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Mr Intermittent Fasting is at the door…

F

Fishingscotland

Member
Messages
14
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
An out-of-the-blue diabetes diagnosis after a standard cholesterol test. Delivered in a cold NHS-busy way, by a receptionist who couldn’t really say what a HBA1C 73 result meant.

Thankfully, the Forum and a lot of other resources filled in the gaps until I could get an appointment to see my doctor, three weeks later.

By then, I already knew I was a Type 2 diabetic. I told him I wanted a chance to control my blood sugar through diet and exercise.

I didn‘t really give him a chance to argue. I would spend the next three months trying anything I could think.

I devoured anything I could read. I spent hours looking into Professor Roy Taylor’s work.

I spent days researching half a dozen supplements with indications that they might assist with lowering blood glucose.

I already knew of intermittent fasting and had dallied with it.

I went hardcore. No food before Noon.

No sugar, no carbohydrates. I bought an air fryer to cook vegetables and soups.

I bought one of those ‘smart‘ scales. I exercised, and exercised and bought a treadmill.

Fear is really a great motivator.

The three months ended this week. I hadn‘t lost 15% of my body weight but I had lost over a stone.

I got the result today - I’m 47 now, so perhaps at the upper end of pre-diabetic.

I don’t expect to be offered a call from my doctor, to discuss the results

This is really just the start and I need to keep going and not relapse.

I’m on the road with you now.

Mr Sugar and me are no longer friends.

I‘m saying all this because I want to give something back to the Forum

I really think intermittent fasting worked for me. If you’ve been thinking about it, then please please give it a go.
 
Fishingscotland said:
No food before Noon.
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I tend to not eat before mid afternoon or even go down to one meal a day.. seems to be a very powerful strategy especially when combined with an ultra low carb diet..
Well done on the HbA1c numbers a very good result!
 
Thanks bulkbiker! I tried to banish carbs. The air fryer really helped, substituting steamed or roasted vegetables as the bulk of a meal.

It’s not for everyone as we all seem conditioned to eat breakfast, but if you don’t think of it as a hardship or diet, but as a fitness regime, it helps.

That said, when it’s Noon, I’m sometimes a bit like one of Pavlov’s dogs.

Thanks to everyone who supports the great work this Forum does!
 
Great work! I dropped breakfast about 10 months ago. I rarely eat before noon and it's really helped my long standing type 1.
 
Thanks eventhorizon. Once you are in the rhythm, it doesn’t seem like a chore. You know when to start eating.

It also seems to allow your body more time for maintenance and repair - if it’s not converting food into usable glucose or fat, the factory goes on to a different shift!

I would really encourage anyone to consider giving it a go - there’s lots of guidance and advice in this Forum and elsewhere online.

WARNING - my doctor looked aghast - yet another cranky-patient suggestion - so don’t expect widespread acceptance (yet)
 
Excellent results @Fishingscotland when I started working on lowering my blood glucose and weight I did a full on couple of months one meal a day which I kept firmly keto - IE below 20g of carb and it worked so well. 6 years on I still manage my health by restricting my eating window always 18/6 with the odd break of 16/8 if away and early breakfast on offer! I now mainly eat two meals in my eating window and three sometimes and it seems to date to be keeping my weight and blood glucose normal says she crossing fingers as I'm waiting for my annual blood results at the moment. On that topic I always ask for a full fasting lipids panel where you only consume water for 12 to 14 hours before the test rather than the basic non fasted cholesterol test mainly as I needed a breakdown of my lipid results as I have higher cholesterol than their guidelines suggest so I like accurate info to make informed choices.i am always asked how I cope with fasting for that long by the medics and even yesterday when I replied I do it everyday and for longer the jaw drop almost made me laugh although she did ask why so I told her despite her incredulousness! It works as you've found.remember too that the hba1c measures your blood over the last three months so will also reflect your initial earlier higher scores in the results I'm sure if you carry on it will be lower in another three months. Keep it up well done.
 
