Hello from a rainy Merseyside

[DuncTheGeek]

Hi All

I'm Dunc and I live in a small burrow on the banks of the Mersey Estuary to the North of Liverpool. 57 year old bloke.

Never expected to find myself here but guess my head in the sand approach to my weight made it kinda inevitable.🙄 At my heaviest (a good decade ago) I was well over 19st although had lost a few Stone to be fair since then.

Moved house back in May and all the hard work from that saw me lose a half stone but I had a few niggling pains so went to the Doc and she suggested an MOT. It would be fair to say I failed!

Cholesterol up at 7.0, Triglycerides at 9.2 and HbA1c of 72. Had a second fasting test the following week and HbA1c was 68, Triglycerides 5.3 and cholesterol 6.0.

After some reluctance on my part, I'm now on Statins but wanted to try diet & exercise for the diabetes. GP/Nurse very keen for me to go on meds but really wanting to try & get it under control myself although not sure how realistic that is. I did a postal HbA1c test last week (so about a month after diagnosis) and it was only down to 65 . I know it takes time to get a new complement of unsugarered red blood cells but I had hoped to see a bit more of an improvement. ‍

I've seriously upped my exercise with a lot more walking. Typically 11,000 steps a day or more. That's brought my BP down to normal levels (117/70ish) from 140/88 in May. I've lost 1½Stone since May too. Now in the 14st bracket which is a long, long, long time since I saw that!

Still feeling a bit at a loss as to what I should/shouldn't be doing though. The GP Surgery have been good with follow up tests - oh yes, my ACR is apparently a little high too (6.0) so that's being retested in a couple of months as might indicate some kidney damage. Yikes. This has all come out of left field and is hard to get my head around it all. I thought I was fairly fit & healthy for a guy my age, obviously not. The GP signed me up for a Community Diabetes seminar to explain it all but that's not being run until the end of October so in the meantime, I'm doing my impression of a flounder...

I've reduced the carbs. Don't know what I was on prior but I suspect most of the population is well over the 250g recommendation and I would've been no different - it must've mounted up. Now aiming around 160g/day (should I go lower still?) and using myfitnesspal app to keep a record. Still trying to get my head around what to eat instead as so much low carb seems to be against the 'no fats, reduce dairy' mantra of the last 20 years.

I got a BG monitor and have been using that - usually seeing readings in the 5.5-6.5 range after exercise and around the 7-8 otherwise (outside of the meal+2 hour window).

I'm a Geek by training & inclination so just got a Libre on trial. It's interesting but seems to be showing that things aren't as ok as I thought with today (first full day) showing quite a morning rise (which I've heard about & seen somewhat on BG fingerpricks). That came down as I went for a long walk before breakfast after dropping daughter off at train station but it's been a bit of a high day since then. Not fantastic food choices I think as looking after said daughter who came back poorly before getting to school!



The Libre app defaults to an 'in range' window of 3.9 to 10 (to allow for after meal rises?), is that right? Should I really be aiming to keep in range below 7.0 ? How much should it rise after a meal?

Anyway, I've rabbited on for far too long so after all that Hello! from me over here!

 

[stephenS50]

Hello there @DuncTheGeek and may I be the first to welcome you to the forum.

 

[Leadinglights]

You sound to have made a really good start so don't be disheartened by the test after only a month as it really takes 3 oths of a new regime to assess it's impact and also those on line tests are not particularly accurate especially if they are finger prick samples which are capillary blood rather than venous blood.
The suggested starting point for reducing carbs is no more than 130g per day but gradually reducing to that is kinder on the eyes and nerves so that is something to consider at this point.
This link may also give you some ideas to work with, there are menu plans or you can just do your own thing following the principals. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/

 

[Ieva DUK]

Hi @DuncTheGeek and welcome to the forum!

First of all, good job on your weight loss and taking all of this so seriously. And yes, if the different diets over the years have proved anything - it's that different bodies need different things. I'd say keep that in mind even when you're looking at the Libre readings - different foods might give you a spike (i.e. some people are good with porridge for breakfast, while others notice a huge rise in their sugars), so observe what's kind on your body and what isn't. Changes in food and exercise are often the route that most people take, so have a look at the links that our users share, the food category on the forum or even our website to perhaps see what you could swap out in your 'go-to foods' for 'better options'. Remember that these changes need to be something that you could sick to in the long-run and become your new habit. The seminar as well will give you a good opportunity to ask questions and learn, but in the mean time you might find our Learning Zone useful too. Otherwise, any questions or worries you might have - just ask way, there's always someone here who knows the answer

 

[JITR]

Hi Dunc,
The three peaks in your chart relate to breakfast, elevenses and lunch?

 

[DuncTheGeek]

Hi Dunc,
The three peaks in your chart relate to breakfast, elevenses and lunch?

Yes, I would say so. I think I'm coming down with a cold though thanks to my daughter bringing it home from school so think that may be pushing things upwards a little.

 

[JITR]

You seem to be doing pretty well though perhaps your BG numbers are a bit on the high side. Others can comment on that - I followed Prof Taylor's VLCD diet guidelines and only tested once to see they had come down as predicted after week one on the diet. You could have a look at this video 'Roy Taylor, Achieving T2D remission (May 2023)' to understand this (at 6-9 minutes from memory). Scientifically sound medical geekery !!!

I'm not suggesting you follow a VLCD, I'd look at Dr David Unwin's diet sheet if you haven't seen it already.

 

[nonethewiser]

Hi All

I'm Dunc and I live in a small burrow on the banks of the Mersey Estuary to the North of Liverpool. 57 year old bloke.

My fav city Liverpool, we often visit it throughout year.

Nice area you live in @DuncTheGeek , 2 years back we got on Merseyrail to go to New Brighton, lovely place so expect your not far from there.