Active Low-Carber Forums
Atkins diet and low carb discussion provided free for information only, not as medical advice.
Home Plans Tips Recipes Tools Stories Studies Products
Active Low-Carber Forums
A sugar-free zone


Welcome to the Active Low-Carber Forums.
Support for Atkins diet, Protein Power, Neanderthin (Paleo Diet), CAD/CALP, Dr. Bernstein Diabetes Solution and any other healthy low-carb diet or plan, all are welcome in our lowcarb community. Forget starvation and fad diets -- join the healthy eating crowd! You may register by clicking here, it's free!

Go Back   Active Low-Carber Forums > Main Low-Carb Diets Forums & Support > Low Carb Health & Technical Forums > Dr.Bernstein & Diabetes
User Name
Password
FAQ Members Calendar Mark Forums Read Search Gallery My P.L.A.N. Survey


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1   ^
Old Wed, Jan-30-19, 10:55
LiterateGr's Avatar
LiterateGr LiterateGr is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 163
 
Plan: Atkins/General LC
Stats: 240.0/167.2/155 Female 5 '9"
BF:36/29.5/25
Progress: 86%
Default Janet (JEY100) will be proud of me

Finished The Diabetes Code last night, and told my husband I was skipping coffee (ie: breakfast) this morning, I was going to do a fast for my liver.


("Coffee" is a once-a-day beverage, here, that's loaded with fat & protein. Everyone in the house needs something quick, brainless, and easy-to-consume in the morning, and "coffee" covers it.)

Reading the guidelines, it looks like I could actually have done a mild version of coffee, with just the cream & CO (skipping the egg) and still been "fasting", but I just made some hot boullion instead. (Hot water with a blend of salt & spices.... Simple Girl brand.) I've had 2 cups of that to start my day, and then a liter of water (with a splash of ACV) to wash down my daily "pills" (a series of supplements.... gotta take my calcium & such.)

Skipping food until dinner time will be easy. We'll just see how I'm feeling when dinner gets here: I may eat, I may wait until morning.

I was also planning to go to the gym, today. I was planning to go after I drop my daughter off for dance. I'd still like to, right now. I suspect, if I do go, I may end up skipping dinner as well.

I'm breaking one of the "rules": I'm telling someone that I'm doing it.
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #2   ^
Old Thu, Jan-31-19, 07:12
JEY100's Avatar
JEY100 JEY100 is online now
Posts: 13,370
 
Plan: P:E/DDF
Stats: 225/150/169 Female 5' 9"
BF:45%/28%/25%
Progress: 134%
Location: NC
Default

not me, Dr. Fung and Megan Ramos. If you do OMAD/24 hours the first time, that is perfect. Megan says Fasting is like a muscle, have to strengthen it slowly. This recent interview with her emphasizes how IDM started using only Time Restricted Eating.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/diet-doc...t-7-megan-ramos

Keep taking your BG to see how you react to different protocols, and how long after adding fasting you see lower morning readings.

Here's a good place for more details and to share your excitement... https://m.facebook.com/groups/obesitycodenetwork/

Last edited by JEY100 : Thu, Jan-31-19 at 09:02.
Reply With Quote
  #3   ^
Old Thu, Jan-31-19, 20:44
LiterateGr's Avatar
LiterateGr LiterateGr is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 163
 
Plan: Atkins/General LC
Stats: 240.0/167.2/155 Female 5 '9"
BF:36/29.5/25
Progress: 86%
Default

Well, I went 24 hours. I made it to the gym, and still felt good... but hubby made some ground beef with the wild-mushroom mix I picked up a while back. (This 1 lb thing of lots of exotic dried mushrooms... heavy on shitake and such.) And broccoli.

It smelled so good, I had to.

My BG was 95 just before I ate. (It had gone up at the gym -- had been around 86 earlier.) At the gym (3rd visit -- just getting ramped up, there) I added some arms. (First day, I biked for 7 min -- how long it took me to be "done", using Dr. B's advice of get my heart rate up there & keep it steady. Second day, I did that, then added some abs.) Yesterday, I added arms/shoulders to that "base".)

