BSD Update – initial phase done, time to tinker

It’s been a couple of weeks since I last updated you on my Blood Sugar Diet reload, so here it is.

I finished my initial three weeks of limited calories and carbs – and I was really pleased with how it went.

By the end of these three weeks I had managed to bring my daily blood glucose levels to between 5 and 6.5 mmol/L, (well within the normal range), I had dropped body fat, gained muscle and most importantly of all I had dropped my visceral fat by 3% – something that is essential when maintaining good diabetes control.

But that wasn’t enough. I knew that I could get to this place through the Blood Sugar Diet, but how could I more easily sustain these levels?

As I said previously, one of the biggest differences this time was not only was I better prepared mentally for the challenge, (knowing what food to eat, the best balance of protein, fat and carbs), but I also maintained, as best I could, my normal training regime.

This, along with ensuring I was hydrated with at least 3 litres of water plus teas and coffees a day, meant that I was able to achieve my goals in the short term, but what was going to be the balance going forward? How was I going to maintain my levels once I started to reintroduce things like carbs and alcohol?

At the end of my regime last year I threw myself headlong back into all of these, which in hindsight was a mistake.

My body wasn’t ready.

My head wasn’t ready

Most important of all, my diabetes wasn’t ready, so this time I was going to be more calculated.

Whilst I have been on a couple of nights out and have had alcohol for the first time in weeks, on the days before and after I have continued restricting my calorie and carb intake, trying to keep somewhere between 1000 and 1500 calories a day.

This week’s figures;

Weight: 78.5kgs (down 6.8kgs)

Body fat %: 19.3 (down 4.1%)

Muscle %: 39.2 (up 2.3%)

Visceral fat %: 9 (down 3%)

N.B

My body fat and muscle can fluctuate a couple of %, especially after exercise, but my visceral fat measurement is consistent, so I’m really happy with that going in the right direction.

At the minute my blood glucose levels are mostly stable, but I still seem to have little spikes that come from out of nowhere. This could be my liver dumping glycated blood if it thinks my reserves are getting depleted, especially if I’ve been fasting and training or is it something else that I haven’t yet considered?

I’m still in the tinkering zone and haven’t quite found the right balance, but I’ll get there – hopefully.

As always I’ll look to keep you updated on how I’m getting on and if nothing else help to show that low cal and low carb doesn’t have to mean boring or tasteless.

Thanks for all your ongoing support, without it I would have fallen at the first hurdle.

Si

Week two – Getting there.

This week on the Blood Sugar Diet has been tough.

Whilst all of my figures have been going in the right direction I have felt somewhat weak.

As I said in my last post, I have maintained my previous training regime whilst working on my diabetes and calorific intake, and I’ve really been feeling it in my legs.

I think I’ve maintained my effort levels, but I have certainly been left feeling particularly empty afterwards.

I’ve also struggled with food motivation this week. I’ve made a few tasty dishes, cauliflower has been a favourite of mine this week, but I’ve also taken a few shortcuts with pre made soups and packets of chicken slices – not ideal, but acceptable.

Mushroom Stroganoff

Roasted sprouts, butternut squash, cauliflower and fried, smoked tofu

Chicken broth with fried bacon.

I’ve managed to maintain my 8-900 calories, but it’s been a challenge.

Saturday night was a slight blip.

A friend of mine made a delicious fish soup with salmon, squid, cod cheeks and prawns. It was truly delicious and under normal circumstances a perfectly healthy meal, but I ate far too much of it and blew my 800 calorie allowance out of the water by a huge 400 or so calories.

BUT, whilst last year this would have sent me into a complete spin, this time around I enjoyed the healthy meal and just kept to a strict 800 calories on Sunday, (and included some running, walking and a core circuit).

I have learned to give myself a break, to reset and start again the following day, at the end of the day this is about a healthy balance not an inflexible regime.

On that note I would like to reiterate why I’m doing this.

This is not a January detox, nor is this some sort of fad diet to lose weight quickly.

The Blood Sugar Diet by doctor Michael Mosley is about resetting your body and is aimed at those who are pre diabetic or who have type two diabetes.

By restricting your calories and the type of foods you eat (low carb) for a set period, you will drop dangerous visceral fat and your organs can start communicating again, and for me, someone with type 2 Diabetes, this is the key to efficiently use the sugars that your body naturally creates from processing food.

Before I started this journey a year ago I was a happy and fairly fit fat lad, now I’m fitter and more importantly healthier and it was the healthier part that I needed to work on.

My revisiting this diet was to get blood sugar levels back in check after a period of excess that had done me no good and to keep learning about my relationship with food and how I can sustain a healthy balance going forward.

This week’s figures:

WeIght – 80.1 kgs

Body Fat % – 22.2

Muscle % – 37.6

Visceral Fat % – 10

Morning blood glucose level –

6.0 mmol/L

Everything is going down, with the two significant figures being the visceral fat and my morning BG levels.

As I move into the final week of this phase I have to tackle days out of the office and a road trip, but, I’ll use what I’ve already learned to keep on track and push through to Friday maintaining my 8-900 calories a day and 3-4 litres of water.

Wish me luck

Si

End of week one – BSD Reload

Here I am at the end of my first week revisiting the blood sugar diet and I’m really happy with how it’s gone.

My blood glucose levels have gone down, my vision is clearer, I’m sleeping much better and I managed to drop a couple of kilos.

But it’s not all been plain sailing.

