New here (I suppose it was inevitable...)

[LydiaDustbin]

Hello all

Well, I think it's finally caught up with me, so here I am. My mother was diagnosed with T2 probably about 10 or so years ago (she sadly died last July aged 83 of a heart attack), and I remember her saying she was convinced that her own mother (my grandmother) had been an undiagnosed diabetic, as had at least one of her late sisters, so the odds were never in my favour.

Several years ago my GP did a fasting blood glucose test and it showed 46 (if I remember), hence pre-diabetic, which spurred me onto losing weight. I was also on BP meds at the time (another legacy from my maternal bloodline). I took up running, did a 1200 calories a day diet using MyFitnessPal and did lose a fair amount of weight, almost 30lbs. I was even able to come off the BP meds.

Then I went through menopause and we all know (or, at least, us women know) how that can completely cock everything up. Plus Covid struck & my mental health took a severe battering. I developed quite severe anxiety & almost became a recluse, only going out of the house to visit my ailing parents who I worried about constantly. I started gaining weight, then developed menopausal heart palpitations which were horrific so my GP put me on HRT patches (which helped with everything bar the anxiety and palpitations) and then Bisoprolol (which did stop the palpitations but gave me nightmares!). The trouble with Bisoprolol is that its purpose, since it's a beta blocker, is to slow the heart rate which, in turn, slows your metabolism which, in turn, leads to weight gain.

Last year, 2022, was awful. I started the year with a cancer scare which turned out not to be and which has resolved itself, and then my mother died suddenly in the summer & I found her body. I had been her part-time carer and all my life we had been very very close, so it was a huge, huge shock which I'm still not over really. But everyone goes through bereavement so it's just a path I have to follow, same as everybody else. I'm an artist so am working my way through my grief through my paintings.

Just before Christmas 2022, as a general check up, my GP requested a blood test for various things - kidney function, liver function, cholesterol, that sort of thing - then contacted me in the New Year to say that my cholesterol and diabetes markers were raised. For diabetes it was 50.

I'm booked in for a fasting blood glucose test on 23 Jan which, he said, would look at levels for the past 3 months (so I think that means it's an HbA1c test?). In the meantime I've put myself on the Newcastle Diet (i.e., less than 800 cals) but using proper food with the odd replacement shake from which I was hoping to lose weight but it's been very slow, only 3.5lbs in 10 days or so. I'm hoping to reverse all this by losing weight but it's going to be a very hard slog for my motivation if the weight isn't coming off on only 800 cals a day (and I'm being very strict with it so I'm not cheating at all, often it's between 600 and 800 cals a day)

So I guess I'll wait to see what the result is from the blood test on 23 Jan but I suspect it's not going to be good.

Well done if you read this novel - I wish I weren't here!

Edited to add: Am currently 59 years old, 5ft 6in and 13st 7.4lbs as of 19.1.23. Have been pescatarian for last 7 yrs but am adding chicken back into diet as it's easy protein.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome.

So very sorry to hear about your current situation. Loss of your mother is really hard and very personal and leaves a big hole in your life, especially if you were also her carer and together with the other challenges you have faced in the last year, it is totally understandable that you have lost your way a bit with your own health. Hopefully, we can help support you with getting back on track.

As regards the Newcastle diet, I think you are being too harsh on yourself and need to go a little easier. The diet is 800cals a day so try to stick to that. Reducing it further is probably not beneficial and may be detrimental. Also 3.5lbs in 10 days is good weight loss, so don't be too impatient. Steady, sustainable weight loss is better than rapid.. . so many congratulations on a great start.

You say your reading for diabetes was 50..... so that will be your HbA1c result but it may be that they want a second HbA1c to confirm it. I believe the guidelines recommend 2 HbA1c readings of 48 or more to confirm a diabetes diagnosis if the patient is not obviously symptomatic and particularly if levels are borderline which 50 is.

