Never thought I would be so happy to be overweight!

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Jenny65

Jenny65

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Good Morning all

I am now overweight instead of being obese, something at last to feel good about (although its strange to feel so good about being overweight)

Now the negatives
  • Today I have had 2 readings over 11. The first was 11.9 2 hours after eating breakfast which was carbzone bread (very low carb) with a teaspoon of peanut butter, benecol drink, a 10 cal sugar free jelly, and a cup of coffee with a splash of semi skimmed milk, the second reading was 11.1 when I was doing a before reading for lunch just now :( not sure if that means I shouldnt eat lunch
  • Ive had a hyper recorded reading at 11am every day for the last 3 days - which another poster kindly advised this may be Dawn Phenomenon - I go to sleep at 3am most nights to 11am is close to the 8-10 hour window when my liver my dump glucose.
  • In addition to this, I have exercised an hour after every meal, a 10 minute aerobic workout whichis designed to lower sugar levels in diabetics and also have an hours walk a day! I have increased my water intake too.

I am thinking I may have to take metformin if diet and exercise alone dont get this under control. I must remind myself that I have gone from a size 22 to a size 16 in under 8 weeks, lost 2 stone and 4 inches off my waist, I have another 4 stone to go as want to get down to 8 stone and at this rate will be close by January 23 🙂 - Having said that will medication slow down this weight loss as part of me thinks I am losing so fast due to diabetes rather than exercise and diet alone, 1200 calories a day never worked this fast for me in the past and at 57 (post menopause) weight loss is normally very sluggish
 
I wouldn't not eat lunch, just maybe eat something with as few carbs as possible like omelette or salad.

Some medications can slow weight loss, some can increase it. Metformin is officially "neutral" for weight according to NICE. If you do decide to start on medication, it doesn't mean you've "failed", weight loss and cutting carbs can bring remission for some but not all.
 
I'd just keep on doing what you are doing.
Those are great results.
Diabetes isn't a sprint, it's a marathon.
Give it at least another 8 weeks, although personally if I'd done that we'll do far I be hanging on for six months before I changed anything.
 
Jenny65 said:
Good Morning all

I am now overweight instead of being obese, something at last to feel good about (although its strange to feel so good about being overweight)

Now the negatives
  • Today I have had 2 readings over 11. The first was 11.9 2 hours after eating breakfast which was carbzone bread (very low carb) with a teaspoon of peanut butter, benecol drink, a 10 cal sugar free jelly, and a cup of coffee with a splash of semi skimmed milk, the second reading was 11.1 when I was doing a before reading for lunch just now :( not sure if that means I shouldnt eat lunch
  • Ive had a hyper recorded reading at 11am every day for the last 3 days - which another poster kindly advised this may be Dawn Phenomenon - I go to sleep at 3am most nights to 11am is close to the 8-10 hour window when my liver my dump glucose.
  • In addition to this, I have exercised an hour after every meal, a 10 minute aerobic workout whichis designed to lower sugar levels in diabetics and also have an hours walk a day! I have increased my water intake too.

I am thinking I may have to take metformin if diet and exercise alone dont get this under control. I must remind myself that I have gone from a size 22 to a size 16 in under 8 weeks, lost 2 stone and 4 inches off my waist, I have another 4 stone to go as want to get down to 8 stone and at this rate will be close by January 23 🙂 - Having said that will medication slow down this weight loss as part of me thinks I am losing so fast due to diabetes rather than exercise and diet alone, 1200 calories a day never worked this fast for me in the past and at 57 (post menopause) weight loss is normally very sluggish
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  • Agree with @42istheanswer eat lunch low carb as possible
  • I would think, if those were my BG that I had had too many carbs for me at breakfast, I have poor readings every time I try a slice of bread no matter what its carb content and now make keto bread. Could you halve your breakfast and eat the second half a couple of hours later?
  • I'm not sure what the timescales for dawn phenomenon are but thought it was early morning :confused: I take my morning reading before I get out of bed (unless I've got my granddaughters staying)
Congratulations and well done on the weight loss!!! From Obese to Overweight on the BMI scale is a massive step 🙂
 
Well done on your excellent weight loss 🙂
 
thank you everyone for the kind words and support. There is one thing it could be, I discovered I had left the capsule of testing strips open this morning and it says you should close it immediately after getting one out, not sure if that messes up readings, The breakfast I had today was 15g carbs and normally OK, in the past it has kept me under 7 following eating it too. I have noticed one other thing though, I used to have IBS and it basically had cleared up on this low carb diet, until the last 3 days (coincidence or not about the higher readings) the readings are high and then literally within 20 minutes I have stomach ache and an upset stomach. Maybe I am not well hence the higher spikes or maybe the spikes are causing the upset stomach (its a caseof which came first here isnt it, chicken or the egg scenario)
 
Many congratulations on dropping down a weight category! That is a fantastic achievement.

