My doctor (who is somewhat concerned about my low carb diet) wanted to check my HbA1c results. This is supposedly a long term measure of blood glucose, and the lower the reading, the better. She was happy with any result of 7.0 or below, but evidence suggests that your cardiac risk increases in a straight-line fashion for readings above 5.4. The higher the reading, the greater the risk. Some experts suggest that an HbA1c should be between 5 and 5.9, while "normal" people often have a reading between 4.6 and 5.4. Long term damage to your body from high blood glucose levels will occur when the HbA1c levels exceed 6.0.
So what was my HbA1c reading? It was a disappointing 6.1. I was hoping to be in the 5.0 to 5.9 range. Now put that "disappointing" result in context: six months ago, using insulin and drugs, it was 7.2, and in May 2010, it was as high as 9.5. I am off insulin and am only taking Metformin now, so most of the drop in the number came from dietary changes due to my low carb lifestyle. So this is great progress, in just four months. But I can still do better. I expect the HbA1c reading will change over time as I lose more weight. I still have another 50 pounds to go to reach my goal weight and as I achieve that goal, I expect my blood glucose levels to drop.
Showing posts with label blood glucose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blood glucose. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Weekly Update
This week, I dropped another 2.6 pounds, bringing my total weight loss to 41 pounds. You can follow my weekly progress by viewing this chart. Another milestone is that I have been in Europe for one month now and during that time, I have dropped at least 9.2 pounds (there may be a small measurement error that could increase my weight loss by another two pounds).
More importantly, there are several non-scale victories (NSVs) worth mentioning. First, I have gone down from a 50-inch waist on my pants when I started in February to a 44-inch waist, which I just started wearing when my daughter brought me over a pair of jeans when she arrived last week. And those pants are now too large! I can pull them off without unbuttoning or unzipping them. Thank goodness for a belt.
Second, I have been walking a lot more lately and can do so without hunger. I am fully keto-adapted and so exercising does not make me hungry, as it does for people on a high carb regime. We walked for miles and miles (approximately 25,000 steps per day, according to my pedometer) while in Paris for the last few days. I got thirsty, but not hungry.
Third, we have been eating out a lot, some times all three meals per day, and by staying low carb, I am continuing to lose weight, in spite of all the eating out. This is important since, beginning tomorrow, we will be on a nine-day bus tour of Europe and will be eating out for every meal.
Fourth, my blood glucose levels are still falling. One hour after eating, they are consistently in the 100-105 range, and frequently they are in the 90-100 range. They should be below 140 one hour after eating and below 120 two hours after eating. So my one hour readings are quite good. My low carb lifestyle is effectively controlling my type II diabetes.
Finally, I am not really craving carbs anymore. When I do eat carbs, such as the blueberries I ate yesterday, they taste really, really good. And sweet. My palate is no longer in sugar shock, so I can fully taste and appreciate the natural level of sweetness in the berries I have been eating.
Life is good.
More importantly, there are several non-scale victories (NSVs) worth mentioning. First, I have gone down from a 50-inch waist on my pants when I started in February to a 44-inch waist, which I just started wearing when my daughter brought me over a pair of jeans when she arrived last week. And those pants are now too large! I can pull them off without unbuttoning or unzipping them. Thank goodness for a belt.
Second, I have been walking a lot more lately and can do so without hunger. I am fully keto-adapted and so exercising does not make me hungry, as it does for people on a high carb regime. We walked for miles and miles (approximately 25,000 steps per day, according to my pedometer) while in Paris for the last few days. I got thirsty, but not hungry.
Third, we have been eating out a lot, some times all three meals per day, and by staying low carb, I am continuing to lose weight, in spite of all the eating out. This is important since, beginning tomorrow, we will be on a nine-day bus tour of Europe and will be eating out for every meal.
Fourth, my blood glucose levels are still falling. One hour after eating, they are consistently in the 100-105 range, and frequently they are in the 90-100 range. They should be below 140 one hour after eating and below 120 two hours after eating. So my one hour readings are quite good. My low carb lifestyle is effectively controlling my type II diabetes.
