Recently diagnosed not looking for sympathy but help please

Shas3

Well-Known Member
Messages
653
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hello Appollo welcome to the forum. I just wanted to say that low carb is much easier than it appears when you first start looking at it, and if you do low carb high fat you'll quickly find new favourite foods that do you a world of good.

Even my relatively feeble attempts (I do lapse quite often) at low carb high fat with intermittent fasting have been successful in lowering and stabilising my blood sugars - when you've done your reading and investigating, choose a path and go for it - good luck!

After reading a lot about LCHF, Keto and all the points of views - I wanted to try LCHF (as Keto sounds extremely intimidating). So, today, I just cut carbs in each of my meals (breakfast and lunch) and just increased fat (added more butter and cheese and peanut butter).

And I checked my BGs 10 times or so (like a maniac!!). And what I find is every reading has been between 5.9 to 8.2 (107 to 149 mg/dl). In the past (though I measure may be 4 times a day), the range would be 6.7 to 9.5 (120 to 170). And on top of it I hardly felt any hunger pangs. Very interesting and interested in pushing a bit more tomorrow.

P.S : I am totally running out of strips :-(
 
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jpscloud

Well-Known Member
Messages
729
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Yes that's the thing, @Shas3, monitoring changes to diet costs a bomb especially if you measure ketones as well. I now just measure ketones once or twice in late morning or early afternoon and could cut bg to 3 a day as well. I do find monitoring motivating so it's worth doing for me.
 
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Shas3

Well-Known Member
Messages
653
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Yes that's the thing, @Shas3, monitoring changes to diet costs a bomb especially if you measure ketones as well. I now just measure ketones once or twice in late morning or early afternoon and could cut bg to 3 a day as well. I do find monitoring motivating so it's worth doing for me.

Indeed. The only reason I measured so many times was to get a hang of what’s going on. I will do this for a few days and once settled I probably will go 2-3 times a day. I am not going for keto so.. not measuring. Also ketone measurement kits are not easily available here... developing-world-problems
 
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jpscloud

Well-Known Member
Messages
729
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Indeed. The only reason I measured so many times was to get a hang of what’s going on. I will do this for a few days and once settled I probably will go 2-3 times a day. I am not going for keto so.. not measuring. Also ketone measurement kits are not easily available here... developing-world-problems
Ah right. Once you get the hang of low carb you might start to wonder if you're getting in to ketosis, but it is stupidly expensive so once I'm fairly confident about whether or not I'm in ketosis I'll stop measuring.
 
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Shas3

Well-Known Member
Messages
653
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Ah right. Once you get the hang of low carb you might start to wonder if you're getting in to ketosis, but it is stupidly expensive so once I'm fairly confident about whether or not I'm in ketosis I'll stop measuring.

Good... all the best...
 
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Gran25

Well-Known Member
Messages
89
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Re. testing. I was told not to because it would make me obsessive...well, obsessive was what was needed to change a lifetime of bad advice and so called healthy eating. I made a chart on my laptop and filled in the 4 x a day results with notes about diet & exercise or stress etc. It really helped to determine patterns and what worked for me. (eg 1 hr of swimming resulted in no difference to BS unless I followed it up with 15 minute on the treadmill.) After a while I settled down to once a week summary and only tested if I was trying something new or different. Now at 1 year in to the LCHF IF etc lifestyle, I rarely test and the way of eating is 2nd nature. But information is key to making a successful change.

A couple of tips: Salads can get boring so buy lots of interesting & different ingredients, salad toppings & LC dressings, keep a bag of pre-made salad on hand in case you are tempted to skip your veggies because you can't be bothered with all that chopping & peeling. Vegetable stir fries are a staple- I have increased my spice drawer selection tremendously... variety is important. I always have great cheese, pepperoni sticks, and a dozen boiled eggs in the fridge (the fresh from the farm free range bright yellow yolk ones are for omelettes or frittatas, the cheaper ones in the grocery store peel way easier) Almond butter has lower carbs than peanut butter and tastes great on celery or smeared on a square of 90% dark chocolate. Watch out for "faux" food ie keto bread/bagels/crackers it is way too easy to over do it and over indulge. and...alcohol is the gateway drug to carbs!
 
