- Messages
- 221
- Type of diabetes
- Treatment type
- Diet only
Hello - another T2 noob here. I'm a 62 year old retired nurse and have been an overweight sugar addict for the whole of my adult life. I'd tried many, many diets (including low carb at one point) over the last 45 years, but all I seemed to do was lose and regain the same 10kg, then add a few more kg for good measure. And this frustrating pattern is largely due to my inability to stick with any of these diets. Since I retired back in 2010 I'll admit that I fully adopted the 'ladies who lunch' lifestyle. It was huge fun but with all those long lazy lunches and afternoon teas, I knew my weight was going up and up. However, I never knew by how much (until very recently) as I avoided the scales at all costs; I was definitely in denial. But despite my denial and profoundly irresponsible way of eating (especially given that as a nurse, I had a good knowledge of nutrition) deep down I remained concerned about my health – and I was right to be concerned.
I'd been diagnosed with hypertension and atrial fibrillation back in 2007, both of which are well controlled with medication and I take warfarin for stroke risk reduction in relation to my arrhythmia. I also have osteoarthritis in both knees. But despite having these long term conditions, I still continued to eat all the sweet, sugary stuff; chocolate, ice-cream, cakes, biscuits and bread – lots of bread. So if I'm honest, it wasn't really a surprise when on April 19th 2018, my chickens came home to roost, so to speak. Following an overdue but routine blood check, I was found to have an HbA1C of 52 (the previous one had been 39...). But not being surprised by the result, doesn't mean I wasn't shocked by it - because I was; I'd had none of the 'classic' symptoms of tiredness, thirst, visiting the loo more often or blurred vision. I suppose deep down, I believed (somewhat irrationally) that I could somehow get away with this appalling way of eating – that somehow my body could cope with the onslaught. But it seemed that it couldn't.
Anyway, my GP was warm and supportive, not in the least judgemental of my carb addicted lifestyle and sympathised with my lifelong frustration with not losing weight. I said at the outset that I didn't want to take any more medication and she said that was fine, 'let's find a way for you to reverse this thing with our support.' It was at this point I realised that a) I had just received the biggest boot up the backside imaginable - and b) that I could and would 'reverse this thing'. I was told I needed to have a repeat blood test (which I had 8 days later) to confirm diagnosis - and during that time I re-engaged with this community (I had visited before but not for the last year or so), read everything Jason Fung had ever written on the subjects of losing weight and treating T2 diabetes - and read/watched/listened to pretty much everything on the Diet Doctor website too. I also restarted a low carb diet combined with daily 16:8 fasting initially and started walking 3 miles a day. After the second blood test, I saw the nurse at the practice to discuss the results and the way forward. My repeat HbA1C was 48 - which though only a little less than before, made me feel a lot happier; a downward move was good. I left the surgery feeling positive and energised and knowing that my choice to tackle my weight and T2 with LCHFMP and intermittent fasting for the rest of my life, was wholly supported.
Since then I have fully embraced a 'keto' life, eating 20-25g carbs a day, and extending my fasting to 24h three times a week and so far, have lost 7kg. I'm not interested in doing longer fasts as I want to eat with my husband each evening – and besides, I'd likely screw up my INR (warfarin/clotting balance) if I fasted for more than 24 hours. I'm going back in 3 months for a repeat blood profile and I'm hoping for a significant drop in that HbA1C. Wish me luck (and profuse apologies for the waffle and if I've posted this in the wrong place)!
I'd been diagnosed with hypertension and atrial fibrillation back in 2007, both of which are well controlled with medication and I take warfarin for stroke risk reduction in relation to my arrhythmia. I also have osteoarthritis in both knees. But despite having these long term conditions, I still continued to eat all the sweet, sugary stuff; chocolate, ice-cream, cakes, biscuits and bread – lots of bread. So if I'm honest, it wasn't really a surprise when on April 19th 2018, my chickens came home to roost, so to speak. Following an overdue but routine blood check, I was found to have an HbA1C of 52 (the previous one had been 39...). But not being surprised by the result, doesn't mean I wasn't shocked by it - because I was; I'd had none of the 'classic' symptoms of tiredness, thirst, visiting the loo more often or blurred vision. I suppose deep down, I believed (somewhat irrationally) that I could somehow get away with this appalling way of eating – that somehow my body could cope with the onslaught. But it seemed that it couldn't.
Anyway, my GP was warm and supportive, not in the least judgemental of my carb addicted lifestyle and sympathised with my lifelong frustration with not losing weight. I said at the outset that I didn't want to take any more medication and she said that was fine, 'let's find a way for you to reverse this thing with our support.' It was at this point I realised that a) I had just received the biggest boot up the backside imaginable - and b) that I could and would 'reverse this thing'. I was told I needed to have a repeat blood test (which I had 8 days later) to confirm diagnosis - and during that time I re-engaged with this community (I had visited before but not for the last year or so), read everything Jason Fung had ever written on the subjects of losing weight and treating T2 diabetes - and read/watched/listened to pretty much everything on the Diet Doctor website too. I also restarted a low carb diet combined with daily 16:8 fasting initially and started walking 3 miles a day. After the second blood test, I saw the nurse at the practice to discuss the results and the way forward. My repeat HbA1C was 48 - which though only a little less than before, made me feel a lot happier; a downward move was good. I left the surgery feeling positive and energised and knowing that my choice to tackle my weight and T2 with LCHFMP and intermittent fasting for the rest of my life, was wholly supported.
Since then I have fully embraced a 'keto' life, eating 20-25g carbs a day, and extending my fasting to 24h three times a week and so far, have lost 7kg. I'm not interested in doing longer fasts as I want to eat with my husband each evening – and besides, I'd likely screw up my INR (warfarin/clotting balance) if I fasted for more than 24 hours. I'm going back in 3 months for a repeat blood profile and I'm hoping for a significant drop in that HbA1C. Wish me luck (and profuse apologies for the waffle and if I've posted this in the wrong place)!