Finally, I am not really craving carbs anymore. When I do eat carbs, such as the blueberries I ate yesterday, they taste really, really good. And sweet. My palate is no longer in sugar shock, so I can fully taste and appreciate the natural level of sweetness in the berries I have been eating.
Life is good.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Weekly Update
I lost 0.6 pounds this week, for a cumulative total of 35.8 pounds. Follow my progress with this chart. While that is not a great deal of weight, I have been weighing around the same weight for about a week now, which means I am due for another whoosh experience, where I will drop three to four pounds over night. Except for the first two weeks, my monthly totals have been quite consistent, around eight pounds per month. Just about what I expect to lose long term.
More importantly, other indicators are also positive. I have notched up my belt another notch and I continue to have lots of energy. I am sleeping better, my blood pressure is down, my blood glucose levels are still falling, and I am not hungry while following a low carb diet. All thanks to the low carb lifestyle I have discovered.
More importantly, other indicators are also positive. I have notched up my belt another notch and I continue to have lots of energy. I am sleeping better, my blood pressure is down, my blood glucose levels are still falling, and I am not hungry while following a low carb diet. All thanks to the low carb lifestyle I have discovered.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Weekly Update
Another week, another weight loss. I dropped 1.6 pounds this past week, for a total of 26.6 pounds in 10 weeks. That's an average of 2.66 pounds. Follow my weight loss progress online.
In other updates, my blood pressure has stabilized at a normal level and my blood glucose levels continue to fall. They are well under the levels of my physician and well below the healthy levels set at the Blood Sugar 101 web site., which is well below the levels set by my physician. One hour after eating, they should be below 140 and two hours after eating, they should be below 120. My blood glucose levels are almost always below 120 one hour after eating and often below 100 two hours after eating. I am not quite at the normal levels of a non-diabetic, since my fasting blood sugar is still to high (it was 112 this morning; it should be in the 85 to 90 range), but it is going down.
In other updates, my blood pressure has stabilized at a normal level and my blood glucose levels continue to fall. They are well under the levels of my physician and well below the healthy levels set at the Blood Sugar 101 web site., which is well below the levels set by my physician. One hour after eating, they should be below 140 and two hours after eating, they should be below 120. My blood glucose levels are almost always below 120 one hour after eating and often below 100 two hours after eating. I am not quite at the normal levels of a non-diabetic, since my fasting blood sugar is still to high (it was 112 this morning; it should be in the 85 to 90 range), but it is going down.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Book Recommendations
That Nice Girl I Married and our daughter who is visiting from Utah took off for the weekend with a bunch of women in our ward, so I had a lot of time to read, and read I did. I read two books on diabetes that I can now highly recommend.
The first is Blood Sugar 101 by Jenny Ruhl. Jenny Ruhl also has a web site by the same name, but I found the book much more accessible. She advocates the low carb diet and gives specific blood sugar guidelines to strive for. Her book lists all of the possible drugs to treat type II diabetes, and the strengths and drawbacks of each drug. Perhaps the most useful part of the book was the section on physicians. She deftly describes physician attitudes towards diabetes and suggests that if your physician doesn't live up to a list of criteria, it's time to get a new doctor. She made me realize that my doctor, an internist, is out of date and out of touch with type II diabetes. I need a new doctor. She also mentioned how a type II diabetic who actively manages and controls the disease needs a letter signed by your doctor about your treatment plan, in case you are ever hospitalized, as they will put you on the insane high carb, low fat diet that is the exact opposite of what you need. Plus take away your diabetes management tools (blood glucose meter, drugs, insulin) while you are in the hospital and, Because They Know Better, treat you the way they always treat diabetes. Which is to say, very poorly.
