Diabetes, begone!

[Griffen]

Wow....

I had to, erm, "excrete," and when I was done my weight was down to 345!

WOOT.

[Griffen]

My average was 106 two days ago and 103 yesterday. I'm not going to go into a whole redux about what I ate or what my other sugar numbers were as I'm kind of in a rush this morning, but I didn't want to leave everyone hanging and wondering where I disappeared to, either.

Weight's stable, sugars are stable, measurements are stable. I'm working out every other day or so - dance, or weights, or a combination of the two, plus walking all over campus - and I'm feeling stronger every day. On Saturday I got the pleasant surprise of being able to climb the (fairly steep) stairs to a friend's apartment and I wasn't out of breath or in pain at the top - I guess my legs are getting stronger. And I'm discovering muscles in places I didn't know I had them, and I can finally squat down and put my fingertips on the ground between my knees - something I haven't been able to do in probably ten years.

So things are going well. I'll try to get back to regular updating tonight.

[jem51]

wow, such a positive report.

when you say 'primal', is that Primal Blueprint, PaNu, paleo or your own plan?
as i've said before, i've tried zc and did not have great results w lowering BG. now i understand that it is due to the liver.
i have done paleo (not talking pure carnivore here) off and on (that's part of what brought be from raw vegan to lc), but the increased fiber from fruit, vegie, nuts is not good for me.
i do like PaNu but just do my own thing, still.
keeping dairy has worked well for me so far.

[Griffen]

Originally Posted by jem51

wow, such a positive report.

when you say 'primal', is that Primal Blueprint, PaNu, paleo or your own plan?
as i've said before, i've tried zc and did not have great results w lowering BG. now i understand that it is due to the liver.
i have done paleo (not talking pure carnivore here) off and on (that's part of what brought be from raw vegan to lc), but the increased fiber from fruit, vegie, nuts is not good for me.
i do like PaNu but just do my own thing, still.
keeping dairy has worked well for me so far.

Primal Blueprint, mostly. But I do eat dairy (cheese, sour cream), so I'm not 100% primal. A lot of my goals come from Atkins. And mostly I eat a carnivore diet. I don't eat a lot of vegetables because of my diabetes - too many carbs. I try to keep my carbs at 20g or below per day, because otherwise my blood sugars go crazy. I might have fruit or nuts once every few days, and only in small amounts - berries and macadamia nuts, mostly.

I don't know what ZC is. Zero carbs?

[Griffen]

My average yesterday was... really high for me lately. 113. I had a couple of numbers in the 120s, partly due to the heat (it was over 90 outside yesterday, WTH?) and partly probably due to pain. You see, I hike all over campus three days a week, and Mondays are actually the most strenuous because I have to walk to and from several buildings at the quick-march to get from class to class, but normally when I teach, I spend at least part of my time sitting down while the students dig into their books. Yesterday I didn't get to do that, because I was running a review session in each of the classes I taught and I was on my feet the entire hour, writing on the board and so forth. And between classes, I couldn't sit down anywhere to eat - the commons was completely jammed and there were no seats! So I stood up with my heavy backpack on to eat, and essentially spent three hours or so on my feet, which I'm not used to at all.

As a result, my legs and upper back were just plain sore. I got a LOT of exercise yesterday, okay? And we went out for a steak-and-egg dinner, and I know for a fact that my body took all that protein and immediately applied it to those sore muscles. I could feel it happening. It was wild.

Fortunately there was no joint pain to go with the muscle aches. I slept like a log, and my morning sugar is only 108 today, which is not bad. I'm not hungry yet and doubt I will be for a while. And since my sugars were up, I was pretty sure I was losing either pounds or inches. Surprise! I lost both. My hips are down another inch, and my weight is down another two pounds, to 343. At this rate I may make my 11/01 goal of 340 after all. (Woot!) This is great.

I'm hoping my sugars settle back down today, though, even so. I don't like seeing those higher numbers on my meter.

[jem51]

that goal is def in sight!! you are just melting. primal is good for you.

i've been testing out some carbs to see if my BG would settle. something i never thought i'd do is eat grain again...i've been anti since i OD'd on it as a vegetarian/macrobiotic. but i decided that i would do whatever it takes to control this have been trying out some ideas from others.
right now i am having great results but i am also aware that a change can seem successful at first and then everything falls right back into the same old pattern.
still, the carbs i'm eating are not big so it may be enough to calm my liver....which would be good.

