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Determination And Effort Brings Results But Willpower Is Essential

Lamont D said:
Hi, Keith, your thread title is really good advice and whatever you are doing, it is having a healthy option than you did before your prediabetic diagnosis. Great weight loss and do you feel the benefits of your lifestyle choices?
What is really essential above your thread title is education and knowledge of how and why you are prediabetic. Gaining an insight into why your body is giving you the symptoms will help you understand, how dietary changes will determine your future health.
Have a good read of the forums, especially the success stories forum, it is so enlightening to how important a dietary change is.

Best wishes
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Thanks that’s good advice also.
When something is alien to you it’s important to get good advice and support and I have to say the NHS are doing a good job but diabetes is growing especially in youngsters and maybe schools should take it onboard for discussions as well!!!!
 
Yes...extraordinary willpower is need to succeed with the recommended eat less calorie move more approach.

Those without the willpower nor determination will have to consider alternative approach.
 
kokhongw said:
Yes...extraordinary willpower is need to succeed with the recommended eat less calorie move more approach.

Those without the willpower nor determination will have to consider alternative approach.
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I am going to say i find that upsetting.

I have enormous willpower and determination. I gave up smoking cold turkey. I have watched my food intake like a hawk for 25 years. I have struggled to keep going and raise a family, even with CFS/ME

I do NOT use an alternative approach to calories restriction and exercise due to a lack of either willpower or determination.

I use an alternative approach: LCHF because it works for me.

Happy to know if I have misunderstood your message.
 
lucylocket61 said:
I am going to say i find that upsetting.

I have enormous willpower and determination. I gave up smoking cold turkey. I have watched my food intake like a hawk for 25 years. I have struggled to keep going and raise a family, even with CFS/ME

I do NOT use an alternative approach to calories restriction and exercise due to a lack of either willpower or determination.

I use an alternative approach: LCHF because it works for me.

Happy to know if I have misunderstood your message.
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I don't see why it should be upsetting.

It is great if you have willpower and determination. You should rightly be proud of yourself.

But requiring extraordinary will power to succeed means that success will be out of reach for many. It would mean that those who failed to attain normal glucose or achieve weight loss lacks will power and determination. That mantra has gone on for decades...

I believe there is an easier path for T2D that does not require will power or exercise although they can certainly be helpful. I find that LCHF and intermittent fasting is sustainable simply because it does not require will power for me to eat food I enjoy and I don't need to eat food when I don't feel hungry...
 
kokhongw said:
I don't see why it should be upsetting.

It is great if you have willpower and determination. You should rightly be proud of yourself.

But requiring extraordinary will power to succeed means that success will be out of reach for many. It would mean that those who failed to attain normal glucose or achieve weight loss lacks will power and determination. That mantra has gone on for decades...

I believe there is an easier path for T2D that does not require will power or exercise although they can certainly be helpful. I find that LCHF and intermittent fasting is sustainable simply because it does not require will power for me to eat food I enjoy and I don't need to eat food when I don't feel hungry...
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thank you for explaining and expanding on your post. I can see that I did, indeed, misunderstand. Sorry.
 
Don’t get me wrong, the willpower is required if you have a goal to loose weight and exercise more. Cutting down on alcohol is a change in lifestyle and none of these are easy. Even with willpower people do struggle with easing their conditions and to those I feel for you all.
My main aim was the 3 issues I mentioned which I’ve now got under some control but now I have to maintain it
Everyone associated with any form of diabetes needs the help and support of everyone around them!!!
Keep looking up not back....
 
KeithA said:
Don’t get me wrong, the willpower is required if you have a goal to loose weight and exercise more. Cutting down on alcohol is a change in lifestyle and none of these are easy. Even with willpower people do struggle with easing their conditions and to those I feel for you all.
My main aim was the 3 issues I mentioned which I’ve now got under some control but now I have to maintain it
Everyone associated with any form of diabetes needs the help and support of everyone around them!!!
Keep looking up not back....
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Well done on your achievement. It may be that you have lost enough fat to reverse your diabetes as you were only just on the threshold. It will be interesting to see what happens as you increase what you eat to maintain your current weight. I have found, like many others that unless I eat LCHF, my blood glucose goes far higher after meals than I am happy with. Do you test 1 hour and 2 hours after eating your higher carb meals as it would be interesting to see what your peaks are. If they are fine, then you really are doing well but it is good to be aware that once you reach pre diabetic your pancreas may have to be producing an awful lot of insulin to deal with those carbs. It can't do that for ever.

