fact that my awareness has been raised is the most important starting point IMO.
 

i agree there has to be more awareness and educating and it is scary for people who do not know how serious it is what they are heading for when not educated enough about diabetes, I hope all goes well with your health and progress and big hugs x to you to
 
Think its great you are managing to control your diabetes via diet and exercise. A word of caution this is not a cure, in the same way diabetes is controlled by medication this method is also controlling diabetes, there is no cure as such at this time. Within that there are many type 2's who do not resemble the archytypal type 2 diabetic yet they are taking insulin. There are still many issues with diabetes still to be discovered and worked through by that I mean type1, type 2, type 1.5, type 3. Diet and exrecise will be one method of control among others. Once again congratulations on what you've achieved.
 
it would be nice for all diabetics to get a cure, and get there lives back 100 percent,and eating healthy and exercise can control the diabetes can get your glucose levels to the norm or near to it once the healthy eating works and exercise, just keeping it to that point in control is easy once you know what food and drink has been the culprits to send sugar levels up.just means keeping those things away from your diet.eat them again it is like an allergy attack sends sugars out of control.it is not worth eating and drinking what you did like to risk your health, better off with out it, hugs xx p.s this is why it is important to use a glucose meter to test what your sugar levels are and what is giving you an idea what you ate or drank affects your high sugar levels.without the meter it is harder to monitor
 
Great job just keep staying healthy
 
Well done
 
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