[Griffen]

Hi jem: I'd advise against "testing out carbs" to make your BG settle. BGs go up the more carbs you put in. It's best just to not eat the carbs if at all possible, in my experience.

Yesterday my high was 115 after dinner and 85 before it, for an average of 103. I don't like seeing numbers even in the 100-teens anymore, but that 85 was worth it. I think I ate too much at dinner, though. And speaking of dinner, it used to not be too much, but now it is. I'm going to have to start taking part of my salad and entree' home when I have the three-meat fajitas. Lunch was just a three-ounce block of cheese and a couple ounces of macadamia nuts; I didn't have breakfast because I wasn't hungry.

Exercise? No, yesterday was a rest day, and after Monday's strenuous exertion, well-deserved, I think.

Lots of water, as usual.

I don't really have much else to report. (I know, so boring, right? Sorry.)

[terrilee317]

Hi,
I'm a new kid on the block. I am 57, about 100# overweight, and have
been diagnosed with type 2 three years ago. Insulin resistance is getting
much worse. Long actings do not work on me. Trying to control with Humalog. Seems like ANY carb intake now raises blood sugar. I am getting desperate. My husband is a total sugar addict and always has cookies, breads, etc. around the house. Kicking the carbs is harder than quitting smoking!

[Griffen]

Originally Posted by terrilee317

Hi,
I'm a new kid on the block. I am 57, about 100# overweight, and have
been diagnosed with type 2 three years ago. Insulin resistance is getting
much worse. Long actings do not work on me. Trying to control with Humalog. Seems like ANY carb intake now raises blood sugar. I am getting desperate. My husband is a total sugar addict and always has cookies, breads, etc. around the house. Kicking the carbs is harder than quitting smoking!

Hi Terrilee,

This is actually a personal journal thread (my journal). You're free to make your own, of course! If you want to post general updates, there's a sticky thread at the top of the forum. Or just start your own thread and title it something that's applicable to you.

As far as your situation - stop eating bread and carbs, and tell your husband to cut it out too. He's headed for diabetes himself if he's not already there. As far as kicking carbs, yes, it's hard, but you can do it - everyone here has, and is better off for doing so.

I wish you the best of luck!

[Griffen]

My morning average is starting to rise again, drat it (it's in the 100-teens and has been for the last few days) but I've had a reading in the mid-80s before dinner every day and that's averaged me out to about 106 yesterday. That's not bad. My high was 116 when I woke up, and my low was 86.

I got my exercise walking around campus - not a lot of it, but I did get some exercise. I fell down on water consumption yesterday, though. I have to remember to drink more water than I'm drinking.

I had no breakfast yesterday; lunch was a plain hamburger patty with cheese (all I could get from the school commons) and a couple of slices of tomato; dinner was steak, chicken and salad. And yesterday I was really, really tired before dinner. Go figure.

Net carbs yesterday: 9g. Amazing.

My waist and chest have both dropped another inch - my waist is at 53 now. This boggles my mind. Today I've already worked out. I have a two-hour workshop to attend on campus at noon, we have to run errands and do laundry this afternoon, and I already know what dinner's going to be tonight, so on the whole, I'm doing pretty well, thanks.

ETA: Or better than "pretty well." I just stepped on the scale after my shower. I'm at 339!

[hpjrt]

Congratulations on the weight and inches loss Griffen! You are an inspiration to me! Thanks for your continued posting on this "blog".

[jem51]

wow! you just swept right by that mini goal. congratulations!

[Griffen]

Thanks Jem and hpjrt!

Sorry that I haven't been keeping up here - things have been a little busy.

My average yesterday was 107, and would have been better except that my post-dinner sugar was 117. *sigh* I know I can't be perfect, but it annoys me to see numbers above 110 anymore.

I didn't eat breakfast; my lunch was a chicken caesar salad that left me hungry (probably not enough fat), so I had a snack of raspberries and macadamia nuts. I was still vaguely hungry most of the day. Dinner was a ground beef curry masala with cauliflower rice - that finally stopped the hunger, but then I had that 117 spike after. *growl*

I didn't exercise yesterday as such, and I'm not exercising today, either. Tomorrow I'll be getting plenty of exercise walking all over campus and, frankly, I need a rest.

Once again I fell down on water consumption. I've got to get that back up, especially in this dry fall weather. It's not good for me to get dehydrated.

