Poll for People with Diabetes about Weight Loss

[Blood Sugar 101]

If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, I'd really appreciate it if you would answer the following questions:

1. Did you lose weight intentionally after your diabetes diagnosis?

2. How much did you lose? What percentage of your starting weight was this?

3. How did you lose it?

4. Did you keep the weight off 1 and 5 years after you lost it? If so, how?

5. Did the weight loss make a difference in your blood sugars in terms of changing how much carbohydrate you could eat without spikes?

[Blood Sugar 101]

Originally Posted by Blood Sugar 101

If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, I'd really appreciate it if you would answer the following questions:

1. Did you lose weight intentionally after your diabetes diagnosis?

2. How much did you lose? What percentage of your starting weight was this?


3. How did you lose it?

4. Did you keep the weight off 1 and 5 years after you lost it? If so, how?

5. Did the weight loss make a difference in your blood sugars in terms of changing how much carbohydrate you could eat without spikes?

Here are my own answers.


1. Did you lose weight intentionally after your diabetes diagnosis?

Yes.

2. How much did you lose? What percentage of your starting weight was this?


33 lbs. Maintained at 28 lbs lost. 17% of starting weight.

3. How did you lose it?

Low carb with food logging, careful calorie counting and Diovan.

4. Did you keep the weight off 1 and 5 years after you lost it? If so, how?

Yes, 6 years. Tune up diets to lose 2 or 3 pounds every year.

5. Did the weight loss make a difference in your blood sugars in terms of changing how much carbohydrate you could eat without spikes?

Not a bit.

[BrianSCohen]

Originally Posted by Blood Sugar 101

1. Did you lose weight intentionally after your diabetes diagnosis?

Yes, at the recommendation of my doctor and the CDE I sought to reduce my weight and decrease my BMI.

Originally Posted by Blood Sugar 101

2. How much did you lose? What percentage of your starting weight was this?

I lost 20 lbs, dropping from 205 to 185. That is about a 10% loss.

Originally Posted by Blood Sugar 101

3. How did you lose it?

I used a ADA style carb counting diet (100-150g carbs /day) with slight calorie restriction.

Originally Posted by Blood Sugar 101

4. Did you keep the weight off 1 and 5 years after you lost it? If so, how?

No. In fact I decided that I wanted to increase my muscle mass and reduce my body fat %. My total body fat is now lower than when I weighed 185, but I now weight 204.

Originally Posted by Blood Sugar 101

5. Did the weight loss make a difference in your blood sugars in terms of changing how much carbohydrate you could eat without spikes?

When I achieved 185, I was still unable to reach my blood sugar targets and was only able to achieve those targets when I reduced my carb levels down further. My biggest problem seems to be fasting levels, not postprandial.

[SusyQz]

1. Did you lose weight intentionally after your diabetes diagnosis?
YES

2. How much did you lose? What percentage of your starting weight was this?
55 LBS...FROM 313 LBS

3. How did you lose it? STOPPED SODA, SUGAR LADEN FOODS SUCH AS SWEETENED CEREALS, TREATS, TORTILLAS, RICE..

4. Did you keep the weight off 1 and 5 years after you lost it? If so, how?
I'VE GAINED 9 LBS BACK. ITS BEEN 2 YRS

5. Did the weight loss make a difference in your blood sugars in terms of changing how much carbohydrate you could eat without spikes?
I MONITORED EVERYTHING I ATE CONSTANTLY UNTIL I FELT COMFORTABLE KNOWING HOW MUCH OF A CERTAIN FOOD SPIKED MY SUGAR. I STILL SUFFER FROM HIGH NUMBERS IN THE A/M 115-124 USUALLY.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[shespeaks]

1. Did you lose weight intentionally after your diabetes diagnosis?
I went back to Atkins intentionally on the advice of my doctor, to get my BG under control quickly. The weight loss has been secondary, but after the initial shock wore off it has been a goal.

2. How much did you lose? What percentage of your starting weight was this?
About 45lbs to date, almost 24%

3. How did you lose it?
Low carb (10-30g per day), strict calorie control

4. Did you keep the weight off 1 and 5 years after you lost it? If so, how?
I'm a little under two years post-dx and had about a six-month knee-jerk binge in the middle there, so it's tough to say.