And I have to disagree with you about fruit. I used to eat a huge amount but now eat nothing more than a few berries. It's certainly not an essential part of my diet any more!
 
Thanks advice and yes I think your probably right. I’m testing first thing in am and averaging around 5.5 mmol/l and generally test 1.5 hrs after a meal and it’s been as low as 5 but as high as 6.5 which I don’t think is abnormal. It’s early days of course but I do think the weight loss, more exercise and reduction in alcohol has helped significantly.
I also notice that the more water I drink the better the results.... I try to down 65 oz a day. No problem when sun is shining but not easy like now!
I’m now at the stage where I’m happy with the weight so next few months will be quite interesting!!!
Will post update due course.
Have a nice day. K
 
KeithA said:
The other thing I did was buy a fitbit which monitors your exercise and thats really helped
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Hello @KeithA, always nice to meet another Fitbit user / addict. I like your plan to move 250 steps EVERY hour. I think I must set this up for myself with my vibrating alarm watch, as I always think I'll remember and then I get focussed on something (especially on my computer, ESPECIALLY on this Forum) and I totally forget. I do find the targets I have set for myself on my Fitbit insanely motivating. I am one of those people to be seen sometimes setting off at 10 minutes to midnight to get in those extra steps I need. Sometimes I intend to do this, and yet again I get absorbed in something and suddenly, midnight has chimed and it's TOO LATE!!! However many steps I do they will never count towards yesterday's targets.
 
KeithA said:
I find it very complicated though with so many different measurements.
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You and me both!!! At the beginning having to cope with all the different ways of expressing bg levels really added to my stress, which was already sky-high. Maybe it's good exercise for our brains and staves off Alzheimer's? I feel I know my way around the numbers now, and (with the help of a calculator) can convert mgd/dl to mmol/L in a flash, but I still wouldn't want to have to explain it all to anyone else.
 
KeithA said:
Thanks advice and yes I think your probably right. I’m testing first thing in am and averaging around 5.5 mmol/l and generally test 1.5 hrs after a meal and it’s been as low as 5 but as high as 6.5 which I don’t think is abnormal. It’s early days of course but I do think the weight loss, more exercise and reduction in alcohol has helped significantly.
I also notice that the more water I drink the better the results.... I try to down 65 oz a day. No problem when sun is shining but not easy like now!
I’m now at the stage where I’m happy with the weight so next few months will be quite interesting!!!
Will post update due course.
Have a nice day. K
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Depending on how ambitious you want to be, a truly normal fasting bg first thing in the morning would be <5.0. After meals, it might be a good idea sometimes to test at 1hour, 1.5 hours, 2 hours and maybe even later depending on what you see. Otherwise you won't know if the 5 - 6.5 you are seeing at 1.5 hours is on the way up or on the way down, or even plateauing, as my post prandial bgs often do. Theoretically, a normal person's bg rises to a peak at 1 hour then falls back to normal levels at 2, but many things can influence this, including the amount of fat and protein in a meal (which slow down digestion). An individual can also have delayed stomach emptying (as I do).
 
smw99 said:
And I have to disagree with you about fruit. I used to eat a huge amount but now eat nothing more than a few berries. It's certainly not an essential part of my diet any more!
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Yes, I don't really understand the theories I read about the bad effects of fructose, but I think it can contribute to insulin resistance, so for the present I am shunning even berries. Sad in the wild blackberry season.
 
Alexandra100 said:
Hello @KeithA, always nice to meet another Fitbit user / addict. I like your plan to move 250 steps EVERY hour. I think I must set this up for myself with my vibrating alarm watch, as I always think I'll remember and then I get focussed on something (especially on my computer, ESPECIALLY on this Forum) and I totally forget. I do find the targets I have set for myself on my Fitbit insanely motivating. I am one of those people to be seen sometimes setting off at 10 minutes to midnight to get in those extra steps I need. Sometimes I intend to do this, and yet again I get absorbed in something and suddenly, midnight has chimed and it's TOO LATE!!! However many steps I do they will never count towards yesterday's targets.
Click to expand...
Thanks message. Yes it’s getting organised that’s not always easy when the day is busy but it’s helped me. Keep up the good work!
 
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