After 150 Days, Transitions of a T2D Addict
Change is good, but change is hard. I'll take what I get. Here we are, about 150 days into this grand lab rat experiment.
T2D Insulin Use: The Lantus dose began at 80 units/day, and is now about 35, varying as needed. The lowest 2 doses in my memory, let alone these 150 days, happened this past week. And one of them was arguably too big ("OD'd on Lantus"). The smaller the dose, the closer I get to not using any at all. It's easier to make the dose smaller, ceteris paribus, but scarier to make it Zero.
Weight Loss and Body Composition: From 218 pounds at end of 2017, to 195 on 11/18, to 186.8 this morning, all on my own scales. Higher numbers on Doc's scales, agreement on December 27, 2018 with InBody assessment unit. Goal remains 170, with about 15% body fat (InBody PBF 27.3%, my scale 26.0% today). Need to try harder to retain muscle mass, and boost BMR. My 7 pound weight loss is made of 2 muscle mass, 1.1 body water, and the rest fat loss. I think. Scale documentation is sketchy.
Diet and Fasting: With the begrudging assistance of myFitnessPal, I'm more aware of my feeding macros and calorie intake. I need to press harder down on carbs, eat a lot more protein, and use fat to raise / lower the calorie intake. Fasting works well on carb repression, less so on calorie reduction. And, I hit the energy drain wall. I seem to be settling on 1 40 hour fast weekly, mostly 16:8 to 20:4 daily, and 1 or 2 refeed days.
Exercise: More of a mind set change than anything else. I had been working towards progressive loading - more weight moved in less time. The new mindset is to keep the weight moved per unit time in the current hi / lo range. If it becomes "too high", I can easily add weight / reps / sets / exercises. If it becomes "too low", I'm in trouble, because it implies an energy supply failure, or extreme worst case, an injury. No bueno.
Everything easily measured is trending correctly, and while I'd prefer it go faster, I maintain patience. Initial guesstimates for the duration of this experiment were 6 to 12 months, and that seems, still, reasonable.
T2D Insulin Use: The Lantus dose began at 80 units/day, and is now about 35, varying as needed. The lowest 2 doses in my memory, let alone these 150 days, happened this past week. And one of them was arguably too big ("OD'd on Lantus"). The smaller the dose, the closer I get to not using any at all. It's easier to make the dose smaller, ceteris paribus, but scarier to make it Zero.
 |
| Note lower frequency of high values, higher frequency of low values |
Weight Loss and Body Composition: From 218 pounds at end of 2017, to 195 on 11/18, to 186.8 this morning, all on my own scales. Higher numbers on Doc's scales, agreement on December 27, 2018 with InBody assessment unit. Goal remains 170, with about 15% body fat (InBody PBF 27.3%, my scale 26.0% today). Need to try harder to retain muscle mass, and boost BMR. My 7 pound weight loss is made of 2 muscle mass, 1.1 body water, and the rest fat loss. I think. Scale documentation is sketchy.
 |
| Some of the data available from my scale |
Diet and Fasting: With the begrudging assistance of myFitnessPal, I'm more aware of my feeding macros and calorie intake. I need to press harder down on carbs, eat a lot more protein, and use fat to raise / lower the calorie intake. Fasting works well on carb repression, less so on calorie reduction. And, I hit the energy drain wall. I seem to be settling on 1 40 hour fast weekly, mostly 16:8 to 20:4 daily, and 1 or 2 refeed days.
 |
| Duration of fast distribution, and how to keep a body confused about feedings |
Exercise: More of a mind set change than anything else. I had been working towards progressive loading - more weight moved in less time. The new mindset is to keep the weight moved per unit time in the current hi / lo range. If it becomes "too high", I can easily add weight / reps / sets / exercises. If it becomes "too low", I'm in trouble, because it implies an energy supply failure, or extreme worst case, an injury. No bueno.
Everything easily measured is trending correctly, and while I'd prefer it go faster, I maintain patience. Initial guesstimates for the duration of this experiment were 6 to 12 months, and that seems, still, reasonable.
Comments
Got to do all of it, consistently, over time, with patience.
Believe me, if and when I blow up, it'll show ...