5. Did the weight loss make a difference in your blood sugars in terms of changing how much carbohydrate you could eat without spikes?
No. My averages are lower but my spikes are as high and last just as long, even with medication (Metformin added several months in).

[pooticus]

1. Did you lose weight intentionally after your diabetes diagnosis?

Yes.

2. How much did you lose? What percentage of your starting weight was this?


55 lbs. Maintained at 32 lbs lost. 10% of starting weight.

3. How did you lose it?

Very low calorie diet (700-1100cals/day, low fat 25-30%), working with a nutritionist and endocrinologists, food logging, careful calorie counting, dropping Advair, replacing Diovan with Cozaar.

4. Did you keep the weight off 1 and 5 years after you lost it? If so, how?

Yes, 1 year, 3 months. Have switched diets from very low calorie to very low carb 5-20g whole non-netted carbs per day.

5. Did the weight loss make a difference in your blood sugars in terms of changing how much carbohydrate you could eat without spikes?

Not a bit. In fact my blood sugars are lower now that I dropped the nutritionist diet that included "healthy, whole grains, and healthy root veggies and fruits" even though I have regained more than 20lbs. :-/ I continue to struggle to lose every pound. All I would have to do is eat a whole piece of fruit or a meal over 15g of whole carbs and I will spike my blood sugar!!!!

[BABSY]

1. Did you lose weight intentionally after your diabetes diagnosis?

yes, I lost weight taking metformin and following the zone diet.

2. How much did you lose? What percentage of your starting weight was this?
I started out at about 236. I got down to 165.

3. How did you lose it?
I followed zone got down to 165, then did atkins and then Banta and got down to 149. Blood sugar was in the 90's at appt with endo and she freaked.

4. Did you keep the weight off 1 and 5 years after you lost it? If so, how?
Blood sugar started creeping up for some reason.

5. Did the weight loss make a difference in your blood sugars in terms of changing how much carbohydrate you could eat without spikes?
no

[BABSY]

oh and after starting glipizide and then lantus I gained up to 183

[goheels]

1. Did you lose weight intentionally after your diabetes diagnosis?
Yes

2. How much did you lose? What percentage of your starting weight was this?
So far, 13 months post diagnosis, 50 lbs, approx. 20%.

3. How did you lose it?
From day 1, switched to low carb, low glycemic index way of eating, and exercise, I try to exercise every day.

4. Did you keep the weight off 1 and 5 years after you lost it? If so, how?
I plan on eating this way the rest of my life

5. Did the weight loss make a difference in your blood sugars in terms of changing how much carbohydrate you could eat without spikes?
I try not to eat anything with enough carbs to cause a spike.

[Blood Sugar 101]

One clarification, I'm really interested in knowing whether people with diabetes have been able to maintain for a significant period, rather than if they hope to maintain.

My impression has always been that people who do the diet for blood sugar control have a much better track record for maintaining than people who diet for weight loss alone, but that is just an impression, which is why I am asking people to report their long term experience.

[shespeaks]

Meanwhile, I'm rather surprised to see how little reducing weight seems to help people with BG control...

[Blood Sugar 101]

Shespeaks,

This is one of those things that the online diabetes community knows all about that doctors don't.

It is heartbreaking the way doctors tell people, "If you could only lose 10 pounds your blood sugar would be better' or that if they lost more weight they wouldn't be diabetic.

It simply is NOT true. In fact, most of us lose blood sugar control BEFORE we become heavy. I documented the research that shows this on my Blood Sugar 101 site

Diabetes requires an underlying genetic malfunction, otherwise people can become hugely obese and only have mildly elevated blood sugars.

[Blood Sugar 101]

The results of my poll about the impact of weight loss on diabetes are posted here: Type 2 Diabetes Diet Poll Results.

I combined the 7 responses I received here with the 44 that were posted directly to my blog.

People achieved weight loss using a very wide range of diets of all kinds. Most people maintain with either some form of carb restriction (most) or intense exercise and portion control.

A significant number of people regained weight after losing, but many appear to have been able to stabilize at a weight that represents a loss of 20% of their starting weight.

The median time of maintenance was 2 years, which is a bit shorter than I'd like to see.

Very few of these people stabilized at goal, which says to me that you will do a LOT better to shoot for the attainable 20% loss, rather than the much bigger loss that poses a maintenance challenge.