Outlier said:
Terrific work and well done! Thank you for sharing - your experiences will be a great support for others.
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Thanks so much. I did not know that the earlier high result would influence this result too! The doctor did not share!

Thanks too for your detailed explanation. My phlebotomist was shocked I could wait until my appointment at 1.30pm before even thinking of eating.

You can if you’re desperate to make a change!
 
Outlier said:
Terrific work and well done! Thank you for sharing - your experiences will be a great support for others.
Click to expand...
Thanks Outlier. We all need to support each other and if only one person makes a positive change which helps them then it’s worth posting your story.

I recognise that I’m on the road now, where others have gone before…we all need a hand, whatever the outcome.

It was no one’s fault but I felt just a bit abandoned at the outset…until I took matters into my own hands and learned about the disease

And who better to ask?
 
I found that my BG levels continued to rise in the AM until I ate, so I eat at 12 hour intervals now. You might find that you can lower your Hba1c by checking your blood glucose levels to see how your meal timing affects it. I only eat 10 gm of carbs first thing as I am more insulin sensitive then, but it stops the rise, which could go into the teens when I was first diagnosed. I am then find for 12 hours until I eat again,
 
Hi @Fishingscotland welcome to the Forum.
congrats on a great start tackling T2 diabetes.

Just to let you know that intermittent fasting works for me as well. In 2019 I've reduced my HbA1c into the 40s and lost 10kg by 5+2 (Michael Mosley's 600 calories on fast days). Since then I am not on medication anymore. I am still doing 5+2, it is sustainable for me and I've been able to keep my HbA1c and weight. You said you lost a stone. While many newly diagnosed T2s can afford to lose a stone (or more), going underweight can be dangerous, too.

You will now need to find a diet that is sustainable for you. By measuring the effect of food on your blood sugar you will be able to find out yourself which foods you can tolerate and which not.

PS: hope you catch a few in Scotland's rivers.
 
Thanks for that message Lupf and for the tip about finding a sustainable diet.

I’ll need to get out fishing, once the season starts again!
 
After being diagnosed in september and receiving no support from the diabetes nurse, I decided to try and take control. My blood sugar was all over the place and I had to increase my insulin dose every 3 days because of hypers. I am on basal only and a low carb diet (60g). I did lots of research and found out about the intermittent fasting study done by Newcastle University. I am not overweight and do a fair amount of exercise, so decided to go with the 5:2, 2 consecutive days, 600 calories from milkshakes and a plate of green veg. I wasn’t told my hbac1 blood test from september but was 7.1 (54) on 29/12. I self funded a freestyle libre so I could monitor my glucose levels safely. That was a good idea as my blood sugar dropped so quickly, it was difficult to adjust my basal quickly enough, and the low sugar alarm woke me a few times during the night and I had to take glucose. I was on 23 units on 1st January and have reduced it to 9. No hypers, although my blood sugar does tend to peak during fasting after my shake, but I’ve added Chia seed which seems to help, but on the non fasting days, my blood sugar is really stable and is the same in the morning as when I go to bed. I’ve lost 6 pounds, and could maybe lose another 6 and still be a healthy weight. So it’s working for me and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that in a few weeks, I may be able to come off the insulin.
 
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Thanks Louisew! I can sympathise with that need to take back some control! I too got a Freestyle Libre but as a Type 2 was told not to fret quite so much about the peaks and troughs. Whatever, it gave me something to do, checking how my eating impacted my levels.

i hope your regime allows you to come off the insulin!
 
I got the Libre because my blood sugar was dropping so quickly, I was going into hypos during the night, especially after my ballroom dancing classes! The alarm woke me up a few times in the 3s and I could dose up on glucose tablets. Now blood sugars during the night have really stabilized and often pretty much stay the same. Now I’m dropping around 1 unit a week so much easier to control. I do like being able to see what’s going on with the sugar levels without pricking my bloody finger all the time
 
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