No S and diabetes

No Snacks, no sweets, no seconds. Except on Days that start with S. Too simple for you? Simple is why it works. Look here for questions, introductions, support, success stories.

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3squaremeals
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Location: Australia

No S and diabetes

Post by 3squaremeals » Sun Jul 02, 2017 6:43 am

Hi sorry me again with another question.

I had gestational diabetes with my pregnancy 2 years ago and now have a 1 in 2 chances of developing type 2 diabetes within the next 10 years if I don't lose weight, eat better and exercise. My question is would No S be fine to help me lose the weight or should I be taking a more drastic approach?

I am starting to use more wholegrains, fruit and veg since my last attempt at No S, and I feel this is the better approach as it is a lifestyle change rather than a diet. I find it helps me to lessen my binge episodes once I get into it and the sugar cravings reduce. I will also be looking to reduce my S days to once a week and to one S on that day.

I even read that losing 5-10% of your body weight drastically reduces your chance of developing type 2 diabetes so am eager to get healthy and lose some weight.

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Merry
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Post by Merry » Mon Jul 03, 2017 6:09 am

Not sure but I have two thoughts:

1, unless your doctor specifically wants you to follow a certain diet or lose a certain amount in a certain time frame, I think the best diet is the one you'll stick with long-term. Are you ready and willing to make long-term changes to the way that you eat? And, what changes are you willing to make? Don't feel you need to change everything overnight (again, unless you have to for health reasons)--lasting change is more likely to happen gradually. When I try to change too many things at once, I am not too successful (I usually rebel and give everything up when I do that).

2, are you willing to lose slowly? Most people lose somewhat slowly on No-S. I don't mind because I am mentally prepared to do this for the long-haul--to view no-s as the way I'll eat the rest of my life. A sane way of eating rather than trying another yo-yo diet. I like the moderation it encourages, and I like the changes it encourages in me. I have lost weight, but only 1-2 lbs. per month--some months I plateau, and one month I even gained (I attributed that to a month of really full plates and eating past when I felt full etc...)

HTH some as you think through what's best for you.
Homeschool Mom and No S returnee as of 11-30-15.
2 years and counting on No-S.
29 lbs. down, 34 to go. Slow and steady wins the race.
Respect Moderation

oolala53
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Location: San Diego, CA USA

Post by oolala53 » Mon Jul 03, 2017 7:25 pm

I'm still planning to write separately. However, and I know some people don't trust the medical system, but I'd think that having a 1 in 2 chance of developing diabetes would qualify you for a consultation with a dietician. I would at least go and listen, then do my own due diligence. The stakes are worth the effort, IMHO. BTW, I've forgotten how old you are. If you'd prefer not to say, no matter.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

3squaremeals
Posts: 291
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2016 11:03 pm
Location: Australia

Post by 3squaremeals » Sat Jul 08, 2017 12:06 am

Thank you. Oolala and Merry.

My doctor has not stated that I need to follow any specific eating plan or told me to lose weight. I had a blood test a year ago to test my fasting blood sugars which came back perfect. I have just done another one yesterday and am waiting for the results to come back. If these come back that I am prediabetic or diabetic then I will follow the plan I followed when I had gestational diabetes which was eating 6 small meals a day with smaller serves of low GI carbs. If not I'm thinking I will continue to follow No S while eating a low GI diet and stick to one or two S day treats per week.

I don't think I would qualify for an appointment with a dietician over here unless it came back that I am prediabetic. Plus I also know what I should be eating from seeing the dietician while pregnant, I just need to follow it. Also to answer your question I am 27 years old.

I do feel if I was to make too many changes all at once I wouldn't stick to it long term like Merry said. So small changes would work best for me I think.

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Merry
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Post by Merry » Sat Jul 08, 2017 6:36 am

My husband was considered pre-diabetic/borderline diabetic for awhile, but he didn't have to eat 6 meals a day. They did outline what he could do for meals and snacks but the snacks weren't required. I wonder if you really have to do them? In his case, the important part was just regular exercise and making sure that the carbs didn't go over a certain amount per meal and per day. He actually was very successful and got his A1C so low for so long that he's not longer considered prediabetic and no longer has to go in for checks. (This was before I started back with No-S. He now loosely follows No-S too.)
Homeschool Mom and No S returnee as of 11-30-15.
2 years and counting on No-S.
29 lbs. down, 34 to go. Slow and steady wins the race.
Respect Moderation

oolala53
Posts: 10059
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

Post by oolala53 » Sat Jul 08, 2017 6:52 am

Exercise and limited carbs sounds like a good pairing. If you don't absolutely need to eat often, it can help delay insulin resistance to eat less often, or so I've read. Jason Fung is a Canadian doctor who's supposed to have about a 50% success rate in getting diabetics off meds by using intermittent fasting is big on three meals a day, when people aren't fasting (He also likes low carb, but he's dealing with some pretty seriously ill people.)

