Diabetic Success Story - Lost 40 pounds in 4 months

[graz34]

Hello Everyone,

I am so proud of my results that I have to share this for anyone trying to lose weight, or diabetics looking for a good weight loss and diabetes control solution.

I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes just before Christmas 2005 (just a few months ago) at the ripe old age of 29. I was moderately overweight at 235 pounds on a 6'2" frame. I rowed in college and remained active until I fell into the business working life trap of inactivity and quickly gained 50+ pounds balooning to about 250. Then I bough my own C2. I lost a few pounds at first, then stopped using it and remained about 240lbs until recently.

So, when I was diagnosed with Diabetes, I knew what I had to do. 30 minute rows 3 or 4 times a week and I lost 35 pounds by mid April. I am down to 196 pounds and have never felt better, or at least never felt better in the last 10 years. This was with a fairly conservative diet watching my carbs (as diabetics do) and taking in about 1800 - 2000 calories a day with only 200g carbs per day. I have a log of my workouts if anyone is interested in what kind of workout schedule can yield results.

So, without boring you all with much more of my boasting, I just thought I'd say it CAN be done. For all the diabetics out there, it is also worth noting that my blood sugar levels were controlled within a couple weeks of increased exercise and careful carb intake. 30 days into my new routine and my hemoglobin A1C was less than 6, compared to 7.5 when I was first diagnosed. If my blood sugar is ever over 140, I can get it down less than 100 with just 30 minutes on my C2.

[Cissy]

This is my first post. Congratulations on the weight loss and getting your blood sugar down. Diabetes runs in my family so your post caught my eye. My doctor says her FIL always does a 30 minute row when he eats something he shouldn't that raises his blood sugar too high. Rowing brings the numbers down safely.

Cissy

[lunafuoco]

Great work. I too am just getting back to rowing. I stopped about mid-summer of last year. Since then the stresses of Post Katrina existence have helped to catapult me to 260lbs. I've committed to 3-4 20 min. workouts thus far. That time will increase, that weight will decrease. If I can do for my cholesterol level what you've done for your blood sugar level, I'll be more than pleased.

[jbell]

That good to hear about that diabetes thing cause that runs in my family alot. Hopefully I wont have to worry about it for a while (knock on wood). Congrats on your weight loss.

[melliemoo]

Congratulations! I'm inspired. I weigh almost 40 lbs more than when I graduated from college 25 years ago. Because of my weight gain, my lack of exercise, my bad eating habits, and my genetic history, I am most likely going to have Type II diabetes if I don't change my lifestyle. I am committed to losing 30 lbs. I have been only rowing for ten days but I'm almost at 20,000 meters. Thanks for the good example.

[johnlvs2run]

taking in about 1800 - 2000 calories a day with only 200g carbs per day.

Congratulations to all for the great results weight loss and rowing.

I'm curious what you eat, with getting only 40 to 45% of your calories from carbohydrates. I've been getting 80 to 95% of my calories from carbs for at least the last 32 years.

Your blood glucose readings are interesting. Their coming down so quickly is a great recommendation for exercise. I got a glucose test kit soon after getting the erg in 1993, and kept poking my finger during a session of 15x 2:00 with 2:00 rests. As I recall, it was very difficult to knock the reading off 80 to 85, as it would do so momentarily but kept coming right back. My finger was getting tired of the poking and bleeding and I never tested the glucose reading again after that.

[Hal Morgan]

I am committed to losing 30 lbs. I have been only rowing for ten days but I'm almost at 20,000 meters.

I did and I do think you can too!

[drkcgoh]

Congratulations on your success. I too have Diabetes in the family, having been born >9 lbs from a small mother who died of heart failure in her 50s from a lifetime of Diabetes. My siblings both have Diabetes even though they were champion long-distance swimmers 60 years ago.
Erging has brought my HbA1c down from 6.4 to 5.8 with absolutely no medication or dieting (I have gained 7lb several times after heavy meals), and IGT is definitely there from Oral Glucose Tolerance Testing.
It is the lsds that do the trick, & I still maintain my 20+K a day of a sedate 2:50 pace, burning around 1500Cal a day from mixed racewalking, weight training & erging.
The body weight stays below 150 lbs on a 5'10" frame, and body fat stays around 15%.
drkcgoh MD

[albailey]

i'm very impressed with all the posters' positive gains!

i've read recently that type2 diabetes is becoming an increasing
problem among children, which is quite troubling...

a question: have any of you switched/considered switching
to a vegetarian/vegan diet?

keep up the great work!

