50 lbs lost in 40 days.

Well, my story starts when in November 2023 I ended up in ER, and after my sugar was measured (865) I received new diagnosis: diabetes, and was hospitalized. Diagnose was bit of a shock, as over last half year I was receiving confusing sugar readings (will skip explain all for space sake). With 355lb weight, congestive heart failure, COPD and Pulmonary Hypertension, plus of course weight, my risk for heart attack and stroke were already substantially elevated. Diabetes’ multiplied risk further plus offer prospective of very ugly complications. Upon first visit to my PCP after hospital release, I was told I can have 130g carbs a day (including 45g of sugar), and to be mindful of amounts of cholesterol and fats in my diet. They told me worst of worst are sugary drinks, as they spike sugar very fast, number two are high carb contests foods as: bread, rice, potato’s, pasta (another words all which I really love). Besides fried things are no-no, while,… surprisingly,… grilled, roasted and of course baked things are OK. I asked clinician, for a love of God, WHAT I suppose to eat then? She replied smiling: wonderful world of veggies. Sure I thought, I do love veggies (I mean I really do), problem is if you eat them over and over again you get tired of them fast. Anyway diabetes is very serious disease and I knew it absolutely cannot ignore it. Diabetes diet comes down really to low carb/sugar diet. I’ve heard of it long before, knew it is very, very effective (know in person friend which have incredible success with it). What stopped me from trying it myself before? I could not fathom withstanding permanently from high carbs foods. On hospital day release I cut all carbs and sugars I was aware of (they come in fruits as well), till I received from my PCP advise which changed my life. He said: don’t do it. You need carbs as well. When you eat breakfast eat a slice of toast with it, but just one (as an example). As originally I was digging and throwing away any noodle or potato I was able to find in soups bought in Whole Foods I stopped doing it. Instead I started reading nutrition labels, and calculating carbs so they don’t exceed 130g. This gave some release to concerns of mine of falling into yo-yo effect (Look term in Wikipedia if not familiar), which I was aware in fell into its trap years before. It really comes down to dieting and changing life style too drastically, which at beginning is easy and gives really good effects, only to become unsustainable after 2-3 months. You just get tired of eating over and over those “very healthy” choices, and in result gain more weight back than you had at beginning. My good friend long ago (another life changing advice) enlightened me what is the solution to this problem. Food you eat MUST feel satisfying. Food you eat MUST feel filling (which does not mean eat till you cannot breath, BUT so you don’t experience bothersome hunger). Once a while if you really, really crave something bad: have it. Key is have it small, once every 1-2 weeks. If you used to eating all bad things, finding satisfying healthy choices is quite a challenge at the beginning. In my case, I actually succeeded in past in turning my life around by eating better and by changing my lifestyle to active. Downfall came with osteoarthritis (comes with age a genes), which made me almost immobile, smoking, weight gain (coming from low physical activity), progressing eventually to COPD and congestive heart failure. Anyway what I try to say: basics of nutrition and overcoming practical difficulties of implementing it are not new to me.
