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Maintaining remission/getting back on the wagon

HSSS said:
Oh dear it seems contagious amongst a few of us at the moment doesn’t it?
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I will stick my hand up to that. I am still in lockdown and only venture out for shopping, I have not had Covid, but have had a fever /cough but it only lasted one night. My carer went down with full blown Covid the next day. My tests were neg, hers were vivid and definite. So I blame Covid and the fear of it as making my life a misery too.

On top of that, I am losing my best friend, Pooter. It is struggling to operate and needs a 'hospital' stay to sort it out, I have been training a replacement, but that too has died and is waiting to be returned for refund, So I may go offline for a while. Then I really will be in stook without a paddle.

I think the blues is rife and the daily news has little to help raise the spirits at the moment. I used to play the blues as a musician, but I have had not been able to get to any gigs since Covid. My guitar buddy is also stuggling with cancer and MRSA at the moment so we don;t even meet up for a jam session. This was not in my Retirement Plan.

I think we are all in the same boat, and its not a Pleasure Cruiser. its a Bruiser. You are not alone.
 
@HSSS
The real life medicine doctors use a 4 wheel drive analogy, rather than falling off the wagon. It's in their podcasts and blogs a lot. Basically "the wagon" has someone else in charge and it might not be going where we want to. However if you drive your own off road 4 wheel drive, you can go up and down all the bumps and holes you like. You can stay off road or choose a gentler track. Whatever you decide is your choice, no recriminations, no blaming someone else or the wagon!
Worth reading more of, as they put it so much better than I do.

Secondly, we all deserve a treat. This recipe might hit your spot.
I've made a batch today, 16 squares and promptly ate 4 of them! I so understand where you are coming from.
Still better than 1 supermarket one.
www.ketofitnessclub.com

Millionaire Shortbreads

MKK - Michele's Keto Kitchen You'll also find this recipe on page 48 of the Creative Bakes Cookbook.
www.ketofitnessclub.com www.ketofitnessclub.com
 
MrsA2 said:
@HSSS
The real life medicine doctors use a 4 wheel drive analogy, rather than falling off the wagon. It's in their podcasts and blogs a lot. Basically "the wagon" has someone else in charge and it might not be going where we want to. However if you drive your own off road 4 wheel drive, you can go up and down all the bumps and holes you like. You can stay off road or choose a gentler track. Whatever you decide is your choice, no recriminations, no blaming someone else or the wagon!
Worth reading more of, as they put it so much better than I do.

Secondly, we all deserve a treat. This recipe might hit your spot.
I've made a batch today, 16 squares and promptly ate 4 of them! I so understand where you are coming from.
Still better than 1 supermarket one.
www.ketofitnessclub.com

Millionaire Shortbreads

MKK - Michele's Keto Kitchen You'll also find this recipe on page 48 of the Creative Bakes Cookbook.
www.ketofitnessclub.com www.ketofitnessclub.com
Click to expand...
I finally got off my **** and made some fantastic crackers (seeds, olive oil and cheese) and some millionaires shortbread as well as a new dinner recipe.

The caramel is a bit gooey but if there’s any left (3 x1” squares down already and there will be more before bed) after a night in the fridge it might harden up. It’s crazy to say but making caramel is a step forward because it’s voluntarily standing in the kitchen and less damage than shop bought rubbish. I used this one www.myketokitchen.com/keto-recipes/keto-caramel-slice/

Dinner was based on this healthyrecipesblogs.com/chicken-casserole/ The bacon wasn’t the crispy stuff to go on top so went in with the chicken in a pan not the oven, sauce added and bunged in the oven with the crackers to finish off.

A pathetic but welcome sense of achievement.
 
Aotearoa/NZ did a study relatively recently and came up with a chilling statistic that - a full 81% of us have suffered from ‘diabetes stress’ at some stage.

“Diabetes distress is the emotional burden of living with and managing diabetes. Diabetes is a relentless, 24/7 condition that can have a real impact on mental and emotional wellbeing. Every minute of every day, a person with diabetes faces decisions and thoughts, which can create worries and fears about their diabetes.” https://www.diabetes.org.nz/managing-diabetes-stress

That point about the massive impact of having to make health decisions around everything metabolic, even if it's a decision to eat fairly wild as someone wrote of her diabetic partner above, in the hope that medications compensate for it - that having to make that many minute by minute decisions can wear one down emotionally - really resonated with me.
 
HSSS said:
I finally got off my **** and made some fantastic crackers (seeds, olive oil and cheese) and some millionaires shortbread as well as a new dinner recipe.

The caramel is a bit gooey but if there’s any left (3 x1” squares down already and there will be more before bed) after a night in the fridge it might harden up. It’s crazy to say but making caramel is a step forward because it’s voluntarily standing in the kitchen and less damage than shop bought rubbish. I used this one www.myketokitchen.com/keto-recipes/keto-caramel-slice/

Dinner was based on this healthyrecipesblogs.com/chicken-casserole/ The bacon wasn’t the crispy stuff to go on top so went in with the chicken in a pan not the oven, sauce added and bunged in the oven with the crackers to finish off.

