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Inspiration Needed - Type 2 - How did you manage to reverse your Diabetes?

Well I have managed to stick to the 800 calories a day for the past 7 days and I'm 4lb down! I mean I cannot tell you how amazing that is for me. I have tried so many diets and haven't managed 4lbs loss in years! I have also found it so easy to stick to. I'm having the porridge every single day with berries, then chicken and salad for lunch or soup and fish and veg for dinner or we made the pork curry with cauliflower rice which was lovely, my cravings seem to have gone completely so far, but every now and then I just want to 'eat' something, I have eaten either a few unsalted, unroasted nuts and that seems to have got me through! I'm so interested to know how how things are going to be 11 weeks from now!! I will keep you all posted, thank you so much for your support. Is there a place where people discuss recipes to share when following the 800 calorie plan?
 
4lbs in a week - excellent!! You can do this Laura ... take that first week and keep reminding yourself how much better you felt at the end of it and for having done what you've done. But be careful not to get complacent - I did, and having made really good progress I fell of the wagon with a bump ... but I've climbed back on, gone low carb again (around about 60g grams a day at the moment), and taking more exercise (walking 5 to 6 miles most days) and have lost nearly four stones in six months, lost four inches round the middle and got my HbA1C down to 38. Plus I've come off insulin and gone onto metformin. Sure, I still have days where I get cravings but the first thought when they strike is that I don't want to go back onto insulin. Got to retrain the mind as well as the body!

Keep up the good work!!
 

Wow that is wonderful news. As you go on it’ll get easier. I’m now treating myself to non food treats. First is my birthday I’m going on holiday the first time in 25 years. but I also treated myself to dresses I’m officially a size 18. It’ll help keep your motivation up. Look at some on the Lebanese recipe books some are very low in calories. Like loubiah is very good.
 
Low Carb (not completely)
45mins cardio 5 times a week (Walking, stretching, swimming) over and above a normal days activity.
Works for me ️
Good Luck
 
Hi Guys, well I started off really well. Losing 4lb in the first week, I'm now nearing the end of week 3 and I have stuck to the program, but have not lost anything else. It is very disheartening. My other half has been following it with me and he has shed a stone. I just can't work out what I'm doing wrong. He is more active that me, as I work in an office, but all that happens now is one day one of those pounds I lost goes back on, the next day I lose it again. Is this common? and because I have PCOS and fatty liver as well? Has this happened to anyone else?

I'm not really struggling with the plan, and quite honestly could probably eat this way forever, but I'm hoping that at some point the weight loss may kick in. To give you an example, I'm still eating the porridge every day, soup or chicken salad for lunch and either chicken or pork for dinner with either veg or salad, or we make the curry with cauliflower rice or we make a soup. Tonight we having pea soup.

I'm hoping this is just normal and that a week or two from now I will start to see the weight coming off and I am feeling good that regardless of the weight, it must be doing my blood sugar some good!

take care

Laura
 

You need to tweak what you’re doing. On a hunch I’d say stop eating the porridge. It might just be one of the things that disagrees with you. You say you’re eating soup. What kind of? If it’s anything other then a broth like soup. You need to quit that and start having broths. What is in your salads? Tomatoes that may be an issue. Veg what types if it’s underground stuff then cut them. The curry sauce? That has lots of carbs and sugar. It’s bad if it’s that ready made stuff. The spices itself a degree of carbs. Personally I avoid any type of sauces. Every diabetic is slightly different what you’re doing is good and it will be trial and error. Don’t compare yourself to your partner. His physiology is different to you. Try to not stress that’ll affect your sugar levels. Have you incorporated the apple cider vinegar into your diet yet? I am like you have the pcos and a kidney issue predating the diabetes. Also muscle wastage in my legs causing walking issues. You’re not active due to your job. Fit in an hour of walking a day I do it and it’s helped shed the pounds. I had my endocrinologist appt this tues gone. Ice lost 3 and a half stone since January. The success trial and error on food. But going past the pain to walk hourly a day. If an hour is too much do it in 15 min increments. Work towards an hour straight. Do not lose hope. It is achievable. Take it easy and believe in yourself.
 