The second book I read was Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution: The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars. A very interesting, if somewhat dogmatic book about the management of type I or type II diabetes. Unlike other books, this one strives to get you to normal blood sugar levels, the type that non-diabetics routinely achieve. This means HgA1C levels in the 4.2 to 5.0 range. His solutions work, though he did come across as a bit insistent and dogmatic ("use this chart and these abbreviations in this way....") but I learned a tremendous amount about managing the disease, the drugs used to treat it, insulin therapy, exercise, and diet. He, too, recommends a low carb diet for the management of both types of diabetes. His recommendations boil down using a blood glucose meter aggressively and following as many of the following four steps as it takes to achieve normal blood sugars:
1. Follow a low carb diet (and lose weight). For some, this may be enough to normalize blood sugars.
2. Get plenty of anaerobic exercise, mostly resistance training (weight lifting).
3. If the first two aren't enough to manage type II diabetes, use drugs
4. If the first three aren't enough, use a consistent, low dose of insulin
The book has tremendous details for each of the steps mentioned above.
After reading the two books, I was left with one big question: why didn't any of the physicians I have used over the past ten years know this information? I have consistently been given the wrong information about treating type II diabetes. How can a non-M.D. like Jenny Ruhl, who also writes bodice ripper romance novels (under the pen name Jenny Brown), know so much more about managing the disease than any doctor I have used?
The first is Blood Sugar 101 by Jenny Ruhl. Jenny Ruhl also has a web site by the same name, but I found the book much more accessible. She advocates the low carb diet and gives specific blood sugar guidelines to strive for. Her book lists all of the possible drugs to treat type II diabetes, and the strengths and drawbacks of each drug. Perhaps the most useful part of the book was the section on physicians. She deftly describes physician attitudes towards diabetes and suggests that if your physician doesn't live up to a list of criteria, it's time to get a new doctor. She made me realize that my doctor, an internist, is out of date and out of touch with type II diabetes. I need a new doctor. She also mentioned how a type II diabetic who actively manages and controls the disease needs a letter signed by your doctor about your treatment plan, in case you are ever hospitalized, as they will put you on the insane high carb, low fat diet that is the exact opposite of what you need. Plus take away your diabetes management tools (blood glucose meter, drugs, insulin) while you are in the hospital and, Because They Know Better, treat you the way they always treat diabetes. Which is to say, very poorly.
The second book I read was Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution: The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars. A very interesting, if somewhat dogmatic book about the management of type I or type II diabetes. Unlike other books, this one strives to get you to normal blood sugar levels, the type that non-diabetics routinely achieve. This means HgA1C levels in the 4.2 to 5.0 range. His solutions work, though he did come across as a bit insistent and dogmatic ("use this chart and these abbreviations in this way....") but I learned a tremendous amount about managing the disease, the drugs used to treat it, insulin therapy, exercise, and diet. He, too, recommends a low carb diet for the management of both types of diabetes. His recommendations boil down using a blood glucose meter aggressively and following as many of the following four steps as it takes to achieve normal blood sugars:
1. Follow a low carb diet (and lose weight). For some, this may be enough to normalize blood sugars.
2. Get plenty of anaerobic exercise, mostly resistance training (weight lifting).
3. If the first two aren't enough to manage type II diabetes, use drugs
4. If the first three aren't enough, use a consistent, low dose of insulin
The book has tremendous details for each of the steps mentioned above.
After reading the two books, I was left with one big question: why didn't any of the physicians I have used over the past ten years know this information? I have consistently been given the wrong information about treating type II diabetes. How can a non-M.D. like Jenny Ruhl, who also writes bodice ripper romance novels (under the pen name Jenny Brown), know so much more about managing the disease than any doctor I have used?
Monday, April 4, 2011
Weekly Update
Another week, another weight loss. Smaller this week than I would have thought, but last week's weigh in was on Tuesday, not Monday, due to business travel to Europe. I dropped 1.4 pounds, for a seven week total of almost 21 pounds (20.6, according to my scales). There was a slight jet lag effect from last week, as the greater than expected drop last week rebounded a bit, as I suspected it would. Follow my progress online.