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Shas3

Well-Known Member
Messages
653
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Re. testing. I was told not to because it would make me obsessive...well, obsessive was what was needed to change a lifetime of bad advice and so called healthy eating. I made a chart on my laptop and filled in the 4 x a day results with notes about diet & exercise or stress etc. It really helped to determine patterns and what worked for me. (eg 1 hr of swimming resulted in no difference to BS unless I followed it up with 15 minute on the treadmill.) After a while I settled down to once a week summary and only tested if I was trying something new or different. Now at 1 year in to the LCHF IF etc lifestyle, I rarely test and the way of eating is 2nd nature. But information is key to making a successful change.

A couple of tips: Salads can get boring so buy lots of interesting & different ingredients, salad toppings & LC dressings, keep a bag of pre-made salad on hand in case you are tempted to skip your veggies because you can't be bothered with all that chopping & peeling. Vegetable stir fries are a staple- I have increased my spice drawer selection tremendously... variety is important. I always have great cheese, pepperoni sticks, and a dozen boiled eggs in the fridge (the fresh from the farm free range bright yellow yolk ones are for omelettes or frittatas, the cheaper ones in the grocery store peel way easier) Almond butter has lower carbs than peanut butter and tastes great on celery or smeared on a square of 90% dark chocolate. Watch out for "faux" food ie keto bread/bagels/crackers it is way too easy to over do it and over indulge. and...alcohol is the gateway drug to carbs!

Fantastic advice... thanks a lot
 

Eddina

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi, Trying to get my head around all this. Diagnosed in December 18 for blood test done in Feb 18. Then 6 week wait for what I thought doctors appointment but nurse instead. Had bloods done checked feet and asked for advice expecting diet sheet but fobbed off. Surprised no eye test booked she said and mentioned course but on checking last week it hadn't been booked. Finding my doctors practice unhelpful. Don't know about testing levels as never been mentioned. My blood levels were high so doubled dose without any explanation. I may be older but not senile and I want to help myself. Do have some mobility issues however want to try and eat better. I was told fruit was ok to eat as a type 2 and I love potatoes and vegetabless. Confused or what. I do have other health issues to such as blood pressure. Any advice at all please
 

Guzzler

Master
Messages
10,577
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
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Poor grammar, bullying and drunks.
Hi, Trying to get my head around all this. Diagnosed in December 18 for blood test done in Feb 18. Then 6 week wait for what I thought doctors appointment but nurse instead. Had bloods done checked feet and asked for advice expecting diet sheet but fobbed off. Surprised no eye test booked she said and mentioned course but on checking last week it hadn't been booked. Finding my doctors practice unhelpful. Don't know about testing levels as never been mentioned. My blood levels were high so doubled dose without any explanation. I may be older but not senile and I want to help myself. Do have some mobility issues however want to try and eat better. I was told fruit was ok to eat as a type 2 and I love potatoes and vegetabless. Confused or what. I do have other health issues to such as blood pressure. Any advice at all please

Fruit may not be the best thing to eat with T2. I would advise sticking to strawberries, blackberries and raspberries with a helping of full fat greek yoghurt or double cream. Some members can have rhubarb depending on which artificial sweeteners they like.
The starchier vegetables, those that mainly grow below ground are higher in carbohydrates which raise blood glucose levels so try to cut out or cut right back on potatoes, carrots and parsnip if you can.
The biggest baddies for us in general are bread and cakes, pasta, rice, potatoes etc. I would advise that you buy yourself a glucometer, this handy piece of kit measures your blood glucose levels and teaches you what foods that you as an individual can happily munch away on. Good luck.