New diabetic taking the plunge

newbies
(Chris) #1

New here! Back on keto for 6 days. I need to be in it for the long haul.

Last week I was diagnosed with (type 2) diabetes. My HbA1c was 6.9 (I’m 41, male). I’ve never eaten so terribly in my whole life as I have this year. Last week I weighed 317 lbs. I’ve been overweight for at least 20 years. I’m taking Metformin as well as medications for high blood pressure.

I want to get back to a healthy weight range. I want to show up to my doctor proud of my blood work results. And naturally I want to look better. In the past I’ve done well with keto weight loss, but only stuck with it for 6 or 7 weeks. I need to shed 100 lbs, which I know may take a year or more. Hopefully as positive changes occur, that will be its own motivation. Just hard to get started, ya know?

I’ve cut out all sugar (even skipped cake at my child’s birthday party, which was a first, and very difficult) and starch, trying to stick to the < 20g net carbs/daily. I’m down about 4 or 5 lbs since last week (I know that may even be fluctuation or a crummy scale) but I do feel less “brain foggy” already.

I also posted this over on Reddit’s r/keto; I need all the support I can get. Y’all seem like a fun bunch of people. Feeling very hopeful and optimistic!

(Doug) #2

Agreed, and there are many of us, and I was quite similar - finally got a high enough A1C that my doctor give me my full-fledged ‘Type 2 Diabetic’ badge.

You’re going a good thing.

(Laurie) #3

Welcome! Congratulations on your decision and your accomplishment so far.

#4

Good luck!

Before keto, I had an A1c of 7.3 while using both insulin and metformin. Since starting keto nearly 5 years ago, I no longer use T2D medications and my A1c has been as low as 4.8 without them. I was able to stop insulin immediately and weaned off the metformin months later.

(Chris) #5

That’s amazing and inspiring! Thanks!

(Chris) #6

Appreciate the feedback :slight_smile: My doctor did support a keto diet, so at least I didn’t have to have that fight (like some have apparently!).

(Polly) #7

Best wishes for a great success in reducing your HbA1C

(Joey) #8

@the_unquiet Congratulations on taking these initial steps. You are headed in the right direction.

This is indeed a wonderful community and you’ll find plenty of reliable info and support here as you need it.

May you live many more years - long enough to resist eating cake at your grandchildren’s birthday parties, too. :vulcan_salute:

(UsedToBeT2D) #9

Me too (56 years old)…before keto, I had an A1c of 9 while using both insulin and metformin. . Since starting keto nearly 2 years ago, I lost nearly 50 lbs in 8 months, I was able to stop insulin after a few months, and weaned off the metformin months later. Now I no longer use ANY T2D medications or high blood pressure meds.
You’re much younger, you got this!!

(Robin) #10

@the_unquiet Oh, so happy you found your way back to keto and to our forum. Several members post daily “accountability” threads. They use it to keep themselves accountable, obviously…. But they receive significant positive feedback and support. We’ve each had a reason to finally get serious and hit the restart button. And there is ALWAYS someone on here with a story similar to yours. So no judgement. And ask questions… after using the search function. Most of my early questions were already answered in the forum.

If you want to share ”before” pictures, feel free. Many do.
(Not me. I destroyed all the evidence!) My personal advice is to avoid being TOO much of a scale watcher. It’s fickle. It can jump up or down or stall and play some serious head games with you… especially if you KNOW for a fact that you have continued to stay the course and be true keto.

Instead, watch your clothes. (I once went down a size in pants during a month long stall on the scales!)Take measurements. Look in the mirror. Those are better reflections of your progress. That’s my personal approach. Others begin every day with a weigh in and it keeps them on track. YOU DO YOU.

Anyway, welcome. You got this!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #11

Welcome to the forums!

I started by eliminating sugar from my diet, and found that I felt so good that cutting the rest of the carbs was easy. My challenge, four years later, is that I still get cravings. Obviously, I am a carb addict.

As far as your diagnosis of diabetes goes, the late Dr. Joseph Kraft believed that most diabetics were diabetic long before their blood sugar got out of control. He believed it was possible to predict, twenty years before the official diagnosis, that someone would be diagnosed as diabetic, from the pattern of their insulin response to a sugar load. He called this, variously, "diabetes in situ" or “occult diabetes.”

His argument sounds persuasive to me, and I believe that, even though they only called me “pre-diabetic,” I was actually diabetic, in Dr. Kraft’s terms. I was never put on medications, and fortunately, within a year of my embarking on a ketogenic diet, my blood work all normalised, and my heart rate and blood pressure dropped into the normal range. I also lost a fair amount of fat, quite without effort on my part.

