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LOW CARB SUCCESS STORIES

Low carb diet. My Hba1c was 45 in July this year. The GP I see said I was not diabetic but he referred me to the doctor in the practice who specialises in diabetes. My fasting bg were 6.8 and 7. I am 6foot 3 inches tall and at the time of the tests weighed 15 stone. I saw Dr Briffa who advised cutting out carbs so no porridge, which until then was my staple breakfast, no bread, again a staple as I baked my own! No rice, pasta etc. that was end August. Since then weight has come down to 13stone 10 lbs. I bought an Aviva tester and since then my bg have ranged from 4.7 to 7. The latter was due to a week in France when breakfast was nearly always croissant and bread! If I get a "6" it is usually 6.1 or slightly higher if I have been naughty and eaten carbs. I have cut back on booze with no beer and wine only if it is a special occasion.. The doctor wanted to put me on Metformin but I decided to try diet. I have not been able to exercise till very recently due to an operation but I am now using a rowing machine and cycling.
Dr Briffa advised me to test just before lunch rather than when I get up.
The low carb diet seems to be working for me but I have a blood test at the surgery next week so will be interesting g to see the Hba1c result.
One thing I want to try is to see if there are some carbs I can eat which don't affect the blood test.
 
Diagnosed January 2014. Since then have gone from 17 st 7 lbs to 9 st 9lbs. HbA1c now 4.7. Now in maintenance phase. Do 5/6k every day on treadmill. I have gone from a size 22 to 12/10 in most things. Off all blood pressure medication. No diabetes medication - just low carb diet and exercise. My GP is impressed. It can be done but it is HARD!
 
Brilliant ! Really motivational well done.
 
One problem I do have with the low carb diet is loss of energy. I do quite a bit of cycling and although I have not been cycling much following my operation I have started again with 10 mile rides. However although in my pre diabetic state I would use flapjack to boost my energy - I need to eat something every hour to replace lost energy - I am reluctant to use flapjack as it is high sugar. Even the so called diabetic recipes have chopped dates and other dried fruit which is high in sugars so you might as well use the stuff in Sainsbury which is what I used to use. I am going to do a longer ride this morning and put in a couple of hills ( I live on the edge of the Olympic cycle route so will go up Staple Lane one of the local hills. ). I will eat a banana before going out and take a "Hero" energy drink with me. But I find that if I eat banana my BG level is up the next day.

I would be interested in other peoples experience on energy loss while on a low carb diet. How can this be overcome, please?

While "on" i find that there is often no correlation between GI figures and figures for sugar. I think that for diabetics maybe the sugar figure is more important? But what do others think?
Best wishes,
 
By way of a follow up to this post I had a banana and did a 16 mile cycle ride including the hills. I drank about 400 mls of Zero energy drink. Tested my blood on return expecting it to be high but it was 5.5. Lower than it has been for several days. Yesterday The only food with carbs was a sausage roll and I walked 6 miles. So I wonder if the cycling used up the sugar in the banana? Grateful for any thoughts and advice as I find this all a bit confusing...........
 
I've been operating a low-ish carb diet now for 8 weeks. By lowish, I mean the only actual carbs I consume on a daily basis are 60g in either Brown Rice or Sweet Potato. I'm kind of ignoring the veg as the net carbs there are essentially close to zero. I am doing this in combination with a heavy gym programme, where I am in the gym lifting weights four times a week. I carb reload on a Saturday due to maxing out my glycogen reserves with all the weights.

What's my experience been so far? My weight has gone from 15st 11lb to 14st 5lb in eight weeks, and my body fat has dropped from 25% to 14%. It's made a significant difference to my body shape (belly reduction has been huge - dropped over 20mm of skin fold there) and my lean mass has also increased by a few kg.

Due to the high gym load, I'm eating a lot of protein and my macro splits are basically 45% Protein, 45% Fat, 20% carbs and I've found that I'm eating more than I ever thought I would and seem to be rarely hungry, except when i get up in the morning, when I have a great excuse for scrambled eggs and 97% pork sausages. I started off eating 2000 calories per day, split 500 for breakfast, 1,000 at lunch, 250 mid-afternoon and 250 for dinner. It has meant giving up all alcohol (I've had two glasses of wine in two months, on my birthday), but I've found that surprisingly easy, and no dairy at all over this period.

I've actually found the diet surprisingly easy, helped I think by the protein shakes after workouts that taste so sweet, even though they aren't particularly. I have noticed a much better level of blood glucose control and my insulin sensitivity is much greater although I'm not clear whether that is due to the gym work or the low carb diet. All in all, I'd say it's offering a good deal of success.

I'm trying to get to 10% body fat by the end of November, and if I succeed, I will also have a six pack for the first time in my life! Onwards with the meat and two veg...
 
