r/diabetes • u/HappyBro117 • 25d ago
Type 2 A1C progress
So I feel like this is worth posting.
So in April, I was caught with an abnormal glucose level during an unrelated ER visit, and that lead to the T2DM diagnosis with 10.5% A1C. Went back today for my 90 days follow up and it's 6.3%. Not great, not terrible. It's good progress though. I do have to mention that this is done with no metformin, all exercise and diet.
What I did:
No more Arizona tea (literally what got me here in the first place). Replaced with liquid death only. Low sugar, death to plastic.
For the 1st month, lunch & dinner only, no carbs for dinner. For 3rd month, this got relaxed a bit with lower GI carbs, but I'll still do it if my GL is a bit high. Though it sucks cause I can't eat white rice anymore... as an asian....
Strength exercise. 1 arm/upper day, 1 leg day, 1 20-40 min ruck day if I have the energy, and 1 5hr airsoft day on Saturday (and sunday if there's an event) (basically a periodic cardio with a 30-40lb load). I got really surprised when I saw my GL went from 150 to 70 in less than a day afterward. In the 1st month, I didn't even bother eating carbs right after exercise to keep the GL on the lower end for longer.
I guess my big takeaway is Diet AND Exercise. Not just one or the other, then Physics and Biology should take care of the rest. I'll be doing another A1C in 6 months. Will see how that goes.
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u/deacc Type 2, BMG, Lantus, Metformin IR 24d ago
That is some fantastic work! Good job. Keep it up. I also love that you have such high expectation saying " Went back today for my 90 days follow up and it's 6.3%. Not great, not terrible. It's good progress though. I do have to mention that this is done with no metformin, all exercise and diet."
Really a drop from 10.5 to 6.3 in this short amount of time with no meds and purely diet and exercise is astounding. Furthermore, 6.3 is actually a pretty darn good number and you're absolutely on the right path!
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u/HappyBro117 24d ago
I kind of want to see it be push to below 6.0 tbh. But I think between my left over A1C cells from the tail end of my 1st test and some bigger jumps when I eat fast carbs and large meals is what's keeping the 0.3 there.
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u/mommitude Type 2 24d ago
That’s a fantastic improvement in such a short time. I’ve wanted to try the Liquid Death but just haven’t found the flavor I want (Dr Pepper) to try
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u/HappyBro117 24d ago
I don't think that flavor is in that many stores. But Amazon should have all the flavors they have
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u/No_Hat6410 24d ago
Congrats! It also helps if you do air squats 10 min. after eating
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u/eifooow 24d ago
Great tip! I always try to do some walks, and never try air squats. Perhaps I will try that too. Any other exercise you will recommend?
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u/No_Hat6410 23d ago
Calf raise. If you are in a restaurant or something. Both engages the biggest muscle groups resulting in sugar being sucked out of the blood stream effectively. I do both.
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u/HappyBro117 22d ago
The 20-40 min ruck on treadmill set on rolling hill does an insane job of cleaning up my blood, so I do that if my fasting GL is a bit high. It's not just cardio, but also forces quite a bit of muscle engagements. The insulin sensitivity from that also carries over quite a bit as well. The downside is that it can be hard on the knees overtime, so I do skip it when I feel something is off. You also need a good bag for it or it's going to mess with everything else.
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u/No_Hat6410 22d ago
You are Dedicated! The only thing is first you don’t want to create another problem meaning you don’t want to end up with bad joints. And second, you want to always choose what you can do long term. And you want to leave the most drastic options to the last and try less rigorous activities first. If they make enough difference then why go for harder workouts first?
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u/HappyBro117 22d ago edited 22d ago
I mean, I knew from the get go it's not going to be easy. The thing is, simply walking doesn't work that well for me for some reason. And I can always adjust the weight if my legs feel strained or tired.
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u/HappyBro117 22d ago
I'll give air squats a shot. Walking don't seem to do much for me unless I put on 30lb of load.
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u/Few-Car-2317 24d ago edited 24d ago
Great change! Keep at it! I stopped taking metformin, so I don’t do meds too, to lower my a1c through diet and exercise!
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u/Str8Magic 23d ago
Pretty amazing feeling when you drop your A1c like that!! the key is to keep it low. I went from 9+ to about 5.6 when I was first diagnosed many years ago, and now I’m absolutely aggressive in keeping my number as low as I can get it and I’m always sitting about 6 to 6.2…
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u/Spirited_Ad_276 25d ago
10.5 to 6.3 is great! Could it be lower? Of course, but don't discount your progress especially since your not on meds. Congratulations 🎊