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Progress Update #4

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

Progress Update #4
McDonald's "The Arch" burger & really nice, but spiking Suki Nam Gai (chicken noodle soup from Zaap Thai Manchester) set my 7-day average glucose levels back.

The million step challenge kicks off

Firstly, the good news - Tuesday was the start of the Diabetes UK 1 Million Step Challenge and I've clocked up over 80,000 steps in just under a week so I'm comfortably on target. I've also got some new trail running trainers which are a lot more comfortable and much better at keeping the stones out. I've even managed to have a bit of a jog for the first time in over 15 years.

See my fundraising and progress page
New sneaks... Hoka Speegoat 6

Junk food relapse

I haven't had junk food for a while and my CGM is showing me how much of a problem it is. I stupidly added aloo (potatoes) and a chapati bread to a lamb and gobi (cauliflower) take away curry. I also tried the new 'The Arch" burger from McDonald's on Monday evening and that had a spike that took me well over the healthy glucose upper limit of 7.8 mmol/L. The "Big Mac" on Friday night had a much lower spike so that's about my limit.

Three big problems with take away food

  1. They often deliver the wrong thing, and in this instance I got a naan bread instead of chapati which is a lot more starch than I would have gone for, especially with the potatoes included.
  2. It's very difficult to calculate the macros such as total cabohydrates when you've not been able to measure any ingredients.
  3. There's often a dely in delivery which results in being overly hungry and then over-eating from large portions.

Blood glucose up slightly

I managed to hit a 7-day average of 5.7 mmol/L on Tuesday morning which was my target for this week, but it all went a bit wrong after a stressful day at work and social plans. This week's net carbs have been far too high with an average of 106g per day which is more than twice last week's average. This average is still considered lower than the 130g limit for a standard low-carb diet recommended by Diabetes UK but that amount is clearly not doing my glucose control any good.

This week's glucose patterns. Carb-heavy Indian takeaway took all night to get my glucose levels back to baseline and chicken noodle soup + lager had a large 13 mmol/L spike, way above the "normal" 7.8 mmol/L maximum range.
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 😅

I struggled to find where to buy non-homogenised milk locally and eventually found The Modern Milkman. Their organic whole milk in my area is non-homogenised so I've been getting milk and eggs from them for two yeas now. Use this link to get 50% off your first two weeks and they'll give me 50% off my next delivery as well. Cheers!

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