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New Guy To The Forum

4K views 25 replies 6 participants last post by  alamogirl 
#1 ·
I have been a diabetic for about 20 years now, and I have been through a few regimes and meds and doctors.
I had to find out the hard way what worked for me, and what did not.
Lantus, Novolog and walking have worked, and that sums it up in a lot of ways.
I am glad to be here, and I don't mean to sound too blunt, but I can be that way. Some of that comes from a bitterness, inspired by doctors.
There is a limit on what book learning will impart.:smile2:
 
#4 ·
Darn glad to be here Cricket, I need the community and fellowship.
Only another diabetic, can commiserate with a diabetic. In a lot of ways, I stopped talking about diabetes to other people. It seemed pointless, so here I am, with others who have it. I think that I can post here, and make some progress. :smile2:
 
#6 ·
P.S. If ya get the chance, we have some amazing information here.
I watched/listened to it as a first order of business, she is an excellent speaker and teacher. [I had to remove the vid, so that I could post this. I don't have 5 posts yet, but I am working on it.]
 
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#7 ·
I bet I have watched that video a few dozen times. It helps me remember, plus I seem to learn more from it every time.
 
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#10 ·
I am certain to watch it again, in short order. Repetition and reiteration are great learning methods.
 
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#14 ·
If you get some extra time, you can read my story
Ya might notice in my story that I am not a big fan of doctors. :vs_laugh:
I read/scanned it, it is a very good relating of what you endured, and how you fixed it. Me personally, I feel like I have been through a coffee grinder sometimes. And medical personel were a big part of that.

I am not a big fan of doctors, they have their jobs, but they are not God. And I won't have them acting like they are. I am my own best advocate, and I know me better than they do.

[PS: I had to remove the URL again, but that will work itself out, as time goes by.]
 
#13 ·
HI Squawkx, welcome to the forum.

Sounds like we share the same love of doctors. What some of them know vs what they think they know is like comparing a new ream of paper to a written book.

From another thread, I see we both are similarly active. I was putting in 5-6 miles a day but have slacked off a little, no a lot, here recently. I like to ride a bicycle too and really need to get back started riding it.

All the links Cricket posted are very good ones. They have certainly helped me a lot, as well as reading what others have posted here on the forum. Look forward to hearing more from you.
 
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#15 · (Edited)
"What some of them know versus what they think they know." I like that, it sounds like something that I would say. It takes a bit of intellect in order to phrase it that way too.

I love to walk and ride a bicycle, I love the outdoors, and I want to be there. I love to read, and I am frustrated that I can't do more. It is always something that hinders me. With greatly improved health, I would burn through Thucydides; and not catch a page now and then.

And that is a reason that I am here, to improve my health, so that I can do things. And to commune with others who are going through it, in life.
 
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#16 ·
Welcome!!!

So lets talk brass tacks....

You are hear and you dont like the doctors who give you old advice written from misguided and bad studies from the ADA... I couldnt agree more with you...

so you have read a little bit and you have seen the video so lets see where we can help besides lending an ear and venting about doctors.

how is your diet? What foods do you eat/avoid? Most of us are eating VLC/HF and have fixed many issues that we have. I live a keto lifestyle and my health it great and I am on NO medication (My BG was 396 when I started 2 years ago).

so tell us about the problems you faced from the cause of your journey... CARBS :vs_mad:

I am interested in your story and where we can provide our experiences to assist.

My quote in my signature is something that resonates with me. Its the decision to listen to the doctors or listen to the folks here with experience

""You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever the doctors want you to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." "
so... come stay in wonderland.... the weather is beautiful!
 
#17 · (Edited)
Welcome!!!

So lets talk brass tacks....

1.You are hear and you dont like the doctors who give you old advice written from misguided and bad studies from the ADA... I couldnt agree more with you... so you have read a little bit and you have seen the video so lets see where we can help besides lending an ear and venting about doctors.

2.how is your diet? What foods do you eat/avoid? Most of us are eating VLC/HF and have fixed many issues that we have. I live a keto lifestyle and my health it great and I am on NO medication (My BG was 396 when I started 2 years ago).

3.so tell us about the problems you faced from the cause of your journey... CARBS :vs_mad:

I am interested in your story and where we can provide our experiences to assist.

My quote in my signature is something that resonates with me. Its the decision to listen to the doctors or listen to the folks here with experience

so... come stay in wonderland.... the weather is beautiful!
1.Not to be obnoxious, but venting about doctors was an important start. Please don't discount that, it should be an intrinsic building block, of starting-restarting.:devil:

2.My diet is pretty helter skelter, I have noticed that high fat, like peanut butter, is very good for BS. Protein is good for my BS too, so I know some good foods.