Even more significant, those people who reported maintaining their weight loss for 5+ years, for whom there was data from which to compute the percentage loss they maintained mostly maintained a weight loss that was 20 plus-or-minus 3 lbs of their starting weight.

[micatee]

Originally Posted by Blood Sugar 101

If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, I'd really appreciate it if you would answer the following questions:

1. Did you lose weight intentionally after your diabetes diagnosis?

2. How much did you lose? What percentage of your starting weight was this?

3. How did you lose it?

4. Did you keep the weight off 1 and 5 years after you lost it? If so, how?

5. Did the weight loss make a difference in your blood sugars in terms of changing how much carbohydrate you could eat without spikes?

I was diabetic for 2 years before I decided to lose weight.

Right now I lost 45lbs with 25 more to goal

I lost the 45lbs on a medically supervised Protein Sparing Modified Fast............the next 25lbs are coming off by low carbing.


Don't know but so far I have been stalled but maintaining my weight.

Weight loss made a HUGE difference with blood sugar, in fact my doctor took me off of diabetic meds. I check my sugar now once a week instead of 3 times a day and it has been consistently in the low 90's

[JBo]

Originally Posted by Blood Sugar 101

If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, I'd really appreciate it if you would answer the following questions:

1. Did you lose weight intentionally after your diabetes diagnosis?

2. How much did you lose? What percentage of your starting weight was this?

3. How did you lose it?

4. Did you keep the weight off 1 and 5 years after you lost it? If so, how?

5. Did the weight loss make a difference in your blood sugars in terms of changing how much carbohydrate you could eat without spikes?

1))I was told to lose weight by my doctor. I was to follow a Mederteranian type diet. My high weight was 230, and i did lose 20 pounds before I was diagnosed, unintentionally.

2) I've lost 50 pounds which is 22 percent of my starting weight if my old math is correct

3)I lost the weight on a low carb diet

4) The weight has been off for three years now.

5) I still am carb sensitive and stick to a VLC diet. I do not need meds with this diet and I have never felt better.

[melehundele]

Originally Posted by Blood Sugar 101

If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, I'd really appreciate it if you would answer the following questions:

1. Did you lose weight intentionally after your diabetes diagnosis?

I am here to skew your statistics

In fact, I gained weight after diagnosis, despite following the ADA plan, counting calories, and exercising. I gained about 23 pounds. It could have been in part from some of the medications (like Actos).

2. How much did you lose? What percentage of your starting weight was this?

I went up from 225 to 248, about a 10% increase.

3. How did you lose it?

If only! I ditched the ADA plan, started taking insulin instead of orals (except metformin), tried LC starting in February of '08, and lost almost 20 lbs before stalling for a couple months.

Then life intervened, and all the weight and a couple more pounds came back (hence, restart, 12/08).

However, part of life's intervention was the removal of my thyroid. Now despite low-carbing, I cannot get the scale to go under 241, even with an increase in my thyroid replacement meds. This is a total bummer and I hope it is temporary.

4. Did you keep the weight off 1 and 5 years after you lost it? If so, how?

NA, sadly

?

5. Did the weight loss make a difference in your blood sugars in terms of changing how much carbohydrate you could eat without spikes?

I did not notice any change. In the time I was losing, I did not challenge my system with carbs.

[Blood Sugar 101]

Originally Posted by micatee

I was diabetic for 2 years before I decided to lose weight.
Weight loss made a HUGE difference with blood sugar, in fact my doctor took me off of diabetic meds. I check my sugar now once a week instead of 3 times a day and it has been consistently in the low 90's

Important point: your blood sugars will be great WHILE you are low carbing. We all know that.

But as soon as you stop, they will probably be just what they were before you lost weight. That's the point that many doctors don't understand. Weight loss does not improve blood sugar control. Cutting carbs, and keeping them cut improves blood sugar control.

Very different thing.

[melehundele]

Originally Posted by Blood Sugar 101

Weight loss does not improve blood sugar control.

But doesn't it, at least indirectly, by reducing insulin resistance?

[shespeaks]

Originally Posted by melehundele

But doesn't it, at least indirectly, by reducing insulin resistance?

It sure hasn't for me. I'll get the same spike from a bag of fries that I had when I was first diagnosed. My starting number is lower so the resulting spike looks better, but that's about it.

