Saturday, April 16, 2011

The big news on the blood work and my new bike!

My Blood work results are in!!!

Still haven't received the copy from the doctor, but the quest lab one was received through my phone today. I got it while we were in the waiting room for my son's occupational therapy appointment. I was so happy to see that email. So, I finally have SOMETHING. And it's very, very good news. Later, when I got home, mailbox was empty yet. Glad I pursued the quest labs route.

So, the scores. I won't explain most as most people know what they mean. I'll explain the A1C a bit thought:

My cholesterol before: 227 Now: 194 (and the breakdown is good). This got better because of my diet and because of my thyroid getting better. I now eat way more fat than before to make up for the calories I'm not getting in carbs.

My thyroid TSH after second test was 14 after a high of 43 (rest of hormones were OK after second test - this is the third thyroid test) Now: 3.13 (JUST about normal but some specialists like to see it lower - I'll check on this more. It should be under 3 by all current standards. An endocrinologist would want it closer to 1.0, but I feel fine, so we'll see if I want to pursue this more or leave it as it is.)

My fasting glucose before: 209 Now: 94. This improvement is almost surely 100% from diet.

My A1C ( to put it simply, this is a reading my red blood cells to see the history of glucose over the last three months. Glocuse sticks to the proteins in red blood cells, and red blood cells live for about 3 months. So, it looks for the build-up over time of sugar). Before: 8.7 (which is considered uncontrolled diabetes) Now: 5.8 (which is near the top of the normal range. Top being 6.0).

Everything else with my blood work and urine is perfect as it was before. Like, oddly, my triglycerides were always OK, which you would think would have been off with my blood sugars being out of whack. Before they were 90 something, under 150 is considered normal. Now they are 74.

So, three months of exercising, eating no simple carbs, averaging 100 net carbs a day, and dropping 34 pounds, I fixed my problems with my blood sugar. AND my thyroid is right on the cusp of being ok. Glad I didn't follow the American Diabetes Association's recommendations for eating as they are behind the curve ball. They, I think, don't think people are willing to give up as many carbs as I did, so they don't recommend giving up all simple carbs, just eating meals at predicted times and balancing the carbs. I didn't follow that. I eat whenever I want, but I just limit any of the sugars that would ever give me a spike in glucose and when I eat a complex carb, I pair it with fat and protein. Like when I eat an apple, it's always with peanut butter.

So, bottom line is, I do not need any drugs to address diabetes. My diet has all that completely under control and I'm SOOOO happy. Now, I will not go and change my diet now that I've passed the test. I cannot say, "oh, my blood work is fine. I don't have diabetes." That's not true. I have issues with eating simple carbs and my insulin producing ability is probably forever hampered. I just need to eat in a way to help my pancreas out by not demanding too much insulin ever.

What I'm doing is working and I feel so much better without the simple carbs and it's so easy to do without them. I simply eat more green veggies and a bit more meat and skip the starch - no sweat and not even tempting to me. I will indulge here and there - like a piece of cake for my son's birthday this Friday, but I'll make a European one to make it less harmful (european style cakes are basically mostly eggs and sugar with a touch of flour and the icing is eggs, milk, sugar and butter). But I will forever skip the rice, bread, and all low protein pasta and will go easy on potatoes.

And, my other new I got myself a bike! I got the like new used one and it's 'almost' exactly what I want. I'll just girlify it with baskets and bells. My husband didn't bat an eye when I asked for $100 (I had $100 stashed away). I think he's so proud of me that he doesn't mind spending money on fitness related things. (within reason). And it was so obviously new and paying $200 for a $650 bike is a great bargain!

So... turned out to be a great day. We have guests coming in later today, but I'm mostly done cleaning. I just need to do some major grocery shopping to feed 9 people for a couple days.

Stats for 4/16/11:

Beginning weight: 255.6  Now: 220.8 (just under 35 lbs lost)
Exercise hours/minutes in 2011: 98 hours
Walking/Biking/Running totals in 2011: 318.4/1000

No comments:

Post a Comment