Elisabeth, 70

Symptoms                                                                                                           

In the winter of 2024, I felt so poorly — exhausted with no energy and I ached all over.  Not only my knees and hips but the joints in my hand really ached, which was concerning because I am an artist. I even worried I had cancer because I felt so unwell. I went to the doctor because I thought something was not right.

Diagnosis

My doctor did blood tests. Over the years my blood sugar had been creeping up slowly, but in March of 2024 my doctor told me my lab test showed I had crossed over to type 2 diabetes. I was really shocked and scared. I knew I had to do something.

Why did you try remission?

I was a new grandma and I wanted to be around and healthy to enjoy my grandson. I didn’t want my years ahead to be marked by ill health. I had heard that remission might be possible, but I wasn’t sure what I needed to do. My friend and neighbor, Anne Mullens, works at the Institute for Personalized Therapeutic Nutrition, the Canadian charity which sponsors this remission website. She told me she could coach and support me. She suggested that we could also then follow my journey for the year and blog about it on this remission website so that it could inspire and help others. My experiences would help people understand the challenges and the practicalities and we could just see what happened over the year. I was really keen. I loved the idea of being a guinea pig, especially if it could improve my health while helping others.

What did you do?

We started by taking baseline measurements – my weight, waist, blood sugar, blood pressure and other measures like c-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation) that my doctor had taken on my starting lab tests. And then we looked at all that I was eating. I got a continuous glucose monitor (CGMs) to see how I responded to the food I was eating. I tried two types of CGMs, the Dexcom 6 and the Freestyle Libre 2. I really liked the Libre 2 as the app on my phone was very easy to use and had great graphics. I decided to do a whole-foods, minimally processed, low carb diet. The biggest change was no longer eating refined grains or having bread, crackers and pasta. And I changed to eating only low sugar fruit like berries. I was never a big sugar eater, but I did discover by using a CGM that some foods I loved did raise my blood sugar quite high, such as just eating seven or eight cherries in syrup that I had in my fridge! In general, I just followed the rule to prioritize protein at every meal, fill in with as many leafy greens or above-ground vegetables as I wanted, and then add a bit of healthy fat like olive oil for flavour and satiety. I didn’t count calories. In all, it felt pretty easy, compared to other diets I had done in the past.

What happened?

It was amazing. Within a few weeks my body aches were gone – my hands stopped aching in a couple of days! I had way more energy. I did not feel hungry or deprived, unlike some of the diets I have done in the past. My blood sugar came down right away and I was in remission within the first month. In the first three months I lost 15 pounds. I was ecstatic about that. And I lost three inches from my waist, getting it down below 35 inches, which had been a goal of mine. In the fall of 2024, my doctor also gave me an injection of Durolane, a hyaluronic acid treatment, into my osteoarthritic left knee. The treatment relieved crippling knee pain and made walking and movement enjoyable again. I felt so good I wanted to move! I really enjoyed working in my garden and walking. And by about 9 months into my remission journey, I had a DEXA scan to give me an accurate assessment of my body composition. That showed I had good muscle mass, but I still had too much body fat, so I began to focus on losing that by adding in exercise and strength training while continuing to eat low carb.

What are you doing now?

I am working out three times a week with Anne at a local community gym and I’m really enjoying it. I start off by doing 20 to 25-minutes of cardio on a recumbent bike, then I do about 40 minutes of weight-lifting. I love that I am feeling so much stronger.  I am still eating a whole-foods, minimally processed, lower carb diet, but my weight loss plateaued in the fall. I even started to gain a couple of pounds the last few months. I was concerned about that. So we took a very close look at everything I am eating. I can see now that I had some carb creep in the form of “keto” crackers and probably eating too many nuts as a snack. I am also taking a close look at how much I am eating at meals, taking pictures of my plate and keeping a food diary. I am charting that to my CGM to see if anything is unknowingly spiking my blood glucose. I am also really paying attention to hunger cues, making sure I stop eating when I’m full. By paying closer attention to the food I was eating in a day, I lost two pounds almost right away. I think, most of all, I was overdoing the nuts. But the good news, through all of this, is my blood sugar is still low, with an HbA1C average of 5.2%. So I am still in remission. I would just like to lose a bit more weight from around my  abdomen. It will take some time to lose it — after all it took me a decade to put that weight on — but I feel optimistic that I can do it. I will now eat this way for life.

What is your favorite “go-to” meal?I love an egg breakfast. I wake up hungry and I really look forward to my eggs. I  like them so many different ways, but I often scramble them with spinach and cheese or do an omelet. I usually have two or three strips of bacon, too. That combo can keep me satisfied for hours.

What do you want others to know?

The most important thing to know is that remission is possible! A year ago, I felt so poorly I could not imagine that I would ever feel this good again.  Don’t give up hope, you can turn around your health. Just try! You won’t know whether it is possible for you, too, unless you try.

Top practical tips for success?

1.  Get support: Whether it is family, a friend, a doctor, a health coach, have someone who is encouraging you, helping you be accountable, helping you get the information and skills you need to be successful.

2.  Use available tools:  For me, using a continuous glucose monitor was a game changer to see how various foods I ate impacted my blood sugar. It was very motivating and educational. But even the tape measure around my waist was a useful tool to chart my progress. And then having a DEXA scan about 9 months into my journey, and seeing that I still had a way to go to bring down my total body fat, was also very educational and motivating.

3. Prioritize your self-care: It is not selfish nor self-centred to take the time and effort to improve your health. I know that women, in particular, often look after everyone else’s needs before their own. But no matter who you are, know that you are worth putting your needs to the forefront to do what you need to do to get healthier. Make time for yourself to get to the gym, to shop for and make foods that lower your blood glucose and put your type 2 diabetes into remission. You are worth it.

   
   

Monthly blog stories about Elisabeth’s remission journey over the past year can be found here.