Anyway, good luck with your weight loss and pushing your diabetes into remission. Like me, you may find that changing your eating habits and losing weight will improve a number of other long term ailments, some of which you probably weren't even aware of or assumed were just part of the aging process. I know my diagnosis was a real turning point for my health for the better rather than the worse, so I hope in a year or two's time you too can look back and see the benefits.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Hello all

Well, I think it's finally caught up with me, so here I am. My mother was diagnosed with T2 probably about 10 or so years ago (she sadly died last July aged 83 of a heart attack), and I remember her saying she was convinced that her own mother (my grandmother) had been an undiagnosed diabetic, as had at least one of her late sisters, so the odds were never in my favour.

Several years ago my GP did a fasting blood glucose test and it showed 46 (if I remember), hence pre-diabetic, which spurred me onto losing weight. I was also on BP meds at the time (another legacy from my maternal bloodline). I took up running, did a 1200 calories a day diet using MyFitnessPal and did lose a fair amount of weight, almost 30lbs. I was even able to come off the BP meds.

Then I went through menopause and we all know (or, at least, us women know) how that can completely cock everything up. Plus Covid struck & my mental health took a severe battering. I developed quite severe anxiety & almost became a recluse, only going out of the house to visit my ailing parents who I worried about constantly. I started gaining weight, then developed menopausal heart palpitations which were horrific so my GP put me on HRT patches (which helped with everything bar the anxiety and palpitations) and then Bisoprolol (which did stop the palpitations but gave me nightmares!). The trouble with Bisoprolol is that its purpose, since it's a beta blocker, is to slow the heart rate which, in turn, slows your metabolism which, in turn, leads to weight gain.

Last year, 2022, was awful. I started the year with a cancer scare which turned out not to be and which has resolved itself, and then my mother died suddenly in the summer & I found her body. I had been her part-time carer and all my life we had been very very close, so it was a huge, huge shock which I'm still not over really. But everyone goes through bereavement so it's just a path I have to follow, same as everybody else. I'm an artist so am working my way through my grief through my paintings.

Just before Christmas 2022, as a general check up, my GP requested a blood test for various things - kidney function, liver function, cholesterol, that sort of thing - then contacted me in the New Year to say that my cholesterol and diabetes markers were raised. For diabetes it was 50.

I'm booked in for a fasting blood glucose test on 23 Jan which, he said, would look at levels for the past 3 months (so I think that means it's an HbA1c test?). In the meantime I've put myself on the Newcastle Diet (i.e., less than 800 cals) but using proper food with the odd replacement shake from which I was hoping to lose weight but it's been very slow, only 3.5lbs in 10 days or so. I'm hoping to reverse all this by losing weight but it's going to be a very hard slog for my motivation if the weight isn't coming off on only 800 cals a day (and I'm being very strict with it so I'm not cheating at all, often it's between 600 and 800 cals a day)

So I guess I'll wait to see what the result is from the blood test on 23 Jan but I suspect it's not going to be good.

Well done if you read this novel - I wish I weren't here!

Anecdotally, faster weight loss may remove visceral fat in preference to slow weight loss.

I reversed my diabetes after a long slow weight loss which, while beneficial overall, didn't reverse my type 2 entirely.
However I followed it with the Newcastle diet which did.
It could have been the rate of reduction, it could have been the final weight loss which tipped me back to having a normal metabolism.
I lost five and a half stone overall.
I would say keep at it, stay strict, if it's working for you, listen to your body, don't be led astray, as there as some on here that prefer to advise a slow weight low, but that involve just cutting carbs, and that can become a diet for life.

 

[LydiaDustbin]

Anecdotally, faster weight loss may remove visceral fat in preference to slow weight loss.

