OD Issues…And Stuff

@ghostdancer I didn’t really follow one specific “diet”. I took parts of a few and smushed them together. I’d tried keto in the past and it wasn’t something I could stick with long term. The first thing I did was stop drinking soft drinks and really anything with added sugar. Cakes, cookies, candy, etc were also out. I replaced them with low glycemic fruits, strawberries and blueberries specifically. During that initial 3 months I also didn’t eat things like white bread, rice, pasta (even the non-wheat stuff). I naturally started leaning towards a lower carb way of eating. At my 3 month check up my a1c was down from 10 to 5.6.

Over the next 3 months I started adding something’s back in like pizza, fries but I’d only have them once a week at most. Usually it was once every couple of weeks. I still had really nothing with added sugar so no soda, cakes, candies, cookies, ice cream, etc. I did have a coke with a mcdonald’s value meal around month 5 and noticed it was far too sweet and the actual meal was so salty it wasn’t enjoyable at all. I continued with the lower carb with some higher carb pizza occasionally. I also had been walking everyday since I was initially diagnosed and was up to about 30-45 min a day by month 4. At my 6 month check up my a1c was down from 5.6 to 5.3 and my doc said he didn’t need to see me again until I hit a year from diagnosis.

I’ve lost almost 90lbs so far and I’ve also been working with a nutritionist to help me make better decisions about what to eat daily. During the first 6 months I was tracking my blood sugar at least once a day, fasted in the morning, and I’d also check it after eating pizza or fast food to see how my body was reacting 15min after eating and then again 2 hours after. While this step probably isn’t necessary I like data and understanding how things are working.

Some things that helped me, now, these may not help everyone but like I said I like data and I’ve lost weight by trying different types of dieting in the past and I really enjoy learning about nutrition and how the body works so not all of these will work for everyone.

1. I track my weight daily. I think of it as a data point and I know the range my weight fluctuates daily so I don’t care much about those fluctuations. I mainly care about the 7 day average. My goal was to lose 1-3lbs a week. I’ve pretty much hit that but there’s been weeks where I’ve had fast food/pizza/whatever more than once so I’ve ended up maintaining over the span of the few weeks as well.

2. I track macros. This involves weighing and tracking my food. I use myfitnesspal which makes it really simple and at this point I don’t weigh everything, everyday but I tend to stick with the 80/20 rule and try to track 80% of the time. I think it’s a good idea for everyone to track macros and weigh food just to get an idea of the recommended serving size vs what you are actually using as a serving size. An example for me is peanut butter. The recommended serving size is 2 tablespoons (33 grams). When I saw what 33 grams of peanut butter was vs my 2 tablespoons it was very eye opening.

3. Exercise. I started out walking 10 minutes a day. I eventually was up to 45-60 min per day and I set a new goal to run again. If you do exercise start out slow and then slow that down even more. Too much, too soon will set you back from my experience.

4. On days when I’m not running I intermittent fast. Right now I’m doing 5 days of running and 3 days no running. So on the 3 days I don’t eat until ~1p and finish eating ~6p. It’s worked well for me. I do the same amount of calories but in a shorter time window. I also monitor my blood sugar on those days to make sure that ~2 hours after I eat my blood sugar is doing ok.

5. I made all the above a habit. I didn’t do everything all at once. I started slow and made sure I could stick with it all. I have a tendency to get really into something and super focused and then a few weeks or month later I lose interest. Everything I’m doing now is sustainable and I’ve also realized that it took me a long time to get my health to where it was and it’s going to take time to fix it and make sure it stays fixed.

Sorry for the long diatribe but I hope that helps. From the latest research it does look like Type II diabetes can be reversed and maintained without the need for medication. I love that I live in the modern era but from my own experience and things I’ve read the medication only treats the symptoms and not the underlying cause of diabetes. I would also recommend reading The Obesity Code and The Diabetes Code by Dr. Jason Fung. Both of those really helped me. Also, if you’re able I highly recommend finding a good nutritionist to help. Mine actually went to the grocery store with me and told what to buy and things I should avoid.

@anotherblogger Thanks!  I appreciate all the information.  I’m doing some things the same as you:  don’t drink soft drinks and really anything with added sugar. Cakes, cookies, candy, etc were also out. I replaced them with low glycemic fruits, strawberries and blueberries specifically. During that initial 3 months I also didn’t eat things like white bread, rice, pasta (even the non-wheat stuff). And now fast food tastes ghastly & I absolutely can’t drink anything but coffee, tea & water — all unsweetened.  Cottage cheese & blackberries are my treat/dessert.

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to exercise: I’m bone on bone in my left knee & have no intention of having the replacement until Covid is over with & it’s safe to go to hospital & care facility.  I wish I could — I’m terminally short of breath & my back is killing me — both of which would be alleviated by walking.

I don’t know how macros work — I need to do the research & just haven’t had the time.  I’m overwhelmed with housework since I can only do about 10 minutes in one go & then have to sit down & rest my back.  And the more times I’m up & doing, the longer the recovery time is.

But I’ll save your suggestions & try to implement them.  I’m happy to say my A1c has gone from 8 something down to 6.6.  I need to get it lower, but I’m happy with that progress.

@ghostdancer That sucks about your knee. Take it easy and good luck with the a1c. You’re making great progress! 🙂

@anotherblogger Thanks!