Newly diagnosed but confused by the diabetic nurse

Bluetit1802

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25,216
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
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Diet only
Regarding breakfasts, it is fine to skip them and not eat till lunch time. This gives you an extended overnight fast. I eat evening meal about 7pm then nothing but water until just after I get up when I have a coffee with cream, then maybe a cup of tea mid morning, then lunch about 1-15. This gives my pancreas a good rest and ensures very little natural insulin is needed and consequently helps reduce insulin resistance. Your weekend fry ups are great as long as you stick to eggs, bacon, high meat content sausage, tomato and mushrooms. I have several of these for lunch. Carbs of any description raise insulin levels and blood glucose. Protein can raise BG in the absence of carbs. Fats and oils do not raise BG.

Adding fat to a meal with carbs helps keep spikes a bit lower.

If you test before and after meals try to keep any rise at 2 hours under 2mol/l preferably under 1.5. Keeping a food diary of everything in the meal including portion sizes and record ing your levels alongside will produce patterns and show you which foods you need to avoid or reduce. Bread, rice, pasta, potatoes and breakfast cereals (of whatever colour) are the worst culprits, as is fruit.
 
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Guzzler

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At first I struggled with the changes to my diet and I made a lot of mistakes but gradually I began to see the results, weight loss, lower bg numbers and to actually feel better in myself.
I felt overwhelmed by all the new information I had to digest (no pun intended) but with the support and guidance this group provided along the way I am really looking forward to my next HbA1c to see how much farther my numbers have fallen.
 

bulkbiker

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19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Diet only
If you cut out carbs what do you eat that won't leave you hungry after an hour? Salads are not the answer for me.

Sent from my SM-A320FL using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app
You fill up with fat.. that's the HF bit of LCHF..Seriously after a couple of weeks of low carb you won't be hungry. Double cream in coffee butter on green veg and meat or fish are fine. Bacon and eggs almost the perfect food. Fruit is a bit of devil so limit it severely and berries only.
Have a read of this site for some recipe ideas
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb
it also explains the science very well.
You don;t need to join it to get most of the info you will need.
 

Resurgam

Expert
Messages
9,849
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
I have a strange diet. I don't eat breakfast except the occasional fry up at the weekend (which strangely doesn't increase my levels too much), I have a sandwich for lunch (has always been brown bread) and two satsumas or tangerines and a meal in the evening. I suspect my T2 was through the snacks and sweets I would eat in the evenings. I don't ever (and never have done) drink non-diet fizzy drinks. I always eat brown rice and have now started eating brown pasta (which is gross).

I am confident I can lick this and get back to normal ranges but the craving for sweets is immense :(

I appreciate your help y'all - thank you.
Oh dear - the bread, high sugar fruit, rice and pasta, no matter what the colour, are all going to raise your blood glucose levels and be working against you. The fry ups are fine - I had bacon and mushrooms this morning and will probably have eggs and cheese in some form tomorrow - I am going to a folk festival with the morris side, doing maypole demonstrations and longsword too, so we will all be very busy all day and might not find anything to eat until I get home in the evening, but I should be fine as long as I only drink water - anything with any carbs will raise and then eventually drop my blood glucose and then I'll feel hungry.
 

JackieCarroll

Active Member
Messages
26
Type of diabetes
Type 2
You fill up with fat.. that's the HF bit of LCHF..Seriously after a couple of weeks of low carb you won't be hungry. Double cream in coffee butter on green veg and meat or fish are fine. Bacon and eggs almost the perfect food. Fruit is a bit of devil so limit it severely and berries only.
Have a read of this site for some recipe ideas
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb
it also explains the science very well.
You don;t need to join it to get most of the info you will need.
I've tried looking at that because Charlotte sent me a link but I can't get anywhere without signing up which I don't want to do - thanks anyway :)

Sent from my SM-A320FL using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app
 

JackieCarroll

Active Member
Messages
26
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Quick question please for anyone who is currently logged on - does the fat in a LCHF diet make your cholesterol go up. Mine is high already and i'm loathe to encourage it to creep up further? Thanks!
 

Bluetit1802

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Messages
25,216
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Quick question please for anyone who is currently logged on - does the fat in a LCHF diet make your cholesterol go up. Mine is high already and i'm loathe to encourage it to creep up further? Thanks!

It doesn't affect mine at all, and I eat dairy, red meat, loads of eggs, cheese, plenty of oily fish etc.

Can you tell us what your cholesterol is, and the breakdown? (HDL/LDL/Triglycerides) The total cholesterol is just the total of these, some of which are good cholesterol, and some not so good.
 

JackieCarroll

Active Member
Messages
26
Type of diabetes
Type 2
It doesn't affect mine at all, and I eat dairy, red meat, loads of eggs, cheese, plenty of oily fish etc.

Can you tell us what your cholesterol is, and the breakdown? (HDL/LDL/Triglycerides) The total cholesterol is just the total of these, some of which are good cholesterol, and some not so good.

oh gosh no idea - just told it was 7.