I made the mistake of not taking my own lunch to a work conference on Friday and ended up having to plump for the lesser of two evils when it came to the lunch options and ate the vegetarian wraps.

Previously this would have sent me into a little bit of a melt down, but at the end of the day I needed to eat.

This was the only real deviation from my plan; I have been craving cheese and fried chicken – but this is to do with me being a cheese addict and my instagram feed being full of succulent fried chook all week

Over all I’m really pleased with the way things have gone, but I still need to find that balance between what I eat, when I eat and how much water I drink to keep my blood glucose levels in check.

I said last week that I was convinced that the thing that would make the biggest difference would be the amount of water I drank.

This week when I have drunk a minimum of 3 litres of water, (plus my daily coffees and teas), my figures have dropped to normal levels.

On Saturday when I checked my blood glucose they were slightly elevated, but I realised I hadn’t had anything other than a couple of coffees. I mainlined about 1.5 litres of water and after and hour rechecked myself. My readings were now within the normal range.

With this in mind my aim this coming week will be to do a minimum of 1 litre of water before my first check and try to get through a total of 3 -4 litres of water a day and see how this effects my results.

Unlike the first week of my challenge last year, this week I have trained every day, doing a mixture of core and hiit circuits.

These exercises are all completed in a set amount of time, controlling the periods of exertion and rest.

As promised here are the routines that I did, take a look, and if you fancy having a go let me know how you get on.

HIIT Cardio Circuit:

Drop squats

Superman (or any) Press ups

Mountain climbers / plyo jumps

Planche hold

Dumb bell snatch

V sit ups / cross over crunches

Standing sprints

20 seconds on / 10 seconds rest

6 rounds

Core Circuit:

Flutter kicks

Boat pose

Superman’s – left side

Superman’s – right side

Walk outs with press ups

V sit ups

30 seconds on / 10 seconds rest

4 rounds

And so to the figures

Weight – 81.7kgs

Body Fat % – 23.1

Muscle % – 37.1

Visceral fat % – 11

Whilst my weight has gone down, my trousers already feel a little looser, my body fat and muscle have fluctuated a little, (both seem to deviate by about 2% every few days and I wonder if this is also down to hydration?) The biggest achievement is the reduction in the visceral fat.

This is the fat that surrounds your organs and stops them effectively communicating, which for a diabetic, is essential, so to already see that drop is brilliant.

Now on to week two and to see if I can stabilise all my figures, stay hydrated and most of all, eat some tasty, low calorie, low carb food.

Wish me luck

Back to the drawing board.., ish

This week marks a year since I started the Blood Sugar Diet.

For those who are unaware of this particular diet it is a low calorie, low carb diet aimed at assisting diabetics and pre diabetics in gaining control over their condition.

( check here for more information https://thebloodsugardiet.com/how-it-works/ )

This is not a fad diet from some celebrity aimed at losing weight fast, but is in fact a diet about healing yourself in a sustainable way, through fasting, reducing your carb in take and exercise, allowing your organs to work efficiently and effectively.

When I started my journey a year ago I was on 10 pills a day, weighed 96 kilos, had an HbA1c of over 7 mmol/L (53 in new units), and was on a one-way ticket to insulin dependency and probably an early grave.

After two months on the blood sugar diet I had managed to lose 15 kilos, reduced my medication to 5 tablets a day and when I went for my 6 monthly check up had reduced my blood glucose to normal levels (5.3 mmol/L – 35).

This was amazing. I felt healthier than ever, fitter, and my goal of hopefully living a little longer could become a reality.

Slowly I reintroduced some carbs, things like sourdough bread, some potatoes, but mostly I stuck to the maintenance ethos of the low carb, Mediterranean style diet .

I had managed to keep off most of the weight, but I had noticed my blood glucose levels starting to creep back up.

Also December happened.

I had been stupidly reckless.

Eating and drinking what I wanted and slowly the weight had started creeping up along with my blood sugars and I was starting to feel it.

I was irritable, wasn’t sleeping properly and the extra weight was being felt in my joints, knees and hips which were aching post exercise.

I needed to redress the balance and soon

So here I am, a year on, and I will be revisiting the regime for one month as a minimum.

I will be avoiding simple carbs, (no bread, potatoes or white rice), I will be sticking to the 800 – 1000 calorie a day target AND I will be avoiding alcohol.

Here I want to mention the two things that I believe have the biggest impact on me, Alcohol and Water.

Whilst I try to stick to low calorie drinks, (gin and slimline tonic), I found myself not drinking enough water.

At the peak of the BSD I was drinking 4 litres of water a day, and whilst what goes in must come out, it helped me not only maintain my blood glucose levels, it also helped keep my hunger at bay.

Today I stand before you weighing in at 85.3 kilos, with an HbA1c of 42, (6 mmol/L in old money and still good).

Visceral fat – 12%

Fat – 23.4%

Muscle – 36.9%

These are not good figures, not good for me as a diabetic at all.

My aim is to bring that HbA1c back down to about 35, to reduce my weight by around 5 kilos and to maintain that through the rest of the year and beyond.

As before I will update you weekly with my weigh in and progress on my blog and instagram – including the before and after photos, and the inevitable bumps in the road.

N.B

This is not being done because I want to lose weight. This is not being done just because it’s January.

I am doing this because I need to keep my diabetes in check and I want to live longer.

This is a constant struggle for me, I love to eat, I love to drink, I thought I could balance it easily, clearly I can’t, so I need to work a little harder to find the happy meeting point of the diabetic and the glutton.

Wish me luck

Si