Good luck with the most recent blood work.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

3squaremeals
Posts: 291
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2016 11:03 pm
Location: Australia

Post by 3squaremeals » Sat Jul 08, 2017 7:03 am

Wow that is interesting about your husband not having to eat 6 times a day. I just presumed I would have to as I did when I had gestational diabetes. But I guess I had to keep my sugar levels stable for the baby and I had limited amounts of carbs I could have at each meal, plus the added needs of eating enough calories to support the growth of the baby may not have been met with having 3 meals with a carb limit.

I also had a look on the internet and a diabetes expert said meal frequency wasn't overly important. So I guess 6 meals isn't always the answer to controlling prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.

Last time I did No S I found I didn't get shakey between meals due to low blood sugar once my body got used to the 3 meals. I find now if I try doing 3 meals I get the shakes between meals, so I may need to ease back into it given that I have been eating so much sugar and too many carbs since I went off the rails on No S.

oolala53
Posts: 10059
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

Post by oolala53 » Sat Jul 08, 2017 5:21 pm

You are going to find a lot of contradictory advice on treating or preventing diabetes on the web. For the average, nondiabetic person, it has come greatly into question that the best way to regulate blood sugar is to eat often. If humans needed to eat every few hours for the right blood sugar, they would have died out a few hundred thousand years ago. Some people say that it's been our increasing habit of eating often that has actually led to bodies that can't keep blood sugar levels steady without constant food. We have stores of sugar all the time, unless we have very restricted diets or are down to using our fat, and even that has been found to have real advantages, though getting to it is not in sync with most of our culture's eating habits. An adept body can pull those stores out easily when needed.

But for a medical condition or to avoid one like you're facing, you just choose the one you have the most faith in.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

Larkspur
Posts: 438
Joined: Mon Mar 06, 2017 3:30 pm
Location: Pennsylvania

Post by Larkspur » Sat Jul 08, 2017 7:16 pm

Seconding Oolala here. There is some emerging research that fewer meals may be better for diabetes/blood sugar control.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 184424.htm

It has to work "in vivo," so you are the best judge of your own physiology, but I wouldn't be scared off by fewer meals from a health point of view.

3squaremeals
Posts: 291
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2016 11:03 pm
Location: Australia

Post by 3squaremeals » Tue Jul 11, 2017 12:59 pm

My blood test results came back and the doctor wants to see me. It's not urgent so obviously not diabetes but it's either elevated blood sugar or cholesterol. I have an appointment on Thursday to discuss my results. Hopefully will give me the kick up the bum I need to take my health seriously

oolala53
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Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

Post by oolala53 » Tue Jul 11, 2017 7:31 pm

I've got some other kicks, if his aren't dire enough, IF you really want them. (This time, I put them in a Word doc.)

But I kind of hope his news isn't dire, and that you still won't need the kicks, but will find your mojo without either.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

splandrea
Posts: 64
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:21 am
Location: Northern California

Post by splandrea » Tue Jul 11, 2017 8:01 pm

My mom has been diabetic for 20 years and has been annoyingly perfectly compliant with the diet she was given. It was a three meals a day plan and she has been doing it every day since her diagnosis without a second thought. She rarely eats sweet things, but also rarely did before her diagnosis, and essentially has been doing no-s without knowing about it. Anyway, her A1c was in the 5-range for most of that time, but now that she is getting older (she is 80) she has had to add insulin to her medication regimen.

3squaremeals
Posts: 291
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2016 11:03 pm
Location: Australia

Post by 3squaremeals » Fri Jul 14, 2017 5:18 am

Please pm me those kicks oolala.

The results came back and my sugar levels are fine. My cholesterol on the other hand is high. Which is unusual for someone of my age. I do know that it is from gaining all this weight and from binging so much on the last couple of months. Although I didn't tell my doctor that as I am completely ashamed of my binge eating.

For now I absolutely need to commit to No S. I have been trying to eat healthy with snacks everyday living off measley portions then binging after lunch and at night on fatty sugary things. I do know I need to clean my diet up but that can come later after I have established some good habits and stopped binging.. I am miserable, moody and so down lately and think about food most of the day. I want to go back to how I felt when I first did No S when I didn't think about food constantly or binge and I was so happy. I actually felt pretty happy with my body.

I think I keep putting off starting No S again as I'm 10kg heavier and I know the weightloss will be slow. But it beats continuing to binge every day and getting bigger.

oolala53
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Location: San Diego, CA USA

Post by oolala53 » Fri Jul 14, 2017 6:26 am

3squaremeals wrote: I want to go back to how I felt when I first did No S when I didn't think about food constantly or binge and I was so happy. I actually felt pretty happy with my body.

I think I keep putting off starting No S again as I'm 10kg heavier and I know the weightloss will be slow. But it beats continuing to binge every day and getting bigger.


Are you listening to yourself? You have to go for how it will make you feel when you aren't compulsively eating. Being thin is not what makes you feel thin. Eating so that they aren't often stuffed is what makes you feel thin.

