Had a GP appointment and got my test results back.
HbA1c is 4.9 (which is in the range I was rather hoping for, since my BG average has been around 4.6).
BMI is down to 25.6 so another 15 pounds and I will be down to around 24, whic my GP says is a good target to try and maintain. I will then have lost just over 30% (close on 100 pounds) of my starting body weight and back to a 34" (from 46" - wifey is most pleased wth this!) waistline - which has not been the case this last 30 years.
BP is now 135/78, down from 165/95 - which is a profound relief, and resting heart rate is just under 60.
I'm going to stay on the single standard 500mg Met per day, since the GP has convinced me (easy job!!) that this stands the best chance of retaining best beta cell function. I'm not getting enough gut-rot on a single, mid-meal daily dose to need SR now.
If I happen to have two biggish or naughty meals, I'll just take an extra Met, but generally I just have a large brunch at 11am and a modest evening meal (while I know this is not for everyone, it suits me very well) and snack on fruit if I feel the need.
I've been pretty rigorous with diet - I'm guessing at 50-100 g carb per day (often at the lower end), most of the time. Even the odd huge explosion in carbs (always fuelled by PIZZA!) now doesn't seem to spike to more than 6 and a bit at one or two hours post meal.
My weightloss has been pretty effortless since I changed to low carb, wish I'd discovered that decades ago, rather than all the pointless low-fat dieting!
Exercise? I have slacked off a bit - longer hours at work after some staff laid off, should get better shortly.
Originally, I never thought I could stay with a changed lifestyle like this, but pretty easy now a few months have passed - so long as I don't have to walk past any pizza places - did i mention I like pizza? I seem to have worn out my addiction to most of the other bad stuff.
Shopping last night, I wandered down the gooey-chocolate isle of Tesco's and thught 'yeah, I *could* get some of that' but I think I like my fingers and toes attached, rather than in a jar on the mantle piece so find the temptation pretty easy to resist.
Strange thing to say (especially bearing in mind how depressed when I was diagnosed), but I think being diagnosed as just barely diabetic may have been the saving of me - without that, I'd probably still be obese and getting worse, taking no exercise and be on course for a stroke or a heart attack....
OK, I still have to stick with the various restrictions for the rest of my life, but at least I have an above-average shot at staying healthy.
We are now planning summer holidays - I'm determined to go self-catering, rather than an hotel - then I've got a much better chance at keeping to sensible eating.
Monday, the house may fall down and I'll lose my job - but this weekend, I'm feeling pretty damned cheerful!
Mark
HbA1c is 4.9 (which is in the range I was rather hoping for, since my BG average has been around 4.6).
BMI is down to 25.6 so another 15 pounds and I will be down to around 24, whic my GP says is a good target to try and maintain. I will then have lost just over 30% (close on 100 pounds) of my starting body weight and back to a 34" (from 46" - wifey is most pleased wth this!) waistline - which has not been the case this last 30 years.
BP is now 135/78, down from 165/95 - which is a profound relief, and resting heart rate is just under 60.
I'm going to stay on the single standard 500mg Met per day, since the GP has convinced me (easy job!!) that this stands the best chance of retaining best beta cell function. I'm not getting enough gut-rot on a single, mid-meal daily dose to need SR now.
If I happen to have two biggish or naughty meals, I'll just take an extra Met, but generally I just have a large brunch at 11am and a modest evening meal (while I know this is not for everyone, it suits me very well) and snack on fruit if I feel the need.
I've been pretty rigorous with diet - I'm guessing at 50-100 g carb per day (often at the lower end), most of the time. Even the odd huge explosion in carbs (always fuelled by PIZZA!) now doesn't seem to spike to more than 6 and a bit at one or two hours post meal.
My weightloss has been pretty effortless since I changed to low carb, wish I'd discovered that decades ago, rather than all the pointless low-fat dieting!
Exercise? I have slacked off a bit - longer hours at work after some staff laid off, should get better shortly.
Originally, I never thought I could stay with a changed lifestyle like this, but pretty easy now a few months have passed - so long as I don't have to walk past any pizza places - did i mention I like pizza? I seem to have worn out my addiction to most of the other bad stuff.
Shopping last night, I wandered down the gooey-chocolate isle of Tesco's and thught 'yeah, I *could* get some of that' but I think I like my fingers and toes attached, rather than in a jar on the mantle piece so find the temptation pretty easy to resist.
Strange thing to say (especially bearing in mind how depressed when I was diagnosed), but I think being diagnosed as just barely diabetic may have been the saving of me - without that, I'd probably still be obese and getting worse, taking no exercise and be on course for a stroke or a heart attack....
OK, I still have to stick with the various restrictions for the rest of my life, but at least I have an above-average shot at staying healthy.
We are now planning summer holidays - I'm determined to go self-catering, rather than an hotel - then I've got a much better chance at keeping to sensible eating.
Monday, the house may fall down and I'll lose my job - but this weekend, I'm feeling pretty damned cheerful!
Mark