My blood sugars are continuing to do well, except for the fasting blood sugar, which is still a bit high (around 130). I have decided I need to find a new doctor, one who knows about diabetes and who can help me manage it with a low carb diet. If such a creature exists where I live. Sigh.
My blood sugars are continuing to do well, except for the fasting blood sugar, which is still a bit high (around 130). I have decided I need to find a new doctor, one who knows about diabetes and who can help me manage it with a low carb diet. If such a creature exists where I live. Sigh.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Blood Sugar 101
Of all the sites on the web about type II diabetes, the Blood Sugar 101 site is by far the best and most helpful. It tells you a lot of things about blood sugars, how to control them, and what to eat to get them low. It is all really common sense and I cannot believe that my physician and "diabetes educator" didn't tell me this information. Actually, I am finding my physician and diabetes educator to be less than useless in helping me manage my diabetes.
While the entire site is very good, two pages in particular were helpful. First, the Healthy Blood Sugars page gave me a lot of information about where my sugar levels should be, backed with empirical data. And the "Lower Your Blood Sugar" flyer was priceless. I printed it out and hung it up at work. If diabetes is an issue for you, I would highly recommend this site.
There is a sister site, by the same author, on low carb dieting that is also quite good. Funnily enough, the author writes bodice ripping romance novels. I haven't read any of those, nor will I, but her blood sugar and low carb information is quite good.
While the entire site is very good, two pages in particular were helpful. First, the Healthy Blood Sugars page gave me a lot of information about where my sugar levels should be, backed with empirical data. And the "Lower Your Blood Sugar" flyer was priceless. I printed it out and hung it up at work. If diabetes is an issue for you, I would highly recommend this site.
There is a sister site, by the same author, on low carb dieting that is also quite good. Funnily enough, the author writes bodice ripping romance novels. I haven't read any of those, nor will I, but her blood sugar and low carb information is quite good.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Weekly Update
I am reporting in on Tuesday, instead of Monday, since I was traveling home from Europe yesterday. This past week, I lost 3.2 pounds. Part of that loss might be due to fluctuations due to jet lag; it's happened before on Weight Watchers. However, since my experience on the LCD is different from Weight Watchers, I cannot say for sure that jet lag is affecting things. On WW, the day after I got home, I would show a large loss, then a gain the next day, recuperating some of the lost weight. We will see if that happens tomorrow.
On the blood pressure side of things, I was 110/78 last night when my nurse wife took my blood pressure. Perfectly normal. And my blood sugars continue to do very well. With one exception (last night, which might be due to jet lag messing things up), my readings have always been less than 140 one hour after a meal and less than 120, two hours after a meal. The only abnormal reading continues to be my fasting blood sugars in the morning, which are a bit high (120-135). However, I have recently learned that if you are heavy and losing weight, the burning of fat during the night will contribute to a higher reading in the morning.
So by and large, I am pleased. I am down 19.2 pounds in six weeks, for an average of 3.2 pounds per week. Follow my weekly progress on this chart. More importantly, my blood sugar readings and blood pressure are almost in the normal range and I am cutting back on my oral medicine (after discontinuing the insulin injections).
On the blood pressure side of things, I was 110/78 last night when my nurse wife took my blood pressure. Perfectly normal. And my blood sugars continue to do very well. With one exception (last night, which might be due to jet lag messing things up), my readings have always been less than 140 one hour after a meal and less than 120, two hours after a meal. The only abnormal reading continues to be my fasting blood sugars in the morning, which are a bit high (120-135). However, I have recently learned that if you are heavy and losing weight, the burning of fat during the night will contribute to a higher reading in the morning.
So by and large, I am pleased. I am down 19.2 pounds in six weeks, for an average of 3.2 pounds per week. Follow my weekly progress on this chart. More importantly, my blood sugar readings and blood pressure are almost in the normal range and I am cutting back on my oral medicine (after discontinuing the insulin injections).