I reversed my diabetes after a long slow weight loss which, while beneficial overall, didn't reverse my type 2 entirely.
However I followed it with the Newcastle diet which did.
It could have been the rate of reduction, it could have been the final weight loss which tipped me back to having a normal metabolism.
I lost five and a half stone overall.
I would say keep at it, stay strict, if it's working for you, listen to your body, don't be led astray, as there as some on here that prefer to advise a slow weight low, but that involve just cutting carbs, and that can become a diet for life.

I think I must have subconsciously known that diabetes was just over the horizon because back in September last year (so 3 months before the GP requested the blood test) I bought a copy of Roy Taylor's book 'Your Simple Guide to Reversing Type 2 Diabetes', probably because it was on special offer and I suspected it would become useful! In that he recommends rapid weight loss because of the visceral fat thing. I got a 4-week supply of meal replacement shakes from Exante Diet (one of the two companies he mentions) but after only doing 2 of the shakes for breakfast on consecutive mornings, I'm not sure my body likes them very much as I've had THE worst farts (if only I had a dog to blame them on...) and bloating until I've had 'proper' food at lunchtime, plus loose bowels which is a bit grim. I quite liked the taste of the shakes (one was Caramel Latte, the other was Lemon Cheesecake) but the aftertaste was that horrible sweetener taste so I wonder if it's that that's caused the upset.

I've gone back to 'proper' food today, with a small banana and 100g of full fat Greek yoghurt for breakfast, then a small bowl of fat-free veggie chilli on a bed of rocket for lunch (dinner will be veg soup with a bit of potato in), all logged and calories calculated on MyFitnessPal and should total no more than 611 calories (although it may be a fraction more). I have a hard boiled egg in the fridge which I might have as a snack, but it'll still end up being less than 700. I've had reasonable success in the past going low carb so I may well have to revert to that once I've lost the weight.

 

[bulkbiker]

I've had reasonable success in the past going low carb so I may well have to revert to that once I've lost the weight.

Did you not find that low carb helped with sustainable weight loss too though?

It's fairly common knowledge that crash diets rarely lead to sustained weight loss.

 

[childofthesea43]

I think I must have subconsciously known that diabetes was just over the horizon because back in September last year (so 3 months before the GP requested the blood test) I bought a copy of Roy Taylor's book 'Your Simple Guide to Reversing Type 2 Diabetes', probably because it was on special offer and I suspected it would become useful! In that he recommends rapid weight loss because of the visceral fat thing. I got a 4-week supply of meal replacement shakes from Exante Diet (one of the two companies he mentions) but after only doing 2 of the shakes for breakfast on consecutive mornings, I'm not sure my body likes them very much as I've had THE worst farts (if only I had a dog to blame them on...) and bloating until I've had 'proper' food at lunchtime, plus loose bowels which is a bit grim. I quite liked the taste of the shakes (one was Caramel Latte, the other was Lemon Cheesecake) but the aftertaste was that horrible sweetener taste so I wonder if it's that that's caused the upset.

I've gone back to 'proper' food today, with a small banana and 100g of full fat Greek yoghurt for breakfast, then a small bowl of fat-free veggie chilli on a bed of rocket for lunch (dinner will be veg soup with a bit of potato in), all logged and calories calculated on MyFitnessPal and should total no more than 611 calories (although it may be a fraction more). I have a hard boiled egg in the fridge which I might have as a snack, but it'll still end up being less than 700. I've had reasonable success in the past going low carb so I may well have to revert to that once I've lost the weight.

Although Taylor favours rapid weight loss he has said also that he doesn’t think it matters much if done more gradually, provided you get below your personal threshold. I felt the Newcastle diet would be too hard for me and so instead I did about 1500 daily cals and after 13 weeks got my HbA1c down from 74 to 42. So you may not need to be too strict on the cals to get there. And your weight loss so far is fine, just stick at it.

 

[nonethewiser]

Although Taylor favours rapid weight loss he has said also that he doesn’t think it matters much if done more gradually, provided you get below your personal threshold. I felt the Newcastle diet would be too hard for me and so instead I did about 1500 daily cals and after 13 weeks got my HbA1c down from 74 to 42. So you may not need to be too strict on the cals to get there. And your weight loss so far is fine, just stick at it.

