Lost 28 pounds so far, am no longer on Lantus

I changed a lot of things recently, and one of them is how I eat. I decided that I am a food addict, and I came across a support group that is actually working for me. I have been studying and planning about reversing diabetes for several years, and tried the HCG diet three times, lost 30 pounds each time, but gained it back and more. The program I am on now is to prepare a food plan each day, following strict guidelines, and submit it to my sponsor, and study the 12 Steps and attend meetings, read and write, and use the support system.

In order to have any exceptions to the food plan as outlined, I needed to get my physician's approval, so I took the book into him and he studied it and pondered it and adapted it slightly to my needs. He is very much in favor of what I am doing. On our second visit since I started the program, we were talking about how to lower my blood sugar even more, because my H1AC was still 7.1 and I wanted to reduce it a bit. He explained to me about what insulin does, which I didn't altogether understand, but the two points I did get were A) insulin makes you hungry B) long-acting insulin causes low blood sugar incidents.

I had already been reducing my dose for the previous month, and was down to 15 units per day, but on the day of that visit, he took me off it completely and put me on 5 mg of a pill called Onglyza. The first day it worked great, but the second day I started chewing Ice Cube Cool Lemon Burst gum, sweetened with Xylitol (it's okay on the food plan) and I had high BG readings and got diarrhea! I had too many, so I thought I would just cut back on how many pieces I chewed, but even with a few I still had the rise in BG and diarrhea. I did a search on the internet for xylitol and found that diarrhea is reported as a side effect. I have no problem with Stevia, I wish they would make a gum with Stevia instead of Xylitol!

I have been attending the support group since January. I started out at 224 pounds, and now I weigh 196. I have had to go back to clothes I wore last year. But my goal has more to do with getting off medication for diabetes and feeling healthy, energetic, and less of a slave to food. I do feel a lot more healthy, I can exercise longer (I exercise three times a week a half hour each time, I'm increasing that to 45 minutes without a problem) and I am more agile, and I feel better about myself. I admit to being a food addict, and admitting it helps. So does taking my own food to dinners, because I weighed and measured it beforehand and am fulfilling my commitment to my food plan, and it creates an opportunity to share with people who are interested and who notice what I am doing.

At a wedding reception for my nephew in late January, I brought my fresh, natural, wholesome food and ate it at the tables with everyone else who was eating the cupcakes and candies. A couple of people stopped by and asked me about it and expressed the wish that they were eating what I was eating!

It's past my bedtime, but I am excited about starting this blog and hope to hear from others who are interested in this subject.