Comment by a3n | Hacker News Reader

Comment by a3n | Hacker News Reader

It was "during this period," but only coincidentally.

Diabetic. I let my blood sugar get wildly out of control. Daily sugar in the 300s, A1C 13 something.

Consulted doc and medical nutritionist. Nutritionist suggested daily carbs in the 100s (I forget exactly). I asked if sub 100 would be safe, she said yes.

So for three months i took in 40 to 100g/day. Cut A1C to low 7.something, daily sugar down to high 80s to low 100s. Side effect: lost 30 pounds.

Cut out all junk food, all bread, all "added sugar." Ate more meat and dairy. Read every label or searched online.

KEY was a food/carb diary. Recorded everything I ate and its carb content, totaled carbs every day. Recorded sugar multiple times/day. Recorded blood pressure occasionally. Not much exercise. Started recording weight once a week when I noticed my clothes were loose.

So:

* Decide what actions you'll take.

* Record those actions as appropriate.

* Record progress as appropriate. For example, daily weight may be counter productive.

* Adjust as necessary.

Awesome progress, congrats on that! How did you know blood sugar was out of control, where you actively measuring I guess? Also really feel you on "Record progress as appropriate", it seems like progress is never going to be that quick (and may fluctuate a lot) which demotivates me. How did you decide what was appropriate, in terms of cadence of measurement?

It got out of control because I got complacent, started eating a lot of what I shouldn't, and didn't do my finger stick sugar testing for a long time.

Then, because it's diabetes, I started peeing a lot. Then I measured and knew i was in trouble.

A1C is an average over time, and the doc finding it at 13+confirmed it had been a problem for awhile.

Appropriateness of measurement depends on what you're measuring and why, how it fluctuates, and how it might respond to your eeffort and routine.

Most diabetics who don't use insulin, like me, only need to measure once in the morning (your doctor may vary). If you're trying to bring your blood glucose into control, and trying to see what kind of (natural) insulin response you have, then more frequent is appropriate. And if you use insulin, that's a whole nother protocol. So it depends.

Weight average goes up and down slowly over days and weeks, and spot weight depends on how much mass you ate at your last meal, etc. So daily weight can be frustrating if that's what your goal is. I've read that once a week is appropriate.

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