Monday, March 14, 2011
Another Insulin Update
My blood glucose levels remain well within the normal range, except for the fasting blood sugar in the morning, which has been over 130. One hour after a meal it is usually 120 or below and two hours after a meal, it is 110 or below, sometimes dropping as low as 90. That is really, really good, better than anything I have experienced in a long time. I don't understand the morning reading, though. I will have to keep watching what is going on there. It is nice not to have to inject insulin every day, though. I am still on the Janumet tablets, but over the next few months, I will try to wean myself off of them.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Insulin Update
Well, it's been three days now since I stopped injecting insulin. How has it gone? First, the base line. My physician (an internist) tells me that two hours after a meal, it should be 165 or below. Another expert says it should be 120 or below within two hours after a meal, and that "normal" people are usually 100 or below within two hours after a meal. Each of the past three days, I have been between 110 and 118 one or two hours after a meal. So while I am not quite normal (you all knew that anyway), I am well below the threshold set by my physician and her diabetes educator, and below what the other expert cited above suggests. The blood sugar reading one to two hours after a meal is the best predictor of health (less than 120) or complications (greater than 140) and experts suggest this is the most important indicator to follow.
Fasting blood sugars, or your reading first thing in the morning, for normal people are between 70 and 85. My physician says a "normal" reading is between 70 and 110. Anything above 110 is a cause for concern. My fasting blood sugars have been on the high side, averaging 134 for the past three days. I am seeing if some of the foods I am consuming are affecting that blood sugar reading and if that doesn't come down, I will probably go back on a low dose of insulin for a while. However, the critical indicator, less than 120 one to two hours after a meal, is fine, so I will wait and see for the next few days before resuming injections.
One month ago, despite injecting 26 units a day of Lantos a day, my blood sugars were all much higher. Today, they are in much greater control than they have been in for years, and I believe the low carb diet is working. It may just take a bit of time to get my readings into the normal range.
Here is a handy one-page flyer from the Blood Sugar 101 website, that explains what to do to lower your blood sugar levels.
Fasting blood sugars, or your reading first thing in the morning, for normal people are between 70 and 85. My physician says a "normal" reading is between 70 and 110. Anything above 110 is a cause for concern. My fasting blood sugars have been on the high side, averaging 134 for the past three days. I am seeing if some of the foods I am consuming are affecting that blood sugar reading and if that doesn't come down, I will probably go back on a low dose of insulin for a while. However, the critical indicator, less than 120 one to two hours after a meal, is fine, so I will wait and see for the next few days before resuming injections.
One month ago, despite injecting 26 units a day of Lantos a day, my blood sugars were all much higher. Today, they are in much greater control than they have been in for years, and I believe the low carb diet is working. It may just take a bit of time to get my readings into the normal range.
Here is a handy one-page flyer from the Blood Sugar 101 website, that explains what to do to lower your blood sugar levels.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Vital Statistics, Monday, March 7, 2011
Weight: 288.0 (weekly loss of 2.4 pounds) Follow my weekly weight loss progress.
Blood pressure: 116/80
Average Fasting Blood Glucose: 114
Great progress all the way around. My blood pressure has fallen from an alarming 140/98 the first time my wife checked it to the reading yesterday of 116/80 and I have dropped 13.6 pounds, all in three weeks. For a "normal" person, a fasting blood glucose level should be somewhere between 75 and 90, so I still have a ways to go. But not too bad, given that I have reduced, then stopped altogether, my insulin injections.
Blood pressure: 116/80
Average Fasting Blood Glucose: 114
Great progress all the way around. My blood pressure has fallen from an alarming 140/98 the first time my wife checked it to the reading yesterday of 116/80 and I have dropped 13.6 pounds, all in three weeks. For a "normal" person, a fasting blood glucose level should be somewhere between 75 and 90, so I still have a ways to go. But not too bad, given that I have reduced, then stopped altogether, my insulin injections.
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