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LOW CARB SUCCESS STORIES

Hi I used to use this forum 2 years ago and managed to lose 4 stone and normalise my blood sugars. Unfortunately I fell off the wagon and been very inactive due to knee replacement that is not healing well. So here I am again wish me luck
 
I have seen so much variation in advice etc over the last 6 months I thought I would add my piece. Diagnosed some years ago with T2. Last year on 1 x 500 Metaformin a day I discovered my HbA1c was around 13 or so. Was put on 2 x 1000 per day plus few other pills. Read about low carb diets and being an expat with little access to doctors did my own thing. I cut down to 1200 calories per day and exercised to get rid of 400 cals per session usually 3-4 times per week for 45 mins running etc. On non exercise days cut back to 800 cals. Weight down from 95 kg to 84kg. I never eat more than 110-120g carbs per day. HbA1c now regulary in the 5 to 5.3 region with a low of 4.3. I feel 100% better, wake early, work harder, less stress. Have now started to reduce medication to see where I go to. I suppose I should see doctor to see if I am going wrong but happy in myself with the outcome. So answer is vigourous exercise (I am 63), very low carbs but not silly, smaller portions, eat regularly, very little at dinner, low calorie diet but don't feel bad, high vegetable consumption and out with white bread, rice, and high carb things like lentils etc. It can be done. now to end all these **** pills - the next goal!! I certainly am sold on low carbs, low calories, exercise and small portions. Get to it those that are depressed - it seems to work for me anyway.
 
PeterEnz said:
I have seen so much variation in advice etc over the last 6 months I thought I would add my piece. Diagnosed some years ago with T2. Last year on 1 x 500 Metaformin a day I discovered my HbA1c was around 13 or so. Was put on 2 x 1000 per day plus few other pills. Read about low carb diets and being an expat with little access to doctors did my own thing. I cut down to 1200 calories per day and exercised to get rid of 400 cals per session usually 3-4 times per week for 45 mins running etc. On non exercise days cut back to 800 cals. Weight down from 95 kg to 84kg. I never eat more than 110-120g carbs per day. HbA1c now regulary in the 5 to 5.3 region with a low of 4.3. I feel 100% better, wake early, work harder, less stress. Have now started to reduce medication to see where I go to. I suppose I should see doctor to see if I am going wrong but happy in myself with the outcome. So answer is vigourous exercise (I am 63), very low carbs but not silly, smaller portions, eat regularly, very little at dinner, low calorie diet but don't feel bad, high vegetable consumption and out with white bread, rice, and high carb things like lentils etc. It can be done. now to end all these **** pills - the next goal!! I certainly am sold on low carbs, low calories, exercise and small portions. Get to it those that are depressed - it seems to work for me anyway.
Click to expand...

Hi Peter - welcome to the forum, and thanks for sharing your success at controlling your diabetes, very encouraging, especially for those members who are still struggling with their control.
Hope to see more posts from you.
All the best
 
Early days for me, but looking very good so far
I was diagnosed T2 15 years ago and managed fine on Gliclizide for years until last couple of years when I started to get high morning BM's (8 - 10) and rising whether I ate or not. HBa1C wasnt affected much at first, but went from 6% - 8% at last review

Rather than go onto one of the Gliptins, as suggested by my consultant, I got interested in the low cal diet from the Newcastle study and then ammended it to higher cals (around 900) and lower carbs ( 60-70g)

I have been following it for a month now - morning BMs were down within a week to between 5 and 6 and have stayed there ever since. Average BM over the month has been 6.7 whilst the last Hba1c would indicate an average of around 11 over the previous 3 months

BP also appears to be down and I now have an appt with the medics to look at reducing medication as I have low BP readings
 
Had results back from 2nd hbac1 and it's 39 first hbac1 was 73 and on diagnosis simple finger blood test Nurse said it was 14 in old money.
been asked to contribute my low carb success story!


I put this success down to 3 things
1) Losing 10% of body weight ( still have a way to go to get to a good BMI) Started @102.4 now 90.6
( had high blood pressure NO LONGER!!!)
2) Low carbing ( remarkably easy once you give up on jammie dodgers and pringles )
3)The wealth of good sense ,advice and wisdom on this forum

I am WELL pleased and it is thanks to this forum . Everytime I come on to ask a question there is ALWAYS a good selection of answers . So although I don't contribute much I do lurk
So thanks to one and all ,the individuals and the collective deep wisdom.

an aside DN in contrast to first visit entirely supportive of Low Carb ...are things changing ?


