My journey so far - weight loss and diabetes control Topic

Barney60 03/15/16
Thanks Kathy and Lilvera,
Finally got around to getting the blood tests done for my type 2 diabetes.

Barney60 03/15/16
Sorry hit post by mistake. Anyhow the results are in:
Ha1c 10.0 in October- Today 5.5
Not bad - considering during that time I have dropped from 180 mmol of insulin a day to 10.

Some other numbers:
Cholesterol 6.0 October Today 4.1
Weight October 109 kg. Today 84.6kg
Waist. 114 now 93 cm.
BMI 33(?) obese now 24.5 normal

Pretty happy for 5 and a bit months of effort.

Maz_68 03/15/16
Barney60 your results are awesome and you must be feeling really great?! Well done and thanks I your journey is an inspiring one :)

Dietitian 03/15/16 replied to Barney60
Hi Barney60, really, your accomplishments with the labs & weight are amazing. A1C of 5.5 now - wow. Just out of curiosity, do you have to deal with low BGs or were you able to balance carbs, exercise, and insulin pretty well to avoid them for the most part?

Barney60 03/16/16
Gotta love those charts.Kathy.
They tell me that since October I have pricked myself 465 times. A lot of reminders that I should have looked after myself better!
Only 6% 28 were lows and none worse then 3.5.
Only one low and 3 highs in the last month, and the reasons are known.
So yes, I have managed to keep it all in sync on the way down.
The majority of the highs were in the early days of weight loss and the lows were mainly clustered a month in. I wasn't aggressive enough in dropping the insulin dosage at that time but learnt pretty quickly.

Barney60 03/16/16
Btw I am happy to share the charts with you if you want. I think that they are a great example of what can be done if someone really commits to making changes.
At the start of this process I had no idea that it was possible, it just snowballed. I believe that if I become a little more active that the final 10 units of insulin can go as well.
If I can do it, trust me, there is hope for everyone.

Dietitian 03/16/16
Hi Barney60, yes, share the charts too! :)

Barney60 05/21/16
It's been a couple of months since I was last here. I spent five weeks in Vietnam and a couple of days in Cambodia during that time.
I left having achieved my goal weight in the week before, six months ahead of schedule, and had reduced my insulin usage to 10 mmol from 180 a day.
As I expected I stacked on some weight while travelling. It really is difficult, so much temptation, so little information, no scales and too many buffet breakfasts.
6 kg in 5 weeks and my insulin back up to 30mmol a day.
I have struggled to re commit to logging all foods, I have tried but only lasted a couple of days here and there, after logging every meal for six months.
So I am on new tack. I have let the food logging go but have maintained my daily weigh-ins and weekly recording of my weight, and have continued with a least daily or more tracking of blood glucose levels. I have also attempted to up my activity levels by riding to work twice a week.
I reset my goal to lose the 6 kilos in 3 months.
Things are tracking well, down 2.5 kilos in a month and the insulin down to 20mmol a day.
What I have realised though is that the lessons I learnt by tracking my food daily for 6 months have stuck.
For instance breakfast has not changed, lunches remain similar with winter soups mixing it up. I shop for new foods by looking at the calorie counts and make informed choices.
I have splurged calories on pastries, cakes etc supplied for morning teas at work, more then I did when I was heavily logging but I try to retain some portion control.
If I do indulge then I take care not to snack at night and to eat a lower calorie dinner to at least try to minimise the damage.
This seems to be working and is hopefully something that I can maintain in the long term.

Dietitian 05/23/16 replied to Barney60
You got it, Barney60. And what you did has made all of the difference in the world. You are reversing that 6 kg weight regain because you took stock of what happened after your long trip. And the insulin dose change with the 6 kg uptick is a painful reminder of how tightly BG and weight control are wound together in T2 diabetes. Happy to hear you are down in both weight & insulin! Keep up the good fight!

Best,
Kathy Isacks, MPS, RDN, CDE

Khaoulahazourli 12/13/20 replied to Barney60
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My journey so far - weight loss and diabetes control