[melehundele]

Originally Posted by shespeaks

It sure hasn't for me. I'll get the same spike from a bag of fries that I had when I was first diagnosed. My starting number is lower so the resulting spike looks better, but that's about it.

Fries??? Eegads!

I think of "control" as being relevant to fasting and controlling spikes. Why is your "starting number" (fasting number? or?) lower?

[pegbord]

I'm curious about the impact of exercise as well as dietary fasting on blood sugars for those that have been diagnosed as diabetic or even prediabetic

[shespeaks]

Originally Posted by melehundele

Fries??? Eegads!

I think of "control" as being relevant to fasting and controlling spikes. Why is your "starting number" (fasting number? or?) lower?

Because I never eat fries.

When my pre-prandial BG was 200, popping up to 320 over a doughnut seemed pretty huge.

Today, because of my daily VLC diet, my pre-prandial number might be 70. That same doughnut would raise my BG the same 120 pts, but we don't fret as much because the total is only 190, not 320.

My body's response to the doughnut hasn't changed. Only its resting state has, and that only because of my diet, not because of my weight. I know because I can still work my fasting number up a good 50 pts. if I take a weekend "off" (I don't make a practice of this, but I'm definitely not perfect).

[melehundele]

Got it

[floridagirl6]

If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, I'd really appreciate it if you would answer the following questions:

1. Did you lose weight intentionally after your diabetes diagnosis? Yes

2. How much did you lose? What percentage of your starting weight was this? Lost 50 pounds - started at 200 got down to 150

3. How did you lose it? Protein Power on advice of Dr. - Keeping a food journal - exercising

4. Did you keep the weight off 1 and 5 years after you lost it? If so, how? Nope - gained it all back. Am losing again - now at about 166

5. Did the weight loss make a difference in your blood sugars in terms of changing how much carbohydrate you could eat without spikes? No If I eat carbs my blood sugar spikes

[Blood Sugar 101]

Normal people can eat french fries without spiking for longer than maybe half an hour and the spike does not go over 160 mg/dl (8.9 mmol/L). That's what normal looks like.
I have family members who are normal and they will be at 90 mg/dl when tested 1 hour after eating dessert on Thanksgiving. My 92 year old mom's fasting blood sugar is 83 and she has eaten a high carb diet all her life.

And it is VERY important to understand that for a normal person there is NO problem in eating carbs. They get fat if they over do the calories, not the carbs. And when they gain weight, it may be in the thighs and butt, not the tummy, which is a healthier pattern of fat deposition.

So when I think of a "cure" or "reversal" I'm thinking of something that would let me be a normal person and eat normally.

It is partly because the Low Carb community does not understand that there are normal people and that cutting carbs does NOTHING for them, that we have such a hard time convincing normal people that the LC diet has benefits for us.

[Maeve]

Originally Posted by Blood Sugar 101

If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, I'd really appreciate it if you would answer the following questions:

1. Did you lose weight intentionally after your diabetes diagnosis? Yes

2. How much did you lose? What percentage of your starting weight was this? About 33 lbs. About 15%.

3. How did you lose it? By counting calories and exercising; lost the last 7 by lowcarbing (despite being stalled for ages).

4. Did you keep the weight off 1 and 5 years after you lost it? If so, how? Yes, by continuing to exercise. Once I stopped, I gained back 10-12 pounds (but I had very difficult circumstances). My sugar, however, was 90 in October of this past year. When I first got diagnosed borderline diabetic, it was 108.

5. Did the weight loss make a difference in your blood sugars in terms of changing how much carbohydrate you could eat without spikes?

I don't know because luckily for me, I never had to check it. I was so scared with the borderline diagnosis that I went out and shopped around for a gym, and hit it 5 days a week. Cardio for 5, weights for 3.

We went through a 7-8 month period of unemployment and I ate whatever I could, including white hotdog buns with hotdogs and fresh vegetables out of my garden. I was shocked when my sugar was so good (as was everything else) at the doctor. I was scared to death when he came in with my blood results because I knew the path I had been walking and couldn't help it (and please, no flames here because if you haven't lived it, you don't know what it's like).