Net carbs yesterday: 25. Way too many. *wince*

[Griffen]

My average yesterday was 104, and the day before that it was 96. I'm pretty pleased with these numbers, as you could probably guess. My high was 113 before lunch and my low was 88 (!) before dinner. Net carbs yesterday: 20. No breakfast, as usual, but I had a chicken caesar salad for lunch and a large dinner salad with blue cheese dressing and a few buffalo wings for dinner. I don't think I'll need the protein platter at Islands anymore; five buffalo wings and a big salad was more than enough food.

I've been getting enough exercise just by walking all over campus, and a new development has me very excited: my balance is getting better. I used to go down a flight of stairs by grabbing onto the handrail with my right hand, putting my left foot down one riser, and then bringing my right foot down next to it. Alternating feet on alternating risers was beyond me for a long time. But this week I've started being able to do it - although I'm still keeping my hand on the handrail. I dream of someday being able to go down a flight of stairs with no hesitation and no handrail at all. Next goal: to be able to go UP a flight of stairs with steep risers while being able to alternate feet on each riser. I haven't quite reached that point yet.

I haven't been updating here for the past few days because my life got incredibly busy all of a sudden, but I'm pleased to report that my blood sugars have been totally stable (my average for the past week is 102) and my morning sugars have all been below 110 every morning this week. I like this trend, and hope it continues.

According to the A1c calculator on Glucose Buddy, I should have an A1c in the 5.5 range when I get my lipid panels and other things done two weeks from today at my doctor's appointment. The BGV2.xls spreadsheet is a little more conservative and predicts 5.99. We'll see. I can hope, and in any case both of those numbers are below 6.0, so... I'm also hoping for a stellar lipid panel, and I'm going to ask him to make sure they do direct measurement of LDL and also a free insulin test. Any others I should ask for besides A1c, lipid panel, direct measuring of LDL and free insulin? Let me know if you know of one that should be done. And I am antsy to find out what my blood pressure is. Last time it was measured it was 130-something over 80-something. I'd like to see that go down, thanks.

My smallest pair of jeans is loose on me. This rocks. I was able to tilt the steering wheel down a bit the other day. This also rocks. Everyone I know is noticing that I'm in a better mood all the time and that I'm disappearing before their eyes. This rocks, too.

Basically, my life is rocking like a rocking thing this week.

[BillB]

You rock.
You rule.

I love coming online to read your journal / journey.

I looked a little into the research...I think the smart money says there are problems with A1c above 5.4. (Increased risk of heart attack). I want to see my A1c at 5.0, which is lower than my doc wants. I know you are striving for numbers in the true normal range. My A1c is down to 5.8 since 9.9 in August. And your daily numbers are way better than mine ever have been. I know for sure if I can do it, you can too. I bet your A1c is below 5.5 already.



--bill

[Griffen]

Bill: Aw, thanks.

I want to see my A1c below 5, but since I started at 8 in 08/07 (which means mine was probably much higher when I started low-carbing in 08/09; 08/07's the last time an A1c was done on me that I know of), any downward trend is good.

And speaking of downward trends... My average today was 94.

Let me say that again. My average today was 94.

My high was 107 and my low was 84.

This? Rocks.

I had cheese for lunch - about six ounces of Monterey Jack - and beef stroganoff (no pasta) and salad for dinner. My post-dinner sugar was 99. I'm so jazzed.

No exercise today - I had meetings all day today and I'm pretty wiped out from them.

Not enough water, but that's okay. I'm not feeling any lack of water.

I haven't weighed or measured today and I'm going to wait a few days to do that.

All in all, good day today.

[Marvin]

I agree with Bill. You rock and rule!

Very happy to hear your successes because we are somewhat parallel in weight, BG#s, etc., though you are a little lower on both. I've seen a very nice drop in each of these numbers this past week. It's exciting!

[Griffen]

The trendline is going back up again. I suppose this is normal. (The reason I say it's going up again is because my morning sugar was back up in the 100-teens this morning; disappointing.) In any case, I had a new low yesterday - 82 before dinner - and my high was only 108 in the morning, for a great average of 97.

No breakfast yesterday. I just don't seem to have an appetite in the mornings anymore, despite being hungry. Lunch was another chicken caesar salad (no croutons) and dinner was a few buffalo wings and a huge salad with blue cheese dressing.

I haven't been drinking enough water, mainly because the water at school tastes horrid and in the mornings I forget to fill my water bottle. I'm trying to correct that now.

Exercise? Yeah, walking all over campus yesterday. Man, was I stiff and sore this morning.

