Chemist tested me for diabetes - sent me to the Dr TODAY urgently...please come and talk to me...

[MyHeadWasInTheSandNowNot]

These are my questions

1: The reading the chemist got was 20 - can anyone tell me what this means (ie how 'serious' it is) and if they think it could be controlled and/or preferably gotten rid of through diet and exercise.

2: What will the Dr do today.

The rest is whittering background.

Also, I just wanted to say that I'll have to go in about an hour and wont be able to get back on line until tomorrow afternoon, but I haven't done a runner and will be grateful for any help/advice.

[I'm a regular - I've namechanged because I'm not sure yet if I want to tell anyone or not and I have a few RL friends on MN. It's not that I mind people knowing as such it's just that I don't want it to turn into A Big Deal]

I have been wondering for quite some time if I might have diabetes. A few things have made me wonder about it such as

• Excessive thirst (always having to have a bottle of water on me)

• Eyes a bit blurry at night (been blaming the overhead light and the small tv screen with tivo bright red background and only a problem at night and spending too much time looking at screens)

• Occasional 'shakes'

• I am overweight and struggle with feeling like my 'blood sugars' aren't right

...but what made me 'man up' to getting tested was that last week & yesterday I had a couple of episodes of light headedness/feeling faint when doing things such as changing a lightbulb, I had also been having them in the shower, but put that down to it being hot/steamy etc

I called the chemist about a year ago to see if they did the tests, but ended up not going

I also went to my Dr about 3-4 years ago with constant tiredness and no real reason for it.... he put it down to my weight (which although I'm overweight was not stopping me doing anything, being reasonably fit etc), he really wasn't interested in looking further. I haven't been back, but am and have been pretty much constantly tired since before then. I know I should have seen another Dr but it's hard when you are overweight and they don't seem interested in seeing past that and accept their might be something other excess weight causing the problem.

I wonder now how long I might have had it for and thus how much damage I might have done already to my body, especially my eyes, that's pretty scary.

I was already overweight, but I was pretty fit - then something quite lifechanging happened and I've put on more weight, stopped exercising and I am not unfit. I'm certainly not can't move off the couch unfit - I could still easily walk 4 miles, run for the bus (i'd be panting but I could do it and would recover pretty quickly) - but something else I've noticed (just yesterday I really 'thought' about it) is that I have been putting off doing stuff like walking places (now I take the car), running up the stairs (now only ever walk), kicking the ball about with the kids etc and I realised yesterday it's because when I do I feel awful - not just tired/worn out but light headed and a bit pukey - it's been a gradual thing.

I am totally committed to exercising - a minimum of 30 minutes every day without fail (have just been for an hours walk - about 3 miles) and to improving my diet (which I fully accept hasn't been great for a while, since this 'thing' happened and for a wee bit before then).

I'm not looking for any magic cure - I just want to know if I can get rid of the diabetes through diet and exercise.

Thank you if you made it this far - or even if you didn't wade through it all but can help.

Oh goodness, I'm surely not going to castigate you for your weight! I have no bloody right to do that! That really would be a case of pot and kettle.

Yes, but you are a lovely trim wee thing these days!!

6.2 before lunch

Lunch - 30g rocket (that stuff has NO weight, it was a huge bowl!), 1/4 red pepper, 25g cashews, 50g homous, 30g egg free mayo. Yummy, but didn't keep me full long - it was a big stretch till dinner time (and for diabetes reasons, not snacking)

+2 5.8

6.2 before dinner

Dinner - 1/2 courgette (& the brocolli stems) sauted in 10g of butter, 175g brocolli, 100g cauli, 75g bok choy steamed, sauce: 5g butter, 30ml of double cream, 50g of St Agur blue cheese.

Today's totals calories 1,373, carbs 37, fat 119, protein 35

Carbs: 21 from veg, 4 from cashews, 11 from homous & 1 from cream.

I was trying to have a dairy free day, but really couldn't think of anything else to have over the veg that wasn't worse.

It has been a bit of a struggle today, I still feel hungry (but shouldn't) & I feel a bit grumpy about it all. I think I'm going to have to keep having my lattes - it keeps me happier I have also missed the cheese during the day.

