In the picturesque town near Hannover, Germany, 67-year-old Titika embarked on a transformative health journey that would challenge everything she knew about nutrition.
From a startling diagnosis to finding her way through the maze of dietary advice, her story is a testament to perseverance, self-discovery, and the power of data-driven decisions.
As you dive into Titika’s tale, you’ll uncover valuable insights, surprising revelations, and the sheer determination of one woman’s quest to reclaim her health.
Let’s journey with Titika as she unveils her path to wellness. Discover how Titika transformed her diet and her entire life and what she learned along the way.
- The Beginning: A Shocking Diagnosis
- The Trials and Errors
- Discovering Data-Driven Fasting
- What Were Your Most Measurable Results?
- Do You Have Any Non-Scale Victories?
- Which Tools Helped You Understand the Course Materials, and How Did You Apply Them?
- The Road Ahead
- What Advice Would You Give to Someone Just Starting?
- Join the Journey
The Beginning: A Shocking Diagnosis
Hi! I’m Titika. I am 67 and live in a small town near Hannover, Germany.
Two years ago, I was diagnosed with Type-2 Diabetes. Our family doctor ‘prescribed’ dieting, although he didn’t give me much more direction than ‘ditch the carbs.’
Like any obedient patient, I did, and this started my journey into nutrition.
The Trials and Errors
At first, I went on a ketogenic diet.
Before long, I added intermittent fasting.
When I got used to it, I also incorporated extended fasting.
Four months later, I was on a good path! I had lost 17 kilograms, and my HbA1c dropped from 7.0 to 5.1! Things were looking up!
Unfortunately, I had learned from popular ‘fasting wisdom’ to abstain from eating to keep my blood glucose low. However, I could now only maintain and not lose.
I knew I had to learn how to eat to lower my blood sugar levels and weight further. Instead of just doing things aimlessly, I started to observe my body.
Along the way, I discovered that what and when I eat enormously influences my blood sugar. I also learned that my body needed time to transform metabolically and begin to heal and that I wouldn’t see progress overnight.
I realised my stress level was a significant problem I had to work on, and I needed to build new habits.
Above all, I needed a new mindset. I said to myself, ‘This is going to be for the rest of your life. There is no going back. You need a new lifestyle!’
So, my quest continued.
Discovering Data-Driven Fasting
As I continued my search into how to eat correctly, I learned about satiety, prioritising protein, and how I could tweak nutritional keto into a more efficient and nutritious diet.
I started by joining Diet Doctor, where I found a story about Marty’s Data-Driven Fasting. I came across Optimising Nutrition and joined my first DDF Challenge in January 2023.
DDF was a radically different approach than anything I’d done in the past and a challenge, too! I’d never tracked my blood glucose before. I started by buying my own glucose meter.
Initially, I was confused with the values I saw and was not confident about what to do with the data. I was anxious, fearing that the numbers would not be ‘good’.
But once I started logging my blood glucose in the DDF App, I was surprised to see my first trigger at an already healthy level of 4.8 mmol/L (86 mg/dL)! I felt motivated throughout the challenge. Since then, I’ve rarely seen my trigger increase.
Because my first round of DDF was so successful and motivating, I joined as a lifetime member, which gives me unlimited access to all future Data-Driven Fasting Challenges and the Macros Masterclass and Micros Masterclasses.
As you may have guessed, I also joined some of the masterclasses after I bought it. I printed out the workbooks and bent over them, studying between every line! I read every daily lesson, trying as hard as I could. However, to my dismay, not much happened. I didn’t lose weight; I didn’t turn into an Optimiser champion overnight, and I even found myself struggling with increased blood glucose in the mornings.
But as time passed, I saw things change subtly in a positive direction. My once hesitant outlook turned into confidence and full belief that this would soon be awesome!
Ultimately, my stress and reluctance dissipated, and hope and optimism filled my heart. With my body changing into its best self before my eyes, I decided that July would be the time to ‘make gains’ and that the DDF challenge round would be different.
What Were Your Most Measurable Results?
My breakthrough came! I put a new meal plan together, excluding dairy products, eggs, nuts, seeds, and tomatoes, after realising these foods weren’t helping my efforts. Without as much energy from fat, my blood sugar fell rapidly, and I started losing weight—four kilograms in a month, to be exact! But more importantly, my charts started looking consistent, which delighted me!
This trend continued throughout the 2023 July DDF challenge, and I lost two more kilos despite including a reasonable number of seeds and nuts in my meals. I could also try sheep, goat, buffalo milk, quail eggs, and even some tomatoes for lycopene.
It seemed I had found everything inflaming and inhibiting my progress, and the Micros Masterclass gave me the proper insight! I consider my greatest success the decreased waking blood sugar that this challenge brought me. After being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, I’m thrilled to see my waking glucose now in the healthy range.
The chart below, from the DDF app, shows how my premeal blood glucose trigger has decreased over the last two rounds of the Data-Driven Fasting Challenge.
As I chased a lower premeal glucose, the weight finally came off!
Do You Have Any Non-Scale Victories?
Aside from my data and scale victories, I also had some ‘off-scale’ wins. Overall, I feel stronger, have more energy, and can tell my stress levels are largely reduced. Stress was one of my biggest obstacles at the start of my journey, and I’m happy to report that I can now stay calm and blissful when things get tough.
Which Tools Helped You Understand the Course Materials, and How Did You Apply Them?
While I love all the tools and found them helpful, my favourites are the DDF app and the workbooks in the masterclasses. They helped me reinforce some of the critical parts of the challenges and actively reflect on my progress.
While we all have similar journeys, there are little things unique to everyone that only we can figure out! The various courses and systems have helped me identify the nuances that finally helped me make my breakthroughs.
The Road Ahead
From here on out, I intend to continue my Nutritional Optimisation journey because there is no going back. When I joined, I wanted to control insulin and lose body fat. While it took over half a year, the ripe fruit fell in my lap almost effortlessly, and I learned a lot of patience along the way!
What Advice Would You Give to Someone Just Starting?
If you’re new to Optimising Nutrition or just starting your Nutritional Optimisation journey, I’d like to tell you this: it is worth your time, effort, and money.
Keep going, and don’t give up until you reach your goal! You need to be patient with yourself and resilient when things don’t go as planned. Most of all, it’s best to be wise and not overdo it.
You can be assured that there are people like me who have overcome food addiction and reversed Type 2 Diabetes. We have also gone from despair to hope, lost considerable weight, and—most importantly—thriving, living and eating well, and enjoying food to satiety!
Join the Journey
If you’re ready to take back your health and make progress on your goals, sign up today! Our Welcome checklist will help you navigate the free resources and courses. Join Titika and our community of Optimisers who are changing their health one day at a time. See you on the other side!