I won't be weighing or measuring until Monday, but my pants are still loose, so that's something, right?

[Griffen]

Unbelievable. My average yesterday was 87.

That's just... that's amazing.

I had a low of 74 before dinner. Equally amazing.

And I didn't feel the slightest bit shaky, hungry, or tired.

I'm taking this as a gift, folks. And yes, I tested my glucometer with the calibration solution to make sure it wasn't just a dying battery or anything like that causing these low readings.

No exercise yesterday; we had the kids here and that was enough! Adequate water yesterday, which is good. Net carbs yesterday: 14g.

I'm hoping today will be similar to yesterday. Wouldn't it be great if I've finally truly normalized my blood sugar response? We'll see when I test after lunch (in about a half hour), but for right now I'm very pleased with yesterday's results.

[BillB]

Originally Posted by Griffen

Unbelievable. My average yesterday was 87.

That's just... that's amazing.

So happy for you!

My numbers were up to 140s all day, with absolutely no explanation . I tested a little while ago and got a 186 , hours after eating...I freaked out a little bit, retested immediately and got 133. I am unhappy about an upward trend of my numbers over the last couple weeks, and I am wondering if the different brand of Metformin I recently got might be a problem.

--bill

[Griffen]

Bill - I'm sorry to hear about the rise in your sugars. Have you talked to your doc about it? What kind of carb levels are you allowing yourself?

I'm still in the under-100 crowd, folks. My average yesterday was 96 (high of 106, low of 86). I'm so jazzed about this!

Also, my glucose tracking program had these fun tidbits for me:

1. My average blood sugar for the last week has been 96.
2. My total reduction in average blood sugars since August has been 19.8%.

That's so awesome. I'm blown away. A1c of 5%, here I come!

I had adequate water yesterday, lunch and dinner only (lunch was a steak salad with blue cheese dressing; dinner was a lot of little nibbles - cheese, nuts, a veggie frittata, more cheese) - net carbs, 18g. No exercise - yesterday was a rest day. I need to investigate the school weight room and see if I'm brave enough to start going there.

I weighed and measured this morning. My measurements are steady (well, I lost an inch in my chest) but my weight's down to 335. That's about a 15.5% loss of my total body weight, and I'm 35% of the way to my goal weight. I am jazzed about this.

I'll be getting exercise today - it's my walk-all-over-campus day - and I promise to do my best to drink enough water. I'm also teaching today, so I'll be up and down and all over the classroom today too.

I'm very pleased with my progress.

[maxell]

Hi Griffin. Congrats on your tight BG control. I wish I had your numbers.

What does your "average" BG consist of? That is, how many times are you testing per day? The average will invariably be influenced by whether you're counting premeal and 1 (or 2) post-prandial numbers, and/or upon waking or at bedtime.

If we truly want a "continuously-calculated" BG throughout the day, then we should perhaps multiply the 1h & 2h postprandial numbers by 1/3, and the premeal/morning/bedtime numbers by 2/3. That way, the average will be some kind of "weighted average" and will more accurately predict the HbA1c number. Simply averaging the premeal and PP #s inflates the daily average since we're postprandial for at most 6 hours per day. What do you think?

[Griffen]

Hi Maxell. It's Griffen, with an e.

My average BGs have been running in the 90s for the last five days and the very low 100s for the past several weeks. I'm testing when I get up in the morning, before and two hours after every meal. Generally this means five to seven tests per day, depending on whether I eat breakfast or not.

I'd rather just use the numbers my doctor told me to go by than try to monkey with them. I don't feel a need to accurately predict my A1c. As long as I'm in the ballpark, I'm fine with that. And hey, if my daily numbers are "inflated," then my A1c will be better, not worse, and that'd always be a welcome surprise, wouldn't it?

[BillB]

Your A1c is gonna be amazing. I can't wait to hear about it.

--bill

[chiody]

Originally Posted by BillB

Your A1c is gonna be amazing. I can't wait to hear about it.

--bill

Shall we venture to guess his upcoming A1C results? Griffen, would you mind?

[Neil47]

Originally Posted by Griffen

High: 120 (after exercise)
Low: 90 (before dinner)
Average for the day: 104, my lowest yet. And all my numbers after lunch were in the 90s.