I have a slight adjustment to make (and for other days as well) - carbs is only 29 - somehow managed to get some odd vegetable ones in there, I think they must have been American. I wondered why all the low carbers were eating mushrooms & cauli with gay abandon, so I had a look at your list BIWI then a look at Sainburys and adjusted them. So 37 down to 29.

Dinner +2 6.2

Biwi can you by any chance link op to the bmr calorie calculator?

Op i think it is scientifically easier to lose weight in the long run if you consume no.less than your basal metabolic rate requires, and especially with your continuing hunger i wonder if you arent eating enough?

I don't use a calorie calculator, isithometime - sorry! But I think MyHead might be able to link to one for you?

Re the hunger, it does suggest that you aren't eating enough fat? And don't forget that butter doesn't count as dairy. 5g of butter is hardly worth bothering about! Slather it on. Use a vinaigrette dressing on your veg as well, for extra flavour.

isithometime - hi again :)

I haven't been continually hungry - I was the other night, but I was still up 4 hours after dinner, so I think it was fairly normal hunger. Yesterday I omitted dairy - until dinner time and even then it was in the sauce. Not sure if it was that or all the advert for chocolate but I went to bed and didn't lie there feeling hungry, so I'm sure it's not 'proper' hunger.

I used the one on My Fitness Plan - (it's free but you need to register) and I suppose as good as any other (I'm sure if you google it you'll find others). However, it gave me a huge BMR and without eating carbs and/or a TON of dairy or nuts I couldn't eat that much if I tried!

It's hard as a vegetarian to get enough (natural) fat without too many carbs. I think one avocado a day is more than enough. I love them and don't want to grow to hate them.

However, I'm not really losing any weight and I was initially. I don't know if that's down to 'just the way things go' on low carb, or if my body works better on a lower but not low carb diet (ie I was eating the 'not bread bread' for breakfast and still having lattes and losing more).

BIWI I had 10g of butter with the mushrooms at breakfast and 15g of butter in dinner last night (10 in the veg, 5 in the sauce) and I was really good, I made sure I ate up all the sauce and didn't leave a puddle of it I just don't know how to get more fat without more dairy (or carbs) and I was trying to see if the dairy was halting my progress. I could try the coconut oil, but it just sounds gopping. I hate oily dressings on salad, but I'll try to mix some in with my egg free mayo or homous.

Re hunger - looking at your nutrient totals - not enough protein! And this can cause hunger. You should be aiming to get an absolute minimum of 45g protein per day.

More nuts! Almonds, Brazil's, macadamia, good protein , not too many carbs.

Hi SCOTCH as it happens, I had Macadamia nuts for breakfast :)

Macadamia's - per 25g Calories188, Carb 1, Fat 19, Protein 2 - still not that high in protein though are they?!

To get to 45g of protein yesterday I'd have had to have had 125g of macadamias, 938 calories < I know I'm not supposed to care but ... but.... 6 carbs, 97 fat (again ) 10g protein.

??

Fasting 5.9

Breakfast: Avocado & macadamia's

(didn't bother testing, trying to cut down and have been fine after that breakfast every single time I've had it)

Lunch: Costa Latte

(not ideal I know - but made me feel happier)

+3 6

Dinner:

Homemade Chillie (quorn mince, kidney beans, tinned toms, red pepper, mushrooms, 50g of butter (just to get some fat in, wouldn't normally use it in this), knorr stock cube, chillie powder, garlic powder, cumin seeds (would normally use all fresh, but fancied chillie and didn't have any in and being Sunday the shops were all closed) - over 120g of cauli and 56g of bok choy.

I had 1/5th of the Chillie Calories 223, Carbs 14, Fat 11, Protein 15

Todays totals Calories 838, Carbs 30, Fat 61, Protein 38

Wow - you are not eating enough, MyHead - only 838 calories?! You need to eat much more than that - seriously. And please stop worrying about the fat.

BIWI - I am 44 years old that's a good 30+ years of worrying about fat, so... I am doing it your way - but I'm still allowed to be 'ed Despite finding quite a few posts by people low carbing who say they don't lose weight if they eat too many calories or too much fat I'm sticking with the LCHF - it's just a bit of a mind fuck

I know, it wasn't many calories, but I wasn't cutting them on purpose. I had a late breakfast of avocado & macadamias, went out and fancied a coffee in the sun (only a Costa there so no suitable food & wasn't hungry anyway), went shopping and got home in time to cook dinner. I ate earlier tonight which was my aim (about 8 instead of 9 or so). I wasn't hungry at any time and couldn't have eaten anymore at dinner time.