[drkcgoh]

Vegetarian diet? Of course not- they're too sweet here in Malaysia, & those vegetarians all look like elephants, with high body fat. Just keep on rowing. 1500 Cal a day should do the trick
drkcgoh MD

[Steelhead]

i'm very impressed with all the posters' positive gains!

i've read recently that type2 diabetes is becoming an increasing
problem among children, which is quite troubling...

a question: have any of you switched/considered switching
to a vegetarian/vegan diet?

keep up the great work!

I switched to an "eat all you want (while getting lots of variety) of any whole, unrefined plant-based food" diet, and my blood pressure dropped, cholesterol dropped, visceral fat is coming off, muscle mass has increased, and I have more energy -- but I'm still 60. The most dramatic weight loss was the first two months after changing how I eat, and now the weight loss is slower but I am getting leaner: i.e., I weigh the same but I have lost about 4 inches around the waist, increased muscle strength, for example.

After reading The China Study, I realized that I should not eat more than 10% of my daily calories in animal based protein (which is no more than 200 calories or 50 grams of animal based protein a day -- I can eat all the plant based protein I want), and I should minimize refined carbohydrates, added vegetable oils, fish, meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs, while eating all the fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, I want (although to do that, I have to not eat animal protein that day).

Basically, I eat vast quantities of food now and amazingly I am losing weight and inches and increasing muscle mass. I use a Tanita Iron Man scale to record the physiological changes.

Also, when I'm not traveling, I erg a HM five days a week, cycle two hours 4 days a week, cycle 1 hour 2 days a week, weight train 3 days a week, and do an hour of water aerobics twice a week. I think that helps.

Basically, it all comes down to quality diet and exercise. Just don't be a "junk food vegetarian" or a lazy erger! It is whole, unrefined plant-based foods as the mainstay and eating fish, meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs "sparingly." So it's not a vegan diet, but very, very close. And of course, exercising on the erg correctly, consistently, and carefully.

Just my thoughts.

[coggs]

Chalk me down as another who finds erging a fun way to lose pounds. I'm 6'-1" and was at 239lbs in early June. Down to 208 now and still losing about 1 or 2 pounds a week. I just figure out my caloric intake and try and burn most of it off. I call it erging bulimia. I feel so good I finally dared make my first well care visit with a doctor in 8 years. I got tired of them calling me obese. My goal is to get back to my old competive cycling weight but it's been a while. One of my last races was won by a young kid named Lance. Means I need to shed another 30 pounds and may take a year but I think I can do it. I also single scull as a member of the Quinsigamond Rowing Association in Worcester, Ma.

[Steelhead]

Chalk me down as another who finds erging a fun way to lose pounds. I'm 6'-1" and was at 239lbs in early June. Down to 208 now and still losing about 1 or 2 pounds a week. I just figure out my caloric intake and try and burn most of it off. I call it erging bulimia. I feel so good I finally dared make my first well care visit with a doctor in 8 years. I got tired of them calling me obese. My goal is to get back to my old competive cycling weight but it's been a while. One of my last races was won by a young kid named Lance. Means I need to shed another 30 pounds and may take a year but I think I can do it. I also single scull as a member of the Quinsigamond Rowing Association in Worcester, Ma.

Coggs,

That's a great idea: figure out your caloric intake and try to burn most of it off.

I do something similar (or at least in the past did): calculate your BMR -- http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ -- for the weight you want to be (not your present weight), and then that is the maximum calories +/- a little you eat each day, while exercising. What I have learned over the past decades is that it is important to eat nutrient dense foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds) when doing this. But it does work even if all you eat is 1600 calories of pancakes each day to drop from 250 to 160. The important point is that caloric intake has to be less than caloric expenditure.

I think your idea though is a great one though. Eat 3,000 calories, erg 60,000 meters. It does tend to put the number of calories a person eats in perspective.

[coggs]

>I think your idea though is a great one though. Eat 3,000 calories, erg 60,000 meters. It does tend to put the number of calories a person eats in perspective.<

Well, my erg bulimia statement was a little tongue in cheek - but my daily caloric intake is well below 3,000, I tend to do 1 hour plus pieces, and at a pace that works off calories at a much faster rate than 50 per 1000M (typically 61-63). Obviously I'm not not burning everthing off on the erg - but a hell of a lot more than I used to laying on the couch pushing the remote button.

[igoeja]

I recently went to Italy on my honeymoon, specifically Liguria, known for its brand of the Mediterranean diet, and wound up losing 7 pounds in two weeks. My wife can't understand how, since I wasn't working out, and the meals were sometimes laden with oil, but the portion sizes were obviously smaller, and we had fewer meals with little snacking, except for twice daily cappuccino breaks. I had already lost about 15 pounds over the prior two months, so I wasn't all that surprised.