How I Lowered my HbA1c and Took Control of MY Life

In November of 2016, I drastically changed my lifestyle and subsequent diabetes management. In the beginning I merely instablogged about my diabetes, but then started to take it all much more seriously. I saw lots of instagramers following a Low Carb lifestyle and didn’t really understand what it was at first. But after some research I decided follow a LC lifestyle too.

My A1C was 7.6% at my appointment in the middle of November 2016. This A1C included three weeks in the US while I was visiting my family. My diabetes is extremely difficult for me to control when I’m in the US, for lots of reasons I won’t get into in this post. My point is that I knew my A1C could be so much better, if I just put in some effort. I was in a really lazy and comfortable stage, not really unhealthy or negligent, just not the best I could do.

I decided that I needed to change my lifestyle to help  make my diabetes management easier. I also got married in September 2016, so the possibility of children at some point in the next few years kept creeping up on me. I figured it would be easier to change my lifestyle now, when I wanted to, in order to make it all easier when that eventually happens.

I went from eating 150+ grams of carbs per day, down to a goal of 75 and finally now at 30g per day. In the beginning, it was quite difficult to push the cravings away, especially for bread and sweets (chocolate!). But after a few weeks, I felt really great with a LC lifestyle and knew I wanted to stick with it. I’m so glad that I did.

A tip for anyone who might be interested in trying LC: don’t dive into it assuming you’ll eat 30g per day right away. Ease into it and gradually reduce your carb intake. This helped me.

My rule is this: small carbs = small mistakes; big carbs = big mistakes.

When I cheat on myself, I feel HORRIBLE. For me, it’s not worth it to cheat with noodles, bread, or other high, nutrition-lacking carbohydrate foods.

I don’t fluctuate or spike on a LC lifestyle like I did before eating whatever I wanted. I rarely have more than 3 units of active insulin working through my body. I feel a million times better knowing my BG isn’t spiking into no man’s land.

I feel in control.

Eating LC has helped me lower my A1c from 7.6% to 6.5%, in one quarter (3 months) and I’m finally at 5.9%. Here’s to lowering it even lower! 

Any new lifestyle change or changes in your diabetes management should ALWAYS be brought to your health care professional(s) before beginning them. This is merely my personal experience and should not constitute medical advice.