What was great about today was that I easily stayed below 20 carbs (13 net) and I haven't felt deprived at all. I had a huge dinner, almost all protein, and showed almost no bump in my sugars at all. Also, I'm down to 371 - that's a 26-pound loss - and my waist has dropped 9 inches since I started this. All of this is great. The numbers may indicate that my pancreas is starting to rally and/or that my cells are finally beginning to lose their insulin resistance.

Meals and activity today:

Breakfast: My usual cinnamon-parmesan 3-egg omelette and two strips of bacon.

Snack: Six thin slices of pepperoni (I know, I know, but no carbs!)

Dinner: Huge. We went to Hometown Buffet and I had a steak, about twelve ounces of fajita beef and onions, two pieces of roast chicken, and a salad of spinach, salad mix, cucumbers and blue cheese dressing. Oy, was I full - but my sugars only went from 90 to 95.

Nighttime snack: Two fried cheese wheels.

All meals had either a tablespoon of coconut oil, or four capsules of coconut oil (dinner).

To drink: Water, water, water.

Activity: 20 minutes aerobic dance, incorporating some bodyweight exercises.

good for you, keep it up, wish type one could be gone with diet.

[Griffen]

*laugh* No offense, Neil, but you're quoting my post from two months ago or so. Sorry to hear you're type 1. That's rough.

chiody: Oh, why not? Just don't blame me if you're wrong!

BillB: Thanks, man. From your keyboard to the ears of the Great Perhaps....

My average yesterday was 99 and my average today was 98. That's an entire week with daily averages under 100. WOOT!

I think I'm finally beating this thing!

I'm not going to go into a rundown of what I'm eating, but my net carbs have been around 10g for two days now. And according to my glucose tracking program, I am now 20% down from where I was in August. I have reduced my blood sugars by 20% from my starting point! My last two weeks average was 99.

I'm winning this fight, folks!

[BillB]

Originally Posted by Griffen

And according to my glucose tracking program, I am now 20% down from where I was in August. I have reduced my blood sugars by 20% from my starting point! My last two weeks average was 99.

I'm winning this fight, folks!

Yes, you are winning...and it's awesome.

I hadn't thought about it in these terms before, but I have cut my blood glucose levels more than 50% since August. Even though I am not happy with where I am (yet), it is pretty good progress. My doc was perfectly happy with my numbers at my Oct visit, and seemed shocked that I wanted lower numbers. "Normal for a diabetic" is not good enough for good health, IMHO.

Chiody, since we're speculating on Griffen's A1c, I will place my chips on 5.2.

Anyway, I hope it's OK that we are sort of barging in on your thread. I have been following your journey ever since you started and have been very inspired and excited by your success.

--bill

[Griffen]

I'm tickled that you're barging in on my thread, Bill. Don't worry about it at all!

My average yesterday was exactly 100. That's still perfectly acceptable, although I hope to push it back down over the next few days.

I finally got enough sleep! I went to bed at midnight and was able to go back to sleep after waking up at 7. I slept for about nine hours, which was frankly great.

I'll be getting a little exercise today - walking around campus - but I think I need to do another session with the Pay it Forward DVD. I've been getting out of practice with the "lifting things", and that may be the reason for the upward drift in my sugars. I'm not going to let myself pretend I'm not a diabetic just because my sugars are more or less normal now; I'm going to keep pushing for that 83 average.

My weight is not moving, which is irritating me, but my goal wasn't to lose weight. It was to get my sugars normalized. If I have to stay at 335 forever, I'll be okay with that as long as my sugars stay normal. Of course, I have hope that this is just a stall and that I'll get out of it soon. Jimmy Moore (at livinlavidalowcarb.com) did, after all - he had a stall of 10 weeks but still lost 180 pounds in a single year just going low-carb. But I'm not going to hang my entire identity on dropping more weight.

So that's where I am today. Morning, folks.

[chiody]

Originally Posted by BillB

Yes, you are winning...and it's awesome.

I hadn't thought about it in these terms before, but I have cut my blood glucose levels more than 50% since August. Even though I am not happy with where I am (yet), it is pretty good progress. My doc was perfectly happy with my numbers at my Oct visit, and seemed shocked that I wanted lower numbers. "Normal for a diabetic" is not good enough for good health, IMHO.

Chiody, since we're speculating on Griffen's A1c, I will place my chips on 5.2.

Anyway, I hope it's OK that we are sort of barging in on your thread. I have been following your journey ever since you started and have been very inspired and excited by your success.

--bill

Bill, Griffen,

I'm going to guess "below" 5.2. But anything in the "5's" is spectacular IMHO!!!!!