Sorry for the long post but needs to be said. This was my first post:

Hello!
I am an unemployed 63 year old who was into cooking and drinking a little too much. As I was not working I took on the role of putting the food on the table for myself, my mrs, my daughter and her boyfriend. Everyone liked my cooking, always fresh – never processed, even though it was adding on a few pounds.
After being 7.1 in a previous blood test, a month ago I was told my long term blood test, the HbA1c, scored me at 155, well into type 2 Diabetes. A bit of a shock but I said I didn’t want to go on yet more medication (I already take Statins because of high cholesterol, Lisinopril for high blood pressure and Tamsulosin for BHP), I’d sort this out myself, if possible, by making some lifestyle changes.
I was in the middle of reading Michael’s ‘Fast exercise’ book which seemed a common sense approach to a gym-hater like me, backed up by proven research, so I looked at his 8-week blood sugar diet book.
Bread was my first love followed by pasta, rice and potatoes – but not now!
The 8-week recipe book is a knock-out – I just flicked a switch and said I don’t eat those things now – and the food I’m making is so good the whole family are loving it and dropping pounds into the bargain. Drinking lots more water and just not getting hungry.
I also do the intermittent fasting from 8pm till the following lunchtime and Michael’s High-intensity workout exercises and I’ve never felt better – I’ve lost 9kg in 11 days so far and intend to lose 20kg by the end of the 8 weeks. That’s like walking around carrying 10 bags of sugar! No wonder I feel good and my blood pressure is down to 125/75!
Thank you for producing your books Michael and motivating me into a healthier life.

But then…

After 18 months looking for work I was just offered a job I really wanted when…
last week diagnosed with the ‘Big C’ but its treatable by surgery they say and that will be the end of it we hope.
So it seems maybe Karma has been involved, being on this diet and healthy journey was fortuitous for me to be in the best shape I could be to fight on after the op.
Have to say I lapsed quite a bit watching the World Cup – not so much naughty with food but definitely too many gins!
Back on the good road starting today. Weight has hovered at the 13kg loss during this lapse but blood pressure has continued to drop – now averaging 112/65 so hopefully can come off blood pressure tabs and handle it myself.
At the end of this month will be 8 weeks since starting and will find out if I have reversed the type 2 when my GP checks bloods.
Everybody at home has enjoyed the benefits of being on this diet with me and want to carry on.

Lots of positives in all of this for me and my family and I hope you will all carry on the good work you’ve started by being on this diet! You know it makes sense. Good luck!

Hi Dryboy
Welcome to the BSD forums! 🙂 That is an awesome start and to get your family all signed up and eating this way is also a fabulous achievement. The figures speak for themselves don’t they? So sorry to hear about the Big C but hopefully as you say, you are in the best possible shape and it’s very positive that it’s treatable. We have a Take A Look At This Thread where people post vid clips and articles on all sorts of information regarding the benefits of eating this way. I hope all goes well with the new job too assuming you didn’t have to turn it down?
Good to have you here! 🙂
Kazzee

Hi Dryboy just want to say WOW! Well done! You are so right you are on the best shape to tackle anything that’s thrown at you medically in the coming months. It’s so good that you have ‘converted’ the whole family to this new healthy way of eating. This is a very supportive forum so just ‘shout’ if you need help, advice or just a good old rant. Best of luck with your journey.

8 weeks now up, 15kg lost, and had bloods taken at docs – results now normal (141) which still seems a bit high to me so will carry on for a while before going into long term maintenance by doing the 5:2 diet. Would still like to reach my original target of a 20kg loss so will up the exercising too. Good luck to everyone on the 8-week diet – stick to it – it works!

Hi Dryboy,

Well done on the weight loss and getting your levels into the normal range! I hope everything else is going equally well for you.

All good, thanks Squidge!
Had an all-body bone scan and cancer has not spread so just waiting on surgery date to remove the nasty bit – onwards and upwards!
Hope you’re doing well x

Thanks Verano – hope you’re doing well x

Hi Kazzee,
In the job until the op at least. Doing well otherwise. Painting portrait commission as well, which I love.
And enjoying this sunshine!
Hope you’re doing well x

Thanks for letting us know how you’re getting on, Dryboy. Great work on the test results! Please to hear you have a commission! Very exciting! I’m a bit of a watercolour dabbler myself, self taught, not particularly good but it’s just so relaxing! Hoping to get my field kit out this weekend when away in Wales. Unfortunately, forecast is thunderstorms and rain! Very best of luck with the surgery!

Hi
Just to update, 16kg lost – saw a different doctor today who explained my sugar levels of last weeks blood test in greater detail – my HbA1c score was 41, not 141!
When I told her that I was on the 8-week diet and HIT exercise plan she said I had made her day, adding – ‘please shout it from the rooftops, if only more people were to try and look after themselves this way – fantastic!’
I’m on blood pressure tablets at the moment but she said these could be lowered soon as my bp levels have improved so much and I haven’t used inhalers at all for 10 weeks now.

Additional benefit: My missus has now lost 18lb, getting complimented on her looks and says she feels great!

If anybody is just starting on their journey here – persevere – it will work for you and you’ll start to actually enjoy it!

from Steve (a former diabetic)

Hi Steve, Congratulations to you and your wife! Is that 35 pounds in just 8 weeks? What was a thpical day of food and exercise? Any advice?

Hi Violinist,
Thank you! My average day was more strict than the rest of the family as I was the one in need of change.
5 days a week I would fast for 16 hrs from 8pm until at least the following lunch/brekkie time as intermittent fasting has benefits of its own. Sometimes I wouldn’t eat until dinnertime. If I had anything during the day it would be boiled eggs or yoghurt, berries and nuts – very little variation as I liked ’em.
Dinner was always (and still is mostly) out of the 8-week recipe book – brilliant recipes that every one loves. Always a main dish and side or salad. Can’t recommend this book enough.
I hat going to the gym! So exercise is HIT from Mosley’s ‘Fast excercise’ – takes about 10 minutes, 3 times a week. In that book he explains the merits of each exercise, how to and how often. All based on research with proven results.
My only advice is to be fair to yourself and follow the diet to the letter, as much as you can. I’m human – I cheated.
After about 3 weeks I didn’t miss any of my loves – bread mainly, pasta and spuds. I did towards the end and when I broke down and gave in – they didn’t taste as good as I thought they would in my imagination!
Good luck with your journey – its only 8 weeks and you’re going to get to that 2 month point in the future anyway – how much better to get there having been successful rather than wonder ‘what if…’