Where did you get your veg carb info from? As you know I've been plugging my food into MFP (it's a good way to calculate carbs once it's set up and although I know you don't do it, I think it helps me to record it like that for my bgl's). I've had to check everything though as some of the entries are american, but you can't tell. Cauliflower has me a bit confused your list says 1.9, Tesco/Waitrose/Sainsbury = 3, ASDA 2. There's quite a difference between 1.9 & 3 when you eat it a lot

Also, what did your serve your mushroom pate on? I have some in the fridge and have no inspiration what so ever, what to put it on (other than celery or cucumber). Hot buttered toast sounds good...

AND where is my Gold Star?? I put 50g of butter into the chillie just to up the fat in it - it doesn't need it & I've never put it in before!

Not enough water again today though :( Not eating processed carbs or eating eating more veg or whatever, has stopped me being thirsty all the time as I was before... which, ironically, is one of the main things that made me get tested for diabetes!

Dinner +2 6.4

Carb counts are a bit of a minefield, to be honest. The ones I use on Bootcamp are from another website - carblife - but sometimes, if I can't find a carb count there, I use weightlossresources.co.uk.

They can vary wildly, which is a bit discomfiting.

Things like pate I eat either on their own, or on something like celery/cucumber.

It is a bit annoying isn't it. I was thinking I might have to stop eating so much cauliflower (when looking at the carbs it was racking up on MFP) - then I was like - hang on a minute, it's a staple of all the posters on Bootcamp, it can't be high? So I looked at Sainsburys etc (my laptop doesn't like opening your spreadsheet) and found it about 3, so still higher than I expected for them to all be using it freely, so rebooted the laptop & opened your spreadsheet and it was there at 1.9, quite a big difference when cauli is quite heavy. MFP had it at 4 or 5 (I presume it was American and included fibre).

Here you are OP, if you go to this link, you will find the calculator. It isnt about calorific values.

Have a look as it is very interesting, even if you don't need it now, if you find yourself feeling unwell or if your weight loss stalls then come back to the calculator and have another look.

Sorry BIWI I thought it might be right up your street for when you have to tell folks there are eating too little!!

Basically you enter your personal details, enter your estimated level of exercise and then choose 10% or at the very most 15% calorie reduction for fat loss.

The calculator will tell you how many calories you need to consume to maintain your current weight, in other words, mine says if I ate 1900 calories (I weigh 10st 5) I would be stable - so if I went lo carb boot camp on 1900 I would still lose steadily. I was surprised at how high this figure was, but I think the modern day problem is underestimating how much junk we snack on.

More importantly, it will tell you the number of calories your body system needs in order to function at the basal metabolic rate ie breath and pump your heart if you sat on the sofa all day long (no movement at all) - eating less than this is not good for you as your bodies chemical and hormonal systems will be affected - also eating below this level tells your body you might starve and inhibits use of fat for energy therefore you will lose muscle mass or nothing at all.

In my case this is a whopping 1400 calories.

The calorie figures will be surprisingly high, and you will still be losing weight, especially if you are lo carbing, if you choose a mere 10% or 15% reduction.

So for me, whatever "diet" I am following I absolutely must not eat less than 1400 calories a day (if you are heavier than me this figure will be a lot higher), and if I consume 1900 or less I will maintain or lose weight.

I have to say OP, when I lo carbed on 1800 calories a day I lost weight, when I dieted on under 1800 cals I did not lose weight - which is fascinating I think.

Interesting even if not useful to you right now.

myhead 800 or so calories is not enough food for you. It is really important that you eat enough. You will do your body more damage by not eating properly which in turn will affect your blood sugars. Sugar levels are not exclusively linked to carbs - hormones in particular affect them as well, as does being ill for a couple I examples. I agree not to eat too much when you aren't aren't hungry, but that is way too little. I am worried that as your diet is already so restrictive that you are going to do yourself no favours eating that little. I would definitely eat all those nuts - hardly any carbs but lots of fat, more protein would be good and I think perhaps adding in some tofu might help you.

