1. To help me put into words how i'm feeling; good and bad on my journey from fat to thin and borderline Type 2 to 'diabetes? what diabetes?!'. I'm hoping that upon reflection, this blog will help me feel motivated and remind me on my low days to keep going. I am someone who lacks motivation and willpower most of the time so i'm hoping that this blog will keep me going.
2. I'm hoping to be an inspiration story to the masses. Who wouldn't want to be that?
3. I would like this to be a forum to track my blood glucose (from my lovely new monitor that arrived this morning and I have already managed to 'lance' myself 3 times accidentally...)
4. Erm...there's not really a number 4, but I thought just 3 points was too short.
Okay, so a bit about me...
My name is Rhona. I am 33 years old. -this sounds like the opening to an AA meeting!- I live in a sleepy village in Scotland in a lovely house with my cat called Dove. See conveniently placed photo of such cat taking a selfie below...
I work as a Supervisor for a handling agent in the nearby airport which keeps my stress levels at a high and keeps my sleep pattern non existent. I start work some days at 0300 and I finish work some days at 0300! My shift pattern is 6 days on, 3 days off. I work 3 earlier and then 3 later before my days off. It's a tough job to do, but it's interesting. I do struggle with sleep and eating at correct times. Also, with working both land and air side, it's hard to take food with you as you cannot take liquids through security. Soo...of course you find that Costa or Wotherspoons (or wherever your break buddy is fancying that day!) is much more appealing that running land side to ram your food down your throat before running back to do your next flight. It's so busy in my airport that very often I don't get a break. I don't mind most days, but it does add to the weight issue!
My medical background...
I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 16. now, being so young and hating periods anyway, I though this was great! No periods!! I didn't bother at that point to do anything about it. I put weight on, I got lethargic and still didn't get a period. I still wasn't bothered. I hit my 20s...still having too much fun and not bothering about my non-existent periods! Mid-20s, I started thinking about wanting to settle down and have a family. After a trip to Australia and meeting another girl who had PCOS and was on Metformin to regulate her Insulin Resistance, I answered my wake-up-call. I got back from Oz and booked an appointment with my doctor. After being sent to the hospital for a fasting glucose test, they confirmed that I had Insulin Resistance on top of my PCOS (it's commonly linked), they agreed to put me on Metformin. Well, I was in for a shock! Have you heard about the side effects that come with this drug? Yes, I had ignored them too, thinking everyone was exaggerating! I should have heeded their warning! I suffered terribly with nausea. Now, I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to feeling sick. Give me a headache or anything else and I'll be fine, but I have a proper fear when it comes to being sick! So to constantly feel like I was going to be sick...nope! I couldn't cope with it! I lasted about 2 months before I stopped taking them. Put my PCOS and Syndrome X books back on my shelf and swiftly forgot about about it all. I hit 30. I'm thinking about getting my PCOS back under control again and losing some weight. Sitting around the 14st7 mark at 5'4 and because of the Insulin issue, all my weight was hanging around my stomach in a perfectly formed bump - I could have passed as being heavily pregnant. Went back to the docs and they put me on the Pill. It was caused Yasmin. Long story short, but less than 3 months later I was in hospital with blood clots on my lungs. Yep, caused by the Pill. Safe to say, i'll never touch contraception Pills again!!!
Okay, so skip a year or two and i'm back looking at Metformin because of a legend called Dr Michael Mosley. I had read his book a few years ago called the 5:2 diet. A lot of what he says makes perfect sense to me. I eat even when i'm not hungry because of society telling you that you need to eat every couple of hours. How stupid! Over the years and especially after the Pulmonary Embolism, I've learned to really pay attention to what my body is telling me. It tells me when I'm thirsty and it tells me when I'm hungry. Fact! If you get a chance, have a read of it. I do believe there has to be something in the act of fasting. Every religion on the planet all fast at some time throughout the year. Going back to cavemen days, they would go days without food if the hunting was low then have a feast. They stayed lean and strong. There has to be something in this fasting malarky. I did a diet called Lighter Life a few years ago and lost close to 4st in just 3 months. Unfortunately I didn't change my eating habits after I went back to eating food and put all the weight back on...and then some! My own fault. But it worked! I didn't feel hungry, I had loads more energy, I was happy, my PCOS symptoms disappeared and I was getting periods!
Okay, so present day...
Dr Mosley has brought out a new book called the 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet. I've read it and I know that it's the perfect diet for me. I've been told I have insulin resistance and the insulin in my body is a huge barrier that stops me from losing weight easily. He has totally opened my eyes to how we've been brainwashed by major foods companies out there to eat the wrong things. It's not all about low fat/no fat. Fat is my friend! Anything that takes the longest to break down into sugar in my body is my best friend. I shouldn't be focusing on calorie intake, like all diets tell you to do. I need to be looking at the fat and sugar intake. Sugar = NO, Fat = YES! He breaks it all down so easily and backs up every statement with valid research papers. Please, if you are reading this and not read his book yet...go, buy, now. What really got me on the road to BAD SUGAR was a documentary called Sugar Coated. I couldn't believe what I was watching! It affected me so much that the very next day I stopped drinking fizzy juice and putting sugar in my coffee. I don't eat cereal or a lot of fruit, so I am just extra cautious when I do about the sugar i'm putting into my body, but it was the little mustard seed of a thought that has now brought me to where I am.
When I was in seeing my doctor (who also happens to be a friend in a way), I explained that I knew I ate too much carbs. I didn't crave sugar, I craved savoury. With my job, sometimes I could go from 0300 until I got home at 12noon without anything passing my lips. Not because I was purposely fasting, but because it was too busy for me to grab anything on the run. She agreed that what the 'experts' say about how you must eat every couple of hours is bullish!t. She advised that if I skip a meal, to not try to make it up. If I wasn't hungry, not to force it down my throat. When I was hungry, to make sure I was eating sensibly. Now that made sense to me! She gave me my prescription for Metformin and took my weight....100kg (15st - the heaviest i've ever been) and asked to see me in 5 weeks.
Today is the 15th September. I started taking one 500mg tablet last thing at night on the 7th September. I felt fine after a few days, so started taking one 500mg in the morning as well from the 12th September. The last couple of days have been tough.
My symptoms the last 2 days:
- Terrible headache (the kind where you think your head is going to explode and no amount of painkillers will shift)
- Nausea - Not terribly, just the feeling that there's something stuck in my throat (which I had last time but much worse, so maybe this is still something to look forward to) - Sarcasm!
- Diarrhoea - every night without fail or notice! I have googled this and apparently it's the sugar being eradicated from your insides...if that's the case, I don't mind sitting in the toilet for a few days!
To help with my sugar intake, I stopped drinking fizzy juice (see reason above). I stopped drinking them on 13th August. Yay, go me! It was tough in the beginning. You don't realise how much you get addicted to these fizzy juice, like Irn Bru and Coke until you come off it and have proper withdrawal! Headaches, shakes, light headed, sweats! But I'm through all that now and I don't miss them at all! I sometimes have a craving, but I think that's more for the 'fizz' than the taste, so a wee glass of sparking water with a little bit of diluting juice sorts that out.
Okay, so i'm going to stop this post now and start a new one because today I bought a blood glucose test to monitor how the spikes are going to differ now that i'm doing all this to change my body.
Rhona out.
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