I don't regret eating dinner, but I didn't need to eat it, either. And I ate my serving, and then was done.

This morning, my scale was acting weird. Yesterday, I woke at 229 and change. This morning, after potty, it first said 231 and change... then 230, then 229. Usually, it is very, very consistent, but this morning, it kept giving me different numbers. (My % body fat kept fluctuating wildly, too....) All of this in under 5 minutes with no plausible way for my mass to change. Don't know what was going on there -- it's a new scale, just bought in November.


My BG, when I woke, however, was in the normal range (I think 95, but it's been a long day, I could be mis-remembering.) That's progress!

To do this "right", I should fast again tomorrow, but that really isn't going to be practical. (I was downing HUGE amounts of fluid during the fast, and excreting it as well. And I kept getting thirsty, and drinking more. Kept it to "clear fluids" -- my SG bullion, water, or water with a dash of ACV. Tomorrow, I'll be at an outdoor thing all day, where I won't have such easy access to fluids... or bathrooms. Maybe if I were more accustomed to it... but for now, I'll probably wait a couple days, and then see about going longer. (And plan LEFT OVERS for dinner that night, so I'm not sucked in by amazing smells.)


And I picked on you, because you were the one pointing me in this direction.
Reply With Quote
  #4   ^
Old Fri, Feb-01-19, 06:15
JEY100's Avatar
JEY100 JEY100 is online now
Posts: 13,370
 
Plan: P:E/DDF
Stats: 225/150/169 Female 5' 9"
BF:45%/28%/25%
Progress: 134%
Location: NC
Default

You mean I was nagging you to add fasting to help reduce morning BG readings. I thought it funny because at the same time I wrote that, a friend was nagging me to make plane reservations to join a group event.
She wrote I know my nagging is tacky (I can't help myself), but We Really want you to come. I have post-it notes that say, "I'm almost positive I'm going to offend at least one person today." Well, check that one off!

24 hours is fantastic. Especially for those not fat-adapted, 16 hours can be agony. The very best part about fasting is it’s flexibility. I may decide to do a moderator led 36-42 hour, M,W, F but if invited to share a meal with friends, I can switch it around. The Diabetes Code makes clear, you don’t have to eat three meals a day, and diabetic BG readings should come down with some random fasting periods.
Reply With Quote
  #5   ^
Old Sat, Feb-02-19, 06:54
LiterateGr's Avatar
LiterateGr LiterateGr is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 163
 
Plan: Atkins/General LC
Stats: 240.0/167.2/155 Female 5 '9"
BF:36/29.5/25
Progress: 86%
Default

Just got back from my day outside.

Haven't BG tested all day, what with one thing and another. Had a Greek salad for lunch (FETA! Olives! Gyro-meat!) I'm really HOPING there were no hidden carbs. But had 1 bottle of water, from 9am-4pm.
Reply With Quote
  #6   ^
Old Sat, Feb-02-19, 10:36
khrussva's Avatar
khrussva khrussva is offline
Say NO to Diabetes!
Posts: 8,671
 
Plan: My own - < 30 net carbs
Stats: 440/228/210 Male 5' 11"
BF:Energy Unleashed
Progress: 92%
Location: Central Virginia - USA
Default

You are not a nag, Janet. You just like to nudge and plant seeds. It's taken me nearly 5 years to do it, but I'm finally committing to giving up the artificial sweeteners. No more aspartame. No more diet soda. Thanks for all the kind nudges over the years.
Reply With Quote
  #7   ^
Old Sat, Feb-02-19, 12:15
JEY100's Avatar
JEY100 JEY100 is online now
Posts: 13,370
 
Plan: P:E/DDF
Stats: 225/150/169 Female 5' 9"
BF:45%/28%/25%
Progress: 134%
Location: NC
Default

