Success! (Yippee!)

I just got back from the doctor's and my blood work is 'normal'. This could be classed as diabetic remission, but I've been told I have to keep that blood level for a year before I'm allowed to call it that. But basically, in my eyes, it's remission as long as I stick to my low carb diet. So, I'm overjoyed by that!

For those who want to know how it happened, well here's the story:

I'm new to diabetes, just three months in as a Type2 diabetic. I got lucky on day one because a friend of mine (who is a dietician) pointed me towards the Bergstein diet. After three weeks (and 10lbs lighter), of being on it, my doctor threw away the prescription for pills that they had made for me and let me try out this diet for three months. So, I was on a test run to see if I could make the diet work for me.

I started out on no more than 20g of carbs a day to make my body stop using carbs for energy and start using fats instead. Because it was easy and I wanted to get rid of diabetes, I stuck to no more than 20g of carbs a day. I haven't counted calories or done much exercise (although I did mean to and recommend that other people don't follow me in that). I've regularly lost 2lbs a week since the beginning at a steady rate. I'm still on 20g of carbs a day until I hit my target weight. I've lost 30lbs so far, so there isn't much left to go.

Once off the diet, my plan is to keep the carbs low, but not as low. I don't know what level to go with, but I suspect it will keep the weight off up to 100g a day. To be honest, I'm not too bothered by having carbs ever again, I just don't want to keep losing weight when I come off the diet. So I'll experiment with that later on.

Today was the three month marker, so I went to see the doctor. I didn't really know what I'd get, so I was worrying a bit. I shouldn't have. It was great news. My blood shows a level of someone who isn't diabetic. It's perfectly normal. My cholesterol, which was at 7.5, is now down to 4.9. The doctor wants me to get down to 4, but I think that will happen anyway when the last lbs have gone. I might watch my salt and cut out a bit of cheese though to be on the safe side.

I don't really know the blood numbers or hbc..er... I've never tested my own blood, so 'normal' is the only answer I have on that.

I asked if it was remission, and the doctor said: 'Well, it's normal. You can call it diabetic remission if it stays that way for a year." So, that's my new plan. Stay that way for a year, which I really can't see being a problem.

Overall, I firmly believe that low carb dieting for Type2 diabetes is the best thing to do. I'm a vegetarian, so you may need to watch cholesterol depending on your diet, and I might cut some cheese down a bit in mine, but at the end of the day even my cholesterol dropped by massive amounts on this diet, so I'm not overly worried about it. The carbs seemed to do more harm to my cholesterol than a high-fat, low-carb diet has.

I'm in awe that it actually worked lol. So, I thought I'd post it. Hopefully, it helps other people. And yes, I kind of wanted to shout: 'Yay great news!'

On a side note. My waist is tiny now too <3

Edit: Also, I cut out caffeine on my diet. Just for anyone heading in the same direction. Go decaf. Carbs and Caffeine both make your body immune to your natural insulin.

****I just accidently posted this in the Low Calorie Forum--Epic. What frikkin numpty!

julie54 said:

Well done you!!! Success stories such as yours give so much inspiration to others!!!

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Thanks I'm so pleased. I honestly didn't know if it would work, and I'm overjoyed that it has. And I hope this does inspire other people. Being a Type2 diabetic is something you can reverse, and it's really not that hard. You just need to watch the carbs and avoid mass produced foods with carbs in them.

I think the most difficult thing for me was finding things I could eat, especially as a vegetarian. Meat eaters can go for meat dairy and veg. They can go to Burger King, buy the burger, throw away the bun and eat it. They can get a surf and turf and ignore the wedges. But vegetarians need to get a bit creative in the kitchen instead, so I'll keep posting low carb recipes as I come up with them. Once you get the food sorted out, the rest is really easy.

For most people, I think it's finding things that replace what you like to eat. That's how to avoid cravings, don't skip foods you like just alter the ingredients in them. Low carb pizza bases, low carb bread, low carb cakes etc. So, I'm working on all of those recipes. Hopefully those will help too.

I didn't find I had any of the reactions that all those anti-low-carb sites bang on about. I was only tired one day while my body shifted from using carbs for energy to use fats for energy instead (Ketosis). I didn't have any cravings because I made what I wanted using low carb recipes--even doughnuts! I was never hungry because fat fills you up a lot, I don't have bad cholesterol and I don't have bad breath (as one site claimed would happen lol). But I guess everyone responds differently to things, so that could just be me.

Anyway, I'll try and get more recipes out soon. I think that's what people need. An alternative food that's low carb. You can eat anything you like, you just have to work out how to make it -- so that's my next mission--Create some great recipes for people

Thundercat said:

Well done Clare!:smile: Yippee indeed- a true success story.

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Thanks I hope it helps other people, and also YAY!

lrw60 said:

Absolutely stunning news! And to do it in such a short time too.

I hope others can be inspired by your progress.

Will you keep posting?

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Thanks and I hope so too. I'll definitely keep posting. I like the forums and the people on it, and it's nice to be able to share some recipes. I think the recipes really help get a handle on the diet. I know other people's recipes helped me. So if I can help someone else out by doing the same, I plan to

Thanks everyone . I'll keep up trying to post recipes. I've got a load of them, but it's finding the time to make them all again and check they come out perfect a second time.

It was a pain being a veggie, but then I've been one since I was five. I'm kind of used to finding my own foods. Back then, there weren't any veggie options, so I've been searching for good recipes for a long time. I wasn't too big a lifestyle change for me. I already had the soya flour stocked up

eurorider said:

Wow that's impressive. I too was recently diagnosed as type 2 and have decided to try the low carb diet along with exercise. Reading your post has given me hope that I can achieve the same.

What were your original BG readings when you were first diagnosed ?


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I'm glad it helps, and go for it on the diet. It's the best thing I ever did. I was devastated when I got told I had diabetes, so I can't recommend a low carb diet enough. The results from it have been amazing for me.

I don't know what my BG readings were. I'm sure the doctor told me them, but in one ear and out of the other. I only had 3 blood tests in total. The first one they told me I was Type2 diabetic. The second one three weeks later said my blood sugar had dropped a fair bit, and the third one, three months later (today) said my blood was normal. I think the doctor said the number 35 today, in regards to my blood, but I've no idea what that's a measure of. She told me it was the all clear though. If I can keep it at that for a year (easy pie on this diet), then I can call it diabetic remission.

Yorksman said:

I'm really pleased for you Claire. Must be a great relief. Just carry on with what you do if you're comfortable with it.

You'll be OK with some carbs for fibre. You won't digest many parts. I was having a look at some 4000 year old human droppings in the salt mines in Austria - well I'm too old for Disney - and the husks of rye grains, millet and outer skins of broad beans were still intact in the droppings and clearly visible. Totally indigestible.

People used to eat millet but now we just seem to feed it to budgies here in the UK. Other peoples use it though and it's a good low GI food.

I'm sure with your innovations in baking, you can come up with something.

http://www.ocirc.org/default_files/Mill ... 0Annor.pdf

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Thanks for this. I'll look into Millet and rye. I'd love to make some kind of crackers that were low carb. They make a great snack. When I was looking into all the carb stuff, it was recorded that historically humans didn't consume many carbs until about 500 years ago. We were keto's back in the day, so it makes sense that we naturally become fitter on a low-carb diet. I think it was linseed that was the normal flour way back when.

P.S. No one's too old for Disneyland