Sort of mirrors what my wife did when told she was prediabetic, took about 16 months to lose 5 stone but was worth it as all bloods since have been normal, she now doesn't follow a restrictive diet but does watch her calorie intake for obvious reasons.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

I think I must have subconsciously known that diabetes was just over the horizon because back in September last year (so 3 months before the GP requested the blood test) I bought a copy of Roy Taylor's book 'Your Simple Guide to Reversing Type 2 Diabetes', probably because it was on special offer and I suspected it would become useful! In that he recommends rapid weight loss because of the visceral fat thing. I got a 4-week supply of meal replacement shakes from Exante Diet (one of the two companies he mentions) but after only doing 2 of the shakes for breakfast on consecutive mornings, I'm not sure my body likes them very much as I've had THE worst farts (if only I had a dog to blame them on...) and bloating until I've had 'proper' food at lunchtime, plus loose bowels which is a bit grim. I quite liked the taste of the shakes (one was Caramel Latte, the other was Lemon Cheesecake) but the aftertaste was that horrible sweetener taste so I wonder if it's that that's caused the upset.

I've gone back to 'proper' food today, with a small banana and 100g of full fat Greek yoghurt for breakfast, then a small bowl of fat-free veggie chilli on a bed of rocket for lunch (dinner will be veg soup with a bit of potato in), all logged and calories calculated on MyFitnessPal and should total no more than 611 calories (although it may be a fraction more). I have a hard boiled egg in the fridge which I might have as a snack, but it'll still end up being less than 700. I've had reasonable success in the past going low carb so I may well have to revert to that once I've lost the weight.

I've just found the "A Pinch of Nom, Everyday Light" for a fiver, it have some excellent recipes, easy to prepare, and all under 400 calories.

 

[MrPixels]

Hello all

Well, I think it's finally caught up with me, so here I am. My mother was diagnosed with T2 probably about 10 or so years ago (she sadly died last July aged 83 of a heart attack), and I remember her saying she was convinced that her own mother (my grandmother) had been an undiagnosed diabetic, as had at least one of her late sisters, so the odds were never in my favour.

Several years ago my GP did a fasting blood glucose test and it showed 46 (if I remember), hence pre-diabetic, which spurred me onto losing weight. I was also on BP meds at the time (another legacy from my maternal bloodline). I took up running, did a 1200 calories a day diet using MyFitnessPal and did lose a fair amount of weight, almost 30lbs. I was even able to come off the BP meds.

Then I went through menopause and we all know (or, at least, us women know) how that can completely cock everything up. Plus Covid struck & my mental health took a severe battering. I developed quite severe anxiety & almost became a recluse, only going out of the house to visit my ailing parents who I worried about constantly. I started gaining weight, then developed menopausal heart palpitations which were horrific so my GP put me on HRT patches (which helped with everything bar the anxiety and palpitations) and then Bisoprolol (which did stop the palpitations but gave me nightmares!). The trouble with Bisoprolol is that its purpose, since it's a beta blocker, is to slow the heart rate which, in turn, slows your metabolism which, in turn, leads to weight gain.

Last year, 2022, was awful. I started the year with a cancer scare which turned out not to be and which has resolved itself, and then my mother died suddenly in the summer & I found her body. I had been her part-time carer and all my life we had been very very close, so it was a huge, huge shock which I'm still not over really. But everyone goes through bereavement so it's just a path I have to follow, same as everybody else. I'm an artist so am working my way through my grief through my paintings.

Just before Christmas 2022, as a general check up, my GP requested a blood test for various things - kidney function, liver function, cholesterol, that sort of thing - then contacted me in the New Year to say that my cholesterol and diabetes markers were raised. For diabetes it was 50.