I am back at the gym now, for two months, and have been lowcarbing. My scale is still staying around 202 and I don't know what the deal is but I know I am keeping healthy. Oh, and by the way, my doctor actually recommended Atkins to me

[belfrybat]

1. Did you lose weight intentionally after your diabetes diagnosis?
Yes
2. How much did you lose? What percentage of your starting weight was this?
55 lbs. 25%
3. How did you lose it?
Protein Power/ Bernstein "diets"
4. Did you keep the weight off 1 and 5 years after you lost it? If so, how?
only at 1 month mark -- keeping it off by carb restriction
5. Did the weight loss make a difference in your blood sugars in terms of changing how much carbohydrate you could eat without spikes?
A little, but not as much as I'd hoped--still have to stay under 50 ECC

[black jade]

Originally Posted by Blood Sugar 101

If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, I'd really appreciate it if you would answer the following questions:

1. Did you lose weight intentionally after your diabetes diagnosis?

Yes.

2. How much did you lose? What percentage of your starting weight was this?

I was diagnosed in 2001. I weighed about 175 lbs then. I'm 5 ft 3. I was 44 years old. I lost 20 lbs after first six months of following the diet for diabetes they gave me at the hospital wellness center. Then I started walking several times a week and lost 10. In 2008, I changed my diet again to address high cholesterol and upped my exercise. I lost 10 more pounds. So all together, I lost 40 lbs over 8 years and went from 175 to 135 lbs since my diagnosis.

3. How did you lose it?

I followed the diet they gave me at the wellness center. I knew I didn't have that much self-control to follow it on my own, so I went back to the Overeaters Anonymous Group in my area which I had belonged to previously. I knew I could get a sponsor and a lot of support there, which I did.

I weighed and measured all my food so that I didn't cheat on portion sizes and followed exactly what that book they gave me said. If it wasn't in the diabetic food plan, I didn't eat it. I gave up cake and started eating fruit and whole grains instead.

I also began exercising seriously. At first I just walked but now I also bike and do aerobic classes at the gym. I also have been learning to swim and play golf and have just got much more active.

4. Did you keep the weight off 1 and 5 years after you lost it? If so, how?

Yes, it's 8 years later and I weigh even less than when I first went on the diet.

5. Did the weight loss make a difference in your blood sugars in terms of changing how much carbohydrate you could eat without spikes?

I don't know what you mean by this question. It sounds as if you are asking if once I lost weight, I could eat the bad way I used to eat before again without getting the same (bad) results. I didn't even try to eat more carbohydrate than the book told me I could have in terms of servings; why would I?

I began to eat the way they told me to in the nutrition session and in the book they gave me and I lost a lot of weight. And my doctor told me that I would not have to take diabetes medication because just from following the diet, my blood sugar was under control. So of course I kept eating the same (new) way. I never had any spikes in blood sugar levels (I used to test myself daily with the needle in my arm) and my A1C levels were always very good when I went to the dr. every 6 months or so.

This year, after I lost the final 10 lbs, the dr. told me that I could call myself 'hypoglycemic' now instead of diabetic, which means mostly that I don't have to always stick myself in the arm every day anymore. But I still eat exactly the same way, following the diabetic diet and also I still exercise. If I start to eat cake again, I know my blood sugar would get out of control and my health would get bad very soon. I'm 52 and at this age, your health can really get bad soon if you don't pay a lot of attention.

I have a lot of diabetes in my family on both sides; my grandmother had it, my mother has it , several aunts have it. A lot of my family is very overweight. My mother weighs 300+ pounds and my brother weighs maybe 400 (but he's very tall, 6 ft. 7). I went to see my family this past Christmas and I was the only one there who was normal weight--and the only one who didn't keep drinking soda and snacking through the whole weekend and eating seconds and thirds of all kinds of things that you're not supposed to eat. I love my family and they are great people and fun to be around, but I don't want to have their health problems. I want my example to be my grandmother, who had diabetes and followed the diet and whose weight was in control and who died when she was 87 from something else than diabetes complications.

I thank God for my good health in spite of this disease and I also thank God for my Overeaters Anonymous program--they are all over the country and anybody can join and they do not charge you any money to belong, it's a self-help group like AA.

[black jade]

The diet I follow(since 8 years ago) is in the Official Pocket Guide to Diabetic Exchanges, put out by the American Diabetes Association.

I eat 45 g carbs at each meal for breakfast lunch and dinner.

