long time lurker and first time poster...
I was on a dive trip , eating my way through Costa Rica. At night I started peeing every 30 min and knew something was up. Ended up staying at the hospital where they asked me how come I was not taking my meds? At first they did not believe me that I didn't know, but turns out I have severe type 2 diabetes.
On the flight home from Costa Rica I could not properly close the seat belt. It was a true all time low for me.
I had always been over weight and yo-yo back and forth (once lost 120lbs when i was 18) but at 33 this was serious. When I got home I went to the doctor and got more blood work. Turned out I also had high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The doctor basically told me it didn't look good. The diabetes scared me, I thought its was permanent and eventally would lead towards my demise.
So I did what anyone would do, turned to google. I quickly found this sub and saw all the crazy weight loss results. I also watched a few youtube clips about carbs/diabetes. Being desperate I went all in on Keto. I made it my hobby and focus. To be honest it was the easiest diet at first I was getting so full from so little. The weight just melted off (20 lbs in the first month!). Like everyone I got the usual stares and ridicule from people not in the know. I kept with it. Overall I never found a diet or system that kept me being consistent . To me much easier to have none of something then to moderate it. Cold Turkey worked best and quickly I began to rule out anything with carbs.
I also took an interest in cooking more and found it fun since who doesn't like steak and bacon? I did crave sweets from time to time but always found a good coke zero works wonders.
I tested my blood sugar religiously , 6 months in i was down to a lower dosage of metaformin (sp?) and off the blood pressure meds.
For working out I hired a trainer and told them to take it easy on me. We only focused on weights. I read somewhere that muscle mass gives more insulin resistance . I also enjoy lifting more then running. While not everyone can afford the luxury of a trainer I found it helped me stay on track since I has now responsible to be somewhere to work out. Also, if you use a trainer a lot their rates become pretty reasonable (paying $33 a session, so $100 a week). One thing to note is the exercise is more for the mind/feel then overall weight loss. I lost the first 40-50lbs just sitting at home.
fast forward to today. I got my blood results back and my blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure are all "perfect". Im officially off all meds!
At 35 i now weight 206lbs (6'3") and I'm in the best shape of my life. i have 12% body fat and muscles I never knew existed. I don't see myself getting off Keto as its cured my ailments. I have been experimenting with Intermittent fasting and gut health lately.
I hope this helps those who are begging their journey and more importantly those with T2 to learn it can be managed
Here are a few tips that I used to get me there: - read this forum , the more like minded people the better the results - weight myself every day, some people say not to but it kept me on track -Use my fitness pal (great app) for the first few months so learn macros and sizes, now I don't bother measuring anything - get a wifi scale, nice to have integrated into the app. - try not eating 12 hours between first and last meal - learn its a journey and enjoy it , the results come eventually. - weights are your friends.
Sorry for the typos/grammar I'm terrible at that stuff.
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