Week 10 Newcastle

[mhtyler]

Its been 10 weeks working to reduce my weight. As stated in earlier reports I had to increase my caloric intake, but I've kept my carbs and protein identical to the 700 calorie program. My weight loss is, therefore, slower, but steady. I'm nearly 23 pounds down with another 11 pounds to go towards the Newcastle goal, although I've decided to kick my total goal up to 40 pounds. That will take me to 190 pounds, which at 6'3.5" is roughly my weight at the age of 30 (I turn 70 in June). It's been a real effort to increase my calories while maintaining carbs at the same level...but I have. My glucose numbers aren't quite as low at 1600 as they were at 700. I presume that is largely because at the higher caloric intake more protein is being converted to sugar. My typical morning sugar on 700 calories per day was about 5.8 mmol/L, whereas now it is 6.2, although that is usually my high number for the day. My averages each day are somewhere under 6 mmol/L.

I've still seen no apparent recovery of pancreas function that would indicate I can sustain higher than the 56 or so carbs per day I can tolerate now. However, in the study pancreas recovery was not usually seen until complete weight loss at 8 weeks, and my weight loss is much slower. I anticipate that I won't be at 33 pounds loss until roughly 5 more weeks. That should be somewhere around the end of April. Prof. Taylor has pointed out that full recovery of pancreas function (if it happens) can take a full year.

I'm guessing that a good post-diet for me would be about 2300-2500 calories, which is roughly 50% more than I'm taking in now, so keeping myself at 56 carbs would feel very restrictive. I could manage about 80 carbs a day without too much stress, but I have to wonder if my numbers will remain non-diabetic at that point. Turn the page...

 

[AndBreathe]

Its been 10 weeks working to reduce my weight. As stated in earlier reports I had to increase my caloric intake, but I've kept my carbs and protein identical to the 700 calorie program. My weight loss is, therefore, slower, but steady. I'm nearly 23 pounds down with another 11 pounds to go towards the Newcastle goal, although I've decided to kick my total goal up to 40 pounds. That will take me to 190 pounds, which at 6'3.5" is roughly my weight at the age of 30 (I turn 70 in June). It's been a real effort to increase my calories while maintaining carbs at the same level...but I have. My glucose numbers aren't quite as low at 1600 as they were at 700. I presume that is largely because at the higher caloric intake more protein is being converted to sugar. My typical morning sugar on 700 calories per day was about 5.8 mmol/L, whereas now it is 6.2, although that is usually my high number for the day. My averages each day are somewhere under 6 mmol/L.

I've still seen no apparent recovery of pancreas function that would indicate I can sustain higher than the 56 or so carbs per day I can tolerate now. However, in the study pancreas recovery was not usually seen until complete weight loss at 8 weeks, and my weight loss is much slower. I anticipate that I won't be at 33 pounds loss until roughly 5 more weeks. That should be somewhere around the end of April. Prof. Taylor has pointed out that full recovery of pancreas function (if it happens) can take a full year.

I'm guessing that a good post-diet for me would be about 2300-2500 calories, which is roughly 50% more than I'm taking in now, so keeping myself at 56 carbs would feel very restrictive. I could manage about 80 carbs a day without too much stress, but I have to wonder if my numbers will remain non-diabetic at that point. Turn the page...

I think it worth remembering our bodies tend to like routine, and that includes elements like digestive enzyme production.

So, you’re ticking over on 56gr carb a day, then feed yourself more than 56, your body may not be able to keep up with that, first day, but if you repeated it next day, you might find your body was better prepared to digest and metabolise the additional carbs.

 

[mhtyler]

I think it worth remembering our bodies tend to like routine, and that includes elements like digestive enzyme production.

So, you’re ticking over on 56gr carb a day, then feed yourself more than 56, your body may not be able to keep up with that, first day, but if you repeated it next day, you might find your body was better prepared to digest and metabolise the additional carbs.

That's quite true, in fact in dieting they have a concept called zig zagging where you occasionally raise your caloric intake to reset yourself so that you can lose weight faster. Well, i went off the wagon yesterday, so I'll get a demonstration of that. It happens occasionally to me. I've been a good boy, but if I squeeze one end of the balloon a bit too hard it just pops out the other side (I'm sugar-addicted, which is not a very good thing for a diabetic to be). In this case, there is actually a name for it: adaptive glucose sparing, where you have so little glucose that your skeletal muscle turns glucose down in favor of the glucose from fat so that your brain which needs the other kind can have it. It seems unnecessary in the case of a diabetic type 2, when you consider you've already started with higher than normal skeletal insulin resistance, then likely further damaged the transport mechanism from bloodstream to muscle, and now your muscle gets choosy and further complicates things. I think the body is sometimes too smart for its own good.

 

[Drummer]

@mhtyler I keep to under 40gm of carbs a day, but I eat whatever amount I like. The way of eating seems easy now - I am 7 years into normal HbA1c numbers. I eat natural fat so there is no room for seed oils, but basically I eat anything other than high carb foods, avoiding low fat options.
Although I have lost a lot of weight I am not on a weight reducing regime, it just went away as normality returned.

 

[mhtyler]

@mhtyler I keep to under 40gm of carbs a day, but I eat whatever amount I like. The way of eating seems easy now - I am 7 years into normal HbA1c numbers. I eat natural fat so there is no room for seed oils, but basically I eat anything other than high carb foods, avoiding low fat options.
Although I have lost a lot of weight I am not on a weight reducing regime, it just went away as normality returned.

Well done, Drummer. Advice is helpful, but to some extent we must all find our own way, eh? I occasionally keep my carbs around 40, but I'd hate to have to do that every day. That said, it's starting to feel natural to keep them under 60. However, once I begin eating to satiety, carb levels will be an issue again, and even if I reverse...and I feel iffy about my chances of doing that, I know that I'll never be able to eat much more than 100 carbs a day, in part because of pancreas damage, and in part because my skeletal muscle will never dispose of glucose the way normal people would.

 

[Drummer]

Well done, Drummer. Advice is helpful, but to some extent we must all find our own way, eh? I occasionally keep my carbs around 40, but I'd hate to have to do that every day. That said, it's starting to feel natural to keep them under 60. However, once I begin eating to satiety, carb levels will be an issue again, and even if I reverse...and I feel iffy about my chances of doing that, I know that I'll never be able to eat much more than 100 carbs a day, in part because of pancreas damage, and in part because my skeletal muscle will never dispose of glucose the way normal people would.

Although I am in my 70s I have noticed that I have become stronger over the last few years, so much so that I have been able to haul knitting machines around, which wasn't possible for a while.
The longer I stick to blood glucose levels which keep my HbA1c in normal numbers, the better things seem to get.
I have had bother with my feet since the AZ jab, which frightened me quite a lot, but with persistence I have seen recovery every time something has gone wrong.
My weight and shape are altering year on year - I just pulled out lighter weight clothes for the warmer days and decided to throw out a lot of them as they are just too big now I have a waist again.