Thanks Ziggy, yes I think maybe I need to tweak things somehow. We are going to buy a blood sugar monitor, would that help me know if something isn't agreeing with me? I don't think I can stop with the porridge, its the one thing that has made a difference, I swear its stopped my cravings etc. I make it the way it shows you here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5348281/How-beat-diabetes-12-weeks.html - I also make the curry from scratch with the recipe on the link. I haven't incorporated the apple cider vinegar as yet? Can you buy it locally? and how do you incorporate it? Just use it on food ? take care and thank you! Laura
 


Skip the porridge for a couple of days and see what happens. Go on Holland and Barrett’s website and look up Braggs Apple cider vinegar with the mother. You dilute it in water. Drinking it will stop the cravings. So if the porridge is an issue then it’ll not be needed. Drink it before meals, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach and before you go to bed it should drop your sugar levels also. The monitor is a machine. It’ll only show you what your levels are at. So if it’s high then clearly there’s something in your diet you ate that perhaps you shouldn’t have. It then becomes a task of eliminating what it is. Your convinced by your current diet. It clearly is not working. So you need to change it.
 
Hi Laura, not sure why I missed your original post 2 weeks ago but just read the thread and I was wondering all the way through if you had been monitoring your blood sugars, so I was glad to get to your last comment and encourage you to get a meter. I agree with Ziggyzog, I think you’ll be shocked by what porridge does to your blood sugar level. Maybe you’d like to try low carb coconut ‘porridge’ when you’ve finished your 800 calorie days, it’s grain free (not real porridge at all!)
 
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Found the receipe
Add 75g oats, 1 tsp cinnamon and 350ml unsweetened almond milk to a saucepan along with 250ml of water and a pinch of salt then bring to the boil and cook gently for 5 minutes. Swirl 2 tbsp almond butter through just before serving then top with a small handful of berries.


Please get a meter as soon as possible, a lot of people struggle with oats, (some are fine) it spiked me badly upto 13 at 2 hours.
 

Yes that is the recipe I have been using, which is part of the 800 calorie diet.

I'm going to get a monitor on Tuesday and start doing my readings, when I was diagnosed 3 years ago the doctor said there was no need for me to do daily readings or invest in a monitor, but from all the reading I have done on here, it does seem to be a good way of monitoring what works and what doesn't.
 
@laurag2905 Here are some meters that are popular on the forum:

taken from a post by @Bluetit1802 :


The most popular meters for self funding T2's are the Codefree and the Tee2 because the strips are much cheaper than other meters, and you need a lot of strips. You can't buy them in pharmacies.

Try here for the Codefree meter
http://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/blood-glucose-monitor/

and here for the extra strips
http://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/sd-codefree-test-strips-to-be-used-only-with-the-sd-monitor/

There are discount codes if you buy in bulk.
5 packs 264086
10 packs 975833

The Tee2 is here and the meter is free.
http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-blood-glucose-meter/

Don’t forget to check the box that you have diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for either meter)
 

This can happen over a day simply because of water balance.

On a low carb diet you will reduce your liver glycogen stores - this is typically 100g of carboydrate.

Bingeing fills this store back up. OK thats only 100g. But it retains ten times as much water to store. Instant 1kg hit.

You might consider intermittent fasting as a method you can sustain more easily.

I was 16 stone 10 pounds last September, started out intermittent fasting, then progressed to low carb as my meter inidcated my lack of tolerance.

I am now 13 stone 2 pounds - and have some way to go to my target weight. I have halved my HbA1c.

As others have said - it's a marathon not a sprint.
 
I'd agree with others about the porridge - oats gave me some very bad spikes.

Good to hear you're getting a meter and are going to start testing - that will help you work out what's going on.

I'd agree with @bamba about the intermittent fasting as well - it seems to be working for me at any rate.

It's important not to get too stressed about things either - you've done well so far, but please don't get despondent if things slow down. Small steps are sometimes the best ones.
 
Good Morning All,

Well having got my hbA1c level down from 60 to 54, I thought I was well on the way to reducing my diabetes and getting myself to pre diabetic. I've carried on keeping my carbs to a minimum over the past 3-4 months, have been off my medication completely since I started and really don't want to go back on it. However I appreciate I have let things find their way back into my diet, mainly cheese and biscuits which I love, a square of dark chocolate every day (85% or above) and the odd sweet potato fries. But 5 out of 7 dinners are carb free, I have porridge with cinnamon and almond butter and for lunches I generally have a salad. The other thing I do snack on is roasted and salted nuts.

