[Ronin]

Hi Fellow Pre-D's and everyone else!

The results from my monthly test arrived today. Actually, I am still a bit overwhelmed as January wasn't exactly what I would have called my "best month" with lousy weather and restricted exercise, and still the test came back at 5.0%!!!

Hooda Thunket? But, I'm not complaining!

[Cyborg]

Keep up the good work!

[susique333]

Youre giving me hope, I go in March for another round of tests. I was at 7% last fall.

[sandmcd]

Wow! Great number! What are you doing to get it so good? Diet??????

[Dan Gato]

Ronin,

That's excellent !!

Do you do low carbs?
Would you say that you sacrifice a lot to maintain a low A1C?

[princesslinda]

Ronin, congrats on your great A1C! I know you work very hard for numbers like that....and you should be proud!

[Ronin]

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for all the compliments. I'd love to have a great answer for the reduction in the A1c numbers but all I did was eat less because I was exercising less due to "winter" (bicyclists generally hate winter).

I do measure out my foods (Yeah, I actually use a gram scale along with the nutritional labels on foods and the USDA database for non-processed foods) and thereby control portion sizes. I time my carb intake to before or immediately following exercise -- no exercise = lowered or eliminated carbs (now that is a motivator to exercise).

I'm both happy with the numbers but also a bit confused as I don't think I worked all that hard to achieve it -- maybe the life changes are just normal and I don't think of it as a discipline anymore.

[artlizard]

Congrats on the great news! I go in next week and am hoping for below 7! Sounds like you got the diet to be a part of your lifestyle and not a diet!

Good luck.

[jcbart]

Ronin, that's phenomenal. Great results and congrats!

[jakesfnm]

I'm new to this forum and the pre or actual diabetic thing. I've learned everyone is different, but wonder what you do, primarily, with diet to have such a wonderful (congrats!) a1c. I'm not really a vegetarian since I've been eating a lot of fish lately - even had some chicken soup - and have reduced carbs to about 50-60 a day. I've lost 20 lbs. and think this is a good weight. Don't really want to lose more. How do you do it and keep up your energy?

[Ronin]

Hi Jakesfnm!

How do I "do it?" It's not all the difficult. First of all I graze -- many small "meals" per day. I also time my carbs so that carbs generally immediately preceed exercise or immediately follow exercise so that the muscle cells use the carbs almost as soon as they are available. Protien after exercise is the most important part of the formula.

I do exercise about 90 minutes per day (being retired helps). My chosen form of exercise is road tandem bicycling (although my single bike gets the occasional outing). I also do a Bowflex routine M-W-F every week to maintain upper body strength (and compensate for some shoulder injuries from bicycling).

Finally, I do not obsess any longer. I test in the morning (FBG) and do a monthly HbA1c using a Biosafe home test kit. I occasionally will test after meals if my FBG is way out of line or I introduce changes to my pattern.

[Larry H.]

Ronin,

Hey, those are great numbers. I had been worried about my numbers a few weeks ago, but for some reason they have come down considerably since then.. the only differences I can account for it is the fact that I am eating a high fiber, low sugar muffin with most meals except when I have whole grain bread for a lunch sandwich and I am taking the Salacia Oblonga product. Could be its neither just the weather or something but I feel better seeing lower numbers most of the time. My after dinner numbers have dropped from those scary 190's I had now and then to about 120 to 145 after evening meals depending on what I eat. I am hoping my next AC1 will reflect a lower number than the 5.8 it was last, although I know that is a reasonable number for most.

Keep up the good work.