My blood sugar levels were all messed up on Saturday and Sunday, but on Monday, they started getting easier to control and predict. Today, Tuesday, they've been perfect all day.
Blood Sugar Levels Tuesday, October 25
Fasting, 7:30 a.m. - 123 (for those who aren't in the know: this is almost perfect. Fasting blood sugar means the first test of the day, before you've eaten or done any exercise. The goal is typically between 70 and 100, so 123 is really good considering I usually run about 300 first thing in the morning)
Still fasting, ~11:00 a.m. - 133 I'm assuming that since I've basically been without any sort of food for more than 12 hours, my body started producing glycogen, which raised my blood sugar level
Two Units Humalog with Lunch at 11:30 a.m. - This is a significantly lower dose than I normally take with meals, since I'm consuming little to no carbs. My usual mealtime dose is between 10 and 15 units.
The Rest of the Day - I've been testing my blood sugar every few hours since lunch. It's currently 7:00 p.m. and my last level was 113 at about 6:00 p.m.
This is seriously amazing for me. I haven't had such tight control of my blood sugar levels since before my parents relinquished control over my health to me when I was about 14. My levels usually ran in the high 200's and often bounced up to the 300's after meals. It was just impossible for me to find that perfect ratio of insulin to carbs. I always either didn't take enough or if I increased the insulin just a bit, I'd plummet to dangerously low levels. I've been hospitalized five times for diabetic ketoacidosis in the past decade. I have peripheral neuropathy in my hands and regular heartburn due to consistently high blood sugar levels. I'm basically a medical disaster at age 29, and I basically just got sick of feeling sick all the time.
The Transition SUCKS
I've only been on a low-carb diet continuously for three days, so obviously it still sucks. I'm not craving anything in particular, except everything. The thing in general that I miss the most already is crunchy foods. I haven't stocked my pantry with keto-friendly ingredients yet, so I've been eating a lot of meats, cheeses, and lettuce. I'm going to try to add celery and peanut butter to my snacks to get that crunch factor back. Once I stock up on ingredients, I'll probably try to make some cracker-type things.
Food Log Monday, October 24
So obviously, there's a lot of cured meat and sodium in there, but I haven't gotten together cooking ingredients yet. I've noticed an increase in my blood pressure, but I can't tell if it's diet-related or stress-related, so I'm going to try to increase my water intake and blood pressure medication until I've been on the diet for a few weeks. (This is because I have read that going into ketosis expends a lot of sodium and water, so people generally need more sodium during the initial phase.)
Outlook
I'm looking forward to getting my blood sugar under control and hopefully halting or even reversing some of my difficulties. Weight loss is also a big deal for me because my waistline has increased from 32 inches to 40 inches in the past 10 years. I'm a short dude, and it's almost impossible to find nice-looking pants in size 38x30.
I already feel like I have enough energy for a longer period of time, which is a welcome side effect. Before, I was eating carb-laden foods every couple of hours and still feeling tired because of the blood sugar roller coaster. Now, I eat my protein and fat at regular intervals and snack on almonds in between, and I feel awesome. I feel hungry, but it's not that horrible type, and I don't feel the tiredness that is caused by high blood sugar (it's very different from regular tired, trust me).
Once I stock up on my cooking ingredients, I'll probably feel much better about missing out on all those delicious carbohydrates.
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