I have only been doing lchf for about three weeks now, and already feel so much better than I have done for years! I have noticed this week in particular that on waking I feel well, no headaches, no 'fog', no aching joints or creaking. My sleep pattern has vastly improved and I am going to sleep at a reasonable time, and waking feeling refreshed. Ive had no food cravings and havent felt hungry. I have already lost a good bit of weight, though I havent been weighed yet, and other people have noticed. It feels like a miracle! I've not stopped going on about it at work and a few of my colleagues are thinking of doing it. I dont mind eating a lot of the same things, as I tend to do that anyway, and I love dairy so its a real treat for me to be allowed to eat full fat, as we're always told to cut this out. Im allowing myself no more than 100 carbs a day, but in fact am averaging about 50-70 and my BG is back within the normal rage for the first time in nearly three years. I'm absolutely delighted! The thing is, I wouldn't have been able to do any of this, or even been aware of it, without the help of this forum, so thank you everyone
 

I'm so pleased for you!

I feel exactly the same about LC, and it always delights me to hear of someone else getting similar benefits.

You wait til you fall off the wagon. You won't believe that you used to feel that dreadful all the time.

 
Brunneria said:
I'm so pleased for you!

I feel exactly the same about LC, and it always delights me to hear of someone else getting similar benefits.

You wait til you fall off the wagon. You won't believe that you used to feel that dreadful all the time.

Click to expand...

Thanks @Brunneria. Actually, I had been thinking of testing myself out, but Im a bit scared now after the recent bread roll incident. Never thought Id see the day when Id become scared of bread!
 
I have had diabetes 2 for 18 years. I came across an Internet course, on diabetes (coursera.com) 2 years ago.
After completing the course, I began to practice what I learned. I walk a minimum one hour per day 7 days a week.
I use the stairs instead of the lift, I park my car as far as I can from my supermarket and walk. Do not eat Suger,flour,starch, I make my own food from scratch. I am 70 years old, my hbc1a is 5.3, blood pressure 70/130 cholesterol 3.
I take one metformin In the morning, and one in the evening. I used to weigh 105 kg. now I weigh 80 . Yes low carbs and exercise has help to stop taking insulin, which helped me to reduce weight and maintain it.
Only when sets a goal and maintain it also enjoying doing what you are doing can you achieve the goal.
The alternative is diabetes complication. I love pizza, pasta , potatoes. I have found alternatives.
 

I've read that medium chain saturated fats act as instant energy as the liver processes it different than regular saturated fats

I've been eating 2 tbs of coconut oil before a trail run and then mix coconut shavings in my bag of nuts dates and raisins. Feels like it works but actually not sure
 

Hi Fergus
I am new to this 'game' and have just started looking at my diet seriously. I am currently eating about 200g of carbs a day and injecting 12 units twice a day. My BG has come down over the past few weeks from 31 at diagnosis to 5-12 depending on circumstances. So I was just wandering how many grams of carbs you are eating each day to get such good control of your diabetes.
 

Your story mirrors mine
 

You doctor sounds very enlightened!
 
Not yet a 'success story' but I thought i should pop in to say that for the past 2 days i have taken my carbs down to about 10g per meal, 20g ish before a workout, and maybe 10-20g afterwards or if I am low. So about 40-70g each day, and i haven't had to bolus once in the past two days!

I can certainly see the potential with this diet haha I haven't got fully into it, but 2 full days with only needing 1 injection each day is a really nice vacation from T1D haha

My sugars have all been between 4-7mmol/L (mostly 5s and 6s, 7s before the gym which is planned), and I feel great!
 
@Diamattic Those kind of numbers without any bolussing would suggest that you are still getting some benefits from honeymooning, or your basal is too high! Even 10g of carbs pushes my blood glucose levels up a couple of mmol/l from a completely flat line.
 
I think its a bit of both for me.

I usually tend to test at between 4-5mmol/L pre-meal, and then an hour after eating my sugars go up but still less then 7mmol/L, and 2 hours later they are usually sitting 5-6mmol/L, based on the last 2 days anyway.

My basal rate isn't completely flat, it tends to pull my sugars down, but very slowly. For example I test before bed and get 6.5 and wake up at 5.3. So it drops about 1mmol/L over the course of 7-8 hours while in bed, maybe a bit more during teh day if I am active, but i never go 8 hours during the day without eating lol

I am no doubt still honeymooning, I have to be right? Maybe i can keep it up for like, 40 more years lol
 
I was diagnosed in Sept2014 and lost 16 kgs since then on low carb high fat. My levels are stable, except when stress creeps up on me or I am not well. Works like a charm, try it. You do feel a bit sick like flue about a week into the program but then all of a sudden , boom, energy back
 
I guess bringing my BG from 24.6 to 4.6 in a month is a success story... low carb all the way... working on the weight loss now, it has happened in the past so it will happen again...



Happy Days...
 

Oh i agree, This really makes me believe that I am still on my Honeymoon. My basal isn't an issue

I do tend to eat lots of protein and fat when i eat a low carb meal, and i do see a raise in BS levels, but not enough to think i need insulin for it. For example, I had a salad - mixed greens, avocado, cheese, veggie chickn, dressing, and some croutons. It was roughly 10-15g of carbs, but high protein and high fat. My BS was 4.2mmol/L before eating and pos meal i peaked at 6.8mmol/L so it went up around 2mmol/L total before starting to go back down.

So as long as my pre meal levels are good, i don't really feel i need to worry about injecting, or i just skip the croutons lol
 
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