My biannual blood test results were done this week. Things continue to be great, and the doctor thinks I probably don’t need any more tests. It’s up to me, but we’ll discuss it during our next meeting in March.

Like last time, I was slightly worried about my HbA1c blood sugar results, because I continue to eat fruits every day, and also sometimes some 100% honey hard candies (honey is not vegan, but OK with Dr. McDougall, though Dr. Greger thinks honey is only slightly better than sugar, and Chef AJ frowns upon it). But my HbA1c blood sugar remains stable. The doctor said I have definitely solved that problem. And I’ve been off all blood sugar meds for over three years now. All my blood test results continue to be great.

The doctor also said I seem to be getting enough exercise. That’s a first for me. I find I’ve been doing more walking lately, and at a brisker pace. I’ve even started tossing tiny snacks for Pao ahead of us to encourage him to run after them and hunt for them and keep up. Pao is over 30 kg now (66 lb) and the vet says he could lose some weight.

I can’t emphasize enough how great I think WFPB (Whole Food Plant Based) eating is for both health and weight control.

I’m not having any trouble maintaining weight, though it does go up and down by a few pounds. Basically I remain stable around 144 or 145 lb, a total loss of about 140 lb. Sometimes it’s a bit more, sometimes a bit less. While I continue to log my weight every morning I don’t let fluctuations of a few pounds bother me.

You can read more in detail about what I eat in my blog post, Oh Boy! Doug Food Again! But to sum up quickly, I follow WFPB (whole food plant based) eating: mostly vegan, no oil, very limited nuts, and limited sugar and salt. No intermittent fasting, no keto, lots of carbs including potatoes and fruits. I stick to low calorie density foods to help with maintaining weight loss. For example potatoes are surprisingly low calorie and bread is very high calorie. 

I was also recently honored to be  interviewed by Chef AJ (over 28,000 views so far) about my success. Check it out!

Here’s an updated before-and-after photo with me at my maximum weight 12 years ago, and one from last week.

I log my food and exercise calories in MyFitnessPal, and keep within 1600 net calories per day (food calories minus exercise calories). Today is MFP streak day 3,847. 

As far as the new test results go, my blood sugar remains normal, without medication – HbA1c is 5.2 (normal range 4.7-6.2). It was 5.1 in my last test, and 5.3 the time before. The doctor said slight variations like that are completely normal and I really should stop worrying about my blood sugar. I have that completely under control. It was a dangerously high 11.8 when I started WFPB and the doctors were suggesting I take insulin in addition to pills, but I decided to try healthy eating, so have never had insulin.

My blood pressure today at the hospital was 113/63 with a pulse of 65 bpm, which the doctor said was just fine. It was 109/59 during my last check, but apparently this varies as well, plus it’s gotten a lot colder.

My cholesterol is fantastic – total 133 (normal range 120-219), bad cholesterol LDL 64 (normal range 70-139), good cholesterol HDL 45 (normal range 35-80), and triglycerides are fine – 72 (normal range 30-150). If you are interested you can check my May 2021 biannual results to see the historic values and how they have improved over time.

I do recommend WFPB eating for both health and weight loss.