A pathetic but welcome sense of achievement.
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Those squares will freeze. I find they are less tempting if out of sight
 
So for those that thought they had it sussed, only for that to bite them in the bum later, what motivated you to get back on track?[/QUOTE]


I confess in five years or more I’ve never quite felt like I had it sussed. - I find it’s a continuous learning thing. … a continuous suck it and see experience. Rarely straight forward. When one thing doesn’t work try something else that seems to make sense.

I wish you well.
 
HSSS said:
Yeah I’ve had a few setbacks in the last year on various fronts and my mood has taken quite a knocking as a result. At the end of last year I found some gentle walking groups that got me out of the house and in the fresh air and speaking to other humans in real life. And now I have a foot issue and been ordered off it for a while to allow inflammation to heal (and yes I know glucose spikes won’t be helping that either). it feels like one step forward two backwards (yes I meant it that way round)

I have to go out today. I’m going to go treat myself to a libre as a late Xmas present. It’s too easy not to test if I know I won’t like the answer. Then I’m going to plan a mega baking session of things that won’t do much harm but feel indulgent. And I’m going to keep posting more honestly in here for accountability. I have very little outside world contact at the moment so you lot are important to me. If anyone notices I’m deleting these posts after the fact or not posting please stick your tongue out at me.
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Accountability, may be an option, yeah... But maybe posting for support rather than being hard on yourself'd be better? ;) No tongues being stuck out here, now or ever, whether you delete or not. Hang in there. As you've discovered, you're far from alone. I think in the past few covid years, things have been harder than usual, with obstacles becoming bigger than they would've otherwise been. I see wagons toppled by the roadside everywhere, it seems. Doesn't mean they have to stay that way.
*hugs*
Jo
 
JoKalsbeek said:
I see wagons toppled by the roadside everywhere, it seems. Doesn't mean they have to stay that way.
*hugs*
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Love how you put that.

We get DX'd ...then nothing else ever happens to us...?

Who are we kidding ... :hilarious:

The 'Wagon & 4 wheel drive' analogues fits for me.

Sometimes life with T2D the road is reasonably smooth.
The diet, woe, meds, etc, cushion us from a lot of the bumps on the road,
then BAM, we're forced to make a detour.

Usually just over the kerb & along the pavement, but often it's over rutted fields that truly shake us up, and sadly occassionally it's a path that forces us far off the beaten track.

2022, a dreadful year for me &
one I thought would never end.

But it did and I'm now moving back to some semblance of 'normal' life

My wagon toppled for definite.

Some of it for particular reasons that justified it, some of it for the fact I just quit & took the easy road on far too many occasions, if I'm honest with myself.

But as said, a difficult & extremely challenging year ...
So I don't look back & beat myself up.

I did what I did, literally to survive the moment ....
Something I'm sure we've all felt at times.

But now luckily, the moment has passed for me.
So I'm heading back to the beaten track asap.

I know others have & will follow when the time is ready

As said, I do like the visual of a huge wagon train, where when one of us does topple over, others are quick with offers of help to right the Wagon.

We might not right the Wagon immediately, but we are definitely not alone in trying or short of help.

Like.
 
HSSS said:
I finally got off my **** and made some fantastic crackers (seeds, olive oil and cheese) and some millionaires shortbread as well as a new dinner recipe.

The caramel is a bit gooey but if there’s any left (3 x1” squares down already and there will be more before bed) after a night in the fridge it might harden up. It’s crazy to say but making caramel is a step forward because it’s voluntarily standing in the kitchen and less damage than shop bought rubbish. I used this one www.myketokitchen.com/keto-recipes/keto-caramel-slice/

Dinner was based on this healthyrecipesblogs.com/chicken-casserole/ The bacon wasn’t the crispy stuff to go on top so went in with the chicken in a pan not the oven, sauce added and bunged in the oven with the crackers to finish off.

A pathetic but welcome sense of achievement.
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Winner.

Because a journey of a thousand steps begins when we take the first one.
Even if they're baby steps .

They ALL count .

Best of luck finding your way.
 
Important update . The caramel set lovely AND they are very filling/rich so even I can’t do my all too frequent pig out and eat the lot in one hit. Can highly recommend that recipe.

I‘m so glad I reached out and made myself face this more honestly. Baby little shuffling steps (not least because my foot really hurts today) but the right direction. Thanks everyone.
 
HSSS said:
Important update . The caramel set lovely AND they are very filling/rich so even I can’t do my all too frequent pig out and eat the lot in one hit. Can highly recommend that recipe.

I‘m so glad I reached out and made myself face this more honestly. Baby little shuffling steps (not least because my foot really hurts today) but the right direction. Thanks everyone.
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Good for you. Positive power.
For me I was diagnosed in 1996 but not really given a lot of advice has to how to manage. So struggled on. I was vegetarian at the time and 2005 became vegan. Struggled with weight and control over the years til now taking metformin and Gliclazide . Never wanting to have to use insulin. Discovering keto last year has be really positive for me. Finding it was possible to do vegan keto really made my weight loss journey easier. 8.5 kilos to go. Blood sugars in normal range. Making more priority for exercise classes has made them an important part of my life. I’m not to motivated if I have to do a class alone. Having the attitude and acting like I’m at my goals in all areas of my life has definately been a game changer for me.
Working on what healthy carbs I can include back in my life .

