Long post follows. I should probably start a new thread as my new lifestyle has complete reversed all of my diabetic complications. Here I go **spiel on**:
I am not following the Bernstein diet exactly. I have switched to a paleo or primal lifestyle as it is a better fit for me. I biked 76 miles on the weekend and only had carbohydrates from non-starchy vegetables, mostly greens including 3 celery tops (not stalks, the whole top of the plant), 2 bunches of swiss chard, 2 bunches of romaine lettuce, and 1 large carrot. As far as protein goes, I hadn't eaten too much on Thursday or Friday and went a little overboard. I ate approximately 4.5 pounds of meat over the weekend. What can I say, I was hungry. That is the most amount of meat I have had in such a short period of time. I'm 5'8", 196 pounds. Again, that was not a normal weekend. I am starting to bike long distances and am trying to figure out how much protein I need to sustain my blood sugar without resorting to eating foods with high glycemic indices. 4.5 pounds was way too much :-)
I used to have all of the "opathies" including retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy, etc. After years of inactivity and poor diabetes control, I have renewed my will to survive and turn my life around. I have gone to the opposite extreme to achieve this. It has taken 7 years to restore my health with the most change occuring in the last year. For the last year, I have been experimenting with a "local" version of a paleo diet especially for weight loss and health. I have been eating mostly foods that are seasonal except for green vegetables which I have been eating year round. When the summer fruit is available, I will start eating fruit again. Since December of 2010, I have not had any dairy, grains, nor legumes, except for the occasional mistake (exceptions: occasional butter, and occasional beans if they are in prepared food at restaurants or from friends). By following this lifestyle, I have been able to stay in ketosis for most of the year. That metabolic state has conserved my lean mass while I have lost significant amounts of fat. I have been able to reduce and than eliminate all of my medications over the year except for insulin. I used to take 150 units / day. Now, I take between 12 and 48 units per day depending on exercise and food intake.
Now that it's bicycling season again, My activity levels have increased from a couple of hours at the gym per weak to bicycling a minimum of 10 miles 4-5 days per weak. I use bike riding or walking after meals to correct high blood sugars. I successfully biked 72 miles over the weekend without high or low blood sugars I only needed about 10 grams of "smarties" candy to prevent low blood sugars.
Don't let your doctors convince you that 6.9 is a good HgbA1c. It was at that level that I had all of the "opathies." At 5.3 and 5.5, my kidneys are starting to filter again at normal levels. I have no more nagging constant pain in my extremeties, and no more buzzing and tingling. My holes at the periphery of my maculas have closed and healed. (Ahem, my "private" life will remain "private" except to say that "that" has healed too). My resting blood pressure has reduced to 110/59 and my resting pulse is usually around 55. 3 years ago, my resting blood pressure was as high as 180/100 without meds, and typically 140/85 with meds. My pulse would rise to 135 just to put my clothes on or 120 just to get out of bed. As I type this, my pulse is now 56.
If you have not heard of the paleo diet or primal life style, please use google and look these terms up.
Read the health books by Loren Cordain, Robb Wolfe, Mark Sisson, and Gary Taubes.