Stop looking at the scale or in mirrors, but resolve absolutely to put up with the urges without giving in, and start doing something vigorous along the lines of Shovelglove on N days, even if it's just for 4 minutes to start.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

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Merry
Posts: 1658
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2008 2:14 am

Post by Merry » Fri Jul 14, 2017 7:20 am

3squaremeals wrote: I want to go back to how I felt when I first did No S when I didn't think about food constantly or binge and I was so happy. I actually felt pretty happy with my body.
I'm glad your test for sugars came back fine!

I think it's okay to realize that bingeing is an unhealthy choice, but don't beat yourself up over it. No amount of bad feelings or shame is going to change the past--but let the past be in the past. Don't let it affect your present. After realizing that's not how you want to live--how DO you want to live?

When I started No-S, I didn't make any effort to eat especially healthy meals--I just ate 3 meals a day that I wanted. So, what would you like to eat at your meals? What are enjoyable meals to you? Give yourself permission to eat meals you really want. If you think about it, eating just 3 meals a day and eating sweets only 2 days a week is a step towards health--so start with just that step and work on establishing that.

Over time, if you find yourself wanting to shift to healthier food choices, then you can gradually make some of those changes. I found over time that I started wanting more fruits and veggies. I don't have them at all meals, but at more meals than I did before.

You deserve to enjoy today. You don't have to be that phantom skinny person you imagine to enjoy being you today and to be happy with your body. Enjoy health and good food and good friends and family--and give yourself the gift of No-S.
Homeschool Mom and No S returnee as of 11-30-15.
2 years and counting on No-S.
29 lbs. down, 34 to go. Slow and steady wins the race.
Respect Moderation

3squaremeals
Posts: 291
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2016 11:03 pm
Location: Australia

Post by 3squaremeals » Fri Jul 14, 2017 11:25 am

Thank you both for your advice, it is much appreciated.

I think my binging habit has become so bad as I just give into every little binge urge I have. I need to focus on breaking this habit which will certainly be much easier as I am returning to work on Monday. Therefore I won't be near the kitchen all day and will be busy and not thinking about food.

I may also hide the scales for a month and focus on enjoying my food and having 3 meals a day. I want to enjoy waking up each morning not filled with disappointment that I spent the day before binging, I want to enjoy family meals, I want to look forward to having S day treats guilt free. I want to enjoy my spare time, not waste it reading about the latest diet instead of spending it with my kids and partner. I need to write this down and read it daily or when I feel like binging or dieting.

I am determined to get my life on track and feel happy again. Not necessarily by losing weight but by establishing healthy, normal and enjoyable eating patterns.

splandrea
Posts: 64
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:21 am
Location: Northern California

Post by splandrea » Fri Jul 14, 2017 12:15 pm

Sounds like a plan! I just hid my scales yesterday. I mean, I know where they are, but they are not readily available for me to use every single time I walk into the bathroom!
07/01/17: 258
Current: 238
Aiming for 180. We shall see...

oolala53
Posts: 10059
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

Post by oolala53 » Fri Jul 14, 2017 10:03 pm

BTW, what was your "good" cholesterol level? My cholesterol has actually gone up to a level I never thought it would, but my ratio of good to bad is very good. My doctor claims my odds of heart disease are very low.

However, I don't push the envelope much anymore with the content of my eating. Not enough decades left to reverse the problems!
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

3squaremeals
Posts: 291
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2016 11:03 pm
Location: Australia

Post by 3squaremeals » Fri Jul 14, 2017 10:17 pm

I didn't actually ask what the levels were. I should have. She just said both my good and bad cholesterol were high.

oolala53
Posts: 10059
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

Post by oolala53 » Fri Jul 14, 2017 11:52 pm

If I understand it, it's the ratio that's important. I guess you can't access the numbers online? I have Kaiser, and they post all my lab tests.


However, for your purposes, it's not bad to truly feel you have a health incentive to decrease the dependence on sweets and overeating. That's what I call it these days, a dependence. I just like the concept of dissolving my dependence on extra food, in whatever order and pace, and the pace can vary. I don't begrudge so much what I haven't dissolved, but I leave the door open for more to go. (I don't mean to make this about me, just to give a possible reframing.) All effective changes in eating are either dumb luck or accompanied by a reframing of what the person feels is necessary and/or possible.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

3squaremeals
Posts: 291
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2016 11:03 pm
Location: Australia

Post by 3squaremeals » Sat Jul 15, 2017 6:37 am

I think I can call the doctor's office and the nurse should be able to tell me over the phone.

I am hoping that No S is going to give me the tools I need to improve my health. I look forward to seeing what my 6 month follow up brings. I am almost certain that if I quit the binging habit and my weight goes down even only a few kgs then my high cholesterol will go back to normal.

oolala53
Posts: 10059
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

Post by oolala53 » Wed Jul 19, 2017 2:39 am

Even if those changes don't happen, the discipline you gain will make it a lot more likely that you'll be able to stick to any new restrictions that you really believe you have to make. And I hope you'll come to believe you do need to make them.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

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