T2 and normal weight

[GraFin]

So much of what I read is about losing weight. I am T2 (on metformin and linagliptin) but have never been overweight (BMI 23 - 24), have always done a lot of exercise, drink little alcohol (less than 5 units a week) and while my diet isn't perfect, I do eat lots of veg / fruit / fish, and avoid fast food. Would be interested to hear others in similar situation. I would love to come off meds but whenever I reduce dosage, my numbers go the wrong way.

 

[urbanracer]

So much of what I read is about losing weight. I am T2 (on metformin and linagliptin) but have never been overweight (BMI 23 - 24), have always done a lot of exercise, drink little alcohol (less than 5 units a week) and while my diet isn't perfect, I do eat lots of veg / fruit / fish, and avoid fast food. Would be interested to hear others in similar situation. I would love to come off meds but whenever I reduce dosage, my numbers go the wrong way.

Welcome to the forums.

Our bodies convert most of what we eat into glucose. For us diabetics the biggest problem is foodstuffs in the carbohydrate group including rice, potato, bread, breakfast cereals and pasta which are arguably the worst offenders.

Unfortunately, fruit does not get a free pass because some of it (eg: banana) has a high carb content and some (eg: grapes, pears) have a lot of fructose which is a sugar that's easily converted into glucose.

Many of our T2 members are advocates of a low carb diet and this has helped them get off medication in some cases.

Maybe you could tell us what a typical daily diet looks like for you? And when do you take your glucose readings and what are the results?

Regards
Urb'

 

[ianf0ster]

So much of what I read is about losing weight. I am T2 (on metformin and linagliptin) but have never been overweight (BMI 23 - 24), have always done a lot of exercise, drink little alcohol (less than 5 units a week) and while my diet isn't perfect, I do eat lots of veg / fruit / fish, and avoid fast food. Would be interested to hear others in similar situation. I would love to come off meds but whenever I reduce dosage, my numbers go the wrong way.

I am/was a slim T2D (just briefly scraped info BMI 25 after 10yrs of high v=carb diet (under pressure from my GP and wife).
I used to eat Fruit , whole grains, carrots and parsnips until they were about to come out of my ears. Ultra low fat as well of course. You could say I should have been an advert for '5 a day' and the' Eatwell plate'!

I recently calculated that I must have v=been eating over 400gms of carbs per day and exceeded 7 portions of fruit and veg (not counting potato or sweet potato) per day every day.
What did it get me? - continuous slow weight gain, needing a 3x Coronary Bypass, then Type 2 diabetes.

I told both the GP and the Diabetes Nurse that eating like that wasn't working. All they suggested was trying harder to up carbs even more and to cut fat even lower.

So I found this forum and went Low Carb, with High(er) traditional Fat and High Protein. I always eat the full-fat version of things, I eat fatty cuts of meat and fatty fish, eggs, cheese, nuts like Brazils, Olive Oil on salads, stir Fries in Coconut Oil.
Sure I still lost 17% of my maximum weight (put 4lbs back on since then by raising my daily cheese quota ). But I never starved myself and enjoyed the food, even got to like chicken with the skin on.

I got a BG meter with cheaper test strips (a TEE2+, though SD Gluco Navii is probably as good) and I tested each meal until I knew exactly which food spiked my BG too much (which included all the whole grains, most of the fruit and of course both the carrots and parsnips).

 

[GraFin]

Thanks for your comment... yes, I am starting to change my diet to increase fat / reduce carbs (my wife is using a keto diet to lose weight so it's easy to join in, although I probably won't go quite as far as she does). I don't think my diet is terrible but I do have a couple of slices of bread / toast a day, and often have rice with dinner. I have never had a problem with weight, but hoping this change might help me get away from needing metformin all the time.

I don't check glucose levels - despite being diagnosed as T2 some 10 years ago, I have never had any obvious symptoms, and remain fit, with good BP (110/70) but would love to get off medication without adverse effect.

Will post with progress in a few weeks!