I'm booked in for a fasting blood glucose test on 23 Jan which, he said, would look at levels for the past 3 months (so I think that means it's an HbA1c test?). In the meantime I've put myself on the Newcastle Diet (i.e., less than 800 cals) but using proper food with the odd replacement shake from which I was hoping to lose weight but it's been very slow, only 3.5lbs in 10 days or so. I'm hoping to reverse all this by losing weight but it's going to be a very hard slog for my motivation if the weight isn't coming off on only 800 cals a day (and I'm being very strict with it so I'm not cheating at all, often it's between 600 and 800 cals a day)

So I guess I'll wait to see what the result is from the blood test on 23 Jan but I suspect it's not going to be good.

Well done if you read this novel - I wish I weren't here!

Edited to add: Am currently 59 years old, 5ft 6in and 13st 7.4lbs as of 19.1.23. Have been pescatarian for last 7 yrs but am adding chicken back into diet as it's easy protein.

Sorry to hear of your recent loss, my sincere condolences. I too have another blood test HBa1C tomorrow, and hoping my 50 three months ago will be lower still. Good luck on Monday.

 

[Drummer]

I also find Travellor's view of low carb differs from my own experience.
Changing back to low carb from the instant I was diagnosed fixed that problem from that moment on.
It has meant that I've had almost a month of Christmas eating having finished the pudding in mid January eaten the salmon after that and there are still parsnips, carrots and other bits and pieces around even now.
I can eat far more on a low carb diet than when calorie counting, I can also do more, having far more energy and enthusiasm and a low calorie diet always changed me into a grey faced zombie version of myself feeling cold and very limited in what I could do.
Having been told that I am now 70lb down from the highest weight the clinic recorded I really can't find anything to complain about when eating under 40 gm of carbs a day but able to chose freely from the list of allowable foods.
Today's dinner is steak and stirfry.

 

[childofthesea43]

I also find Travellor's view of low carb differs from my own experience.
Changing back to low carb from the instant I was diagnosed fixed that problem from that moment on.
It has meant that I've had almost a month of Christmas eating having finished the pudding in mid January eaten the salmon after that and there are still parsnips, carrots and other bits and pieces around even now.
I can eat far more on a low carb diet than when calorie counting, I can also do more, having far more energy and enthusiasm and a low calorie diet always changed me into a grey faced zombie version of myself feeling cold and very limited in what I could do.
Having been told that I am now 70lb down from the highest weight the clinic recorded I really can't find anything to complain about when eating under 40 gm of carbs a day but able to chose freely from the list of allowable foods.
Today's dinner is steak and stirfry.

Peoples’ preferences will vary and so will their metabolic limitations. I seem to have been one of those of whom Taylor’s team predicted that if one got rid of the visceral fat then that would very likely render one truly normalised, so that recovered pancreas and insulin sensitivity would deal entirely adequately with a ton of carbs if necessary. I normalised very contentedly on daily 60g of carbs for months, and there was no change when I doubled it for many more months then tripled it. HbA1c, fasting bg, postprandial elevations - all remained constant. So I think there is no call for automatically advocating low-carb to newly diagnosed T2s as something that’s bound to be necessary to get them into remission. It may or may not be.

 

[Ditto]

I am so sorry for your loss. My Mum passed Halloween 2021 and I'm still not over it. I have a feeling it might take years, which I haven't got really. I'm still keening round the bungalow on a nightly basis but I blame myself for her going so that's why I'm so bothered. If she'd gone natural I would think it just her time, but the NHS killed her along with my neglect at letting her go in the hospital. I hope it will be easier for you.

