So pleased to see this thread has rolled over to the next page …. a testament to all those posting their positives to help to lift us all.

Verano, thank you so much for checking in. I’m keeping my head above water. We’re now into the last days I think, so the final goodbye will be soon.

Hiwever, my positive is how wonderfully supportive my friends have been, for which I’m very grateful.

Arctic, you mention potatoes which are something I never eat (okay maybe sneak 2 or 3 oven chips) but actually find they are not too bad, especially if cooled and in a cold potato salad or even a baked potato which has GI of around 95 but a GL (load) of only 20, which can be reduced further if the potato is dressed with say fat or protein. So I am looking forward to having that baked potato with cheese and tuna. But not until I am back in control.

Antigone, the beauty of this site is that we are all learning from each other and none of us are too clever to think we know it all.

Glad you’ve got your motor back SG..motivation for us all. I’m sure we’ll all be watching those videos! I see that a few of you have been having tough times and I applaud your resilience. Thank you all for posting your ups and downs..it really is inspiring . Much cooler here now – Im off for an evening horse ride…Have a great weekend all.

Glad it helped, s-g. Jason Fung also has a newer series called The Diabetes Clinic, also in 6 parts. The last part was just posted a month ago. I’ve been watching it and found it to be helpful. I especially like his analogy that blood glucose is like the food on your dining table, and stored energy is like the food in your fridge. Insulin like a person who can open the fridge and shove any extra food on the dining table into the fridge for later. Adding more insulin will allow you to put more food from the dining table into the fridge for a while, and sure, you will then have less food on the dining table, but if you ignore all that food in the fridge it will eventually start to rot away in there. If you then go and buy more groceries without using the food in your fridge, you can only fit so much in the fridge, and it will start to back up on the dining table, no matter how much insulin you have to try to shove it in the fridge. So the solution is to empty out the fridge and use all that stored energy, but you need lower insulin levels to do this because otherwise it stands there trying to keep putting stuff in the fridge and won’t let any out.
Before I started back on the fasting, I made sure I was going much lower carb, and then I went for a 10-20 min walk after each meal. I had to stop doing the evening one though as it was causing me to go hypoglycemic overnight. I’m obviously not on exogenous insulin, but I have this lovely system that over-reacts to everything, so I have learned in the last couple of weeks of wearing the cgm that I need to avoid those hypos because I get a huge cortisol spike after them that sends my blood glucose soaring and then causes another crash as my system releases too much insulin in response. So I am now only getting carbs at dinner from things like broccoli and bok choy that have virtually no impact on my blood glucose. If I want any carbs in the day, I have to have only a moderate amount and have them at breakfast or lunch when I still have movement left in my day to get my muscles to use them up.
I hear you about the carb creep, and those food companies are so sneaky with them. A couple months ago, I wanted some oven chips, bad enough if I made them myself, but I didn’t even do that. I bought a packet of them from the freezer section. Well, much to my surprise, I got glutened and had stomach pain for 2 days. Aren’t they just potatoes? Looked at the back of the packet and sure enough, they used wheat starch and flour to coat them. I’m sure they were horrible for my blood glucose too. So when I have them again, I will make them myself. Not a huge time sink to chop a potato, coat in olive oil and bake. I’m not having them now though because I’m trying to use up my stored energy. In order to not feel deprived, I am telling myself that I will be able to have the homemade version as a once in a while treat once I get all this excess energy cleared out of my system. But actually, I wasn’t enjoying my meals so much when I was eating higher carb. I am really enjoying what I am eating right now and planning and cooking it too. My body feels better nourished and I have more energy.

Well the sod it baguette and tuna sandwich have not had any effect on my weight but THANKS TO ARCTIC I have re-discovered Jason Fung. I have his book The Diabetes Code and the shock it gave me when he said sugar in your body is rotting all your organs from the inside out. So it is not just insulin injections causing the problem, the glucose would still be there without the insulin. I have started re-watching his Low Carb Diets for Type 2 Diabetes series, starting from the beginning (there are 6 in the series) and boy do I have carb creep. For example, I have boiled eggs most mornings – with a Ryvita. Today I also had onions soup with a Ryvita. Hubby said that I have always kept eating Ryvita but I know it used to be maybe one or 2 a week, now it is one or 2 a day. Tonight hubby is cooking fish and chips and I would normally have that but take most of the batter off and just have 2, 4, 6 chips, yes it has crept up. We are buying the battered fish from the freezer because cod is €35 a kilo, up from around €18 a year or so ago, which I would just cook dipped in egg. Then I wonder why I am not losing weight and my BG was high at the last test – not just the cruise feasting.

Back to Jason Fung. I would advise anyone struggling to look on YouTube and watch the full series – only 11 or 12 minutes for each part and it will get your head back into what we should and shouldnt be doing.

Thank you arctic, must get back to number 3 or the series.

Sunny how are you doing?

So sorry I didn’t make my ‘one a day’ goal this week Anyway I’m here now…..
My one for today … still eating really well and back to pre holiday weight ….. now I just have to tackle the rest!!!
Have a great weekend.