Oh yes nearly forgot have been told to drop one metformin tablet too


I started low carbing almost from Dx say a month in and slowly got to grips with things ...I ate to my meter and realised what does and does not suit me ...and also learnt about illnesses causing High BG's too
For me Low Carbing has been so easy in terms of losing weight ( a very necessary medical thing) have never felt hungry or craved things. I plateaued out last week but carried on as before and lo! started losing weight again( as advised somewhere on here)

http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2012/08/the-number-1-way-to-eat-leaner-healthier/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+stonesoup%2FzQie+%28stonesoup%29


is a fabulous way of listing the substitutes for rice and pasta
all excellent as is quinoa.
Breakfast has been the most difficult meal to adjust too. I hard boil eggs in advance ,for the mornings I want a quickie breakfast
love the 'greasy' spoon breakfasts 'allowed' and greek style (total) yoghurt with fresh or frozen strawberries/raspberries (about 5)
I went OFF scrambled eggs fried eggs poached eggs and omlettes :sick: so leave well alone and hope I like them again soon.

I allow the occasional treat Fish and chips ...batter off and up to 10 chips Yummy ( not often) and have the occasional nibble at hubbies biscuits and puddings ... just a taste
love sugar free jelly and cream

and have found stevia good for a little sweetener on things like rhubarb ...
also burgen soy bread thing ,up to 2 slices a day


It is a way of life but a surprisingly easy one ...occasional I get a bit miffed at my kids and grandkids scoffing crisps and chocolate
but try not to be a 'born again' low carber.

anyway underpinning all this is for me is not dying blind ,with no feet and or a stroke/heart attack ..I am aiming for the proverbial red bus and clean knickers ..or rather it's aiming for me ...
 
Hi,
I am awaiting Barriatric surgery in October and Visited my GP last night- to do my regular checks.
T2 since Dec10I have been low carbing for 12mths to help control my bloods but have not had much positive feedback from either my dietitian or GP. (850 metaformin x 2 plus Glicaside? sorry about the spelling)

He took my BP looked puzzeled , Apologized, turned it off and back on, then took my BP again 127/68 NORMAL!!! First time in years! He was so surprised the first time he did not believe the machine! :lol:

Then checked my cholesterol taken in July 3.4 again massively down.

I have not been exercising much more due to my size but have lost 2.5stone since Dec and am more mobile.

I did say to him- maybe Low carb? he did not respond to that comment, other than say well done.

( PS he is generally a great GP So i am not knocking him, just the idea of LOW carb seems to had passed him by).

After the Op I the diet I have been advised to follow is 50% protein 35% Veg/fruit 15% carb by the hospital

I can not wait for my OP, although I did just spell check Barriatric it offers me Barbaric hmm am i : :roll: crazy:
 
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Still not pretty but #JustSayin'
 
I'm still trying to work out what borofergie was under the influence of, back in 2011.

Was it weed ? sedation ? Mrs B ?

Just look into those eyes. They truly tell a tale.

My money's probably on the carbs, though :lol:

Geoff
ps Well done, mate :thumbup:
 
Early days for me as only been diagnosed since August this year. Joined the forum a few days later and instinctively went for the LCHF option of food management. I'm not sure if I'm NO CARBING or LOW CARBING - but I DO NOT eat in any shape or form

bread
potatoes
rice
pasta
cakes
biscuits
sweets
very sweet fruits ie bananas
dried fruits - raisins etc
milk


I DO EAT TO MY HEART'S CONTENT -

meat
fish
eggs
cheese
butter
single cream
soured cream
above the ground veggies
Hovis crackers
Ryvita dark
coffee with cream
diet Ginger soda

When I ate carbs I was fatigued straight after eating, hungry again in no time, bloated, constipated, acid reflux ...

Without carbs I'm not yet doing cartwheels but I feel nourished rather than depleted, my digestion works better, not constantly hungry, not bloated, ...

Have lost 2lb in weight and my own BS readings are down from 12 to around the 6-7 mark most days. Don't even know if I've had an HbA1c all I know is I had 2 FGTs and was diagnosed T2, my cholesterol was 6 and have been prescribed statins but not taken them as not sure about them yet.

Just wish I'd done this years ago really. I'm not saying low carb is right for everyone but I know it's better for me than eating carbs because not only does my body tell me, but so does my meter. So I'll stick with it because I now actually look forward to my meals rather than fear them because of how food was making my body react. :)
 
librarising said:
I'm still trying to work out what borofergie was under the influence of, back in 2011.
Click to expand...

What I found interesting was that in the space of a year, low carbs made his hair move from his head to his chin..... :wave:
 
Borofergie!!
Where is the Like button?? :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
I don't like my pictures from 2006 and wish I could do my round the world trip snaps all over again with my 2012 body and T2 current health
I love who I am now thanks to my understanding of Low Carbing for Life.
Alison
Whoops this is not my byline at the bottom! What is going on?
 
