- Messages
- 1,399
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
On the one-year anniversary of my Type 2 diabetes diagnosis, time to take stock.
First, an update: my annual medical was today, and within hours the HbA1c results came in at 31 (5.0%). My last two tests (three months ago, and six months ago) registered a 30 (4.9%) which is statistically the same as today's test, considering the margin of error. I'm also all set for a foot check tomorrow, and an eye check next week.
After sticking to a very-low-carb diet for the first 10 months post-diagnosis, I deliberately "eased off" slightly in the past couple of months, to see whether it would make any difference to the HbA1c. I was originally at fewer than 50 grams of carbs per day; in fact in the first two months after diagnosis it was also strictly portion-controlled and thus came in at below 30 grams.
Two months ago I started adding two things: a daily square of 85%-cocoa chocolate (4 grams of carbs) and, more substantially, a pint of good German Weissbier about five days per week (about 18 grams of carbs per pint). So my current diet, as of the past two months, is "fewer than 70 grams of carbs" per day.
About seven months after being diagnosed (and going on the low-carb diet) I discovered this forum. It really is a wonderful place to get information and, crucially, boost one's motivation to stick to a low-carb, moderate-exercise lifestyle. I dove in with both feet and very much enjoyed learning, and sharing. Eventually though I found that I was spending an awful lot of time thinking about diabetes. After "backing off" somewhat, I seem to have found a better balance.
One year after getting the dreadful news that I had T2, there are now some days when I don't think about diabetes at all -- something that would have been unthinkable a year ago!!! The low-carb, healthy-exercise lifestyle has become such a matter of course that I don't always remember that my changed lifestyle is really a "treatment" for a chronic disease.
I spend far less of my time obsessing about "why diabetes, why me?" and that's just as well because "life" has, coincidentally, become much busier on both the personal and business fronts (good news in both cases). The downside of being so busy is I have let my exercise routine slip (partly because of being busy, partly because it is so cold this winter in the USA and my exercise consists of walking); and I am stressed and not getting much sleep. It does not seem to have affected my HbA1c (yet!) but in the long run I do need to get back into a healthier routine.
Thank you so much for the help and support you have given me, and others, on this forum.
First, an update: my annual medical was today, and within hours the HbA1c results came in at 31 (5.0%). My last two tests (three months ago, and six months ago) registered a 30 (4.9%) which is statistically the same as today's test, considering the margin of error. I'm also all set for a foot check tomorrow, and an eye check next week.
After sticking to a very-low-carb diet for the first 10 months post-diagnosis, I deliberately "eased off" slightly in the past couple of months, to see whether it would make any difference to the HbA1c. I was originally at fewer than 50 grams of carbs per day; in fact in the first two months after diagnosis it was also strictly portion-controlled and thus came in at below 30 grams.
Two months ago I started adding two things: a daily square of 85%-cocoa chocolate (4 grams of carbs) and, more substantially, a pint of good German Weissbier about five days per week (about 18 grams of carbs per pint). So my current diet, as of the past two months, is "fewer than 70 grams of carbs" per day.
About seven months after being diagnosed (and going on the low-carb diet) I discovered this forum. It really is a wonderful place to get information and, crucially, boost one's motivation to stick to a low-carb, moderate-exercise lifestyle. I dove in with both feet and very much enjoyed learning, and sharing. Eventually though I found that I was spending an awful lot of time thinking about diabetes. After "backing off" somewhat, I seem to have found a better balance.
One year after getting the dreadful news that I had T2, there are now some days when I don't think about diabetes at all -- something that would have been unthinkable a year ago!!! The low-carb, healthy-exercise lifestyle has become such a matter of course that I don't always remember that my changed lifestyle is really a "treatment" for a chronic disease.
I spend far less of my time obsessing about "why diabetes, why me?" and that's just as well because "life" has, coincidentally, become much busier on both the personal and business fronts (good news in both cases). The downside of being so busy is I have let my exercise routine slip (partly because of being busy, partly because it is so cold this winter in the USA and my exercise consists of walking); and I am stressed and not getting much sleep. It does not seem to have affected my HbA1c (yet!) but in the long run I do need to get back into a healthier routine.
Thank you so much for the help and support you have given me, and others, on this forum.
