Two landmarks reached in my fight against type 2 diabetes

As you may be aware my type 2 diabetes was raging and I was in a bad way at around Christmas. Since then, there has been a complete lifestyle change. I cannot reverse some of the damage done but it is in my power to stop things getting worse. This morning there is a very positive an update on my weight and my blood sugars.  

I know that BMI is seen as a rather old hat tool of how measuring how fat one is. But it has some utility as a guide at least in terms of trend. I ended Christmas at c 17 stone and a BMI of more than 30 so technically obese.  This morning I tipped the scales at 13 stone 4 lbs. I am now just 2 lbs away from being not overweight but actually normal weight.

The last time I was this weight I was 18 and dating, all too briefly, the, still very hot, Abbe Aronson. In those days more of my weight was rugby playing generated muscle which today is body fat so I am not exactly the same shape, lest Abbe be tempted to jump on board a plane to Wales. But I am getting there.  I shall continue not to drink anything other than water, tea and black coffee to eat a largely vegetarian diet with a bit of white meat and fish and to do plenty of exercise in the garden and the woodshed. The target is to be much closer to 12 stone than 13 by Halloween. I suspect that my “fighting” weight is c12 stone. My trousers feel lose and a new pair may be needed soon. 

Then there are the blood sugars. The real test is the trailing 3 month one done by the Shipmans and my next such test is late next month. That will also see my cholesterol tested and, having cut out almost all dairy foods other than Greek yoghurt and milk in my tea, I am hopeful of progress there. I did use to eat an awful lot of cheddar cheese! But no more. I see it sitting there in the fridge tempting me but just say NO!

The blood sugar test I do on a home kit should show blood sugar levels of 5 to7 whatever that means. Back at Christmas my levels were 25 or worse. Off the scale bad.

The levels van be volatile but for the past few days most have been in the low teens and then yesterday evening, after a good workout splitting logs with my axe, I got my first single figure reading, 9.6.  Hooray! Okay that is still too high. I need to be banging in reading after reading after reading of sub 7. But the trend is my friend and this is the first single digit reading and given where I started in early January it is, for me, a landmark. I had promised myself a Protestant whiskey when I got a sub 10 reading but I am not tempted by alcohol and want to battle on. Maybe as a target reward, a celebratory Bushmills when I manage a sub 7?

To celebrate today I shall make blackberry and apple crumble and blackberry and apple ice cream with the kids. I cannot eat either but it will be a pleasure to experiment with a new ice cream flavour anyway. The apples are from the old cooking apple tree in the main garden, half the blackberries are home grown and domesticated, the rest foraged, with both kids, from the churchyard last night.