ChazAshley
CharAznable's second cousin
Hey Gaf Family - wanted to share my journey to both act as a warning and encouragement for those who need it. Some context - I weighed 190 before all this - and I am Asian.
So I would say it began around December last year - for some strange reason, I kept on losing about a pound a week. Normally, I would chalk it up to not going to gym and losing some muscle mass - it always happens to me, especially in the winter where I don't feel like going out anymore.
Come January and Feb however, my weight loss continued to happen, to the point where I had lost around 15-20 some pounds. Which on paper is cool because I've been wanting to shed that much for years now. It wasn't until sometime around March where the weight loss CONTINUED and then I realized that something was wrong.
Can I also mention other symptoms that started to pop up? Random tiredness bouts - blurry vision - and the dreaded, going to pee more often than not. I had fears because about a year ago my doc did say I was in the prediabetic range. I took that very seriously and started exercising - but again, come winter I guess my lack of working out + my sweettooth pushed me over the edge.
March I was diagonosed with Diabetes type 2 - My A1C was 11.2 (!!!) (normal range is 5) and my glucose level at the time of measurement was 250 (normal ranges should be 90s) something. (!!!)
Totally freaked out - kinda got discouraged because I turned 40 this year and it was a reminder of how frail our bodies can be sometimes.
Now for the encouragement.
I took things super seriously - took the prescribed Metformin (started at 1000 mg per day, went up to 2000 after a month) - Got a gym membership and would go at least 3 times a week. Mainly weight training with some running on the treadmill.
Diet wise - my friend recommended the Whole30 - (basically keto with slightly more restrictions) Super went hardcore and strict on the diet. Seriously, I think my only 'sugar' was a piece of gum here and there.
A little after a month, went in for another blood check. It went down to 9.4!! Still high, but good sign that the diet and exercise was working.
2 months after that (same regime) - came down to 7.6!
and then finally - after 3 months, my blood levels came down to 5.4!!
Now here's the kicker - after my levels came down, I took a couple of trips overseas and that threw my diet out the window. (It is IMPOSSIBLE to do whole30 in Korea) - so I was really worried about my levels at the time. But I think a combination of walking everywhere in Korea with a decently heavy backpack + trying to find a gym in the hotels that I was ate kept me in check. But still, after coming back - I stopped my whole30 and ate normally. I was pretty anxious at what my levels would be after the next 3 months.
Current weight: 167 - eating 'normally" but making sure I don't hunker down on super sugary stuff.
Got my results back a few weeks ago - they went down again to 5.0!!!!
This is not meant to be a brag thread, but more of a, do not give up, don't be discouraged, get friends to encourage you and keep you accountable, be set on making life changes, make small attainable goals to encourage you with the small victories, and you can do it thread.
Additionally - I highly recommend and encourage any one who may have similar symptoms to go get checked. I know that there's a fear of the truth and you don't want to face it - but seriously, just go, get the numbers - face reality and get to work! If I could do it, YOU CAN. Note: I'm not a doctor nor an expert on this. And i know everybody is different. So please go to your docs!!!
Would love to hear your stories!
So I would say it began around December last year - for some strange reason, I kept on losing about a pound a week. Normally, I would chalk it up to not going to gym and losing some muscle mass - it always happens to me, especially in the winter where I don't feel like going out anymore.
Come January and Feb however, my weight loss continued to happen, to the point where I had lost around 15-20 some pounds. Which on paper is cool because I've been wanting to shed that much for years now. It wasn't until sometime around March where the weight loss CONTINUED and then I realized that something was wrong.
Can I also mention other symptoms that started to pop up? Random tiredness bouts - blurry vision - and the dreaded, going to pee more often than not. I had fears because about a year ago my doc did say I was in the prediabetic range. I took that very seriously and started exercising - but again, come winter I guess my lack of working out + my sweettooth pushed me over the edge.
March I was diagonosed with Diabetes type 2 - My A1C was 11.2 (!!!) (normal range is 5) and my glucose level at the time of measurement was 250 (normal ranges should be 90s) something. (!!!)
Totally freaked out - kinda got discouraged because I turned 40 this year and it was a reminder of how frail our bodies can be sometimes.
Now for the encouragement.
I took things super seriously - took the prescribed Metformin (started at 1000 mg per day, went up to 2000 after a month) - Got a gym membership and would go at least 3 times a week. Mainly weight training with some running on the treadmill.
Diet wise - my friend recommended the Whole30 - (basically keto with slightly more restrictions) Super went hardcore and strict on the diet. Seriously, I think my only 'sugar' was a piece of gum here and there.
A little after a month, went in for another blood check. It went down to 9.4!! Still high, but good sign that the diet and exercise was working.
2 months after that (same regime) - came down to 7.6!
and then finally - after 3 months, my blood levels came down to 5.4!!
Now here's the kicker - after my levels came down, I took a couple of trips overseas and that threw my diet out the window. (It is IMPOSSIBLE to do whole30 in Korea) - so I was really worried about my levels at the time. But I think a combination of walking everywhere in Korea with a decently heavy backpack + trying to find a gym in the hotels that I was ate kept me in check. But still, after coming back - I stopped my whole30 and ate normally. I was pretty anxious at what my levels would be after the next 3 months.
Current weight: 167 - eating 'normally" but making sure I don't hunker down on super sugary stuff.
Got my results back a few weeks ago - they went down again to 5.0!!!!
This is not meant to be a brag thread, but more of a, do not give up, don't be discouraged, get friends to encourage you and keep you accountable, be set on making life changes, make small attainable goals to encourage you with the small victories, and you can do it thread.
Additionally - I highly recommend and encourage any one who may have similar symptoms to go get checked. I know that there's a fear of the truth and you don't want to face it - but seriously, just go, get the numbers - face reality and get to work! If I could do it, YOU CAN. Note: I'm not a doctor nor an expert on this. And i know everybody is different. So please go to your docs!!!
Would love to hear your stories!
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