It may depend on which types of Nakd bar you researched. The pure cold pressed dates and nuts ones have no “free” sugars, and many organisations (such as http://www.diabetes.org.uk and http://www.behealthynow.co.uk) regard them as a reasonable part of a healthy diet. Ever since being diagnosed with Tyoe 2 diabetes about a year ago, I have been eating about 10g – 20g a day (1/3 or 2/3 of a bar), and my hba1c has come down from 66 to under 42 (in remission). I lost about 15kg over the first six months (80kg to 65kg), reaching my target weight, and I have not put it back on.

I agree that many cereal bars are high in added sugar, but from my research, the pure cold pressed dates, nuts and fruits Nakd bars are not culprits. I find a 10g to 20g piece day satisfactory to satisfy a sweet craving.

I agree with this advice about 85% or higher cocoa content chocolate. I have a piece every other day or so. Again. most sources seem to be of the opinion that this is fine as part of a healthy diet.

Arctic Fox, you are amazing. I really respect the way up keep on trying regardless of what life throws in your way. I really hope that the regime you are working out for yourself gives you the results you need.
So many here are inspirational, not only the ones who are losing weight but even more the ones who keep on going, getting up when they fall down, coming back after a break, all of that. It’s a lifelong struggle for many of us and it makes a difference for people who are not in a strong place, to see how others are getting on.
I am maintaining my weight, 66.8 this morning which I am trying to be happy with (part of my brain would still like to be back to the 58kg that I was when I was 25). My diet has not changed very much though, I am afraid to eat very much because I fear the weight will pile back on.
My hand is slowly improving after surgery last month. It will never be normal but I have high hopes that I will have a functional left hand. The fusion of my middle finger is in a curved shape so I can still use my hand for grasping etc.
I’m sitting here in my living room with my dog on my lap, looking out the window at yet more rain. We are having our wettest August since 1899, only two rain- free days in the past 3 weeks. It’s miserable especially as August is usually our second driest month! But they are forecasting five sunny days after today, I am really hanging out for sunshine and to be able to hang out my washing in fresh air to dry!
I heard today that there a cottage cheese shortage 😳 of all things! I used to eat cottage cheese but have fallen out of the habit, but it’s high in protein so I’m going to look for it next time I’m on the supermarket. Getting enough protein is always a struggle for me.
Hoping to hear how you’re all going and do enjoy the last of your summer weather!

Thank you for the advice and information arctic. I am beginning to think my doctor just thinks at 72 I am too old to make any changes. My thoughts about semeglutide are not in the weight loss in inself but getting off insulin which is a drug that, as you said, stores the glycogen hence putting on weight. Neither does it do anything for removing glucose from the body, just stores it somewhere out of sight. Which is why we have to be monitored for various organ damage i.e. heart, eyes, kidneys and liver to be specific. It is an absolute blessing to type 1 diabetics but a double edged sword for type 2’s who used to be treated with low carb diets even back in the 1800’s. Hubby said he read about a new drug but he couldn’t remember the name. I will make a note of the ones you mention. I did tell doctor I was coming off insulin and he said I could if I could get down to less than 7 units. I got to 7 units and then went on holiday and up it went again. I will certainly be having a conversation.

Lucy, your system may just be re-calibrating after having lost, so may be asking you to be patient with it. Also, if you are walking that much, it is a good thing and you may be putting on muscle. Muscle stores glycogen so that it has enough energy to operate, and with that glycogen, it takes up water too, so it will weigh more. Have some self-compassion, as you have worked really hard and are doing your best. I am dealing with insulin resistance right now and you may be too. It is really, really hard to break it, as your body is using it as a survival strategy to protect you. As s-g says, keep doing what you know works. There is no point in getting angry with yourself and self-harming. I know that binging on junk feels comforting in the moment and feels like self-care, as I do it too, but my counsellor has helped me to see that it is actually self-harm in the same way that some people cut themselves or binge drink, do drugs, etc. So now that I have re-framed it that way, it is helping me to not do it, and now I am thinking ‘what is a kind thing that I can do for my body right now’.
Hope this helps!

Just popping in to report that my blood glucose was down to 4.5 mmol/L this morning after my 36 hour fast. I was 3.8 last night before bed, so obviously the dawn phenomenon is still quite significant for me and my system is still dumping a lot of stored energy, but so nice to be back down in normal range. Eating today and then I will decide if I am going to go again. October is coming up quickly and I want to be consistently back in normal range after an eating day before I have to get the blood work done ahead of my leg surgery.
NSVs for today are that my shirt seems a bit looser across the bust and the waistband on my shorts is definitely looser. I’m not sure why I was so hesitant to do this before, as the improvement in my energy levels and brain fog has been so noticeable so quickly. Although now that I say that, I did try last year and had to quit because my gastritis was acting up when I fasted, even for only 18 hours, but now that I have fixed my diet and totally eliminated gluten and eggs and tomatoes, it seems so much better. And then there is the issue of getting a dopamine hit from the carbs, which given the state of my mental health, was probably needed as a form of self-medicating. I have noticed that now that I have scaled way back on the carbs, I have had some days of very low mood, and I would have normally been reaching for carbs to fix that. Now I have to find other ways to boost my mood. My hand is getting better, so I am planning to go back to pottery next week. I have just signed up to volunteer with Girl Guides this fall as well. I hope all these things will really help.