(Chris) #12

That is so good to hear. Those numbers being normal-ranged is a Christmas gift I want to give to myself! And yes, a few years ago my blood glucose was described as “pre-diabetic”, and I believe it’s very likely I’ve been diabetic for some time. Even now, a week of low-/no sugar, I don’t get sleepy during the day, I have more energy and am in a better mood. 6 days later! It’s a real effect I somehow manage to forget every time I start eating a lot of sugar.

(Chris) #13

Much appreciated! And yeah I’m a “numbers guy” and am prone to watching them move. I’ll keep that in mind!
I totally got rid of all my photos as well, same reason! I don’t even like to look at my body in the mirror…that’s no way to live.
Thanks so much for the welcome! It’s in my browser toolbar now :slight_smile:

#14

You got this. Some unsolicited advice: don’t make weight loss your primary goal to start. Remediate your blood glucose issues first and foremost. Most likely hyperinsulinemia is the issue, so bringing down insulin and letting your body heal its metabolic dysfunction is critical.

Also, I would advise 20g total carbs at first and not net. Or, for any processed food, use total carbs. For vegetables or other unprocessed foods, use net. Then, the aggregation of total carbs from processed foods and net carbs from unprocessed whole foods < 20g per day would be the goal.

#15

I second this. Great advice here.

(Marianne) #16

Welcome!!! I am so happy you have found us!

Haven’t read what others have posted, but I’m sure you got lots of great tips and encouragement.

My tip for you is to determine your fat and protein macros, eat three ample meals a day, and meet and exceed your macros while keeping the carbs as low under 20 g/day as you can. You should not feel hungry. If you do (true hunger), eat something or increase the portion size at your next meal. Eat clean keto - no processed “keto” foods. When I started, this kept me completely satisfied and removed the cravings to cheat and to eat sweets or carbage.

If you are looking for some interesting information on keto (apart from here), dietdoctor.com is a great resource. Wonderful and relatable success stories, too.

Good luck to you - please keep us posted about your journey!

(Marianne) #17

Holy cow - you found a unicorn! Although my doctor supports my weight loss, he feels I should switch to a plant based diet and is always on me about my cholesterol.

(Marianne) #18

So true!!! The scale is the devil and has the power to sabotage whether it’s good or bad.

This!. No need to see an arbitrary number, which can fluctuate by the hour. I only get weighed at the doctor’s. Very liberating.

#19

I see you are a ‘numbers guy’ but in the bitter end and truth of it ALL…how you eat each day and stay on plan GIVES you those numbers as a long term change so…key is STAY ON PLAN NO MATTER WHAT and the best of the best comes to you.

Numbers also require long term on plan to get ‘real numbers’ that change to SHOW you that change. We all wish it happens overnight but it won’t :wink: Time shows it all from numbers to body changes to mental changes in our thinking and our bodies balance/hormones balance and change and metabolic life bodies change back to a natural life reset. All takes time.

NO change is easy, we ALL know that but commitment is key. You either want it or ya don’t :slight_smile: I had to come to terms with that simple statement. You want change bad enough you do 1100% to get it.

and you will. We all walked thru the vicious cycle of dieting and we all eventually found our way and YOU will too :slight_smile:

More power to you and post and chat up and come here when ya wanna eat crap and all of these great people will help you find ways to cope! :100:

Hold strong, ONLY WE can change US if we want it and go on and find a new you. We can eat so well and have our physical health be improved easily! :drooling_face:

#20

Welcome! And congrats on the change in progress. On your meds, keep in mind if the Metformin drops your sugar alot, be ready to pull it. For me it makes no real difference, but some people will just shy of make themselves pass out because “their doctor said to”. On the blood pressure meds, if they’re “real” BP meds definitely stay on them, but if they’re diuretics, keep in mind that keto has you flush water pretty quick so something to keep an eye on if you start having dehydration or electrolyte issues. Normally it’s enough to just have keto flu symptoms, but combined with a diuretic it could go bad possibly.

Recommendations I would have as somebody that started pretty close to your weight would be track with something like Cronometer, make sure you’re eating enough to not slow your RMR, and make sure you’re getting in enough protein. When you’re bigger you have a very fast RMR, you’re also carrying way more muscle on you than you think you are, preserve as much as you can for as long as possible! That’s driving your metabolic rate. Worst thing you can do is slow your metabolic rate prematurely and make weight loss hard while you still have a ton to lose (been there).

You’ll notice a pretty wide difference between here and r/keto, but no shortage of people willing to help with a ton of combined experience.