What was your pre breakfast reading or didn't you do one. Without that your post meal reading doesn't tell you a lot.

Don't be discouraged by occasional high readings. These are still MUCH MUCH lower than when you were diagnosed so don't let minor blips derail you mentally. You are doing brilliantly, not just with your diabetes but also the other lifestyle changes, like giving up smoking..... that in itself is HUGE!
There are too many things which can impact BG levels that you can tie yourself in knots over one or two marginally high readings. It is the overall trend which is important. In a lifetime of readings these two or three 11s are a drop in the ocean..... let them float away on the tide and move on. If it is some inflammation in your digestive system then yes that can raise your levels quite a bit. Can you think of anything you have eaten over the last few days which might have aggravated it? Hopefully it will settle down soon. X
 
rebrascora said:
Many congratulations on dropping down a weight category! That is a fantastic achievement.

What was your pre breakfast reading or didn't you do one. Without that your post meal reading doesn't tell you a lot.

Don't be discouraged by occasional high readings. These are still MUCH MUCH lower than when you were diagnosed so don't let minor blips derail you mentally. You are doing brilliantly, not just with your diabetes but also the other lifestyle changes, like giving up smoking..... that in itself is HUGE!
There are too many things which can impact BG levels that you can tie yourself in knots over one or two marginally high readings. It is the overall trend which is important. In a lifetime of readings these two or three 11s are a drop in the ocean..... let them float away on the tide and move on. If it is some inflammation in your digestive system then yes that can raise your levels quite a bit. Can you think of anything you have eaten over the last few days which might have aggravated it? Hopefully it will settle down soon. X
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Thanks I agree. I actually think I’m not well. I have felt sick for the last few days I woke up in the night feeling dizzy and odd and just done a third reading. See below still in the 11s. I don’t think I will eat again today just in case xxx113D653C-041E-4817-B683-480B7CAEC772.jpeg
 
rebrascora said:
Many congratulations on dropping down a weight category! That is a fantastic achievement.

What was your pre breakfast reading or didn't you do one. Without that your post meal reading doesn't tell you a lot.

Don't be discouraged by occasional high readings. These are still MUCH MUCH lower than when you were diagnosed so don't let minor blips derail you mentally. You are doing brilliantly, not just with your diabetes but also the other lifestyle changes, like giving up smoking..... that in itself is HUGE!
There are too many things which can impact BG levels that you can tie yourself in knots over one or two marginally high readings. It is the overall trend which is important. In a lifetime of readings these two or three 11s are a drop in the ocean..... let them float away on the tide and move on. If it is some inflammation in your digestive system then yes that can raise your levels quite a bit. Can you think of anything you have eaten over the last few days which might have aggravated it? Hopefully it will settle down soon. X
Click to expand...
Sorry post breakfast was 6.5
 
Just found this on the MySugr App, I should have recorded all my exercise too as then the pattern would be apparent.

Exercise can trigger the body to release stress hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline can stimulate the liver and the adrenal glands to release glucose and cortisol which makes you more resistant to insulin.

Finally, even though it can be unsettling, we must be persistent! High blood sugar is annoying, especially after exercise. Nevertheless, exercise and activity are very good weapons against your diabetes monster and they work in your favor in the medium to long-term, even if you're struggling against those BG boosting stress hormones in the short term.

Typically, the post-exercise blood sugar spike settles down and returns to normal after an hour or two, so check again after some time if you're able to. And the exercise itself pays dividends for much longer than that, so the tradeoff is well worth it.

So it would seem my aerobic work outs several times a day are possibly causing my adrenalin and cortisol levels to rise and release glucose from the liver, I was especially active today, and was sweating and panting at the end. I have only added 1 session to the app, will add the others and it will show a pattern emerging. I used to only do one a day and sometimes only walk for exercise but increasing to several bursts of aerobics a day is likely the cause. I wont worry as it sounds like it will be short lived spike.
 
I do know how to reduce it though (discovered that a glass of red wine is an immediate drop for me) 🙂 maybe I should have red wine instead of a daily workout 🙂 (only half joking)
 
And it’s back down. Dropped 6 points to 5.3. (Didn’t have the wine. Had a hot bath). Feeling back in the driving seat again 76ACC3E9-A60C-4C06-8C38-7E35475FFAA6.jpeg
 
Jenny65 said:
And it’s back down. Dropped 6 points to 5.3. (Didn’t have the wine. Had a hot bath). Feeling back in the driving seat again View attachment 21950
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A hot bath affects your capillaries.
So it's likely your core was at a lower BG, and you flushed it around.
I experimented with simply running my finger under the hot tap after holding a bag of frozen peas, it's surprising how much change it makes.
It's also de-stressing, which again lowers BG.
 