I find low carb works for me. If I don't pig I lose nightly, was in the 17s for years, now I'm in the 13s and 12s are approaching fast. It freaks me out a bit really. I thought it might be coz I'm on my way out in a slow fashion so I pigged a few times and the weight piles on with the carbs so it's not that. Low carb just works for me. A protein and a pile of veg for dinner with eggs for breakfast, just works. I didn't know that about Bisoprolol. I can't live without it, just increased not long ago to 10mg a day. Good grief. Hope I can get off all the meds when I get to 8stones. 🙂 Good luck, just keep going, it's all we can do. 🙂

 

[Leadinglights]

I also find low carb works for me, it really has become my new way of eating. I follow the principals in the link which may have some meal options you will like.

Freshwell Low Carb Project - Home

lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk

 

[Eddy Edson]

Hello all

Well, I think it's finally caught up with me, so here I am. My mother was diagnosed with T2 probably about 10 or so years ago (she sadly died last July aged 83 of a heart attack), and I remember her saying she was convinced that her own mother (my grandmother) had been an undiagnosed diabetic, as had at least one of her late sisters, so the odds were never in my favour.

Several years ago my GP did a fasting blood glucose test and it showed 46 (if I remember), hence pre-diabetic, which spurred me onto losing weight. I was also on BP meds at the time (another legacy from my maternal bloodline). I took up running, did a 1200 calories a day diet using MyFitnessPal and did lose a fair amount of weight, almost 30lbs. I was even able to come off the BP meds.

Then I went through menopause and we all know (or, at least, us women know) how that can completely cock everything up. Plus Covid struck & my mental health took a severe battering. I developed quite severe anxiety & almost became a recluse, only going out of the house to visit my ailing parents who I worried about constantly. I started gaining weight, then developed menopausal heart palpitations which were horrific so my GP put me on HRT patches (which helped with everything bar the anxiety and palpitations) and then Bisoprolol (which did stop the palpitations but gave me nightmares!). The trouble with Bisoprolol is that its purpose, since it's a beta blocker, is to slow the heart rate which, in turn, slows your metabolism which, in turn, leads to weight gain.

Last year, 2022, was awful. I started the year with a cancer scare which turned out not to be and which has resolved itself, and then my mother died suddenly in the summer & I found her body. I had been her part-time carer and all my life we had been very very close, so it was a huge, huge shock which I'm still not over really. But everyone goes through bereavement so it's just a path I have to follow, same as everybody else. I'm an artist so am working my way through my grief through my paintings.

Just before Christmas 2022, as a general check up, my GP requested a blood test for various things - kidney function, liver function, cholesterol, that sort of thing - then contacted me in the New Year to say that my cholesterol and diabetes markers were raised. For diabetes it was 50.

I'm booked in for a fasting blood glucose test on 23 Jan which, he said, would look at levels for the past 3 months (so I think that means it's an HbA1c test?). In the meantime I've put myself on the Newcastle Diet (i.e., less than 800 cals) but using proper food with the odd replacement shake from which I was hoping to lose weight but it's been very slow, only 3.5lbs in 10 days or so. I'm hoping to reverse all this by losing weight but it's going to be a very hard slog for my motivation if the weight isn't coming off on only 800 cals a day (and I'm being very strict with it so I'm not cheating at all, often it's between 600 and 800 cals a day)

So I guess I'll wait to see what the result is from the blood test on 23 Jan but I suspect it's not going to be good.

Well done if you read this novel - I wish I weren't here!

Edited to add: Am currently 59 years old, 5ft 6in and 13st 7.4lbs as of 19.1.23. Have been pescatarian for last 7 yrs but am adding chicken back into diet as it's easy protein.

I suggest playing around with IMO the best-credentialed body weight planning tool, https://www.niddk.nih.gov/bwp Developed by Kevin Hall, lead obesity reseracher with the US govt National Isntitutes of Health & a world-leader in the field/

With the numbers you give, to get to a BMI of say 25, you need to lose 34 pounds. The tool estimates that you could do that in 120 days eating 815 kcal/day if you're pretty sedentary ("activity level" = 1.4). That averages at about 2 pounds weight-loss per week (but it would change over time as your body weight changes). So really the weight change you're seeing is pretty consistent with this and you should probably get the results you want if you stick with your program.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

So I think there is no call for automatically advocating low-carb to newly diagnosed T2s as something that’s bound to be necessary to get them into remission. It may or may not be.

