For all those newly diagnosed

Firstly apologies for those who, for whatever reason, are struggling or unable to fulfil their ambitions blood sugar wise. These threads must be difficult to read but when I was diagnosed in October last year it was these same ones that provided me with the motivation and ambition to really give LCHF a crack. If it worked for others then perhaps it could work for me.
So, October 2018, HbA1c 112, weight 19 stone 6 pounds.
Today, HbA1c 36, weight 13 stone 5 pounds.
The reason? My keeping my carb intake at about 20g per day.
If you have just been told that you are T2 and you feel confused and bewildered by all the contradictory advice out there then stay here and read around because you will find the knowledge you need to put yourself back in the drivers seat. I have gone from full of self doubt and blame, feeling like Death warmed up where even thinking felt like my head was full of treacle to feeling like I did twenty years ago.
Thank you to all you experts who have been blazing the trail, you know who you are, all I have done is follow your lead but without your guidance and clarity of thought I would be eating the Eatwell plate and staring down the barrel of diabetic complications.

DCUKMod said:

Wow. Just wow!! What a pair of results those are.

Where are you in your trimming up journey? Have you reached whatever you have in mind as a target weight?

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Thank you for your kind words. I am just in the middle of exchanging some remaining fat for muscle so it is a little difficult to know where my weight will finally settle. I think it might be about 12 stone 7 pounds but I am no longer actively seeking any change. I am 6 foot 2 inches and 12.5 stone doesn't leave me looking pale and wan but distinctly lean.

Jim Lahey said:

You know, when it comes down to it, with the right attitude and armed with the right information, it can actually be laughably easy to beat insulin resistant diabetes into submission. Of course that’s not to trivialise the initial trauma, and there will be people who for whatever reason cannot do what is necessary but, on the whole, it’s really not that big of a deal. I thought Jason Fung was oversimplifying it with “That’s it. That’s you all you have to do” but he was right!

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I couldn't agree more. Thanks you again.

PenguinMum said:

@Muddikins wow that is some result on both counts. You get my total admiration for doing it on 20g carbs a day. Did you gradually reduce your carb intake but find that amount was what was required to make an impact. I ask because I am struggling with DP and my budget is as close to 30g as possible but not more than 40g. There are people on here who eat way in excess of that and get great results but some arent so lucky.
Congratulations you must feel great.

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At diagnosis I knew nothing apart from having read about the DiRECT study and how people who lost lots of weight could potentially 'reverse' their diabetes. I started on my own version of the diet but with real food and trying to stick below 500 calories a day. Clearly you lose weight quite quickly with this but the funny thing was that it wasn't nearly as difficult or unpleasant as it first sounds, in fact it was quite easy.
I used the 3 months it took me to hit my weight target to read around the site and try and absorb as much information as I could. I bought a meter during this because losing weight isn't the problem it is the finding of a long term solution to diet which caused me great concern.
I have lost this much weight before and then returned to the Eatwell plate diet, because I really liked it and believed the NHS advice, and then the weight just piled back on. I wasn't overeating, I wasn't eating anything bar 'good' (hah!) starchy carbs but I couldn't keep the weight I wanted, it was simply impossible. After that I gave up until being diagnosed T2, what was the point, I thought.
Being diagnosed allowed me to understand what was going on with over production of insulin etc and clearly indicated that if carbs are the problem then avoiding them must be a significant part, if not all, of the solution.
Having reached a point where I was not actively seeking to restrict calories I used my meter to see if I could tolerate porridge. I could. The same day Jim Lahey started a thread about how and why people choose to either use a meter to see what quantity of carbs they can eat and stay within whatever limits they set themselves or simply accept that by avoiding them you can spare yourself the difficulties involved in that (Sorry Jim, I doubt I explained that very well). I thought long and hard and realised that I belonged in the second camp, the one he has kindly outlined above.
I don't really count at all, I just avoid and take the ones that sneak through in low carb veg and nuts etc as inevitable unless one is to go totally carnivore.
I have no idea at all how I would cope with introducing more carbs, it seems reasonable to assume that I could include more without too much difficulty but I struggle to see how I would benefit from it. I like my diet, I like how it makes me feel, and for me it is easier to follow this course.
Each to their own though. My path need not be anyone else's. It probably just suits my psychological make up to have a very black and white view but I can see the many shades of grey that other people choose.
Best of luck, you will find your way through I am sure.