Aww, thank you Ken. I will have to remember the difference between nudge and nag.
Reply With Quote
  #8   ^
Old Sat, Feb-02-19, 12:26
cotonpal's Avatar
cotonpal cotonpal is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 5,283
 
Plan: very low carb real food
Stats: 245/125/135 Female 62
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: Vermont
Default

People can only take in what their minds are ready to hear. One things I try to do is make things into "I" statement. So instead of saying "artificial sweeteners are dangerous and no one should be eating them" I would say something like "I found that when I removed artificial sweeteners from my diet my appetite decreased or my craving for sweets decreased or my intestinal issues went away". I guess that's a gentle nudge rather than a persistent nag. Mostly I don't believe I'm very successful in convincing anyone of anything but maybe, just maybe, I help plant the seeds of better health in some people. These seeds will sprout in their own time.
Reply With Quote
  #9   ^
Old Sun, Feb-03-19, 21:43
LiterateGr's Avatar
LiterateGr LiterateGr is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 163
 
Plan: Atkins/General LC
Stats: 240.0/167.2/155 Female 5 '9"
BF:36/29.5/25
Progress: 86%
Default

lol I was ready in my mind... I just needed time for my body to adapt, and to inhale information.

(I said around the 3-month mark, my hunger issues drop off, and when did I manage my first fast? Just about the 3-month mark.)

I've been grateful for the solid information, with good sources. It's been so incredibly helpful.




So today... Woke up... BG was nice and "normal". (86 if I recall.) When it was time for my morning "coffee", it was only up to 93. That's a LOT less dawn-phenomenon than I was having a few weeks ago!

I had a good lunch (Chipotle salad, with guac. It was a treat, and I know from experience that the way i order it, has very few carbs and doesn't throw my body out of whack), and 2 hours later, my BG was all the way up to 110.

Then, a friend was leading a Zen meditation tea ceremony. I drank 4 teas, 2 of them green, of those two, one tasting like it had grain in it. *cringes*

After the ceremony was over, I took a 1 hour drive, got out of my car feeling "odd". Tested... 136. (Hadn't EATEN in 6 hours at that point, only drunk several small cups of unsweetened tea.)

So I'm going with the theory that the tea was "contaminated" with grain (pretty common, in Asian context, to add grain to green tea), and so I'm starting another fast tomorrow. Hubby won't be home until after bed time, so I can skip dinner, too... possibly even extend it into Tuesday, depending on how things go. Because, dangit, I refuse to lose ground. I'm getting very close to the place where my Doc wants to evaluate the effectiveness of my self-treatment-plan, before getting out her prescription-pad.

Part of me has been fighting with the very idea that I "really" have diabetes (all the while acting as if it's true). I've got a lot of (irrelevant to this board) emotional baggage around that concept, for some very specific reasons.

I've come to terms with the fact that yes, I do. (The BG monitoring that Janet pushed for and my doc said not to worry about, helped considerably. What I see there only makes sense if I am diabetic.) I've also done enough reading to confirm what I already knew: I have a much better prognosis if I never get on the mediations. If I can control it with diet, I address the condition, not the symptom. Once I'm on the medications, even if it's one that doesn't raise insulin levels, I feel like there's more risk. I have to be more careful if I fast. I have to be more careful if I exercise. And I could theoretically "indulge" once in a while, which... I'm prone to depression. Big, bad, scary levels of depression. When that hits, I could rationalize indulging, if there were medication to offset it. We all know that it doesn't really work that way, but when you're that level of irrational, you just want something that feels good "right now", and sometimes that looks like carbs.

Not defending emotional eating. Saying I know me, and I don't trust me, if I've got a drug that anyone on the planet things will "cancel out" carbs. Depression is a big ugly monster that sits over there and whispers poison in my ear, and does not have my best interests at heart, and it's how I got back to this size to begin with. After years of successfully keeping the weight off and my health up with LC. So I'm cutting off the arguments.



