[btrflikisz]

Trying to navigate new life style. Little nervous. Anyone remember early on,who might be able to share a thing or two?

[dano]

Welcome to the Forum!

Read through the first three threads in the Type 2 Section, when you get a chance, if you have not already done so. These threads will most-likely help you a lot. Self education is one of the keys to successful management of your diabetes, along with a healthy / sensible diet and exercise. Basically, diabetes requires a life-style change for the better. Good luck with your control and management.

[gohtz530]

I've been struggling to stay off insulin 3 years . I know it's my eating habits that need changing . I run in the 170so I know if I just eat healthier I can do it so have to work hard and maybe a little extra support will help . He's decided on 10 lantus of insulin so I'm going to faithly chat two weeks and show him most are under 120 when I don't cheat .

[neohdiver]

By 3 days I had normal blood glucose most of the time. The last several days (starting around 3.5 weeks in), it was completely normal all the time (below 100 when fasting, and never above 120).

I assume you were given the advice most of us were: Eat balanced good carbs & snack frequently, with about half your plate light carbs, and about a quarter of your plate complex carbs (e.g. whole grain breads). Or perhaps limit yourself to around 30-50 carbs a meal. Test 2 hours after eating and make sure your blood sugar is below 180.

If you truly want to manage your diabetes (rather than having it progressively get worse - which sustained blood glucose above 140 will cause by killing off the beta cells in your pancreas so you no longer produce sufficient insulin - and have to supplement it), you should consider dramatically cutting your carb consumption, and letting your meter dictate what you eat. I started trying to keep the peak (typically at about an hour after your first bite) below 140 (I only missed the mark 3 times).

Be warned, though, your doctor may freak out. What I am following, unfortunately, was popularized as a fad diet (Atkins is one version, Paleo is another). A ketogenic diet has been used to treat seizure disorders for years. More recently, there is a growing collection of research that supports using it to treat obesity and diabetes. But the vast majority of the medical community and dieticians still treat it as an irresponsible fad. Currently I'm eating fewer than 50 net carbs a day. around 63 grams of protein (calculated to sustain my lean body mass), and the rest of my daily caloric need in healthy fats. My blood glucose was 84 this morning, and my high yesterday was 89.

I've been sending him my blood glucose readings to prime the pump for a conversation about my current diet. I will be surprised if he has ever had any other patient who has had such good control in such a short period of time. So when I see him in a month, down at least 20 lbs from the last time he saw me - and with my blood sugar completely under control, I will also give him copies of research published in peer reviewed medical journals. He'll have the results standing in front of him, backed by research he really needs to be aware of.

Many people who eat the way I do just don't tell their doctors. I prefer to get them on my side before I ignore them, if forced to.

Emotionally - even though I knew it was coming (overwhelming family history), I was pissed. I thought about going out and having one last pizza buffet, and then I kicked into research mode. I decided early on that the recommendations I had been given (the standard ones) were insane. I'm still in the motivated to fix this thing mode - so eating what I should be eating is still easy. I'm more worried about a year down the road when I'm tired of the complex balancing act I have to do every day - and I no longer see the scale declining (because I've reached the weight I need to be) and it is just monotonous. That pizza buffet will be a lot more dangerously tempting then!