I've switched my way of eating several times making various adjustments and my weight has been around the same going into the 4th month. I'm just starting to count calories instead of guessing. I am pretty sure my lack of weight loss is excess calories. I don't use any artificial sweeteners or any sweeteners at all. I use heavy cream in my coffee. I don't have cravings for sugar other then the memory of the pleasures I sought in such foods as cookies, ice cream, etc, but the memories get shattered quickly when I think about how that is what caused the diabetes problems I have today.

Yeah, this is not my best week... I'm probably not going to be posting after this morning for a day or two. I am trying hard to keep my blood pressure down and my blood sugars, so I can keep a focus on what I need to accomplish. It ain't easy!

CajunBoy
about blood pressure:
Some meds can be very helpful for BP.I monitor
my BP and when it starts getting high,I pop an
atenolol(50 mg,with chlorthalidone) and the problem is fixed for a couple of weeks.My norm is
approx 130-75.
about diabetes:
Some meds work quite well-metformin used in conjunction with glyburide is a good inexpensive
combo to use with diet exercise and a few supplements-keeps my FBG around 90.Still have
to watch out for problem foods though-baked
potatoes are my nemesis(don't eat them
anymore)-ditto for choclate chip cookies.
Weight loss:
Tough problem for me also.Managed to lose 5 more pounds after reading "The 30-Day Low-
Carb Diet Solution" by Eades-very cheap at
Amazon.
Good luck
Eddie

Eddie:

My blood pressure used to be about 140/85, then with herbs, lowered to 125/72, with my added stress it is creeping up to about 135/78.. no danger yet, but if it continues... trouble...

when I can get back to a normal routine in a few days, hopefully, things should level out......................

Dude, glyburide may be cheap in $$$ but it's expensive in weight gain. It is a ß-cell stimulator, it causes you to make more insulin whether you need it or not. Excess insulin causes weight gain. That fights against a low carb diet which works because it reduces your insulin levels.
Metformin does aid in weight loss, it reduces insulin resistance mostly in the liver.

"Dude, glyburide may be cheap in $$$ but it's expensive in weight gain. It is a ß-cell stimulator, it causes you to make more insulin whether you need it or not."
I have lost 5 lbs since introducing metformin
to the glyburide treatment-never gained weight since starting glyburide.I need a little extra insulin-I take 5 mg glyburide a day now.I would prefer Januvia(which supposedly only stimulates insulin production when you need it) but it's too expensive for me right now.That's how it is with me,dude.Things are pretty good.I'm looking forward to my next A1C in acouple of months
Cheers and low FBG's
Eddie

Since I have went back to meds my BG average has gone from 120s down to low 100s. I am now getting many readings in the 80s and 90s.

I am taking Janumet, which is a combo pill of Januvia(50mg) and Metformin(500mg). I also take with it Metformin xr(500mg). I do this twice a day.

I take it just before breakfast and just before dinner.

Great results and getting better numbers.

Best wishes.

Yes, Januvia is expensive. Thank God for good insurance and I know not everyone has good insurance if any at all. That is an issue in itself.

Ralph

Hi Ralph,

With all due respect, didn't you expect that your control would deteriorate when you discontinued your medication?

Wouldn't it have made more sense to experiment with reducing your amount of medication AFTER having achieved normal readings, rather than completely discontinuing them while your readings were still in the 100's?

Larry

Not necessarily.

There was a possibility that my numbers would stay low since I tried to take several natural remedies in combo with each other.

Glucotor V2 had tremendous write ups.

I also added the Eight immortal teas to that, which Cajunboy has had great success with.

So, no there was no expectation one way or another.

I have done enough of trying this or trying that to realize that a 30-40 day period would show something one way or the other.

There was also the possibility that my numbers would go down. However, I suspect I need to drop more weight to see that happen either with meds, natural remedies or simply diet and exercise.

Thanks for your comment,

Ralph

This is the best thread on diabetes I have come across to date. Like Cayjen
boy I am pursuing a non-drug approach. And like him, I believe diabetes can be reversed, not the tendency but the condition. It may be easier to look to drugs for answers. But in the long haul I don't believe they are the most effective way to address most medical conditions. However going the non-drug route can be a real test of your fortitude, resourcefulness and intelligence. So good for you Canjen Boy!


[QUOTE=Jo_tB]Hi everyone,
"I used to drink a litre of milk a day and over a kilo of cheese a week, not to mention greek yoghurt (the very heavy stuff). So after I cut out all dairy products my glucose levels really dropped and I had to cut back my medication dramatically."

Milk and yoghurt are both high in carbs. And the reduced fat versions are worse than the full fat ones.

"So now I only eat 3 low carb meals a day and I have noticed an improvement on my glucose levels."

Another person has commented that they eat 3 meals a day with no snacks in order to reduce the load on the pancreas. This goes counter to the common advice that diabetics should eat every few hours. But now that I have gotten my carb addiction under control it is the route that I am going. Most days I eat 2 meals, sometimes 1 with no snacks in between. Breakfast is around noon or a bit later. Dinner is around 7:00 PM. This gives about a 16-18 hour rest for my pancreas. The only thing I have when I first arise is a teaspoon of an EFA supplement I make up myself.

When I was diagnosed with T2 in early 2005 I got my BG under control by just reducing my carbs. After 6 months my 1AC was 6.5! Later I went backwards for a year or so on a low GI diet with way too many carbs. In the past few months I have begun reducing carbs and am now under 30 grams a day. So in conclusion, the low carb diet is working for me.

Others have commented that they have reversed neuropathy without drugs. I have also done this.

"Dr Jay Wortman put it very nicely: what is the first thing you do when the bathtub is overflowing? You turn off the tap!! (When you body is overflowing with glucose you turn off the carbohydrate tap)."
Amen.