Hi s-g, just popping on here to respond to your post. I’m sorry you are struggling right now. Very frustrating, isn’t it? I just watched a video from Dr. Jason Fung where he talks about some of the newer drugs for diabetes, including semeglutide, and another from Dr. Ben Bikman where he talks about how semeglutide is being used now and how he disagrees with that approach. He suggests that it should be microdosed in order to deal with people’s carb addiction while they change their diet, but I think you’ve already worked through that over the last several years. Basically semeglutide just gets you to eat less, but you are already doing that now without the drug. Jason Fung talks about how insulin just corrects blood glucose without dealing with the underlying problem that there is too much energy already stored in the system (through glycogen and fat), and will make it worse in the long run (as you already know) because insulin is a hormone that drives even more energy storage in the body. Jason Fung says that you need to deal with the storage issue. He talks about canagliflozin as a newer drug that deals with the storage issue itself. I looked it up and it can have some pretty nasty side effects, but then so does semeglutide. But maybe another option to talk to your doctor about? Another option could be to just tell him that you are coming off the insulin and want to try to deal with your diabetes through a therapeutic fasting regime and ask if he could support you in that and monitor you to make sure you stay safe. I’m leaning into fasting again right now and it seems to be working. Fasting glucose was down to 4.5 mmol/L this morning.

Hi Lucy, you ask for advice but really you know what to do. I too have had a sod it attitude and after having a very low BG and having to eat things I never would to get my bloods back up I bought a baguette today and had a tuna salad baguette and said sod it, it was what I really fancied. I have not gained weight but I am in a period of losing the same quarter of a kilo, up and down.

What advice I can give to you is the same for me. I am going to get my head in the right space, sit down and write a weeks menu, even if it is the same as I have most weeks, at least it will all be calculated and just knowing it is there to look at is helpful. Going to get back to TRE with no food after 8pm and breakfast as late as possible. Hopefully, if the weather stays cooler I will start to take some after lunch walks, just 20 mins down our lane, if the weather really warms up I will try to swim 30 mins daily. So basically I have a plan.

It is not easy but for us the most important thing is keeping the diabetes in check and maybe not worrying so much about the weight. I know the 2 can go hand in hand but we have to stop being so hard on ourselves.

Take care.

Hi all, I am struggling at the moment. Yesterday I had 2 boiled eggs (no Ryvita and butter), a thin vegetable soup and them we had our usual clear the fridge out omelette for tea. So not a lot and I was pleased for sticking to calories and low carbs. Then around 11 pm I got up to get a glass of water and felt weak and shakey. Took my BG and it was down to 2.7 so I had a cheese and ham sandwich for a quick fix. Retest after 10 mins and still only at 2.9 so sucking a Werthers sweet then a glucose drink. It is all just a waste of time trying to get the balance right. I dont exactly starve myself as I allow snacks between meals like I had some melon and a few pistachio nuts. I think I have to worry more about my BG and my upcoming HbA1c results (9th September doctors appt) and not get so hung up on losing weight. Just got to eat the right things but in larger quantities.

As a diabetic my life is ruled by my diet. I cant just be on a diet and then not on a diet, every day I have to be careful what I eat and drink and I just get sick of it. It also p—ses me off the my doctor is giving me a drug that increases my weight while telling me to lose weight to improve my diabetes. I think we will be having a chat about that and I am going to suggest semeglutide and see what he says (again).

Pootle, I wasn’t really referring to you with the dietdoctor chart but anyone who might be confused about carbs – I still make stupid mistakes. Can I also say that the numbers you are coming up with i.e. 5.2 2 hours after a meal are well within the non-diabetic range so maybe your more recent HbA1cs were the glitches i.e. did you have the test done within a few weeks of returning from, say, a holiday. Like me, my Hb.. was 7.2 and the young doctor talked to me like a child, whereas my real doctor would have said ‘oh you are just back from a cruise’ ‘daft time to have a blood test and it will come down’. Which is what I am hoping for on my next test.

Enough moaning from me. How is everyone else getting on. We have cooler weather and even though I cant go for a swim it is just heavenly to be able to sleep.

Take care and keep on keeping on… I try to do as I preach but it is not easy.

Hi everyone,
I had some pretty good meals yesterday after breaking my fast. Stayed quite low carb, high fibre and finished with dinner of prawns and baby bok choy which was delicious. My blood glucose was still 5.6 this morning though. I guess I have to remember that it is an improvement over the 5.8’s and 5.9’s I was getting 2 weeks ago, and definitely better than the 6.5 I had after two days of eating that salad with the quinoa in it. But I am impatient and don’t like slow progress. So I started what I hope will be another 36 hour fast this morning. I’m feeling good and I had an appointment over the lunch hour at the bank to negotiate renewing my mortgage. I was just getting into ketosis at that time, and I think it helped keep me sharp and on my toes and I managed to hold their feet to the fire a bit and got a much better rate offer than I was expecting! It is still much higher than my current rate, so I am really grateful for all the money I am saving on food at the moment with this fasting. I’ve just had some sparkling water and some salty seaweed to keep me going as I am quite hungry this afternoon.
I also had an appointment with the surgeon about the lump on my back and we decided that it can stay where it is for now. So that is one less thing to worry about for the time being.