3.Right now, I am going from pillar to post, with my BS, it was 405 this morning. But I will admit that I was at fault, I was drinking soda pop. And I have walked off a cliff with BS management, it is oretty shakey. I have not given up on managing it, but I did give up on going it alone. It isn't working.

NOTE: I am interpreting VLC=very low carb & HF=high fat. And I don't know what a keto diet is. {Ketone?}

And here is where I am right now, I am beating a dead horse. I know what to do, but I can't seem to do it for long.:deadhorse: I am trapped in a vicious cycle.
And, I have hypertension which is getting worse, and I have become a nervous eater. All of it is driving me up the wall.
 
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#18 ·
no worries... we have all been there and you are right about venting. I didnt mean to imply it wasnt important...

You are here so you are reaching out. we are here to provide our experience. there are many ways to proceed. it really depends on what resonates to you. You can ask a million questions and we will be happy to respond. You can choose 1 food a day/week that you decide you will give up/ substitute and you will see that its not that hard once you start. You can ask for what you can substitute or look at the recipe area on this forum

we wont know what will give you that charge to make the right changes but we can suggest or give you what worked for us.

to describe Keto...

A regular person would eat carbs for energy and their body will process the carbs for energy. When you eat a very very very low amount of carbs, your body adapts. it cant use carbs for energy so it produces ketones and uses fat for energy. This is the way cavemen ate most of the time.

when you eat carbohydrates, your body is in storing mode because your body is pushing sugar into the cells (if the cells allow it) and you typically wont lose weight. when you dont eat carbs and your body is in ketosis, you body releases fat to keep up energy. the side effect is losing weight and lowering blood pressure. For many years, the doctors recommendation for people with seizures was to go on a keto diet because its been proven that a keto diet stops seizures.

simply - eating a keto diet is eating about 80% fat, 17% protein and 3% carbs (this is an estimate. your miles may vary)


Fat is not the enemy. that is the first thing I can share that we all needed to realize. I eat bacon, cheese, hamburgers, fatty steaks, pork rinds, vegetables and still lost almost 100 pounds and my BG is steady between 80 - 100. (it was 396)(no meds)

so when you want, let us know how we can motivate you to take some baby steps into lowering your carb count. that is what will help. you dont have to do anything drastic at first and you dont have to go into ketosis (most here do not eat keto).

we are here for you!!!
 
#19 ·
OK, thanks, I have been in a lot of pain for a long time, and it has made me crabby. It is one more thing to deal with, and I give terse, irritable replies at times.
I have known for a long time that fat and protein lower/stabilize BS. I was not sure that it had a name though.
 
#20 ·
I live a strict KETO lifestyle. For me, that works out to about 20 grams of carbs or less per day, 50-60 grams of protein, and (mostly healthy) fats end up around 100-120 grams a day. This is simply what has given me the highest level of control.

That being said, this is NOT where I started. It was a step by step process for me, once I realized that my doctor and the ADA (American Diabetes Association) had completely let me down.

Initially, I just started by reducing my carbs until I found a number that worked for me. You can find some meal ideas here.

http://www.diabetesforum.com/diabet...lifestyle-doesnt-need-complicated-boring.html

Initially, I did very little tracking because it felt complicated to me. I just ate from a basic list of low carbs food. I did not count or measure. I ate when I was hungry and didn't eat when I wasn't.

  • Meat: I ate any meat.
  • Seafood: I ate any seafood.
  • Eggs: Cooked any way I wanted.
  • Vegetables: Anything that grew ABOVE the ground.
  • Dairy: Heavy cream, hard cheese, full-fat sour cream, full-fat cream cheese.
  • Condiments: I chose Hellman's mayonnaise and/or mustard. I also used Marie's Chunky Blue Cheese dressing.

Over time, I began dialing things into what worked best for me. It is definitely a journey taken one tiny step at a time.

By the way, I used to be addicted to soda. I still enjoy one now and then but now I choose Zevia when I want one.

Added Note: Please keep a close eye on your blood sugar if you take insulin or a sulfonylureas type of medication (such as Glipizide). When you transition to low carbs your body will very likely need less medication.
 
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#22 · (Edited)
I will keep this thread in mind as a starting place. It has some good info in it, thanks.
 
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#25 · (Edited)
The article mentioned ATP, which is an advanced subject to think about.
ATP [adenosine triphospahte] I haven't read about that in a while, it is converted to ADP [adenosine diphosphate] for energy use, and the catabolism of glucose.

[Don't be fooled by my use of big words, I am not sure of what I just said. I had to run to the dictionary.]:biggrin:

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/catabolism
 
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#24 ·
Danke schon.
 
#26 ·
Welcome to the forum Squawkx. You've come to the right place. I'm so glad I found this place when I did. I read everything they told me to read and watched the Dr. Hallberg video over and over. I lowered my A1C from 10.5 to 5.6! I'm still learning :)

I hope you continue to post.
 
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