I'm 2/3rds of the way to goal and hubby's BG = 5.3
Hubby and I "backed" our way into eating low-carb in February 2014 after he was diagnosed with Type2 diabetes. At diagnosis, his HbA1C was 12.4. OUCH! And his doctor indicated that, in addition to taking metformin, he could TRY "watching his diet" for 3 months and see if he could bring that number down but that in all probability, probably, he would have to go on insulin within a few months. Hubby is deathly afraid of needles so...
So, after his diagnosis, we started cutting out foods that made his blood sugar spike and ended up going low-carb without ever intending to. I had heard of Adkins and South Beach and other low carb diets but had never any of the books and seriously considered low-carb diets to be downright stupid and unhealthy because it meant one was scarfing down artery clogging fats and kidney destroying proteins.
But, as we started identifying foods that caused blood sugar spikes, guess what got tossed? All the sugary desserts, all the starchy veggies, most fruits (except berries), all the "health whole grains" (except flax) and all the heavily processed convenience foods including the supposedly "heart-healthy" ones. What was left was meat, fish, poultry, nuts, eggs, dairy, non-starchy vegetables, and low sugar fruits.
Hubby's HbA1C dropped to normal range almost immediately and has stayed there ever since. Plus I had begun to notice that my clothing was getting looser and looser. So we stuck with our new way of eating and, in trying to figure out what was going on with me losing weight, I found this forum.
You have to know that, although I weighed in somewhere above 265 a year ago, I wasn't even TRYING to lose weight anymore. After being "heavy" all my life, the pounds had really packed on after I reached menopause and dieting and exercise really didn't seem to work. The harder I tried to lose, the more weight I gained. So, when I hit 50, I decided to QUIT even trying to lose weight, be happy with myself regardless of how big I got. I just tried to eat healthy and stay reasonably active. For at least a decade, hubby and I had very carefully followed the "food pyramid" plan - eating lots and lots of "healthy whole grains" and "low-fat everything"...with the result that he was 40 pounds overweight and I was downright obese.
Well, today, less than 14 months after his diagnosis, I'm down from over 265 to 191 pounds which is 2/3rd of the way to my goal of 155. That is at least 75 pounds lost...without going hungry or ever feeling deprived. In fact, I get to eat all the foods I love best, foods that I've spent a lifetime avoiding because they were "bad" for me. (Cheese, bacon, fatty barbeque, real butter, real cream, eggs, nuts, etc...I enjoy them without guilt. And honestly, I don't miss the "healthy whole grains" and starches one bit. For me, bread, rice, potatoes, and pasta were always just carriers for the GOOD stuff anyway. I do miss sweets...but they were always something I ate only in very limited amounts anyway. So, an occasional half cup of frozen raspberries covered with heavy cream and sweetened with a little stevia seems to take care of those cravings.
Hubby has lost ALL of his excess weight although he still has a bit of a "beer belly" that he'd like to get rid of. I don't want him to lose any more weight but we both wish we could find the magic bullet to shift it out of his belly and into his arms, legs, and butt.
Hubby does seem to miss carbs sometimes but over the past year, I've learned to use almond flour and flaxmeal and eggs and various spices to make low-carb hamburger buns, low carb pizza shells, low carb breakfast muffins, and a really fantastic low-carb corn-free faux-cornbread that is so close in taste and texture to real cornbread that you wouldn't believe it. So, I don't think he is suffering too badly...especially since, contrary to the doctor's prediction, he is NOT having to take insulin!
We'll be sticking with this WOE and, a year from now, I hope to be at goal and have hubby off the metformin.
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