Needing to get back into remission

Sixpence said:

Hello again,
I haven't posted here since sometime before the Covid lockdowns and I need to lose weight and get my blood sugar under control again. I was coping with low carb until the first lockdown when bread came back into my diet. Since then I have gained another stone in weight and I've almost given up trying to control my diabetes. At my last diabetic review by HbA1c was only 50 but my cholesterol was over 8 and the nurse freaked out!

I need to lose weight - about 2 stones - to improve my blood sugar and cholesterol but I don't know how best to do it. Low carb gave me good results but I found it difficult to stick to. Low calorie diets seem to get good results too but counting calories is a relentless chore.

I just need some encouragement that I can do this again. Thanks.

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Welcome back @Sixpence. One important change I think that has happened since you last went low carb is that there are a lot more sites with recipes so if there is something that makes it easier to keep your carbs low like a keto bread just a quick search will produce lots of ideas. There are also lots more low carb commercial products albeit costly and some better than others.

Lots of ideas and encouragement too on the friendly low carb thread

Sixpence said:

I just need some encouragement that I can do this again. Thanks.

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You did it at least once before. You can do it again

Look here, this is a fabulous site! And there are 33 pages of LC ...

Hi @Sixpence , you'll find a diet that works for you long-term!

I've tried a few diets (who hasn't?) and they all work for weight loss as long as I stick to them. The ones that keep my bloods in check all restrict refined carbs. But that's most healthy diets.

There's a lot of talk about ultra-processed food (UPF) at the moment. Some people lose weight just cutting that out of their diet.

Meal prep helps, especially if you have a freezer. Easier to stay on track if there's always something in that you can just pop in the microwave.

Also, most diets are happy for you to fill up on greens and salads if that's your thing.

And @shelley262 is right, there are more and more low carb recipes and ideas online every year.

Sixpence said:

I've almost given up trying to control my diabetes.

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Never stop trying @Sixpence
If you give up on your diabetes, you are really giving up on yourself.
Try to get the idea of a diet that will fix you out of your mind.
A diet gives the temporary feeling that it's something you do to achieve a goal, and when that goal is achieved, job done, back to normal.
What you need is a change of lifestyle that is sustainable and permanent, depriving your self of things you like by going ultra low carb or by starving yourself with a low calorie regime, just doesn't work.
It's taken your whole life to get where you are now, you can take some time to get back to where you want to be.
Make small but permanent changes, if you love bread, you don't have to give it up, search for low carb breads until you find one you like, or buy your favourite loaf but use is sparingly, as a treat .
Use your meter to discover new favourite foods that are kind to your blood sugar. Increase your activity as much as you can , again try different things , hiking, dancing, swimming anything that you enjoy and increases the amount of glucose you burn.
Take time to build a new healthier you.

Sixpence said:

Hello again,
I haven't posted here since sometime before the Covid lockdowns and I need to lose weight and get my blood sugar under control again. I was coping with low carb until the first lockdown when bread came back into my diet. Since then I have gained another stone in weight and I've almost given up trying to control my diabetes. At my last diabetic review by HbA1c was only 50 but my cholesterol was over 8 and the nurse freaked out!

I need to lose weight - about 2 stones - to improve my blood sugar and cholesterol but I don't know how best to do it. Low carb gave me good results but I found it difficult to stick to. Low calorie diets seem to get good results too but counting calories is a relentless chore.

I just need some encouragement that I can do this again. Thanks.

Click to expand...

Hi @Sixpence.

For diet, do you track your daily food intake using an app, or on paper? If so, or if you started, you could just pick off some "worst offenders" for amounts of carbs, then either eliminate them (if you're not bothered about them), or find lower carb substitutes. You don't have to go all in very low carb, or keto, there's a whole range of options. However, without knowing where the problems are then it's difficult to make positive changes, so I'd definitely recommend tracking your current diet and doing smaller step change improvements from there. This has really helped on the design and improvement of my diet.

For bread, if you're UK based and have a Waitrose near you, try Livlife bread. Smaller slices and not the cheapest, but it's 3.4g of carbs per slice rather than 16g or more per slice of normal bread. Also toasts and freezes well too.

Sixpence said:

Thanks for all your encouraging replies. I've now manged two and a half days of low-carbing! I think just saying that I needed to take my diabetes seriously again and hear words of encouragement helped and I've already lost a pound. Thanks again

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A pound at a time does the trick. Well done for taking the steps needed to low carb etc. Give yourself a pat on the back, for each day you stay on track.
Sending you the very best wishes to succeed.