Blood Glucose Boot Camp - Day 2
Almost two days down, only 26 and a bit to go! So far so good. Just. It is quite amazing how much mental effort it takes to battle your impulses and stay on plan. I’m more than ready to hit the sack even as I write this intro. So what have I been up to? Mostly throwing myself at work so that I don’t have to think about what my blood glucose levels are doing, but I have to say that it already is starting to look a little bit better than yesterday.
I still need to find a good way to collate and present the data and metrics I’m collecting, but that will have to be another day. That would require a lot more brain power than what I have access to right now. Here is a quick visual summary.
I started my alternate day fast at 19:00 on 2nd June and was planning to go until 13:00 today to get me to a 42h fast. It was a busy day, I didn’t feel that hungry and in the end made it to about 17:30 before having my one meal of the day. It was quite interesting to see that my blood glucose levels peaked lower indicating that, at least for me, fasting might be one of the more important interventions. I also confirmed that the type of meal I generally consume does not spike me too much, especially if I combine eating with an after meal walk. I did reduce my protein intake a little and it will be interesting to see how tomorrow’s dawn phenomenon plays out. I have started my next fast. Ideally want to try another do 42h fast and finish fasting after midday on 6th June.
What did my 700kcal ‘break alternate day fast’ meal look like? Gem lettuce, cucumber, avocado, anchovy stuffed olives topped with sliced thin steak with apple cider vinegar and a good helping of olive oil. Freshly brewed coffee with 2tbsp of double cream because why not? It’s now been several hours and I feel quite full. Satiety rules!
My daily activity levels have remained roughly the same as before - twice daily walks with my dog, one shorter to the local park, the other venturing further out. At the moment there are no plans to tweak this.
How am I tracking against my targets? There has been a slight reduction in my seven day average glucose. Down to 8 mmol/l from 8.3 mmol/l. But this could be a really bad day from previous week falling off the numbers rather than my interventions at work. I need to give it at least a week to see if stricter adherence to my health principles produces better results. Weight is also starting to move in the right direction, but given quite a high starting point this week it will be challenging to hit the desired weekly average reduction of 1kg.
What else? I’ve had my blood tests done last Thursday (HbA1c and serum lipids) and have been waiting for results. These haven’t yet popped up on my NHS app. I do have an appointment with my GP in two days and will most likely find out then. I hope I can trial coming off my remaining medication (1 * 10mg Atorvastatin and 1 * 850mg Metformin daily).