No, Janet, you haven't nagged. You've given me solid info. You've pointed me to knowledge and resources that I would have otherwise lacked. Every time you say a thing, you back it with links to solid research and more information. I always read it. (Not necessarily all of it the instant I read your reply. Sometimes I skim, get the gist, go, "Oh, I need to check out a book..." (Other times I may well sit down and read it all on the spot.)

Sometimes, I can follow the suggestions. Sometimes, I need to go shopping first, or wait for my body to get to the right place... But I haven't seen one suggestion you've ever made that wasn't backed to the eyeballs in solid research. You have proven yourself credible and knowledgeable, and I value the fact that you have so persistently shared your valuable knowledge with me.
Reply With Quote
  #10   ^
Old Mon, Feb-04-19, 20:41
LiterateGr's Avatar
LiterateGr LiterateGr is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 163
 
Plan: Atkins/General LC
Stats: 240.0/167.2/155 Female 5 '9"
BF:36/29.5/25
Progress: 86%
Default

Been fasting all day. Had some coffee with 1 TBS cream to take my "take with food" medications this morning... everything else was water, tea, or -- just in the past hour -- bouillon.

Spend most of the day with my BG at 140.

I do not like this game. It is not fun.

Going to extend it into tomorrow, until things are back where they belong. 140 after eating is one thing... 140 after fasting for 16 hours (unless you count that 1 TBS of heavy cream, and it had been more than 4 hours since that) is quite another. My numbers had been doing so good, too....


When I was "just" doing Atkins in the past, I could occasionally "cheat". Sometimes, socially, it was hard-to-impossible to refuse. Sometimes.... I've talked before about my migraines... there was a specific dark chocolate-pomegranate candy I craved, that actually seemed to help. We'd count out a serving, and I'd have it. Or, sometimes, you'd start eating and realize "That's not low-carb!" What I loved about Atkins is that when that happened, I knew what to do. The next morning, I'd just "start over". Strict Induction for 2 weeks (which wasn't hard, because I never really let my net carbs go much higher, but I'd be a little more liberal with some of the "allowed" foods, sometimes, if I was doing well, just in carefully controlled quantities). All sins could be corrected, no guilt needed.

With a diabetes diagnosis, it's not so simple. A little bit of screw-up can take a really long time to correct, and have much deeper consequences -- I get that. I was just talking yesterday about how I want to be able to stay off medications, and how that plays into my unique warped psychology. *chuckles*

Fasting may be my answer to that... my "back to induction". I don't want to use a pill (or shot) as the "easy out", because that's symptomatic and too easy to abuse. (Yes, you can abuse diabetic medications. I see it all the time. It's called eating cake and taking more.) But if I can use fasting as a "correction" when needed... then this whole thing may just be OK after all.

And I'm so very grateful to have a place to talk my way through all of this.
Reply With Quote
  #11   ^
Old Tue, Feb-05-19, 11:44
CityGirl8 CityGirl8 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 856
 
Plan: Protein Power, IF
Stats: 238/204/145 Female 5'8"
BF:53.75%/46.6%/25%
Progress: 37%
Location: PNW
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by LiterateGr
...Spend most of the day with my BG at 140.

I do not like this game. It is not fun.

Going to extend it into tomorrow, until things are back where they belong. 140 after eating is one thing... 140 after fasting for 16 hours (unless you count that 1 TBS of heavy cream, and it had been more than 4 hours since that) is quite another. My numbers had been doing so good, too....
I remembered reading somewhere that this is normal: Increased blood sugar when fasting

That's a quick answer and there's probably a lot more on this subject on Dr. Fung's website.
Reply With Quote
  #12   ^
Old Tue, Feb-05-19, 13:15
khrussva's Avatar
khrussva khrussva is offline
Say NO to Diabetes!
Posts: 8,671
 
Plan: My own - < 30 net carbs
Stats: 440/228/210 Male 5' 11"
BF:Energy Unleashed
Progress: 92%
Location: Central Virginia - USA
Default

