SunnyExpat
Well-Known Member
Actually, it was in March 2004, 12 years ago now, which was when I was diagnosed. I simply counted carbs at every meal, ate what I liked (mostly good stuff, kept of the junk) within the limits of the carb count, monitored my blood sugar 2-4 times a day, kept a food diary, drew nice graphs of my blood sugar (no computer to draw them for me in those days), lost a couple of stone, walked every day - not far - 15-30 minutes.
I used to reckon on 160-230g carb per day, and morning BGs were usually around 6, and HbA1c between 5.1 and 6.0 - for 6 years. I thought it was a breeze. GP told me that I had the best numbers on the practice records for Type II Diet & Exercise Only. I also took Aspen Glucosync, which contains Vanadium and Cinnamon, which I think does help to tip the balance towards lower BG in the early stages - it's about £23 pounds for a pot (you can Google it if you are interested).
But during years 1-6 it was creeping up from 5.1-6.0, and then it went up one number each year after that, until in year 10 HbA1c was 10+. Exercise regime buckled a bit end of year 6 after having a mini-stroke at age not-quite-56 (don't let that frazzle you though - I also have Atrial Fibrillation, and that was before my Ablation procedure to sort that out, so it was not anything to do with the well-controlled-at-that-time diabetes that caused the stroke).
But my doctor also said, Very well done, but don't kid yourself - Once a diabetic always a diabetic.
Try this book if you are interested in what fuelled my fire when I started out:
The First Year: Type 2 Diabetes: A Patient-Expert Guide for the Newly Diagnosed: The First Year - An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed Paperback – 26 Feb 2004 by Gretchen Becker (you can get it on Amazon)
Gretchen Becker talks about genetic predisposition. I have a friend who is about 25 stone. She is not hypothyroid, she is not Type II diabetic, she is as healthy as can be (bar her high-as-the-sky BMI) - she just eats a lot. She has NOT got the genetic predisposition for Type II. Either you have or you have not! So I hope our Easy Cure friend will go on being 'cured', and I too would like to hear all about it in a year's time, in 5 years' time, in 10 years' time.
At time of going to press I still say, Dead Beta Cells are Dead Beta Cells.
Interesting that you did a lower carb, but still ate what you liked without counting calories.
I'm into my 5th year, I don't carb count, I seem to be quite good after a very aggressive weight loss, so possibly there may be a difference in approaches
It will be very interesting to see how results on low calorie, rapid weight loss stack up when we all compare notes in the next decade.
It's also interesting that medical opinion is starting to move on 'dead beta cells' as well.