Well- Verano- I have copied and pasted your quote about old and new ambitions into my notes section as I really need to get back on the healthy eating (and exercise)- I’ve been feeling rubbish mentally and physically for months- I was putting a lot of it down to chronic stress, and I am on the verge of going for a GP check up- was thinking hormones or something also could be a factor- however- I’ve been eating poorly and my weight is continuing to rise (no surprise): I am going to try an at least 2 week diet trial first- as I keep putting my health last priority and I think it’s not doing me any good- so- restart healthy eating, reinstate some exercise gradually, get more sleep…..and see how I feel then. If my body does not respond like before to the WOE (felt much better and lost weight), then I will consider a GP check. I don’t have any very worrying symptoms, by the way, just general bleurgh-ness. It’s not quite time for my annual check up, so I am going to try this 1st….

Love to all- I’ve been reading this each day and you are all hugely inspirational.

I think that my original motivation was get out of pre diabetes with bonus of getting slimmer….but that isn’t working this time, as my bloods haven’t slipped back up to pre-diabetes, not yet anyway, probably because I have retained some aspects of lower carb throughout- e.g. most breakfasts.

So- hence thinking about new motivation- it would be crazy to treat a load of symptoms in other ways if the cause is actually poor diet again- the WOE hugely improved my fatigue before so really should be tried properly again!

Hi Verano, It must be ‘clearing out’ season!

I haven’t got rid of the ‘larger’ clothes 👗that I sorted out 6 months ago…they are still packed in a couple of suitcases, BUT… My house is over-run with books 📚, so I have decided to be ruthless and have bound up a number of “trilogies and/sets” that I have read several times and donated them! 😇 So feeling good that the bookcase is no longer groaning under the piles of books balanced on top! I cannot get on with a kindle….much prefer the feel of a real book…so I end up buying loads of paperbacks from eBay!!

2nd positive is my new kitchen mats …they are just what was needed to stop my elderly dog 🐶slipping around, and have smartened the kitchen up brilliantly!

Great to have some positives to share!

My one for today…. did lots of ironing!

But number 2 …

Sorting out my wardrobes and have large black bin bags for all those clothes I’ve not worn in 5,10 or 15 years! I’m shocked at some of the clothes. Anyway, they are going!
I’m feeling ‘lighter’ already!

Just a quick ‘hello’.

Good to hear the ‘good’ and ‘improving’ health results. Hoping the next consultations are good.

It’s Tuesday, my weigh-in day so need to report I’ve lost :2.2 of my 2.4lb holiday gain so really happy with that.

New week. We can all start afresh with a new goal for the week. Let’s make it a good one!

Hi S-G.
I have the visual “carb reminders” printed out, laminated & pinned to my fridge. That is mostly where I get my figures from to calculate what I am eating!
I am sorry I miss-named complex and simple!!! 🤯

Just as a test for my own satisfaction ( I know you said not too, but this is the last time for a while 🙄) We went out for lunch & I had a chocolate brownie with cream🫣! 2 hours later my reading was 5.3…😄 So I am definitely going to stop testing… will continue to avoid bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, cakes, sweets, pastries anything ‘floury’ etc.etc and just enjoy the lower carb foods that I have come to like!

Sorry your weight loss hasn’t gone as planned, but I am sure you will get it back on track!
Your new car story sounds frustrating! I hope you come out on top… as they have breached the contract with the delay to the delivery date! Very stressful, which doesn’t help with diet and health’

Lacy, good news about your biopsy! 🎉 that must be such a relief!

Margaret, I will have everything crossed for you tomorrow! 🤞🤞
Thanks everyone, I hope you are all having a good week!!
K xxx

Hi everyone,
I’m just finishing up a 36 hour fast. Will break it when my chia pudding is ready to eat. It was easier this time and I didn’t need anything other than water and a cup of herbal tea to get me through. My cgm sensor bit the dust this morning though. It has been reading low all week which has been frustrating, especially since the company tried to tell me it was working. Then this morning it measured a 2.9 mmol/L, which I estimate was probably in the mid-high 3’s based on how much it has been underestimating, but it suddenly packed it in, said it was shutting itself off for my safety, and told me to remove it. The adhesive has been getting very itchy anyway, so I took it off. I just tested with my regular monitor and it says 5.6, which is still pre-diabetic after a 36 hour fast! So clearly, I still have a lot of stored glucose making its way out of my system. Frustrating, but I was reading an article by Dr. Fung and he says this is to be expected and not to worry too much about it. He says he doesn’t even use fasting glucose as a check anymore as it varies so much and can be misleading for people who need to release stored energy, and that the medical system focuses too much on getting blood glucose down without considering the bigger picture that Type 2 diabetes is actually about too much stored energy rather than too much glucose that can’t get into cells as for Type . I am feeling slightly dehydrated still so that could be a factor as well. But I think all the evidence is pointing to needing at least 2 fasts a week. I have been less diligent on the exercise front this past week too, so clearly that was having an impact. It being August, I am feeling quite burned out from the farm, and more so this year than others, so I get lulled into thinking that I am doing enough work around the farm each day, but if I put my step tracker on, that is not the case, especially on days when I am doing my office job primarily.
So here we are. I will have my chia pudding with some raspberries, and then plan what to have for my other meals today and tomorrow. Will likely feature zucchini, broccoli, avocado, kale and chard for vegetables, and at least 1 fish meal and one soy free tofu meal. Keep on keeping on everyone!

