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| Christmas Eve 2015 |
Today is Day 60
Weight goal - 142.2 or lower
Actual weight - 141.8 - NEW LOW
Blood glucose goal - 84 or lower
Actual blood glucose - 81
Today is a Feast Day!
For me, that means a ketogenic diet - high fat, moderate protein and very low carb. Each day, I will weigh in, check my fasting blood glucose, find out if I will feast or fast that day, update my chart and post it here on the big blog. I'm posting it to motivate myself not to give up, and if I think that anyone is looking at this, it will help to keep me accountable.
Well, I hoped that I would be able to finish my challenge just as it was written originally, but I have made little changes here and there. And now I am making another one.
I don't have a problem trying to hit a goal of losing an average of 0.2 pounds per day on the scale. If my weight is higher than it should be on any given day, I have no problem fasting.
My blood glucose is another matter. I am beginning to think it is not realistic to have a fasting blood glucose of 78 or lower, at least not yet. I hope to achieve this someday, but I think I am pushing myself too hard, and my body is not capable of doing that right now.
It has been discouraging, not to mention disruptive to family life, to fast three and four days out of seven. So far, I have not been able to meet that fasting blood glucose goal after a feast day, even if I eat just what I am supposed to.
This morning was the last straw. I was supposed to fast yesterday, but I had a special occasion, so I decided to eat. I ate nothing until noon, then ate Eggs Benedict without the bread, and three thick slices of bacon at a restaurant. I fasted for the rest of the day, and even with this one meal followed by a 18-hour fast, my fasting blood glucose was still above my goal of 78.
In the past 14 days, I have fasted 8 1/2 days. That comes out to 61% of the days that I fasted in the past two weeks. It's hard knowing that I'm eating right, and still have to fast because a) maybe I didn't sleep well, b) I have a cold, or c) I am under some sort of stress with work or finances or life in general.
So here is what I am going to do:
My goal for weight will continue to be 0.2 pounds lower per day. This morning, the number to match was 142.2, and I weighed 141.8, which is a new low, by the way!
My goal for fasting blood glucose will now be 0.25 points lower per day. If you look at the chart, you will see that straight line, and that is what that is. This morning, the number to match was 84, and my blood test gave me an 81.
On both counts, I get to eat today. If I get to a point where it is obvious that my fasting blood glucose just won't go any lower, I may have to settle for what I can get. Same for weight, I guess. We'll see what happens.
Oh, and one more slight change: No more having to fast two days in a row. If fasting one day does not bring my weight and fasting blood glucose down far enough to warrant a feast day, tough. Eating every other day is somewhat reasonable. Fasting two out of three days is not.
On a happier note, I am realizing that I am feeling better and better in my own skin, saggy though it may be! When I look in the mirror, I recognize myself again. My clothes fit, and some are even too big. When I stand in from of the mirror and look at my profile, I see that my belly no longer sticks out further than my bosom. My face has slimmed down and I don't mind having my picture taken. And speaking of pictures, here is one of me that was taken yesterday at the restaurant, where I spent some time with Donna and Carol, two girls I went to grade school with. I think we look darn good for three senior citizens. I know for a fact that our grandmothers didn't look like this when they were 60!
59 DAYS DOWN AND 32 DAYS TO GO
42 FEAST DAYS AND 18 FAST DAYS - FASTING 30% OF THE DAYS
12.2 POUNDS GONE AND 5.8 POUNDS TO GO
68% OF THE WAY TO MY GOAL AFTER 66% OF THE DAYS
7-DAY AVERAGE WEIGHT - 143
7-DAY AVERAGE FASTING BLOOD GLUCOSE - 83
I
made a few charts to track my progress. The yellow lines are my long term goals. The blue lines are my actual results. The grey lines are my 7-day averages. The
last chart is a little heat map to show at a glance how often I have actually had to fast to achieve the results I am after.
To find out more about this challenge - the rules and how it started - click here.
I think changing your glucose parameters is a wise call ~ the ultimate goal is to stave off diabetes, and to BE HEALTHY, and really, the closer you get to your goal, the slower going it's probably going to be. Congrats on the new low (I was a little worried for you with your celebration yesterday...) and sticking so consistently to your plan. Picture looks great :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tracy! Maybe as time goes on, I might be able to coax the blood sugar down a little more, or maybe it will decide to go down on its own!
DeleteI think these are good revisions of your guidelines. As Fung always says, the beauty of fasting is, you can always stop at any time!
ReplyDeleteAlso I wasn't sure why you wanted a FBG below 83, since that's optimal.
Hi, Wendy!
DeleteThe reason I want it to be lower is that 83 is supposed to be your optimal AVERAGE blood glucose for the whole day. I only check my blood in the morning after I eat. I know that the number goes up after eating, so that is why my average is, of course, above 83. Whatever it is during the day, when I am not checking it, is pulling up my average above 83. For instance, my BG may be as high as 95 or 100 or so after eating, so my average is probably closer to 90 or a little higher.
I figured if my fasting BG is around 75, my true average will be close to 83.
Thanks for reading!
Follow up question - do you check your BG "after eating" even on a "fast day" - meaning every day includes breakfast, regardless? Honestly I thought your morning readings were fasted readings, I must have mis-read. For me fasted readings are a completely different animal than a post-prandial but I'm no expert.
DeleteSorry for the delay in responding, Wendy, but your comment got lost somehow and I just now saw it.
DeleteCurrently, I only check my fasting BG, first thing in the morning, before I eat. The reason I know that it goes up after I eat is that there have been extended periods of time (months)that I was checking many times per day, and my reading always went up after eating and my FBG has always been the lowest of the day. I do not have Dawn Phenomena, which it sounds like you might have. Everyone is different, but this is what I have found to be true for me.
My blog notifications are being weird. In your comment above, before I allowed it to post, I saw that you mentioned Dr. Fung, but when I posted it here, that part of your comment was gone. What was it that you said about Dr. Fung?
DeleteI also just went back and read my comment that you were commenting about, and I see that there is a typo, so it is no wonder that you were confused by what I said. I said, "I only check my blood in the morning after I eat." Oops! That was supposed to say BEFORE I eat! Sorry for the mistake and thanks for asking for clarification on that!
Delete