Should I be testing my blood

[Liam1955]

Hi @Iprobinson the most vital and important piece of a Diabetic's equipment is a Blood Glucose Meter. If you have not been given a meter by your GP and/or Diabetes Nurse ? You really ought to consider buying one, it will be money well spent. You test against Foods and you will be able to see the effect certain foods have on your blood sugars.
Read the information posted above by Forum Members.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Well, I've cut out cakes, sweets, biscuits, pastry. I still have my bowl of Alpen no sugar muesli with banana for breakfast as that's all I really want first thing. For lunch I've just had scrambled egg on toast (Warburtons brown seeded) and a cup of tea. For dinner this evening it's salmon, home made ratatouille, cabbage, peas, possibly a small potato, and a pear for afters. Does that sound a reasonable day's food? To tell the truth, my diet has always been similar, although possibly with too many potatoes, and cake every day after lunch.

I've only lost a pound since last week though! Maybe I'm eating too much?

You asked in your first post if you should be testing and have had that answered categorically. The only way to know if you can cope with the foods you listed is by testing before and after, keeping a food diary including portion sizes, and recording your levels next to your food. This way you can look at the rises from before to after, decide which foods caused it, and tweak the portion sizes or eliminate something then try the meal again. It is all trial and error, and may sound a bit of a nuisance, but it is worth it until you are satisfied with your food choices. Eating to your meter is the best way unless you absolutely go whole hog and eliminate all major carbs, which I suspect you don't want to do.

Breakfasts can be difficult for us if we have insulin resistance. Our insulin resistance is always at its worst first thing and tends to improve a bit as the day progresses. For this reason it is wise to eat as few carbs as possible for breakfast. Your muesli and banana are high carb, but unless you test you can't know how this affects you personally.

 

[Freema]

Well, I've cut out cakes, sweets, biscuits, pastry. I still have my bowl of Alpen no sugar muesli with banana for breakfast as that's all I really want first thing. For lunch I've just had scrambled egg on toast (Warburtons brown seeded) and a cup of tea. For dinner this evening it's salmon, home made ratatouille, cabbage, peas, possibly a small potato, and a pear for afters. Does that sound a reasonable day's food? To tell the truth, my diet has always been similar, although possibly with too many potatoes, and cake every day after lunch.

I've only lost a pound since last week though! Maybe I'm eating too much?

müsli with banana is an almost pure carb menu... and in the morning that is really not good... otherwise your diet is fine... maybe you could save your favorite menu for sundays or only once a week, try to measure your blood glucose 1 hour after eating that breakfast then you´ll see how much it spikes yout blood glucose.

 

[Iprobinson]

Many thanks everyone. I have already started testing my blood for three days (took your advice and sent off for my free meter) It seems to vary between 5.7 (lowest) and 7.7 (highest). I certainly will try to cut down on the carbs. By the way, I didn't have afters tonight as I was full from my dinner.

 

[Iprobinson]

You asked in your first post if you should be testing and have had that answered categorically. The only way to know if you can cope with the foods you listed is by testing before and after, keeping a food diary including portion sizes, and recording your levels next to your food. This way you can look at the rises from before to after, decide which foods caused it, and tweak the portion sizes or eliminate something then try the meal again. It is all trial and error, and may sound a bit of a nuisance, but it is worth it until you are satisfied with your food choices. Eating to your meter is the best way unless you absolutely go whole hog and eliminate all major carbs, which I suspect you don't want to do.

Breakfasts can be difficult for us if we have insulin resistance. Our insulin resistance is always at its worst first thing and tends to improve a bit as the day progresses. For this reason it is wise to eat as few carbs as possible for breakfast. Your muesli and banana are high carb, but unless you test you can't know how this affects you personally.

Many thanks for that. I have started swimming twice a week too, plus yoga on Thursdays. Hopefully that'll help. I will test before and after meals too.

 

[Iprobinson]

Just a query. I had pasta last night (mainly as an experiment to see now much it would affect me - but, God, it was fab) and my reading after after a couple of hours was 7.9! This morning before breakfast I tested again and it was 6.8, but just now, two hours after a small bowl of no sugar Alpen and half a banana it was 6.1. Why would it have dropped like that? I know I'm a newbie at this and I DO appreciate everyone's advice.

 

[Alison Campbell]

That is a weird one, the only way I might have been able to replicate that is if I did some exercise after eating.

It is likely that that one of those tests was off. I would keep testing and and get to know your normal responses to your usual meals then it is easier to see when something is not right.

How were you diagnosed? Do you know your lab test results?

 

[Liam1955]

Hi @Iprobinson - Not everyone (Diabetic) can eat Pasta or even Rice for that matter. But, luckily I can but not huge amounts and my Blood sugars don't spike much. Have you looked at the LCHF Diet? Below is the links take a look for ideas of things to eat.

http://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/60-seconds
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

 

[Freema]

Just a query. I had pasta last night (mainly as an experiment to see now much it would affect me - but, God, it was fab) and my reading after after a couple of hours was 7.9! This morning before breakfast I tested again and it was 6.8, but just now, two hours after a small bowl of no sugar Alpen and half a banana it was 6.1. Why would it have dropped like that? I know I'm a newbie at this and I DO appreciate everyone's advice.

¨

it is a quite normal phenomenon that ones blood glucose is raised some over average when waking up, so then when one eat soem breakfast ones blood glucose has maybe already started lowering ad the food from the lower carb breakfast doesn´t do much difference then...
some people are more insuline resistant in the mornings but actually some (others) are most insuline resistnt in the evening.. and at the time oe is the most insuline resistant then the same meal would lead to a higher raise because insuline resistance means tat ones insuline does not work optimally, and thats the essense of diabetes type 2 , but in most people the insuline resistance is worse in some parts of the day, most in this forum claims it is in the morning as a more general rule, but I have read lately that in one experiment with male participants their insuline resistance was said to be at the worst in the evening... so I really don´t know if one can say that it nessesarily is worst in the morning in all people.

 

[CUNNINGHAMMARTIN]

Hi,

I've posted before regarding my recent diagnosis of pre-diabetes. The nurse at the GP surgery said to come back in 3 months for another blood test and in the meantime lose some weight. I'm 5'8" and weigh 11st. 11lb., so not hugely overweight, although my waist measures 39". I'm on a diet (of course) but wonder if I should be testing my blood each day. If so, what equipment do I need? There seems to be a lot on the market. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Many thanks!

Going by my own experience I can recommend testing also try the low carb diet it can help you a lot

 

[slikwipman]

Hi,

I've posted before regarding my recent diagnosis of pre-diabetes. The nurse at the GP surgery said to come back in 3 months for another blood test and in the meantime lose some weight. I'm 5'8" and weigh 11st. 11lb., so not hugely overweight, although my waist measures 39". I'm on a diet (of course) but wonder if I should be testing my blood each day. If so, what equipment do I need? There seems to be a lot on the market. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Many thanks!

What I would advise is to take your recent results as a warning that now need lifestyle changes to keep things under control, trying to do everything all at once may difficult to keep going after the first few months, try to find foods and exercise regimens you think you will be able to stick with permanently, there's lots of support on here to help you along the way.