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progress update

Progress update #11

Welcome to the eleventh instalment of my regular update series where I review what does and doesn't work on the journey to type 2 diabetes remission.

Progress update #11
An example of what not to do... Tesco had my favourite wine in stock and I crashed on Wednesday evening having a whole bottle and a doner kebab (yes, with bread and sauce). That really messed up my recovery from the week before despite my fasting regime.

This week has been a damage-limitation exercise from having a 'week off'. What's really struck me this week has been that having several days of poor glucose control and too much alcohol can take much longer to fix than a one day binge. Having had two days of over 200g net carbs and a total of over 92 units of alcohol in a week, even with some intermittent fasting in between, has meant that this week, my insulin resistance seems to have increased, making it more difficult to get my glucose levels down, even with a considerable effort.

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This is the point where it's easy to feel like giving up and accepting that type 2 diabetes is just an uncontrollable illness. I've been there before and I'm determined not to follow that path again which will be easier now I have more knowledge on causes and solutions.

Struggling to get blood glucose levels back in check

Last week had a lot of social events and a big party on Saturday which has been difficult to recover from glucose-wise. A seven day average of 6.9 mmol/L is way above the upper limit I set myself of 6.2. Although I've been mostly eating well this week, keeping up the exercise and fasting, it's still taking time to undo the damage I've done by eating three pieces of cake and having a lot of booze.

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Cake is now on my banned food list along with rice and oats.
The big blue peaks between midnight and noon are largely down to alcohol-induced dawn effect. The hot weather just makes me want to have wine in the garden.

Million step challenge

I'm now at over 700,000 steps and have averaged 11,817 daily steps this week. Although I'm well ahead of schedule, I'm mindful of colder weather creeping up, and I also want a bit of insurance against any injuries so need to keep the step-count up.

I finally got my Million Step Challenge T-shirt. I look grumpy because today is a fasting day ☹️
I'm walking a million steps this summer to help Diabetes UK fund research and support for people living with diabetes in the UK. If you're able to make a donation, I'll be made up and have one more reason not to back out 😅

Gym

Powering through last week has meant I've been able to increase my weights and am comfortably managing 8km in 20 minutes on the bike. Hoping to maintain this level for another couple of weeks. Getting above 170 beats per minute needs a real push now so that's a good sign that my fitness is getting better.

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