Unfortunately I've found out today my HBa1c level is now at 65 and they are asking me to go back into the surgery and will no doubt be advising me to go back on my medication. I don't feel I have the support from my Doctor, as my Doctor has changed twice in the last six months and I've just bee advised he is changing again. I just feel they want to throw tablets at you and that's it. The Diabetic nurse I saw recently to take my bloods (which I booked myself) actually told me off for booking my own blood tests and said I needed to wait until next year!! I explained that I had come off my medication and wanted to check that it was working by diet alone and she wasn't impressed.

I did my blood sugars this morning before having any thing to drink or eat and it was 8.5 which seems high (I don't often monitor my daily blood sugar).

Just to give you a bit of background, I had PCOS diagnosed from around the age of 28, although I've had 4 children (2 before diagnosis and 2 after), I had the Mirena hormone coil in between my children. I was diagnosed diabetic 3 years or so ago (I'm 46 now) and at its worse my hbAc was 70, but back in April it was down to 54. I've also been told I have a fatty liver.

I have been fasting as well, often not eating my porridge until midday and then skipping lunch, I do this 2 or 3 times a week, just to get that bit of fasting in.

There is no diabetes in my family.

I'm feeling at a bit of loss today, and when I think about what I would have been eating 3 years ago compared to now, I've completely changed my diet, to get rid of this diabetes, do I need to live on liquid food alone? I just don't know if I can do that.

Would love your feedback.

Take care

Laura
xx
 
Hi Laura. So sorry to hear your HbA1c is back up. It appears you have a meter so you need to start doing some methodical testing to see what’s spiking your sugars. The suspects in my mind from what you’ve reported are the occasional biscuits, sweet potato fries and your daily porridge. Have you tested before and after your porridge? A lot of Type 2s wouldn’t tolerate it well. Watch the dry roasted nuts too, some have stuff added which increases carbs. Better to stick to regular plain nuts. Here’s a graphic to show the lowest carb choices:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/nuts
 
Thanks Rach, my hbA1c was 8.5 this morning, I've eaten my porridge with blueberries (which I have every day) and I've just redone it and its 9.8, would you class that as a spike or not? My other half who is also diabetic type 2, ate the same porridge but with bananas he was 5.4 this morning and is now 5.3 after eating the porridge! I'm going to cut out the sweet potato fries and the occasional biscuits are crackers which I'm guessing I need to restrict to maybe 2. I can see you have managed to get your hba1c from 70 to 45 in two months!! How did you achieve that? What are you generally eating in a week? I should say as well that I haven't put on any weight since April, my weight is exactly the same as when I started low carbing. So even though my hba1C has gone up, my weight hasn't!
 

Sadly, we all vary tremendously in our reactions to things like porridge and sweet potato.

Best thing to do is to test before eating, then at 2 hours. That will give you the best info on whether you are tolerating the food in question.
If your bg rises more than 2mmol/l then you aren't tolerating it well at all.

But there are always other options.
Smaller portions.
low carb porridge recipes.
change to bacon and eggs
and so on.

It does look as though your HbA1c rise is due to the Dreaded Carb Creep' or you are no longer able to tolerate foods that you used to be able to - a sure sign that you are overloading your body's capacity to deal with the carb intake.

Sorry. I know it is a blow.

Have a look at low carb cracker recipes. There are a lot of them out there, and they can be absolutely delicious, made in batches and stored or frozen, then eaten with almost no bg impact.
 
You have been trying so hard for so long, well done for keeping to your diet. You really need to spend some time testing before and 2 hours after each meal to find out what is going on. A simple spreadsheet worked for me. It may be that you are grain intolerant and a surprising number of sauces use flour of some kind for thickening.
When do you find yourself wanting to snack? Is it a particular time or when you are waiting for something? Often if you have a drink or give yourself something to do, even planning something, the 'munchies' disappear. Do you go out for a walk at lunchtime. If you can fit one in it can have some really good results and you feel so much better going into the afternoon. Do keep us posted on how you are doing.
 
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