Starting out as a Type 2 diabetic (not yet on insulin) my blood sugars continued to run high even after 9 months and 100 pounds lost eating low carb. I wasn't fasting during that period and even the slightest amount of carbs sent my already high BG even higher. A before dinner of 115 could shoot up to 150 or even 200 from a 10 to 15 net carb meal - depend on what I ate. I was surprised that I was still so carb sensitive at that stage of the game. I friend here on this forum referred me to IDM and I watched a few of Dr. Fungs videos. I slowly started to work IFs into my plan. I also worked to eliminate snacking. Lastly, I knocked my carb limit down to < 20 net (instead of 30 net). Before I reached 1 year on the diet my blood sugars normalized. Some sort of healing took place and it happened quite rapidly. Suddenly my FBG was typically in the 70's or 80's and a 15 net carb meal would not push my BG above 100. All I can really say is that the healing process did not happen for me overnight. Was it time on plan? Weight Loss? Regular IFs? Was it tightening up on carbs? Or was it some combination of the above? I doubt that I will ever know. My advice is to keep working at it and give it time.
Reply With Quote
  #13   ^
Old Tue, Feb-05-19, 17:14
LiterateGr's Avatar
LiterateGr LiterateGr is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 163
 
Plan: Atkins/General LC
Stats: 240.0/167.2/155 Female 5 '9"
BF:36/29.5/25
Progress: 86%
Default

10-15 net carbs in one meal? No way! Not on purpose, anyway.


And exactly: My BG rose because the day before I (accidentally) drank green tea with grain in it. (Toasted brown rice... it's a very popular and delicious drink, but I didn't know it had been served to me until it was too late.)

Today, my BG has been hovering between around 82 and 96. I'm happy with this range.

If I have dinner tonight, I'll have been fasting for 48 hours. If I wait until morning coffee, it'll be 60. I'll probably end it at dinner, because my numbers are where I want them again, and I've had some hunger today. (Not anything I couldn't get past, but enough that I almost forgot myself a few times.)

So here's a thing: Yesterday, we had a (homeschool) field trip, and a good friend wanted to hang after the show was over. "Do you want to grab lunch?" If I hadn't said, "Sure", I'd have still had to take my daughter to lunch before our Next Thing. So I said yes, and suggested a cool little place down the street.

They serve great food. We don't go as often any more, because it's not convenient, but it's really easy to find something to eat, there. For LC. For vegan. For gluten-free vegan. For... just about anything.

I told the waitress, "I'm just having tea. Give my daughter what she wants." The other two women got all concerned... I had to explain why. ("Diabetic... not on meds... Accidentally ate grains/sugar yesterday, so BG is high... no meds, so the way to control that is fasting." Highly edited version, but gist.)

And they accepted it, fine. They loved lunch -- both ordered things that I might have had, if I weren't fasting -- and eventually accepted that I was enjoying the company and didn't care about the food. (Kept pointing out that my daughter would have needed lunch, anyway -- and she was sitting at the other table, happily eating with their kids.)

I get the "don't tell anyone" advice, fully, and tried not to bring attention to it. But I also handled it in public with a minimum of fuss-and-bother. Kept putting it in terms of health, and enjoyed my tea.


Today, I sat at my desk with my Simple Girl bouillon, because nothing else tasted good, but that tasted like I couldn't get enough. Last time I stepped on the scale (AFTER a bathroom-break) I was "up 3 lbs" since morning, so I know I've been taking in enough fluids.

I've been a lot more alert, a lot less mentally-fatigued today. And, gee, my numbers are back down in double-digits.

My annoyance is I think this is going to interfere with me getting to the gym tonight. (If I have dinner, that is.) I want to make the gym a regular thing...Dunno. I'll figure it out.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 15:45.


Copyright © 2000-2024 Active Low-Carber Forums @ forum.lowcarber.org
Powered by: vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.