In all honesty I feel worried that about encouraging you to eat so low carb if you are going to eat so little with your diabetes. I know you have talked about the Newcastle diet, and by all means go for that I you like but that is a specific programme which I would hope give you the nutrients and everything you need.

isithometime - that's really interesting about not losing weight at the same calorie count!

And I agree, MyHead, with MrsHP. I'm worried about the lack of food/calories too. Remember that although weight loss is a good thing, your positive health must come first.

I just posted... And it's disappeared! The gist of my post was - eat more! Fats from natural minimally processed foods are fine - as a meat eater, I often add in nuts for their fat and mineral content rather than protein, I suppose almond is a better choice for you as higher protein than macadamia which I just love the taste of.

Are you sure you want to bulk? It appears you are already too fat!

You can tell it's a body builders site and not a weight loss site

Isithometime Yes, it's the same as all the others. I know what my BMR is :)

Basically you enter your personal details, enter your estimated level of exercise and then choose 10% or at the very most 15% calorie reduction for fat loss. The calculator will tell you how many calories you need to consume to maintain your current weight

Which goes against the principle of low carbing & not calorie counting.

BMR is a height/weight/age calculation - all 3 factors influence it.

It is interesting that it works for you :)

MrsHP I know 800 calories isn't enough. As I said, it was not deliberate, it was just the way the day went. To have eaten more I would have had to have stuffed myself uncomfortably after dinner. It was one day. All the other days have been much higher - really, there's no need to worry :)

I had tofu last week, I will get some more today, I'm just trying to vary my diet so I don't come to hate the few protein sources I do have. I am trying not to snack as I agree with the theory that it's better to allow your bgl's to settle between meals, than be constantly stoking them. I have only been hungry (other than when a meal was due) twice since I started and both times were several hours after dinner when I stayed up late.

BIWI My health is coming first. As I said, it was just the way the day went, it wasn't intentional. If I had been hungry I might have bought two (uncooked) paninis and just eaten the cheese but it didn't even occur to me because I wasn't hungry.

I very rarely used to eat breakfast - I have eaten it every day.

I often didn't have lunch - I have eaten it every day bar one.

I very often didn't eat all day (till the evening) - I haven't done that once.

SCOTCH - that's annoying isn't it!!

Eat more than what? Eat more than all the other days, or eat more than the one day that I ate little?

OK - nuts nuts nuts nuts nuts If anyone has a cheap source for them that would be good too!

Fasting bgl 6.5

Thank you all for posting x :)

No, my point myhead is that you are not helping yourself on thoae days that you go below your calorific bmr

I also posted the info for anyone else following the threadwwho has seen your success with bloid sugars and who thought that a lo carb and lo Calorie diet might be a good idea.

Fasting - 6.5

Breakfast - Avocado & macadamias

Lunch - Chillie with cheese

Dinner - Butter 50g, leek, courgette, mushroom, asparagus & shallots with 45g of philidelphia cheese stirred in

Today - Calories 1,312, Carbs 29, Fat 112, Protein 46

I haven't tested (since the fasting one) today, I didn't bother after breakfast and then forgot after lunch, I've not long finished dinner - but I'll test again before I go to bed.

isithometime - I just wanted to say that I'm not ignoring your post! I have spent hours today reading about BMR's and whether you should eat to them/over them/under them, calculations for obese people (me) etc - the jury is out, but I plan to do a lot more reading on it :)

Fasting: 5.8

Early breakfast - avocado & cheddar cheese

Lunch - red cabbage, wild rocket, mushrooms, egg free mayo, homous

+4 6.2

Snack - Food Dr Seeds 25, macadamias 25g, almonds 25g
(I thought I'd up the fat & calories today and knew I'd be eating dinner late)

Dinner - cauliflower (again) & purple sprouting brocolli in butter & a portion of the home made chillie

Todays total: A hefty 1,640 calories, 39 carbs, 134 fat, 59 protein

Your readings are looking good, MyHead! (And calories etc look fine too!)

Thanks BIWI :)

I don't think there is much more I can do diet wise to reduce them (though I'm still reading Briffa & anything else I can get my hands on that might help with that), but I think it's down to exercise & weight loss now. I would like the scales to co-operate!