It’s been known for a few years that having a hot bath lowers your blood glucose. I saw it first on one of those Michael Moseley TV programmes, but there has been research.
diabetestimes.co.uk

A hot bath could help control type 2 diabetes - The Diabetes Times

A hot bath could help control type 2 diabetes, a Loughborough researcher has discovered. A soak in the tub reduces peak blood sugar levels by 10 per cent and increases energy expenditure levels by 80 per cent burning 126 calories per hour, a study has found. Dr Steve Faulkner investigated...
diabetestimes.co.uk diabetestimes.co.uk
 
Well done on the weight loss! I find it very satisfying to have lost a lot of weight.

I wouldn’t worry about the weird peaks and troughs in blood sugar, I used to, but try not to now. I occasionally check in the morning to see how I‘m doing, and sometimes buy a sensor just to get an idea of what’s going on, but it‘s turned into a fairly mundane ‘same old stuff’ as nothing much happens.

I get a weird rise (Usually about 1mmol/l, into the mid/high sixes) when I start getting ready for work, or am doing something stressful (Like travelling, I hate it.) but I can’t do much about it. It drops by the afternoon (Sometimes quite suddenly) Even if I go for a walk to get a coffee, I can see it drop down and then creeps back up to the same level afterwards… it used to worry me at first, but it might be natural. Hormones and insulin sensitivity at play, perhaps.? Not that I need the energy with a desk job. 🙂

Currently on holiday and had a meal that I thought was a low carb, but something was hidden in it as my BG shot up to 9 afterwards… went down to 6 and then went back again for a second rally! Have no idea what it was, but the meal was squid stuffed with capers and olives with some salad. I think the ‘stuffing’ had something carby in it. (Apart from that Italy is very easy to eat out on a low carb diet, and even a local supermarket has low carb bread!)

I agree with what has been said, just keep doing what you’re doing, as progress is good so far!
 
Robin said:
It’s been known for a few years that having a hot bath lowers your blood glucose. I saw it first on one of those Michael Moseley TV programmes, but there has been research.
diabetestimes.co.uk

A hot bath could help control type 2 diabetes - The Diabetes Times

A hot bath could help control type 2 diabetes, a Loughborough researcher has discovered. A soak in the tub reduces peak blood sugar levels by 10 per cent and increases energy expenditure levels by 80 per cent burning 126 calories per hour, a study has found. Dr Steve Faulkner investigated...
diabetestimes.co.uk diabetestimes.co.uk
Click to expand...
So if I eat. Banana in the bath which would
Win. Lol
 
42istheanswer said:
Experiment time?
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Ok...so I have some good news

I didnt eat a banana in the bath but....

Last night I had a glass of red wine after reading that a 5oz glass of red wine a day can help lower glucose levels and the affects last up to 24 hours! I was also told by another friend whose sister is diabetic that she can eat banana with greek yoghurt, now as I have a real passion for bananas and also hung up on the potassium this fruit gives - the reason being, my dad was very unwell with a lack of potassium and other salts (he needed regular infusions and when low on them he appeared to have dementia but as soon as he had his magnesium and potassium infusions he went back to normal, so to witness first hand how important these salts are to your overall health including mental health I looked into which fruit provides lots of potassium, sorry gone off on a tangent here but wanted to explain why I am so hung up on eating a banana )

And it worked. My before breakfast level was 5.1 and my 2 hours after banana breakfast was 7 ! I also will do my exercise later today as I think that was partially responsible with adrenalin and glucose being dumped from my liver.

I am going to therefore conclude, if I have a glass of red wine with my evening meal, and eat a small banana with some greek yoghurt for breakfast, and refrain from exercising until the afternoon my sugar levels will not spike. I am really happy with this 🙂
 
Pleased you got a good result for breakfast. It will be as much about dropping the porridge as replacing it with the banana. It is the 2 high carb elements together which was likely too much for your system.
As regards the red wine, I think you may need to be a bit careful with alcohol if you have fatty liver disease (even when it isn't alcohol related) which I seem to remember was identified on your scan, but correct me if I am wrong. Maybe consider every other night rather than every night with the glass of wine. Oddly my liver seems to be the only part of me that can multitask (I'm not a real woman 🙄) so I don't get a drop in levels from alcohol. :(
 
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