Just as I started diabetic low carb diet I received few very pleasant surprises. I absolutely love sweet hot black tea on the morning, turns out, I can have it! Use Splenda instead of sugar or even better Monkfruit (healthier but quite expensive). Once in a while you can have zero calories sodas - for sweet cravings. Soups (which consist as of now 60% of my diet - looking on labels which I can and cannot have) with some noodles or potato are actually quite satisfying. My solid dinner dishes for carbs have either 1 cup of: white rice (can’t stand brown rice or whole noodles - I rather don’t have any rice or noodles than eat those, perhaps over time I manage to persuade myself to like them. Fish for me absolutely must come with rice, tartar sauce, steamed broccoli and Riesling ), buckwheat (love it, roasting it on pen before macrowaving it with water, olive oil, black pepper, garlic powder), sweet potato (never really eat them before. They better than regular potato and baked with paprika, Cayenne pepper, black pepper and garlic powder - home fries style like, are quite satisfying). All those coming with say roast beef, roasted or grill chicken, baked fish (I put thin layer of avocado mayonnaise on it) are sufficient to constitute really satisfying and filling dish I CAN HAVE. Trying of course to implement as many raw salads and fruits as possible, never however forcing myself. Some of those salads I really love. Don’t eat at all some fruits (particularly high in sugar): bananas, grapes, pineapple, all dried ones (as say cranberries, plumbs), while other (high in sugar) I eat in very small amounts: pomegranate, pears, watermelon. Regularly eating avocado (love it), all sort of nuts and seeds (as sunflower) - which I either grind and eat raw or add to salad. Same goes for Olive oil. Adding to salads or sipping small amounts. I also use fiber supplement - which very surprisingly became quite pricy lately. My diet is rich in good staff, filling, satisfying (still lacks solid variety I hope it will gain over time, learning to like new stuff as it goes). For results I did not have to wait long. I started with big dose of injections of 22 units of Lantus SoloStar (insulin). Within month, decreasing gradually it came to zero. I don’t use insulin at all anymore. Don’t need it. My sugar hovers at steady base 80-90, occasionally, spiking to 100 or dropping to 70. After meal it rises usually 30, seldom 40. My A1C (average sugar level which translates directly to risk of complications) is at the lowest possible level. I’m still on MetFORMIN (500mg), and (given before diabetes diagnosis for weight loss), Trulicity (1.5mg/week) and Jardiance (10mg/day). Last two did not produced any substantial gain loss for me before diabetes diagnosis. I suspecting all those medications details probably will not be particularly interesting for most people, offering them anyway for sake people using same medications or diabetics. My weight plummet from 355lbs to 300lb (last measure) since 11/08 and continues falls steadily. I have quiet hope, in 3 months time (time required to make such statement) I will be officially declared: diabetes reversed. Such in strange twist of fate, by becoming diabetic I accidentally discovered low carb diet is very, very doable, it is not overly difficult at all, it’s quite satisfying, allowing me lose fast huge amount of weight without increasing my physical activity at all. I suspecting as progress continues curve of losing wait will flatten (morbid obese people (like me) simply have considerably higher need for daily calories than fit people). As you lose weight however you become way more mobile, when adding physical activity becomes not that hard possibility. I feel enormous difference already. My pant’s belt (old waist 57in) go from last extreme hole, to the lowest one. I have to make new holes in it to keep my pants from falling from me.
One thing I would recommend from my experience, not only for diabetics, but anybody trying to improve their weight, is Continues Glucose Monitor (CGM). I wear Libre 3. After initial problems I learned it works quite well as long as you use adhesive patches on them (Parkom worked really well for me - they offer free samples. Google it). CGM is less accurate than blood drop sugar meter (which are not that terribly accurate either), it gives you however great inside on trends, allowing to identify bad things in your diet in real (or past) time, by simply glancing at your smartphone. In most cases it probably will be totally covered by your insurance, including replacement sensors which according to company last 14 days. I wear mine 11th day, have to say however, without protective patch, some of my sensors lasted 4 days while some 24 hours. Just as hope is, by diligently logging all snacks and meals MFP, I get better inside and understanding what is OK and what is not (beside carbs, salt is concern to me too because of heart failure), CGM offers some inside on what is bad and good for you in carb prospective, in a best possible way. Direct measurement, where you do not have to second guess, how your individuality make your reactions to some foods different from other people (or commonly accepted averages of variations). You see it directly.
When I was diagnosed with diabetes, I also received Nutrition booklet which generally tries to offer simple methods of measuring sizes (with thumbs, fists etc) and idea of contest of carbs in all foods (common and less common). Booklet contains one very interesting statement. Nutrient intake recommendations are not just for diabetics, BUT ABSOLUTELY EVERYBODY.