I get three snacks of 15g carbs each, one after breakfast, one after lunch and one after dinner (2 hours after).

I have to eat 2 1/2 cups fruit or vegetable a day (included in carbs) and keep fats to under 40g a day.

I think this is the standard diabetic diet--would you all count this as being low carb?

I measure all my servings when I'm at home, which is mostly where I eat.

I'm supposed to get 150 minutes exercise a week--to be truthful, I usually get around 120.

I don't know if this is a chicken or egg thing. When I started eating like this, my numbers got good AND my weight kept dropping. So I don't know that I would say that my diabetes was under control (and now called hypoglycemia, since last December, yay!) because I lost weight or because I was eating the amount of carbs they said. I don't know if this would count as a low carb diet or not. My impression was that it's the standard diabetes diet.

My doctor never said anything about losing weight at all--he just said eat like this, and exercise and see if it helps. And it did.

the exchanges include doughnuts and fries but I found out pretty soon that when I chose to eat doughnuts and fries (there's a page called 'other carbohydrates with these kinds of things on it), I could eat only such a little serving that I was still hungry and had no more carbs left for a real meal. So I gave them up. It's not just 'bad' things that did this--i also gave up fruit juice for the same reason and went to drinking water. since I only get a certain amount of carbs, I have to eat things that satisfy, like whole grain bread and brown rice.

I can't imagine that you could follow the diet in that book and not have some weight drop off--probably some of us lose more than others according to bone structure (I'm pretty small boned--though you couldn't tell that I am when I was overweight--they always say to measure your wrists, but my wrists were bigger than they are now). Anyway, it all seems like a moot point; I haven't been worrying about the exact reason my health has gotten better, I'm just glad that it HAS.

I do know that the dr. warned me strongly against doing a NO carb diet--he said that if I tried that, I'd die.

[BrianSCohen]

Originally Posted by black jade

The diet I follow(since 8 years ago) is in the Official Pocket Guide to Diabetic Exchanges, put out by the American Diabetes Association.

I eat 45 g carbs at each meal for breakfast lunch and dinner.

I get three snacks of 15g carbs each, one after breakfast, one after lunch and one after dinner (2 hours after).

I have to eat 2 1/2 cups fruit or vegetable a day (included in carbs) and keep fats to under 40g a day.

I think this is the standard diabetic diet--would you all count this as being low carb?

I measure all my servings when I'm at home, which is mostly where I eat.

I'm supposed to get 150 minutes exercise a week--to be truthful, I usually get around 120.

I don't know if this is a chicken or egg thing. When I started eating like this, my numbers got good AND my weight kept dropping. So I don't know that I would say that my diabetes was under control (and now called hypoglycemia, since last December, yay!) because I lost weight or because I was eating the amount of carbs they said. I don't know if this would count as a low carb diet or not. My impression was that it's the standard diabetes diet.

My doctor never said anything about losing weight at all--he just said eat like this, and exercise and see if it helps. And it did.

the exchanges include doughnuts and fries but I found out pretty soon that when I chose to eat doughnuts and fries (there's a page called 'other carbohydrates with these kinds of things on it), I could eat only such a little serving that I was still hungry and had no more carbs left for a real meal. So I gave them up. It's not just 'bad' things that did this--i also gave up fruit juice for the same reason and went to drinking water. since I only get a certain amount of carbs, I have to eat things that satisfy, like whole grain bread and brown rice.

I can't imagine that you could follow the diet in that book and not have some weight drop off--probably some of us lose more than others according to bone structure (I'm pretty small boned--though you couldn't tell that I am when I was overweight--they always say to measure your wrists, but my wrists were bigger than they are now). Anyway, it all seems like a moot point; I haven't been worrying about the exact reason my health has gotten better, I'm just glad that it HAS.

I do know that the dr. warned me strongly against doing a NO carb diet--he said that if I tried that, I'd die.

I am very impressed. You really changed your health situation around. You have a great success story. I do have to tell you that the exchange system is a bit "last year." The ADA supports legacy users of the exchange system, but these days suggests carb counting. In truth the ADA generally lags current thinking by between a decade and a century (depending on who you talk to). You might read up on things and see if carb counting might give you some more flexibility in your diet while not stressing you with carbs.

Thanks again for sharing your story.