Well, just had me first carb free meal. Ribeye steak, green beans and mushrooms
 

Bluetit1802

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Messages
25,216
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
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oh gosh no idea - just told it was 7.

Well, just had me first carb free meal. Ribeye steak, green beans and mushrooms

Sounds delicious! I'm having a steak tonight, but mine is a fillet, and there will be a plateful of mushrooms with mine, too. :)

It would be a good idea to ask for a print out of your last test results and see exactly what your cholesterol breakdown is. There is little point in being concerned about it unless you know these levels. Once you know them, we can try to help you understand what they mean. The total (7) is meaningless without the breakdown.
 
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bulkbiker

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Messages
19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Quick question please for anyone who is currently logged on - does the fat in a LCHF diet make your cholesterol go up. Mine is high already and i'm loathe to encourage it to creep up further? Thanks!
Quite a few people report that their cholesterol goes down when eating LCHF. Mine has gone up a bit but I don't care as most of what we have been told about cholesterol seems to be a load of bunkum. There are many threads on the forum about it and even more opinions.... I suggest you get your bloods under control before you start that bit of research!
 
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JackieCarroll

Active Member
Messages
26
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Quite a few people report that their cholesterol goes down when eating LCHF. Mine has gone up a bit but I don't care as most of what we have been told about cholesterol seems to be a load of bunkum. There are many threads on the forum about it and even more opinions.... I suggest you get your bloods under control before you start that bit of research!

great advice!!
 
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serenity648

Guest
If you have type 2 visit your GP (take charge, it's your body and know body has a greater interest in it than you) and insist they supply either the tester or at least the test strips that you require, but ensure you read up before hand tel 0800-701000 and I've used most of them all of worth over the past 43 years. I'd suggest this model or ease and travel as the Accu-chek mobile as it does not require test strips for every test as it's a cartridge style 50 per pack and the finger device is both soft click and records the data for you. The others are very similar, but hope this helps. PS if the GP do not supply the actual tester, just buy it as the real cost is the test cassettes in any case. The batteries are issued free by Accu-check
Have you tried to insist on getting a tester? or even strips for a self bought tester? I am sure my experience of a flat out refusal is by no means unique. Type 2's not on medication, except maybe metformin, do not get testers or strips or lancets.
 
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serenity648

Guest
I have a strange diet. I don't eat breakfast except the occasional fry up at the weekend (which strangely doesn't increase my levels too much), I have a sandwich for lunch (has always been brown bread) and two satsumas or tangerines and a meal in the evening. I suspect my T2 was through the snacks and sweets I would eat in the evenings. I don't ever (and never have done) drink non-diet fizzy drinks. I always eat brown rice and have now started eating brown pasta (which is gross).

I am confident I can lick this and get back to normal ranges but the craving for sweets is immense :(

I appreciate your help y'all - thank you.
When you start testing before and 2 hours after meals you will find out how many carbs your body can cope with, and what sorts.

For example (this is just my own personal experience) I can eat fresh tomatoes for vitamin C, but any other fruit spikes my blood sugars. I cant seem to tolerate rice or pasta, in any quantity, brown or white. I can have a small amount of potato (vitamin C again) and a couple of slices of homemade wholemeal bread a day.

Your reaction to things may well be different, so testing and recording the results, along with the type and quantity of carb you have had with a meal, is a valuable exercise to find your personal threshold.
 
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Heretic1

Well-Known Member
Messages
201
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Diabetes!
I might ride in the dark so no-one can see me :)

When I started this journey I was 18st, and wouldn't have been seen dead in Cycling gear! I would have looked like a Walrus or Grey Seal!

A year on, and at 12.5 st, I'm now most definitely, (as my son calls me), a 'MAMIL' ...... a Middle Aged Man In Lycra! ..... who says men over 50 shouldn't wear it!

Cycling has been one of the cornerstones of my success and way of getting my 'remission' badge. I've now got a road bike and a mountain bike and both are well used..... and am sooooo hacked off I wasn't doing this before. If you enjoy it @JackieCarroll .... you damned well do it! It is a fantastic and enjoyable way of getting / keeping fit.

P.S. .... give spinning a try. If you love music and love cycling, it's brill. I am now addicted to that also!

Good luck!
 

JackieCarroll

Active Member
Messages
26
Type of diabetes
Type 2
When I started this journey I was 18st, and wouldn't have been seen dead in Cycling gear! I would have looked like a Walrus or Grey Seal!

A year on, and at 12.5 st, I'm now most definitely, (as my son calls me), a 'MAMIL' ...... a Middle Aged Man In Lycra! ..... who says men over 50 shouldn't wear it!

Cycling has been one of the cornerstones of my success and way of getting my 'remission' badge. I've now got a road bike and a mountain bike and both are well used..... and am sooooo hacked off I wasn't doing this before. If you enjoy it @JackieCarroll .... you damned well do it! It is a fantastic and enjoyable way of getting / keeping fit.

P.S. .... give spinning a try. If you love music and love cycling, it's brill. I am now addicted to that also!

Good luck!

A definite no to spinning - I only gave up smoking just over a year ago and i'm still not fully feeling the effects of that.