Laura’s Story

Not long after I hit 30 it seemed like a good time to have a baby. I thought it would all be fine, after all, I was a whole food vegetarian, basing my meals on starchy carbohydrates, making my own bread with wholemeal flour and eating lots of pulses and homemade yoghurt. Although some members of my family had Type 2 diabetes, I thought I must be healthy on that diet even though I was always a bit chubby no matter how hard I tried.

I got pregnant quickly and all went well, until my gestational diabetes test, offered to me as I was at increased risk due to the diabetes in my family. The day after my test, the nurse came round to teach me how to inject insulin as my blood sugars were so high and things felt a lot more difficult. I asked what I should eat and was told, just what I was eating, but I had to test and inject more as my blood sugars went up. So, I followed that advice as best I could, and had most of the problems gestational diabetes can cause, too much fluid, a big baby, the need for a caesarean as I developed pre-eclampsia, and a jaundiced baby who was difficult to feed. I didn’t know it was possible to avoid these problems. Then, after my daughter was born, I carried on with my healthy eating and tried even harder, I didn’t want my daughter to have a sick mother.

I couldn’t control my weight or my blood sugar no matter how hard I tried. I attended a well known slimming club and managed to lose 10% of my bodyweight twice. I felt great when I lost the weight, but I couldn’t handle the constant hunger, so of course the weight went on again. I couldn’t understand it, I thought there must be something wrong with me. I just got told the same advice over and over and everyone seemed to think I wasn’t following it. I even got told off for drinking too much when I had been teetotal for years!

So after years of trying, I ended up pretty overweight, with Type 2 Diabetes, no energy, quite a lot of pain and fatigue, carpal tunnel syndrome, and  rheumatoid arthritis taking medication with side effects that I didn’t want, including making me put on weight even more. I lost strength and had to give up riding, even swimming was a struggle. My teenage daughter had a sick mother.

So I was pretty low and didn’t know what to do.  I thought my future would be trying hard to keep well but failing.  Then a good friend suggested that I try low carb.  At that point I’d never heard of it, except that film stars used it to lose weight and it was very bad for you.   It was a struggle at first, there was very little information about and I didn’t know anyone who was doing it, but I kept researching and it seemed to make sense. My doctor didn’t think I would be able to do it and my veggie friends were not happy that I wanted to go back to eating meat. Everyone seemed to think there was just one way of doing things and that I should just keep on doing what didn’t suit me. Now I know that people should eat a diet that they thrive on, rather than try to fit into one size fits all guidelines.

So fast forward to 59 years old, I will be 60 next month. I have spent the last few years getting stronger, thinner, healthier and happier – and really enjoying it! I don’t feel hungry like I used to and have so much energy my husband finds it quite annoying. I take no medication, my HbA1c is well below the Type 2 threshold and I can swim for miles now. I use both the Caldesi cookbooks, it is great to have so many lovely recipes to cook, the Showstopper is a particular favourite. I also loved attending the Zoom classes and learned some lovely recipes. When people say that low carb is restrictive and too hard to sustain, well, all I can think is that they are just not looking! Personally, I have trouble deciding which delicious meal to eat next.

I have no before photos, they have all mysteriously disappeared, although there are a couple in the YouTube video of my talk at the PHC conference (See it HERE).

Here are a couple of recent photos though. The first is just before lockdown, when I had just got back from swimming 100+ lengths, followed by a Zumba class, wearing my Xtra-Small leggings, I enjoy that every time I put them on….

The second is me halfway through a hilly 12 mile bike ride in the Cheviots on a windy, changeable day in my warm gear last October. I enjoyed it very much.