Hi everyone, my weight was a disappointment – still at 4lb loss. My own fault, I think I have carb creep – yesterday 2 boiled eggs with 1 Ryvita, then lunch one Ryvita with my soup. Dinner was okay but hubby had a pitta bread and I broke off a corner – tiny piece to mop up the remains of my bolognaise. But then, late (around 11pm) I felt really hungry and instead of having a slice of ham or something like that, I made myself a ham and cheese pickle sandwich, just one slice of bread. If not for that I might be down another half a pound at least. So I am not perfect and I have to do better. Just over 2 weeks to doctors appointment, 2 half weeks to leaving on holiday. Must get a grip.

Pootle, I hope you are feeling better about things and not upset with my lecture. I see on another thread you feel like the doctor is telling you the non diabetic numbers before were just a glitch. No, the numbers you are seeing now are the glitch. You know how to get them down – I too am struggling and will find out in 2 weeks if I have got mine back down after the holiday.

If anyone is struggling with which carbs to eat and which not to, go to dietdoctor.com and search for high carb foods. He does a list of veg and fruits. Just looked and he now calls it visuals here is the link https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/visual-guides. Mainly bad carbs grow underground and good ones above. I disagrees a bit as carrots are not too bad but it shows how many carbs per 100g. Trust me, it is a good thing to pin to the fridge.

We have just had a bad afternoon. Short story. Ordered new car in March, delivery very long 17th July. Went in week before to see about paperwork (insurance, registration etc) and they said they cannot now deliver until end September or even longer. We have decided we don’t want it as our circumstances have changed so went in today to cancel and they said we would be in breach of contract as we had 55 days to change our minds. Well 55 days wouldnt have taken us to the first delivery date so we wouldnt know we were going to be messed about. I told the guy the date of delivery on the contract is 17 July so they are in breach of contract. Now we have to fight it out. Bit stressed.

Anyway, have a good week. Hubby cooks tonight and it will be chicken sausages, fried egg and beans so not sure what I will weigh tomorrow. Keep on keeping on…

Good morning everyone,
Margaret – good luck for your next check up! Hopefully when they re-dress your knee it’ll be looking much better! And thank you, yes, got my biopsy results this morning and all clear, so I’m good now for another 5 years🤞
S-G – Yes, I’m in Melbourne – a lot less humid in summer than you’d have been used to! And thank you for such a clear description of how complex and simple carbs differ in how they affect BG levels/spikes. Carbs are the one thing I do track very carefully, and it’s too easy to just lump them all in together! Also thanks for highlighting yet again what we’re up against when dealing with the (mostly very discouraging) medical profession – thank goodness for the support offered by all the wonderful people on this forum! And not just support but lived experience, both the highs and lows, which is a far more valuable resource than anything offered by most GPs or Diabetes Nurses.
Pootle – I do hope you’re feeling better in yourself now and aren’t still worrying about what the doctor said. As S-G so succinctly put it – “stuff them”! No effort spent on improving your health is ever wasted.
Anyway, take care everyone,
Lacy 💖

Sorry to hear that Pootle, keep going you are doing the very best you can. I would have caved in by now for sure so we’ll done.
Just typed an essay and somehow lost it fgs! So off we go again.
So I was perfect last week, walked 6 out of 7 days and never wavered from diet..so imagine my horror when I weighed on Friday and had put on a pound!! So in true Lucy fashion i fought the anger and upset but to no avail and ate what I wanted! If im losing weight im fine but if I dont its a massive trigger for me and I end up with a sod it attitude. It wasn’t quantity, ut was just bad choices. Bread, chips and a mcdonalds over the weekend . Not a massive amount but obviously very bad things
Well I paid the price, I felt so ill and sick had to go to bed early last night
But dragged myself up and did my very fast walk again and obviously new beginnings today.
I cannot get past this weight, same as a few years ago….if I lose anything I will put it back on and off and can’t make any inroads. Any ideas anyone?
I’ve changed something today, I walked before I ate breakfast so had a fast if around 16 hours, so maybe that will help but this is driving me up the wall. So have put on some more following my weekend now so probs a few pounds on total..But I just dont get it! Xx

Hi everyone, Antigone I am Bergerac area. I have always weighed on a Tuesday because of the Sunday closing in France (too lazy to get up early on a Sunday morning). We shop on a Thursday (it is quieter) and I wanted all fresh veg to start the diet so did a shop on the Monday and started the diet on the Tuesday – nearly 10 years ago.

Pootle, I am not sure if it is just the words but to clear any confusion – the meal you had was full of complex carbs – low and slow with lots of fibre and nutrients – it was a great meal although you wouldn’t normally have that many varieties in one meal. Therefore, it should have given a good reading (5.2). Simple carbs are the ones to avoid like bread, pasta, rice, sugars etc. Now, what you doctor said, and I don’t want to upset you, it is true you will always have a propensity to diabetes (see my smoking analogy – once a smoker always a smoker). What she said that was wrong was that if you stick with low carb foods you will go back to pre or diabetes. That is not true – she obviously thinks it is too hard to maintain over a long period – hello there – I am 10 years low carb and kept my BG good. Obviously if you do slide back into our old dietary habits the diabetes will come back. But you know that, hence the slip ups of late and the higher reading a couple of tests back. Look at me, 2 weeks on a cruise, one week at daughters but still celebrating 32nd wedding anniversary and hubbies 80th so the treats continued leading to an extremely high HbAic (7.2 which is high for me). Like you I was met by a doctor who decided to talk down to me trying to tell me where I was going wrong and I would never get the hang of it. Well stuff them, we know what we are doing and we know it works for us. Just keep on the low carb plan and you will get back to that non-diabetic status. It might have set you back a bit but nothing is easy. I am hoping my BG is down to its 6.2 range when I am tested next month.