Sorry to hear you are having some issues. My pulse went from the high 80s and 90s down to the low 60s after I changed my diet. It is often now in the high 50s. However, if I have a moderate to heavy carb load it immediately shoots back up again as does my BP. My experience has been that it usually takes 3 days or more on a LC diet to get back to normal.

Although my present weight shows in my profile as 167 lbs with a target weight of 165 lbs. I am now down to 160.5 lbs and about to drop below 160 for the first time since I was a teenager. And boy do I ever feel great! I am 6 feet tall and about to turn 63. When I was initially diagnosed with T2 I was 195 pounds. I dropped to below 170 lbs within 8 months then shot back to about 183 lbs on a high carb, low GI diet. Going back to lower carbs (not as low as I am now) helped. But I still kept bouncing back and forth between the high 160s and low 170s.

Going to an LC under 30 grams/day helped. But the thing that has helped me the most was getting the right fats while reducing as much as possible the bad fats. After doing a lot of research over many years I am convinced that those on the typical North American diet are suffering from a deficiency of both the essential fatty acids (omega 3 and omega 6) and not just omega 3. Those who are supplementing with an EFA oil are usually taking flax or fish oil alone and are getting too much omega 3 and far too little good omega 6. This does not agree with the mainstream position that we get too much omega 6. We do get lots of omega 6 mainly from vegetable oils. But it is oxidized or otherwise altered or damaged. So it is of no benefit.

The current mainstream position on fish oil reminds me a lot of the evolution of the high carb, low fat diet from zero to its current status where everything else is wrong

After 2 or 3 months on an EFA supplement in the right ratio my cravings for carbs completely disappeared and my appetite waned to the point that small meals are more enough to satisfy me. Up until recently I used to be a carboholic. So this was a huge transformation for me.

While low carb is a significant step in the right direction I believe the issue is more complex than just carbs. One has to also address the fat issue (good and bad fat and especially the essential fatty acids), nutrient deficiencies (especially minerals) and detoxification.

Someone in this thread mentioned they had started taking fish oil. I have seen research that fish oil adversely affects blood sugar management among other things. In addition I have personally experienced this. So if you start taking fish oil and your BG starts going up you might want to consider this.

Hi David,

I'm curious, have you determined what your new "ideal" target weight should be?

The reason I ask is that I'm also 6 feet tall with a small frame. I'm 60. In contrast to your goals I've been trying unsuccessfully to gain weight, while trying to improve glucose control. Originally my goal was to get to 170 pounds, while maintaining or decreasing my Body Fat %, but I've since settled for a more realistic 165 pounds. Not surprisingly since going on a low carb diet it has been even more difficult to gain weight. In fact I'm having difficulty maintaining my current weight of 157 pounds. I've been doing a lot of weight training and eating three good sized meals. Although I haven't gained much overall weight, I've been very successful in changing my body composition as you can see from my posted stats. I figure I've gained about 11 pounds of lean body mass and lost an equal amount of body fat.

Larry

Larry - humorous that the formula for figures in the upper left show you have made no progress. 17% to 10% is the sort of goal most of the guys on my weightlifting forum are wanting, but not getting to. And if you ever say that you turned 11 pounds of fat into muscle the pc contingent will jump all over you.

Hi Larry,

Like most of us I started to gain weight about 15 or years ago after being thin most of my life. There was a time when I seemed able to eat anything with impunity while never moving off 165 lbs. When I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in early 2005 I was 195 lbs. And although I lost weight I found it difficult to get back to 165 lbs. To me it was ideal because it was what I weighed most of my adult life. But is it ideal?

Now that I am down to 160 lbs I am thinking that in fact my ideal weight may be quite lower. When I cycle raced back in the mid 1980s I weighed 142 lbs and was around 6% body fat. Now I am just over 7% body fat and much more muscular than I was at 142 lbs. At my present weight I feel the best I have in many years. So I suspect my ideal weight is closer to 160 lbs or even a bit less.

David

Hi David,

Thanks for the response.

Very impressive. You must be very athletic and exercise a lot.

I have been reviewing various on-line "ideal" body weight calculators. Unfortunately very few of them cite the source of their calculation. I find those calculators that use Body Mass Index are not helpful. First they provide a range that is too wide, and for very muscular or thin folks their recommendations are outright misleading.

By the way, I found a calculator that yielded 160 pounds as the ideal weight for a person 6 foot tall with a small frame. If that's the case I should stop worrying and declare victory after I add three pounds. If you've got a small frame this calculator says you're there.

This calculator yields 178 lb for a medium frame and 196 lb for a large frame. They define small frame if when grasping your wrist with your other hand the middle finger overlaps with the thumb. Medium if it just touches and large if it doesn't touch.

Larry

Hi Larry,

Thanks for doing the homework on the ideal weight. I think 160 lbs or a bit less works for me. I agree that the BMI is pretty much useless. One can carry a big chunk of fat around their abdomen and still be in the ideal BMI range. That's what happened to me.

For me the key step in LC eating was to get my carb addiction under control. When I was really strung out on carbs I could eat hundreds of grams at once. Now my addiction is completely gone. I can stare at carbs I used to love and not even want one bite.

Once you can get past the carb addiction the next key to the LC diet is eating good fats while avoiding as much as possible bad fats. If you aren't getting energy from carbs you need to get it from fats. I believe you can do a lot of damage to your body by eating bad fats. I keep harping on this aspect in this forum. But I believe that once you start burning fat instead of sugar for energy you can completely control your weight pretty much from one day to the next. And on the right fats your energy levels will go through the roof.

Yes, I am quite athletic. Interestingly, I wasn't when I was a teenager. Now, I can destroy those much younger than me on my road bike.

David