What I am trying to say is to have a positive outlook even finding positives in bad days . Changing your mindset helps ,
 
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I finally got the hba1c I’ve been avoiding done. Results today is down, but only by 3 so now sitting at 53mmol. (2 less than diagnosis, after 4 years non diabetic in between). I weigh almost what I did at diagnose having lost and kept off more than 15kg for most of 4 yrs. I look 8 months pregnant half the time with bloating/fat.

I can’t blame the covid steroids anymore really. The eating is a bit better than when I posted initially but not what it used to be. The foot is still sore and it’ll be months before I can’t get any treatment (more steroids). I’m welded to the sofa. I’ve got the DN call coming next week. Do I or don’t I try Metformin (b12 often low, delicate digestive system, stubbornness about doing it with no meds) and I’m steeling my self for the cholesterol conversation (results not in yet).

Problem is this time around I am struggling to exercise (iron deficient/knackered as well as the foot), I have still cut out a lot of the stuff and still don’t eat anything like a “typical” amount of carbs (probably averaging about 100g a day but not consistent) so the changes I can and need to make won’t be as big as last time at this state. No bread, no rice, no potatoes or pasta even now. Crackers, fruit loaf, nut bars and those blooming millions shortbread from Lidl are doing most of the damage. Mostly I eat two meals a day no breakfast. I’m older and deeper into the menopause too. And exhausted. Mentally, physically. I never did get the libre. I keep seeing reports about them falling off, reading widely out etc and promised myself to stick myself more often. But I don’t. I know I’m going high. What’s it going to tell me? I’m also fed up of seeing posts about newly diagnosed in the 50’s only needing “a few tweaks” for normal levels. Huh. It took keto and exercise last time to drop me 15 points max and that’s more than a little tweak. Just because 100g a day gets some people from 120mmol to 35mmol in 3 months it doesn’t work for us all.

I know there’s no magic answers. I know what to do. I just wanted a good whinge and rant and to feel sorry for myself.
 
Definitely hugs.

And, you know, you have done brilliantly! Don't degrade the progress you have made just because you haven't scaled Mount Perfection yet! (I tend to do this too - it's human nature).

You have identified what needs changing - so in your own time and to your own nature, follow on from that. Some of us do best to knock all the unhelpful practices on the head at once, while others are best to sneak up on them and remove one obstacle at a time. Do what suits you best. It's your body and no-one else's. Any time you want to vent or need a hand holding - here we are. And never lose sight of what you have achieved already.
 
Outlier said:
Definitely hugs.

And, you know, you have done brilliantly! Don't degrade the progress you have made just because you haven't scaled Mount Perfection yet! (I tend to do this too - it's human nature).

You have identified what needs changing - so in your own time and to your own nature, follow on from that. Some of us do best to knock all the unhelpful practices on the head at once, while others are best to sneak up on them and remove one obstacle at a time. Do what suits you best. It's your body and no-one else's. Any time you want to vent or need a hand holding - here we are. And never lose sight of what you have achieved already.
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Ah but the problem is whilst I did do really well and for the time it lasted that’s great. But. I’m back at square one. It really feels like a game of snakes and ladders. I am an all or nothing kind of gal usually. So at some point as you say I’ll hit my switch and go for it.
 
MrsA2 said:
But it's not square one. !
This time you have loads of experience, tonnes of knowledge and a whole tribe of support on here
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Thank you. I was very lucky and landed here within days of diagnosis and this place really really helped last time. Unfortunately I also have lethargy, quite a bit of burn out, less to change and additional issues this time round. Let’s hope at some point soon they balance out and I get on with it again and walk the walk instead of just talking it.
 
HSSS said:
Thank you I could have written this post about “let’s find an excuse” behaviour with a couple of substitution (Lidl/millionaires shortbread/no libre but knowing it’s not pretty). Sadly I can’t avoid shopping but maybe I’ll have to go somewhere that doesn’t sell this item for a while. They’re always out of stock of so many things in my local store, why can’t it be these

I’ve been feeling such a fraud in here lately failing to walk the walk but it’s actually helping more than I thought hearing I’m not the only one that does this stuff. I came in here this morning to delete this thread in embarrassment. Perhaps I won’t and my struggles will help someone else too.
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Hi, I’m new to this diabetic strange diet lol but the times you have answered me have been a great help. Sliding a little off the wagon just shows us we are still human first. I’m glad you didn’t delete it. There have been a lot of good insights from your thread that i hope you can find an answer too. Maybe in a few years time i may have an answer that i could add to this discussion but if not I’ll be adding how good those M and M’s were or what ever goodies were at M and S or Lidl When I accidentally slipped in there!
 
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