Woke up to overcast skies and forecast for rain but still waiting but mainly a lovely cook 24 degrees. Keep on keeping on…

Margaret,
🤞 for your check up on Wednesday. I hope the antibiotics have done the trick! Great news that you have only increased by 4lb… which I am sure will shift when you get back to the diet.

I feel so in awe of everyone coping with other major health problems and still being able to concentrate on the diet. As well as being so supportive on this forum. You are all awesome!!
K xxx

I hope your colonoscopy result is good Lacy & S-G gosh having to deal with 40c plus heat must be very trying. I’m sorry to hear how disappointed you are with your results Pootle but you are doing the best you can eating low carb to help yourself & try not to get stressed about it 👍
Thank you everyone for support & I am on my second weeks course of on antibiotics hoping to quickly heal my second area. I have a check up on Wednesday when it will be redressed. I bravely weighed today & am pleased to say that I have only gained four pounds in weight despite all my husbands generous food offerings 😀
Keep on going everyone I hope to be joining you soon with some weight loss 🤞🤞
Margaret xx

Hi Lucy,

I really admire you walking that distance every morning! I hope it has now started to pay off!
I am wishing 🤞that you are having a better time than I am at the moment! 🙃
My bloods have shown that I am still back Into pre diabetes so it seems that last Decembers reading of non diabetic was a blip! ☹️ It has thrown me somewhat…nearly put me off track…I was soo tempted to just say “****er it” and treat myself to a Magnum, followed by a Chocolate Fudge cake and a glass of Southern comfort! BUT I decided that I have come this far…why waste the past 13/14 months… So I am being positive again. Keeping on keeping on!
K.xx

Hi S-G.
I haven’t measured often after food…but have been measuring ‘fasting’ every morning… (only 3 spikes above 5.4 in the past 3 months). I got demoralised because I thought she was saying I am wasting my time keeping to low carb as I will eventually be diabetic again anyway!! 😩 All I am doing is slowing the process! 🥲 HOWEVER, having done the ‘after food’ test yesterday, with quite a lot of simple carbs in the meal ( weighed as; Squash 5g carrot 3g, Swede 3g, courgette 2g, celeriac 4g, beans 4g, broccoli 4g, gravy 2g, Apple 7g, berries 4g, cream 3g = 40g in one meal!!) I am satisfied that I am doing the right thing by sticking to the plan! I haven’t been eating that much carb in one meal for a very long time…sticking to around 50g per day. I don’t eat breakfast unless I am away…never hungry enough to be bothered at home! So although I have gone back into pre, I am going to ignore that and just keep going with low carb. I will still avoid the complex carbs…I don’t want to have to go through the carb monster withdrawal again. I knew that I was testing myself yesterday with that amount in one meal…

Thanks every one. I appreciate the back up!
K.xx

Pootle, I think measuring after food is a waste of time and maybe that is where you are too obssesed (if that is what the doctor said). Carry on measuring but do it on a empty stomach, first thing in the morning, just once a day. As long as you do that you will get a more accurate reading and learn what your normal is and see if there are any ups or downs. It is more important that you know what carbs you are having and you know what carbs are not good carbs as opposed to things like in your meal which were mainly good carbs. So dont stop counting. Example, if you said you had a piece of cake for dessert and still had a reading of 5.2 you would be in a good place but what you did eat should have given you the good reading it did. Hope I am explaining this properly. Counting calories is less important as being low carb automatically limits the number of calories.

One other thing is about you being programmed to have diabetes because of genetics is partly true which is why you/ we have to keep control of this. But this is true of anyone who has diabetes for other reasons and we will always be just a few bad meals from pre of full diabetes. Sorry but that is a fact. I think of it like smoking. I haven’t smoked for 32 years but if I went on holiday and had a cigarette after every meal I would soon find myself back as a smoker and addicted. The other thing about carbs are what Antigone said, a bad weekend and the cravings are back. Carbs creep up on us. Stay strong, you have come so far. Sometimes doctors like to think they are the ones who know everything and are in control but we know we have the power to stay well and beat this thing.

It is still 29 degrees at just after 11pm and looking forward (not) to another sticky night.

Good evening all,
Thanks for the encouragement! I really appreciate the advice and backing.
I had been feeling pretty down as it seemed as though the GP implied that, because of my genetic disposition to diabetes, I am unlikely to keep it in remission/at bay long term. 😩 and I must stop worrying about it, keeping weight down and on low carb despite the Hb1Ac showing I have gone back into pre diabetic.
However, I have decided to be positive and continue to record my stats, so I can keep an eye on what is happening! This evening, 2 hours after roast beef with a medley of roasted vegetables (butternut squash, celeriac, swede, carrots and courgette), broccoli and buttered French beans followed by cooked eating apple with black and raspberries, a prick test gave my BG as 5.2 mmol/L !!!!!!!!! There is nothing diabetic about that result even though I had a good plateful!

