SO you were only on Metformin but never insulin? And after 9 months of Keto leading to OMAD, you've managed to get off Metformin all together? That's promising! Of course there was exercise too... something I would have to work on...
Out of those meals you photographed, I'm enviously looking at the desserts wondering how you get away with that. Do they have minimal sugar added and are sweetened more with the fruits? How many desserts per week would you be able to eat and still remain in ketosis? Or are you in mild ketosis and bump in and out when you eat a dessert (and does it even matter?)?
And do you ever test your levels at the 1hr peak after the desserts to know what kind of spikes they give you? What level of spike do you think is okay after eating a dessert or some amount of carbs? Is the aim always to keep your levels between high 3s or 4s and 7s, at the top end, or should you stay under 7.0 even during the peak spike of a meal? I know for me they want 6.7 two hours after eating. I can spike up to 7.8 at the 1hr and still make it back down to 6.7 by 2 hours, but I'm not sure if I should be aiming lower as a rule.
How has your cholesterol changed since you embarked on a keto diet? Mine at last reading in Dec 2016 already looked like I was eating the amount of fat they suggest on keto.. ha ha, but bad and good fats:
Total cholesterol: 7.5 mmol / L . (They want less than 5.0mmol)
Trigs: 0.9 mmol (They want less than 2.0 mmol fasting)
HDL-C: 3.1 mmol / L (They say over 1.2 mmol is favourable.)
LDL-C: 4.0 . (Should be less than 3.0 mmol)
Ratio: 2.4 . (Less than 6 is okay.)
If I went keto, I suspect I wouldn't be eating more of anything, (except maybe vegetables), just less of carbs. Although this week I have cut my portions down a lot because I suspect I eat more than I need to, even more than baby needs
Do you know of anyone, with or without diabetes, who has eaten LCHF long term? Maybe it was the Atkin's diet before Keto came along. I'm curious how things turn out long term.. But I guess in the short term, being able to get off the medication must feel like a victory!
PLEASE NOTE THAT MY RESPONSE IS NOT IN CONTEXT FOR PREGNANT PERSONS - THIS IS MY ANECDOTES WHICH I FEEL CAN ASSIST A NON PREGNANT PERSON:
Yes I was only on Metformin, with a HbA1c of 134, I am grateful to my surgery for not putting me directly on Insulin or a sulphonylurea, many surgeries would have gone straight to these more powerful interventions right away, with my excessive numbers.
Despite my high blood glucose, I dropped FBG by 25% in 1 week, whilst making what I now know to be basic errors (home made soda and banana bread consumption) - this is why in my example Metformin was not required. I started to reduce Metformin after a year and a half and totally around a year and three quarters after going most of the day with good numbers.
I tend to have what could be classified as a desert on 5 days a week (dark chocolate everyday), so at least 3 to 4 different types of berries, pancakes or waffles. The coconut based pancakes / waffles have 16 grams of carbs per 100, I have 20 grams in my recipe so a fifth of 16 grams, around 3.2 grams of carbs for around 6 waffles or 3 thick pancakes. I do not add any sweetener to my deserts as my taste buds have changed, I find 85% dark chocolate too sweet, which is brilliant as when I have had a 5 millimetre sliver of regular birthday cake, I hate it, and can smell the sugar (for me now this is not just mentally yuk, I do not associate this stuff as food).
I don't worry about Ketosis, as weight loss / maintenance is not dependent on this. I have experienced the "high" after 4 days of fasting; also I believe I am using more of the Ketones I produce so my numbers are not high in measurements (apart from previous multi-day fasts).
I have tested my protocol in the extreme at 30, 60, 90, 120 minutes, sometimes with 3 monitors and the Free Style Libre.
I accept that 7.8 mmol is the maximum level to go to after a meal, as this is said to be where microvascular damage begins, personally I am around 5.6 mmol 2 hours after a meal (low carb meal, followed by a walk). Spikes shouldn't go above 2 mmol from the starting point. I have been optimising i.e. what can I eat which is outside of general LCHF / Keto mainstream (butternut squash, carrots, sometimes parsnips) which keeps my HbA1c around 35 and my fbg around 4. I have pushed my boundaries and know I can get 3.4 fbgs if I go super heavy on the training or late 2's with multi-day fasting (Ketones take care of hypo potential, but this should not be attempted by anyone reading unless medically supervised - I understood my limits and the mechanisms). My objectives are to know where I can go to if I started to get raised numbers.
My total cholesterol has been between 4.9 and 6.1, the higher, was on 5 months of carnivore, so my LDL as expected (3.48) increased, with increases in HDL (2.37) and lowering of Triglycerides (0.28) - these are in my context what really count. Serum cholesterol/HDL ratio 2.52:1 (reference 4:1 or below). I would recommend the audio book "The Big Fat Surprise" if you have any anxiety (your Trigs and HDL are a big thumbs up). Also worth looking at QRISK, mine is 2.1 (QRISK2); it seems to me that the establishment accepts that HDL and Trigs are more indicative of risk than LDL as my stroke and heart attack risk has gone down despite the LDL number (insulin levels are are better CVD / CHD risk factor than LDL, and HS-CRP is a good number to know).
Traditional societies such as the Maasai, Inuit and others have eaten lower carb, higher fat for ages (before SAD influence), in Britain it was meat and 2 veg, which was lower carb than now (and less intervals). In the US total carbs in the 60's was circa 40% of calories. Prominent persons in this movement such as Professor Tim Noakes, Stephen Phinney, Peter Atia, Sarah Halberg, Ted Naimen, Eric Westman and thousands of their patients have eaten low carb higher fat for significant periods of time. It would be great if all those who have continued on low carb regimes such as Paleo etc were able to register this, I would say without references 100,000's have at any one time been low carb higher / healthier fat for at least a year over the last 20 years and many more entire societies have been lower carb for centuries; there have been high carb societies such as the Kitavans - I think these have eaten "clean" closer to natural carbs in a similar manner to original breads. It believe our modern diet tips the scales in terms of harming our ability to metabolise carbs.
but I would absolutely hate you to pick up info here on the forum that impacted your baby negatively - although I do recognise that keeping insulin resistance low is beneficial to the child, in terms of its future health and liklihood of developing T2 in later life.
