Evaluation week 13

Hi everyone

Thanks for coming back and also to carefix and Karen (Chocfish) for their comments and feedback on last weeks post.

I'm going to spare you the flowery introduction I had planned for this week and just point you straight in the direction of my latest find. Apparently conceived in the eighties by Dr Barry Sears the Zone diet just about embodies everything I've learned so far about controlling type 2 diabetes. I'll put the links at the end of the post.

As for me I've had another extremely successful week on the diet and I've been getting in some moderate exercise every day. The big news is that I haven't actually needed any insulin most days, although my bg has been a little higher than I'd like, it's staying within a reasonably narrow range and not spiking at all over 11 post prandial or otherwise. When I have taken some insulin it's been absolutely minimal at between 2 and 4 units. I'm still taking the metformin though. I've also lost weight this week - nearly 4lbs! YEY!! My tummy also feels a lot flatter although I haven't measured my waist to see if I've lost any inches yet.

I'm still working on the diet and keep adjusting it to see what happens. I am working towards a totally individualised plan for myself. At the moment I totally avoid pasta, rice and bread (although I will include the odd pitta bread). Carbs come from lots of veggies including potatoes and fruit, oatcakes and rye crispbread. Protein - mainly things like sprouted seeds/beans, pulses, tofu, quorn and occasionally a little cheese, fish or chicken.

This must sound extreme but I haven't made these changes overnight. Before I started on insulin last June I was feeling so ill that I was wondering if I could continue working in my current teaching job. I realised that I couldn't continue being a passive recipient of health care that was just trying to treat my symptoms often with varying degrees of success. When I started taking insulin, it brought my bg sufficiently under control for me to feel well enough to start tackling matters.

The first thing I did was to stop drinking alcohol on a regular basis in August 06. Looking back I realise how much of a strain that bottle of wine I looked forward to drinking all week was having on my already overworked liver at the weekend. Far from giving me some stress relief it was actually making me feel worse on just about every level. I don't miss it at all. I'm much more lively at social occasions and actually enjoy them more and far from envying others having a drink I think omg I'm glad that's not me!! Did I used to look like that after a couple of drinks?

I then gave up tea, coffee, (and bread for a few months) in October. Although I've never been a big meat eater, meat only went out altogether in January.

The result of all these changes in conjunction with taking "the cure" is that I have been able to reduce my insulin requirements from 14 units to the absolute minimum - if I need to inject at all. I now have energy again - not quite as good as twenty years ago but definitely 1000% better than I felt this time last year. It's just sooooo worth the effort.

I'm still wrestling with the fasting bg issue. It's still always too high averaging at around 10. I've got several ideas one of them being to increase the amount of fish oil. mmmmm

Anway I'm going to leave it at that for this week. Thanks for taking an interest. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Here's the link to an explanation of the zone diet http://www.weight-loss-institute.com/zone_diet.htm

Next have a scroll at the archives on Dr Sears website - just a warning though - it's all very American. If you look around at some of the other pages you'll see that the diet is heavily marketed selling all the usual products like zone bars etc etc Some of the articles however are very interesting.

Here's the link to the archive http://www.drsears.com/searcharchives.member

I've also jus found this link if you're interested in the "dawn phenomenon"

http://forum.lowcarber.org/archive/index.php/t-96273.html

Carol

Evaluation weeks 11 & 12

Hi

Apologies for not updating last week. I was feeling tired and had a lot of other stuff to do.

Well, I have now completed 3 months of the trial and very much back on track after my little fling on holiday 2 weeks ago. I managed to get back into my regular diet very easily but keeping up with the exercise has been a lot harder. I sometimes think my full time job (which often spills over into my own time) is too much for me at times, I also have a home to run and a family to look after (excuses , excuses I know). On the positive side I have walked the dog every day and done about 15 minutes of yoga most days but it's not really as much as I'd like.

The diet is going extremely well at the moment - I know pretty much exactly what I can and can't eat to avoid the trans fats. I stopped the flax oil a few weeks ago but I take hemp, fish and evening primrose oil every day without fail. I have also returned to my favoured vegetarian lifestyle. Although the rest of my family are not vegetarian they often eat vegetarian meals with me which I hope has health benefits for them too.

I have actually been doing something of a detox the last three days . For my detox I have been drinking warm water with lemon juice until lunchtime then having my ususal breakfast of organic muesli with shelled hemp seeds and light soya milk. For snacks I have been eating fresh fruit, oatcakes or organic crisp breads with cheese, fruit spread or organic nut butter and for tea I have had a large salad with lots of different vegetables, herbs and sprouted seeds with a hemp oil dressing. I haven't felt hungry at all and I have not needed to take any insulin to control my blood sugar, although I have continued to take 4 x 500mg Glucophage SR. I will be back in work tomorrow so will return to my usual routine which is pretty much the same as the detox except I eat 3 meals a day, the evening meal usually being a cooked vegetarian dish.

I have to say I can really see the difference this mini detox has made in the mirror this morning - I look super healthy. Most noticeably my eyes - they look super clear and shiny. My clothes also feel a lot looser - It's definitley been worth the effort.

This last week I have also been testing my blood sugar more frequently. I am particularly interested in my fasting blood sugar as this is the one I can't get under control. I have noticed that my pre bed time reading seems to have no impact on the next mornings readings at all. For example one evening I tested at 4.1 before bed - the next morning BG was 10.1. On another day I tested 9.3 before bed (had a late snack) - BG was 9.1 the next morning. What's that all about then?

My crude understanding of diabetes tell me that this "dawn phenomenon" is down to the liver either pumping out glucose or eliminating insulin from the blood stream in the early hours of the morning. To be honest I think this is where the cis oils "cure" falls down because the symptoms of type 2 diabetes are not just the result of insulin resistance (which the cis oils aim to cure). I think Diabetes is incredibly more complicated than this, involving the function of the whole digestive system but particularly the liver and the pancreas.

Whilst I don't have the faintest idea what is happening in my body I am 100% confident that it has been caused by eating a typical wetern diet of highly processed, refined foods (including hydrogenated oils) and taking too little exercise. I also beleive that I was predisposed as my mother was also diabetic. In my bid to cure myself of this condition I am therefore going further than just eliminating hydrogenated oils, I am working towards a diet consisting of purely whole, unprocessed and unrefined foods and comepletely free of additives and caffeine (as far as that is possible in todays world).

I beleive I am getting the results to support my theory and I am also looking and feeling pretty damn fine ;-)

Any comments welcome. Thanks to Bob for the last comment - hope the weather is good for you in Cornwall.

Carol

PS if you are following "the cure" please don't be put off by what I have said, I am positive it is of great benefit. It's overall effectiveness in overcoming diabetes will, I think, vary between individuals.