Living with Diabetes 2....................

Surprise surprise. Yes I have it, Diabetes 2. So now what?. My blood tests are always crappy. It does not seem to matter what I do there is always something.
I have fought high cholesterol for many years. As I reached 40 I seemed to start with the weight problems. I remember when I was young in my 20s and at a size 4 or 5 I thought I was "fat" I always seemed to have a problem, always on a diet. I was 112 and wanted to be 110 and settled down at 115. So for a while I was size 7 and although not happy with that as I thought I was still fleshy I decided I could live with it.
Here I am possibly 125 1bs

Once I passed 40 though it was more of a struggle and I went up to 121. Oooooh nooooo. I figured well it cant get too much worse, I was working out with weights and told myself it was muscle. Then the day came and it was 130. Again, well I can't get much worse. I was during all this time dieting one way or other. Weight watchers, and low carb. Atkins. Tried Mahong and liked that but then was worried about the health effects. So stopped that. Then came 140 and now I was worried, still dieting, back to Weight Watchers. I would struggle and take off a few pounds. I wanted 20 pounds off and be 120 again, nope..........150 my body said. Back then I was not even concerned with cholesterol and stuff like that. I had my annual physical and worried more about breast cancer and my Pap tests. When I hit 150 I was panicking. Nothing worked. My doctor said it was my metabolism and we found my Thyroid was not working as it should. So began the pills. Started with Thyroid and got that under control. Then the cholesterol was worrying the doctor and my blood pressure. 160 came and went on to 170. Loose weight he said. Good grief I have been losing weight all my adult life but it just will not stay off. Now during this time no one said anything about my Blood. We tried several different meds for cholesterol and none worked for me, they had so many side effects. I reached 180.
Probably 150bs

I walk during the summer months while it os not too hot. I am active in my garden and house. I love hiking in the woods. I diet and go up and down. I am learning what lowers my sugar, spices and herbs and what veggies and fruits I should and should not eat. Seems if I like it I can not eat it.

Then one summer I went on a different diet, I cut out Potatoes, rice, pasta and bread. Very difficult for me because I do not really have a sweet tooth. Anyway I did manage to get down again to 164 then came Thanksgiving and Christmas, I put back and lost 5 pounds. Around this time I stopped eating meat, red meat. No beef or pork (never did eat lamp or veal) and that really helped my cholesterol. I got a really good result after that but it didn't last.

I started to really get into baking and loved to make bread. Well, I learned alright and I also ate it. So back crept the weight.
With that came my blood sugar problems. When I went to the doc the next time my blood work showed pre diabetes 124. He did not want to diagnose me so had me consult with someone, but she really could not tell me anything I did not already know. So again I tried my best but, sugar went up. Then there was a break through. I had a wonderful blood test result (as I mentioned above). I told him he got the wrong persons tests, but he said no, it's yours so as my blood pressure was low and making me lethargic (I was on 3 pills) he took me off 2 of them and I cut out the cholesterol meds and lowered my thyroid medicine. Next check up in 3 months and it was all creeping back, not as bad but now the added sugar problem. So back on the meds again. Then my blood sugar crossed the line to 125.
He gave me Metformin and I took that for a week before taking myself off of it. It made my insides very angry. Next visit I pretty much told him what to do with it, but he said with my cholesterol high and my blood sugar he was worried about a heart attack. Sigh..............so I started taking the Metformin. My friend Edna told me that she got over the side effects after a couple of weeks so that encouraged me. I have been taking it for awhile now but still plays me up. I bought a kit to test my blood sugar. It does not seem to help much. As with all my other medications, they just do not work for me. However, I am back on the low carb diet and have lost a few pounds. My numbers are still high but I take my blood pressure every day and check my blood sugar.

Today I was 174 lbs my blood pressure was 141/98 pulse 77 and my blood sugar was 128. Good for me. Edna told me about apple sauce, she said it lowered hers so I tried it. Cant eat apples all day though but will add that to my daily regime. You know, and apple a day keeps the doctor a way. The man has me in there every 3 months darn it all.
Topped at 180

So what have I learned?. I can not eat anything and stay healthy. Bummer. Haha. So I am experimenting with vegetables. The ones they say lower things, lucky I like veggies. Sigh!!!!! If I want a treat I eat dark chocolate and will indulge in cheesecake if I want a real treat. I can make egg custard for puddings but I am not really a desert person. I make milk shakes with almond milk, frozen fruit and a banana and thats awesome. I want to cut back on dairy anyway, so I have milk just for coffee now. I can not eat nuts, diverticulitis darn it all. I eat eggs for breakfast or oatmeal with honey. If I indulge in bread I eat Pita pockets or that skinny bread that I love and that and it's whole grain. I have discovered a few vegan recipes and I use cheese for the added fat and that is one thing I love so its also snack material. Filling too. I also make a tea from Apple Cider vinegar and honey with cinnamon. That has staved off colds for 2 years or so now.

So here I am now 72 years old and it is a struggle to be fit, just as it has always been. It can not be called a diet, it is a lifestyle. I am looking forwards to Spring, I really really really need the exercise and maybe that will help me lose some weight again. My goal is 160 for now and boy is it slow going. It seems that when I lose weight and then put it back on again, my body goes into rebellion, it says enough! I am holding on to this. Then I can't lose the weight in the same way as the last time. I have to find a new way to fool my body. At this stage of my life it's my internal health that I worry about rather than looks. Can't really help that anymore I am an old lady, I must accept that.....................well NO I WON'T I will go down fighting darn it.