Friday, August 11, 2017

Low Carb Life: Progress Update


Yesterday I came home from the Doctors office with some amazing news. All the hard work over the last few months has paid off!

Weight...January 173...March 166...April 160...August 146
I am extremely happy to see some of the weight gone, but my biggest goal is not necessarily with myself although it is an important step...I want to break this cycle so that my children don't have the same issues in their adult years. My hope is that if I can beat this and give them the tools they can understand that it isn't something you just accept.

A1c 9.8 in April...Today A1c 6.1
(A1c is a protein marker used to diagnose the severity of diabetes...a normal range is between 4 and 5; at risk range is between 5 and 7; above 7 is diabetic. At a 9.8 I was told that I should have been on Insulin and at least two oral medications...maybe three...That would have been a death sentence for me. I knew I would not have followed it right and that wasn't good enough)

Fasting Blood Sugar March 230/ Fasting Blood Sugar August 130
(Normal fasting blood sugar is between 70 and 90; between 100 and 125 someone is at risk of developing diabetes; and anything above 125 is diabetic)

That means that I am no longer in diabetic, but still at risk...so there is still a lot of work to do...but it is a good start. I did have a bit of a back slide during the month of July, but it wasn't horrible and I am going to begin again...

In three months it all gets checked again and a cholesterol check. I have to say the cholesterol numbers bother me even more than the diabetes numbers...I really do not like the threat of a statin in my future, and that is what is coming.

Carrying around extra weight and having unhealthy issues with food have been a struggle since I was a child. Going through life I always had the idea that one day I would deal with it and that there was plenty of time in my life to fix the issues before I got to an age where it would be too difficult. I had moments in my life where I was healthy and in very good shape, but it usually didn't last long and I would slip back into old bad habits that have lead me to where I am today. I'll be 45 in a couple of months and I always promised myself that I wouldn't let myself be unhealthy at that age...so I'm determined not to...We'll see what happens.

Over the years I have watched several of my family members develop and struggle with diabetes. My Grandmother, some of my Uncles, My husband's Mother, recently my Mother and my Brother. Knowing that there was also a history of it in other family members on my Father's side it was something that just seemed to loom in the future...especially my children's future. My brother and my mom have been a huge inspiration. They have both turned their eating habits around and made huge progress in the right direction. 

I have had gestational diabetes with every one of my kids and "knew" it would catch up to me. Every single pregnancy put me one step closer to being diabetic. Each time I had symptoms worse than the previous first I controlled my diet, the next time I still controlled my diet but was warned that a subsequent pregnancy would probably mean that I would be medicated...I was. With that pregnancy I was at the edge of needing insulin and warned that another pregnancy would probably mean that insulin injections would be necessary...and that is exactly what happened. The last pregnancy was still controlled by insulin, but seemed to go easier...but unlike every other time I went home with higher than normal blood sugar that just didn't go away...I ignored it because I didn't want to continue to deal with it. Fast forward four years and now I have to deal with it because ignoring it is not an option anymore.

All of what has been accomplished up till now was because of elimination and diet modification, not much in the way of actual consistent exercise. Recently we(mostly the older kids and Matt) are training(Couch to 5K) and I have switched my diet from paleo to Keto, I expect that the next 3 months will be even better.


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