# Happy to help



## abtastic (Mar 9, 2020)

Hi everyone - I have managed to change my life with some great support. I now understand how important this is to managing diabetes and how serious a disease this actually is and it has changed my life profoundly.

I decided to take positive action having read about Professor Taylor's research. I was on 120+ units a day of insulin and metformin. I am in my 50s, was 18 stone 3 pounds at 6 foot tall and feeling awful physically and mentally. I took myself off to my surgery, asked for a referral to a different hospital (I never saw the same consultant twice at the previous hospital) and this has been the best thing I have ever done as a diabetic.

The new consultant helped me to feel confident in being able to manage my diabetes, gave me some amazing support and advice.  I radically changed my diet and my fitness regime. After about 6 months, these are my results:

*Start
Weight:* 116 kilos
*HBA1C:* 74+
*Blood pressure:* About 132/90
*Medication: *120+ units a day of insulin and metformin, along with several other drugs.
*Physical and Mental:* Always tired and very unfit
*BGL:* Regularly at around 10

*Current Status:
Weight:* 81 kilos
*HBA1C:* 46 when tested in December - I am expecting a much better figure this time around.
*Blood pressure:* About 119/70
*Medication:* Metformin only!
*Physical and Mental:* Feeling fit, alert and strong!
*BGL:* My blood sugars for the last four days are below  (from my tracking spreadsheet) and have been steadily improving: 

.

I also have read three amazing books to help me to get a handle on how my body is working - I learnt so much from reading these books:

Eat to Beat Disease: The Body's Five Defence Systems and the Foods that Could Save Your Life
Li, Dr William

The Personalized Diet: The revolutionary plan to help you lose weight, prevent disease and feel incredible
Segal, Dr Eran

Life Without Diabetes: The definitive guide to understanding and reversing your Type 2 diabetes
Professor Roy Taylor

Please feel free to get in touch if you want to chat about what I have done to improve.

Russ


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## Toucan (Mar 10, 2020)

Hello @abtastic,
Welcome and thank you for joining the forum and telling us about your amazing achievement.
I'm sure you will be feeling many benefits.

It would be interesting if you could give us an overview of your on going diet, now that you are entering the sustaining phase.


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## abtastic (Mar 10, 2020)

I am happy to do this Toucan. I subscribe to the mantra, having read about it and tried and tested it that a food that might spike my BGL, won't spike your BGL. I have made sure that I only eat high quality food and stay away from pre-prepared in the main. I then know what is in my diet.

It has taken me nearly three months to get it right but I am now at the stage where if I wake up over 6 then I am disappointed and if I hit 7+ two hour after a meal, I am similarly disappointed. 

How do I attach a spreadsheet? I will post the last couple of months so you can see what I have been doing.

Russ


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## everydayupsanddowns (Mar 15, 2020)

Well done on your great weight loss and terrific A1c reduction.

Thanks for sharing your story.


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## abtastic (Mar 16, 2020)

Hi - it has been a lot of hard work but I am delighted that I have done it. The majority of my BGL are under 6 and I am feeling so much better and happier.

I truly believe it is the luck of the draw with regards to the advice you are given. The hpospital I was with initially for many years, IMO, let me down in many ways. The current hopsital and new Consultant have worked miracles.

Thanks for your good wishes and I really do believe that I have hit upon a way to make this issue manageable without being too strenuous.


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## Tee G (Mar 16, 2020)

Hi @abtastic - I have enjoyed reading your story - i think it will strike a chord with many people, all the symptoms one gets before diagnosis. Sounds familiar.  Can you tell me please, what a day to day menu looks like for you.  It will maybe give a lot of people some ideas that they could possibly apply to their own diets to help things along.


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## abtastic (Mar 17, 2020)

Hi Tee G. I eat the same breakfast 6 days out of seven because it sets me up for the day and contains a lot of fibre, important fats and other nutrients. Green means excellent food to eat and orange means that I eat this sparingly - once. month. The LC bread is 'LiveLife' which I am finding is actually helping to reduce my post-prandial BGL rather then even increase it to a small degree, in many incidences. My wife also makes excellent seeded, wholemeal bread. For me to eat bread, I need to have seeds in it because it reduces any BG spike. 

This is the last four days' menu (I hope that this helps):



Here is an example of four days from a little bit earlier in the month:


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## Tee G (Mar 17, 2020)

Hi again - thanks for posting it up - its looks really nice!  (I like Livelife bread too & have it most morning, top it really heavily with either smk salmon, cream cheese, peanut butter, marmite or tinned fish like mackerel or sardine - fills me right up to lunchtime).


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## abtastic (Mar 17, 2020)

Tee G it is. It is not too challenging to cook, my wife and daughter both enjoy the food too and they are loving the health benefits. My wife makes some lovely seeded bread too. It has made a profound difference to my life and long may it continue.


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## abtastic (Mar 17, 2020)

The big pluses for me are that I have lost 75 pounds in weight. I am aiming to reach the same weight I was as a teenager - 12 stone and my BGL have been really well controlled and I am not taking insulin anymore and haven't done so for close to there months (in December I was down to 1 unit, twice a day).

My long-term goal is remission - fingers crossed.


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