Quite right @childofthesea43

I’ve moved the side conversation of the relative merits of carbs vs calories to its own thread, so that it doesn’t swamp this one.

Whichever approach @LydiaDustbin has decided to take I think we should be simply offering congratulations on the weight lost so far, and offer encouragement!

There’s no one way that suits everyone, and there’s no need to try to recruit others to ’convert’ to your way of doing things, just because it works for you 🙂 Those suggestions are better directed at people who are struggling with their current approach, or looking for different ideas and options 🙂

Welcome to the forum Lydia. You’ll see we have passionate advocates of various styles of diabetes management - each having success with their chosen approach.

Good luck with your continued weight loss, and with finding the method that works best for you and fits best into your way of living 🙂

 

[LydiaDustbin]

Thank you all for the most generous welcome! When I posted yesterday I was feeling very downhearted because my weight had gone up from 188.8lbs to 189.4lbs overnight which, okay, isn't a lot but is the wrong direction but I'm thrilled to see this morning that it's down again to 187.8lbs (13st 5.8lbs) which is a total loss of 4.4lbs in 11 days. Still not as much as I would like considering how little I'm eating but I guess I'll just have to be patient! I'm definitely in ketosis though as I got some ketostix a couple of days ago and remembered to test this morning, so that's a positive. Let's hope the fasting blood glucose test next Monday isn't horrific - I'll report back.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Thank you all for the most generous welcome! When I posted yesterday I was feeling very downhearted because my weight had gone up from 188.8lbs to 189.4lbs overnight which, okay, isn't a lot but is the wrong direction but I'm thrilled to see this morning that it's down again to 187.8lbs (13st 5.8lbs) which is a total loss of 4.4lbs in 11 days. Still not as much as I would like considering how little I'm eating but I guess I'll just have to be patient! I'm definitely in ketosis though as I got some ketostix a couple of days ago and remembered to test this morning, so that's a positive. Let's hope the fasting blood glucose test next Monday isn't horrific - I'll report back.

Daily weight loss can change, at the sort of level I find if I need to go to the loo can take that off!
With the diet you are on, I'll bet it's going to be a good result. 🙂

 

[Blue25]

Some very interesting views. There are lots of different approaches to losing weight but at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what approach you take, but to be successful a diet must have two important qualities: it needs to involve eating fewer calories than you use up and it has to lead to a permanent change in your eating habits.

The aim should not only be to lose weight but to reduce your glucose level. So its important that the types of food you eat help you to do that. The food that most affect glucose levels are carbohydrate that is sugar or starchy foods. Therefore its seems very logical to restrict your daily carb intake, make sensible choices and stick to sensible portions. I would say judging by the comments that is what most are doing anyway regardless of the type of diet in place.

 

[Blue25]

A very warm welcome @LydiaDustbin You are heading in the right direction and I have no doubt you will achieve your goal. Glad to hear you are feeling much brighter today.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Still not as much as I would like considering how little I'm eating but I guess I'll just have to be patient! I'm definitely in ketosis though as I got some ketostix a couple of days ago and remembered to test this morning, so that's a positive. Let's hope the fasting blood glucose test next Monday isn't horrific - I'll report back.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and it sounds like you are losing a good steady amount.

Good to hear you can see that you are burning fats through ketosis - that should be encouraging.

Personally, like @travellor I only ever weigh post-poop (TMI? 😱 )

All the best for Monday, and the follow-up appointment. If they are checking lipids (cholesterol) or capillary glucose, then fasting can help, but it wouldn’t affect HbA1c as that measures glucose interactions with red blood cells over 120-ish days so is more of an average than a spot-check 🙂