I think I will stop calculating carbs in everything I eat, and see how it goes!

So, all in all, I aim to retain control and will just be hoping that I will remain in remission!

You are all very special people. So let’s keep on keeping on!
K xxx

Wise words as always Verano. Pootle – we feel your pain. Think more about what you HAVE achieved rather than what you haven’t. You are awesome 🙂
I’ve had a wobble this weekend- drinks with friends and ( holds head in shame) nibbles! My goodness the damage a few salty snacks cause is unbelievable…carb cravings and feeling hungry 🙁
However, on we go! Just back from a lovely evening ride – its too hot to take the horses out in the day here. I’m in France too, although further north than SG if I remember correctly.
Hope everyone is OK? You sleeping normally again Verano?
I shall delay weighing until Tuesday and hope I can redeem myself!

So it’s Sunday and my goal is now to find just one positive each day. So for today…

🌳🌳🌳 had some olive trees in pots pruned today. The olives have become ‘wild’ in the unusually hot summer here this year. They now look lovely.

Another….

👗👘👖👔🩳 Starting to sort out clothes for charity shops so we can put the clothes we ‘actually wear’ in the wardrobes!

Why do we ‘hang on’ to ‘stuff’!

At then moment I’m on a ‘clean out, clear up ‘ mission!

I was clearing out some old emails and came across this :

“If you are hungry now, it doesn’t matter how many good meals you’ve eaten. You can’t quench your thirst by remembering what you drank yesterday. Similarly, if you are looking for a reason to do something, it’s hard to be motivated by an old ambition.”

Think I need a ‘new ambition’!

Hi everyone, Shetland I knew you were from (or living in) Oz when you said cleaning out the chooks. I used to live in Sydney – or just outside. Pootle, you are still in pre-d and your doctor is telling you not to be so obsessed. It is only us and our dilegence that can get ourselves at good levels. Yes, maybe stop testing daily – says she who frets if I dont do all my stats every day – try to get out of the habit. But, that can lead to forgetting and then getting a shock. Just do what is working for you.

It is still so hot but down 10 degrees from 43 to 33. Top today 38, hopefully we are forecast for rain on Tuesday, I will be outside dancing in it. About the rain, it is a waste of time watering anything now, everything is shrivelled up. Still got a few tomatoes to redden and a few geraniums in pots so I live in hope. Thought I might get a swim after our Sunday brunch but my delicate stomach had other ideas and then I couldn’t risk it. There will be other days.

Weight is steady but will wait for Tuesday for my weigh it.

Hi DCT and fellow travellers. DCT you sound as if you are completely in the zone. I had to laugh at your swimsuit experience. ARCTICFOX I am so impressed with your attention to detail re sugar levels. It’s good to be aware of the wider health benefits you are feeling too.

I’m doing my weekly check-in. It is now 12 weeks since I started. I can’t believe that this time I have stuck to it, and have eaten healthily throughout. I’m now down 11.3 kilos. Yesterday I started to wobble and felt that the remaining 2-3 kilos to reach a healthy weight would not be attainable. And then this morning I dipped down again. Ridiculous how the numbers on the scale can change your mood. I was determined at the start to focus just on the healthy eating not the weight, but it is hard to resist!

I am off tomorrow to look after my very elderly parents in the UK for a few days. Wishing you all a good week. Hope the holiday is going well Clarinet. YOWZER where are you?

Hi everyone,
I’ve been doing pretty well this week. My fast Monday went well. I did end up needing some bouillon to get me through the evening, but didn’t break it officially until Tuesday morning. I have been hoping that I could get away with just one fast per week to begin, but even though I’m eating fairly low carb, and my numbers are pretty good for a couple of days after the fast, by the end of the week they are popping back up into pre-diabetic range. So, I think I will have to do at least 2 fasts for a bit. I’m trying not to get down about this and realize that it is just a sign that I have more work to do and more weight to lose. I am feeling good otherwise, so I know the changes are making a difference somehow, even if not fully on the bg front. I have less brain fog at work and I think I am sleeping better as I am less exhausted in the mornings when I wake up. So it has had some impact and I have to remember that.
I phoned the company about my cgm and they were very helpful. They are saying that it is not broken, but that placing it on my chest may be making it read lower than it would if it were on my arm. I explained that they don’t stick to my arm as a working farmer and the woman chastised me and said they are only meant to go on the arm. I was reading online though that other active people have to use alternate placement though and seem to do ok with that. The erratic readings I was having last weekend were likely due to the fact that my bg was zooming up and down all day and it doesn’t do such a good job of being consistent under those circumstances. It leveled out again during my fast.
I was at a training day for work yesterday, and I took a salad with me for lunch. I put 1 cup of cooked quinoa in the whole salad, which made 4 servings, so only 1/4 cup per portion, but unfortunately, it did really spike my bg up. Nice to have some variety in my meals once in a while, and quinoa is a nutrient powerhouse, but it might have to sit on the sidelines for now until I get my baseline insulin levels down. The rest of the salad was kale, avocado, lupini beans, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, acorn squash and feta cheese, so I probably could have done without the quinoa. It is just interesting to experiment while I’m wearing the cgm to see what happens when I eat certain things.
DCT – good to hear you are leaning into the gym and swimming, in spite of the swimsuit issues. We have been quite cool here the last couple of days after a short heat wave, so I haven’t been swimming again this week, but it is supposed to warm up again tomorrow, so I may go then. It will be interesting to see if there is any change in the fit of my suit since last week, as so far it has been looser every time I’ve been putting it on.
Hope everyone else is keeping on keeping on!