I'm posting on behalf of my sister (early stage type 2) who's lost 5 kg in the last 5 weeks with a modified Atkins diet. Off to the doctor next week to get her blood tests; she's feeling better and looking better. Hope it continues!
Funny thing is, her doctor never ever recommended this diet - even warned her against it - so she's done it in secret behind his back... knows he'll be impressed with the weight loss though. How is she sticking to the diet this time? She tells me she's never hungry, and doesn't feel she's starving herself as she usually does on diets. :D
 
I have only been diagnosed since may 2012 and as far as I believe I have successfully lowered and maintained my levels to the point the DN was amazed.

HBA1c - 5.5%
cholesterol 3.5%
 
I'm only on day 3 of low carbing, i'm still in my honeymoon period at the moment and on no insulin, but the fatigue/lethargy/peeing constantly has gone already. Day two of low carbing my fasting/morning levels have been 4.7 and 4.2. After breakfast my 2hr readings have been 4.4 and 4.3. My evening meals have been 5.4 and 4.9.

Before low carbing my fasting/morning levels were around 7mmol, and 2 hour post meals around 7mmol also.
 
I've been low carbing since being diagnosed as diabetic since last year (December 2011).
Got a hell of a fright and basically ate only enough to stay alive lol. That lasted for about a month before I had built up enough knowledge to start adjusting my diet to something that suited me. I started eating 6 meals a day whilst low carbing and upping my protein intake. I was at 108 Kg's when I started and am now down to 80 Kg's. I think I would have lost more but with the extra weight gone I rediscovered my love of the Gym and have been hitting it rather hard the last four months.

In this entire period I have maintained my blood sugar at between 4 -5 mmol with only one bad Hypo thrown in there somewhere. (Had a heavy hypo at work, 2.5 mmol, ate some glucose sweets, went home and had a whiskey, was halfway through the second whiskey and that was that, woke up in hospital with a VERY upset wife and a doctor who was convinced i must have polished a bottle of whiskey to get "Falling down drunk".). It was quite a rude awakening after everything had been going so well. :( .

Anyway.. At the moment I'm focused more on putting on weight than losing it, Working on making it the good kind of weight though! :lol:
 
Type 2 diagnosed on 8 August 2012

HBA1C at the time - I don't know because I wasn't told and didn't think to ask at the time
FBS at the time - 14
Serum Cholesterol at the time - 6.8

13 August 2012 - joined forum and started LCHF diet within a week

FBS - gradual lowering over a few weeks to around the late 7's with occasional 8's
HBA1C at 3 months review this week - 39 Excellent Control :D
Serum cholesterol - 6.7
LDL - 4.14
HDL - 1.78

I have a few other serum results that have come back high, mainly heart and liver enzymes of some sort which I had no clue they were testing me for. There were 30 blood test results on the list in total. Do others receive so many results from the couple of phials of blood they give or am I being rigorously monitored here?

I'm chuffed with the results of my HBA1C because I've been really good with my diet for the main part. And I'm also feeling a lot better. Only thing I'm not happy with is lack of weight loss, but hope that as I exercise more because I have more energy now, that eventually that will kick in. I also was over-zealous with the protein and fat in the early stages of LCHF so probably ate more calories than needed, but now I have a far better balance and portion control so am eating a lot less than in the initial weeks. :D
 
I was diagnosed as Type 2 about three years ago. Since then I haven't had much trouble keeping my HBA1C at 6.2 but have had no luck finding a way to get my weight down.

A couple of weeks ago a friend convinced me to try low-carb. What a revelation. I started at 22.6 stone and two weeks later I'm at 21.8. I've started to keep records of my blood glucose with a Contour USB (I plan to take the reports to my next review) and the change has been astonishing. Initially I was finding my readings were spiking quite high before breakfast but that settled down very rapidly and now my readings are almost always between 4.4 and 5.1. I think the highest I've had since the initial spikes is a 5.6. Most of my readings are now below 5. My appetite is pretty much gone between meals (Bar the odd craving) and overall so far it's been a very positive experience

I love that I can "tech" up for this too. I've got a set of Withings scales logging my weight, fat mass and BMI daily + I manually log my blood pressure with a wrist tester I bought and the Contour makes great reports that I can print out.
 
I weighed 120kg last October and had started to lose weight before I was diagnosed type 2 in December. Since then I have eaten a low carb diet and lost nearly 40 kg. My last HBAa1c was 5.9 . Apart from the side effects of the metformin, I now feel fitter and healthier than I have for years. When I finish losing weight (another 10kg) I will increase the carbs a little but I have found that the control of blood sugars and carbs for me are very closely linked,
 
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