- Messages
- 14,298
- Type of diabetes
- I reversed my Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
Whilst you are right in that for most of us the dietary change needs to be long term and it has to suit the individual, this post (to me) sounds a little defeatist which surprises me from you. And the original question was which diet and what to do with meds during it. Not diet or meds as alternatives.
Many people are a bit daunted by the idea of low carb when they first consider it as it is so very different to the way most people eat. I mention low carb specifically as this seems to be the approach that works best for most type 2 and because it is an approach many have never tried before unlike low calorie. However an awful lot once they have read up about it and hopefully found some supportive resources like this forum or other online groups find it a lot easier than they expected to and once used to it actually prefer it to the old carb heavy way of eating. It’s a mindset change as much as anything. Had they made the assumptions before trying it then they never would have known if it were sustainable or not.
And if diet change is tried first and isn’t found to be sustainable it doesn’t mean it was a waste of time. Perhaps some weight loss or blood levels will have improved a bit anyway and given a head start. Perhaps the approach can be adapted to make it more manageable . Perhaps medications can then be introduced knowing that for that person it is the best way, having tried alternatives first, perhaps at lower levels than if no changes at all had been made.
It's not at all defeatist.
Over time, we have seen many, many posters who set out on a very strict regime, which seems, on the face of it, to be absolutely almost opposite of their previous eating style. That's all great, but often they fall from the wagon.
There's no shame for having a blip, but in reality, for them, their changes haven't been sustainable.
For me, at the outset (with an A1c of 73), I only made changes I could contunie for the longer term shere I needed to. In 4 months, which was spent overseas travelling, I made those sustainable changes and at that 4 month point, my A1c was 37, and has never been above 34 sine. My last was 27 or 4.6%.
In my time in corporalte land, I spent years working on Change; Corporate, cultural and personal. One thing of which I a certain is if an individual is not up for change, it won't happen. If they don't believe they can sustain a change they are committing to, it will be short-lived.
With anything, there are exceptions to any rule, or usual finding, but bearing in mind diabetes is for the longer term, it makes sense to change to something one can carry on with.
I hope that helps explain my post better.