Just one positive for me today….
👣💅 lovely pedicure…. made the day brighter.
Hope everyone has had a good day.

Sunny sending🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Hello all,
S-G, and everyone else suffering in the heat – I’m originally a London girl, and when I moved to Australia I found the oppressive heat, bushfires etc very hard to deal with, so I can really sympathise with what you’re all going through. Keep hydrated and out of the sun as much as possible, and think cool thoughts. 😉
Pootle, I’m sorry that your blood results weren’t what you hoped for, but I’m going to echo Verano’s comment – you’ve done incredibly well! Honestly, we are our own worst critics, aren’t we? Try and relax about it (easier said than done I know – I’m a terrible control freak myself!) because you know you can do this! 💖
As for me, I’ve put on a pound since my colonoscopy, which I’m not terribly happy about, but I put it down to my carbs being out of whack for a couple of days. I shall try to keep them below 30g for the next week, and hopefully that’ll get me back on track, as I still have a way to go to my target weight yet.🤞
Take care everyone, and have a cool, relaxing weekend!
Lacy xx 😀

You’re so right about friends Verano. I’m so grateful for all of mine who have rallied around and offered help and support, both practical and emotional. It’s made this difficult time much easier to bear.

Sunny … dirt under finger nails sounds good! Keep on keeping together.

🥑🌶️🥗 Just one for me today … spent a lovely afternoon with friends enjoying lunch together. Friends are such an important part of our lives.

Hope today has brought at least one positive.

S-g I sympathise. Keep cool,

Pootle you’re doing really well. Nothing in life happens in a straight line. The relationship between carbs and blood sugar is more useful than that between weight and blood sugar. Seven pounds here or there won’t affect your blood sugar as much as 40 to 100g of carbs will! You have done so well and are keeping that up so relax a little. Numbers jump up and down over the day and yes you’re right to relax the record keeping. Try just ‘living’ with a low carb like rather than letting it dictate what you can and can’t do!

Hi S-G, hoping that you are managing to keep coolish without too high an electricity bill! I think I would try a sort of hibernation in those temperatures! I am not good in the heat, much prefer the cold…all bundled up outside, then get cosy by the fire!

So my blood results are in… 😢 still back into pre diabetes albeit one point lower than in early May (44). HbA1c now 43. Better than the 50 of June/July 2024 but still not as good as the 40 of December last year! I am still slowly losing weight, and have been really strict over the last 3 months.

When I phoned for the result, they said I needed advice from the diabetes nurse… so to avoid that calamity, this morning I managed to get an appointment with the doctor who is supportive.
I showed her my records… food eaten with calories and carbs, weight 7lb down since Christmas, BG prick tests fasting and 2 hours after eating…. Yes I am a bit of an obsessive nerd! 😄🤪😂
Her reaction was, if I hadn’t lost the weight and adjusted my diet I would probably be up into the high 50s or 60s now. She understood that I am determined to avoid the slippery slope of the medication route if at all possible. Her reaction was that I am overthinking it, and the numbers could be being influenced by the asthma medication I am on, and/or stress.
So for the next three months I am going to relax the record keeping somewhat. Just being mindful of what I am eating, no complex carbohydrates, no sugary foods, drinks or snacks and see what it is like at the next test.
The really bad news is she is retiring at the end of the month…. 😩😢 Only hope I can find another GP who is as good at listening and treats me as a person not a number!

Hi all, has a slip up last night – just felt like having a drink, so did – just 2 glasses but it has put my weight up. Will drop again but I should know better.

Managed to have a swim this morning but at 10.30 am it was already 36 degrees. Fortunately the pool was a cool 28 (that is the same as most indoor pools in the UK).

Verano, don’t worry about it, we are looking at maybe April next year. Shame you missed out on some of the sights. There are some really good hop on hop off busses, mainly aircon if you sit downstairs (as I am sure you would). They get you close to an attraction like the Trevii Fountain and you just have a short walk. Then you get on another bus, they do a circular route so not nipping here and there and they run all day.

Well it is going to be 43 today and there is a warning out, no gardening with petrol or electric tools, no going into forests, no hunting etc anything that might cause a fire. We are just staying in the house and watching our electricity bill go up and up on our Linky 🙂 🙂 At least we are safe.

.

S-g not sure I can be of much help. We stayed close to the airport rather Rome itself. The centre of Rome is around 33 km from Fiumicino airport. My OH wanted to take a tour into Rome but it was so hot, August, full of tourists and traffic. Added to that we both have mobility issues now and so it would have been a sightseeing tour by car. Just didn’t fancy that. Anyway I can let you have the details of where we stayed if you want them.

Good to see you posting positives V … great that travelling is working out well for you again.

My positives today are …..
🌹🌻 got my hands into some soil today, was wonderful to get dirt under my nails and reconnect with Mother Earth.
👖🧥 a trawl of charity shops gave me a showerproof jacket and a pair of M&S cropped trousers.
💖🫂 looking forward to Saturday, when I get to see my lovely OH again.

What are the pluses in your little corner of the world?