Morning All –
I’m hoping that by putting pen to paper, so to speak, that this will help me get started and keep on track. My plan is to start the 8 week blood sugar diet tomorrow Sunday 11 Feb, after all 8 weeks to potentially no longer be a type 2 diabetic is something worth investing in.
Easy words, especially when I’ve been a diabetic with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, overweight, thyroid issues, drink too much, don’t sleep well – for longer than I care to admit.
I’m using this forum as a pledge and hope that by reading peoples stories and progress that it will help me keep focused.
My doctor hardly gave me the time of day on my last visit – he did, however, mention Dr Mosley’s book especially when I made it clear that I wasn’t moving unless he could advise me on the VLCD – the benefits of which I had read about in conjunction with results published by Newcastle University.
17 stone 4lbs and 59 year of age – oh and another aim of mine is to start running – maybe do a Park run!
Good luck to everyone else who is on this journey!
Cheshire 59

Welcome and good luck. You dont say exactly how long you have been diabetic and also if you are on medication for the diabetes and other conditions. Just yell out if you need any help. One thing that I have found to be invaluable here is to be organised. Know what you are going to be eating for at least a couple of days and make sure you have everything in that you need, then there is no temptation to go off plan. Look forward to reading more of your journey.

Hi sunshine-girl, I’m a type 2 diabetic (find that hard to day) and I take the following 4 * 500mg of metformin per day, Lisinopril 10 mg, Amlodipine 5mg, Atorvastatin 40mg, Levothyroxine 100mg. Not sure how long I’ve been a diabetic. Certainly the doctors started warning me some 8 years ago. I’ll have to check how long I’ve been on medication…. guessing 5 + years. Last visit to the doctors he said that I may have to be put on the next step of medication for diabetes….. and that he’d seen it all before…. which I am sure is true.
Thank you for the advise regarding planning and your good wishes….

Oh dear, your doctor is so wrong but goes in line with the old-fashioned thinking on diabetes – I presume he is talking about the next step being insulin injections which is where I ended up without this diet 12 years ago. Oh for a time machine. It is no longer considered a chronic, life-long, progressive illness and it can be reversed. That doesn’t mean it can be cured as most people who have had it for years can stop it in its tracks for now but it would re-occur if old habits were to resume. Those who do have a ‘cure’ have usually been pre-diabetic or only diagnosed for a couple of years, although there are exceptions – see posts by Verano, SunnyB and lots of others on here. I recognise most of the drugs, metformin for diabetes – do not stop taking it as your BG falls (are you testing), give it time and then cut down very slowly, even by half a tablet per significant drop in BG. I wouldn’t consider messing with any of the other meds without your (pain in the butt) doctors recommendation. It is up to you to prove he is wrong and you can seriously improve your numbers but it is up to you. My BP and cholesterol are certainly now in normal levels but doctor insists it take the Lisinopril and Simvastatin (cholesterol tab) as they seem to have more benefits than risks.

Anything you want to know just ask.

Welcome Cheshire59 (and fellow 59 year old!) and best wishes for this next stage in your life. I’ve only been here since October, and have lost two stone to get into my healthy BMI range – thanks to some excellent advice and support from many on this website who have turned their lives around. You can and will do it too. The main surprise for me continues to be that I AM NOT HUNGRY on this way of eating. After the first few 2-3 days of adjustment, I feel in control and do not feel deprived. It is liberating.

Hi Cheshire59. Below is my post from 12 months ago today! Since that post I had my metformin, 2000mg a day, reduced by half last May and then completely last August. My HbA1c In November, without medication, had fallen yet further to 29! So it can be done. Enjoy your journey.

“This morning I when I weighed I had reached my original goal of losing 15% of my body weight!!!!!
I started my journey on July 5th 2016. I was diagnosed with symptomless diabetes in 2012 and, along with many people, my first reaction was disbelief followed by anger and lots of other emotions. I was given the usual 3 months to try and improve my blood glucose, by losing weight, before being offered metformin. Needless to say with the dietary advice on offer I struggled to lose any weight. So three months on and I started taking metformin.
My diabetes has never been out of control really. I started with a HbA1c of just over 7 and whilst I’ve been on metformin it’s stayed in the mid to low 6’s.
So what prompted me to change my life? I was really overweight. I had been for many years but it wasn’t a problem until my mobility became challenged in 2007 and over the next few years I put on even more weigh. Still I carried on, head in the sand for most of the time, until last year.
My friend has uncontrolled diabetes and in 2015 had a toe amputated. That made me think a little. Then last year another of his toes was compromised but fortunately was ok. That made me really sit up and take notice and around the same time I found ‘The Book’.
I read the book from cover to cover and it just made so much sense. I realised that I ‘just’ needed to lose 15% of my body weight to improve my BG and possibly avert problems from diabetes in the future. That was to be done by cutting out simple carbs. No problem! So I started the journey!
After quite a short time I realised that 15% was a really tall order so I reduced that to 10%, which seemed more manageable. So to my journey….
Unlike some people I was not totally focused so my journey hasn’t been the smoothest. The first month or so was great I never had ‘carb flu’ or any nasty side effects and really wasn’t that hungry. I found fatsecret and filled it in religiously. All was going well and then life got in the way … a holiday! Still I managed to lose a very, very small amount of weight that month and carried on.
Three months had passed by now and my first diabetes review since starting BSD was due 4 weeks later. So that gave me the impetus to carry on and sure enough my next HbA1c had reduced from 6.4 to 5.5. I was delighted. It was now November and I started to rest on my laurels because my next review was 6 months away. The next 2 months were hit and miss with ‘life’ getting in the way again …. holiday, birthday, Christmas etc. All good excuses and no damage done really just a very small weight loss.
This year has been better for me despite, or maybe because of, an illness and I’m now back on track but in a far more relaxed way. I don’t really count at the moment but I do check new foods for their carb content.
I think one of the reasons for this post is to encourage all those who aren’t losing vast amounts very quickly. It can still be done in time. This way of eating has become part of my life now and I very rarely eat simple carbs I just have a few too many ‘indulgences’ now and again!
Also, I would really like to thank the many travellers who have kept me company on the ‘challenges’ over the months. Without you all, and the challenges, and these forums, I know I would have given up ages ago.
If I have learnt one lesson over the last seven months it’s that this is not a diet to be started and finished, it’s a change in lifestyle and to be sustainable it has to fit into ‘life’. We each have individual and different demands on our time and so we each have to tailor this way of eating to fit our individual circumstances. If that means losing weight less quickly then so be it. It’s the arriving that’s important, the journey is just a means to an end. At the end is a new way of living!”