Why don’t they tell me what to do

[chani111]

Hi new to all this and slowly learning. Firstly I am over weight so I am dieting. So far lost 4lbs in 2 weeks. I still have 2st to lose. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes this summer and put on metformin. It’s taken a while to get up to 1000mgs twice a day due to side effects and I am on a slow release version which is great.

I have had no information on diet and feel completely lost. I have read some great posts here and can see I need to minimise my carbs, where do you get all the information about carbs and low carb diets from? I am keen to learn and get on with it. I am retiring at the end of the year so I will have plenty of time to look after myself. So recommendations on where to read up on low carb diets please also is it worth buying a blood test kit and if so can anyone recommend one please.

I just really wish my GP practice had actually given me some of this information so that I could have got started sooner. Oh well I am where I am
Thank you everyone

 

[Daibell]

Hi. You are right that reducing the carbs should help a lot. The key thing is to start looking at the back of food packaging to see the Total Carbs amount. For unpackaged foods there are various websites which will indicate their typical carb content. In general be aware that foods derived from grains such as bread, pasta etc and also many root veg such as potatoes are high in carbs. Tropical fruit is high in sugar and best avoided. Set yourself a daily carb limit of perhaps 150gm or less.

 

[Pipp]

Hi, @chani111 and welcome.
The following is a good place to start when looking for low carb info.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb

Also, doctors seldom recommend blood glucose meters for patients with T2. Cost related. Though it is the most useful way to monitor your individual reactions to various foods.
There is useful info here posted by @Rachox regarding meters.
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/hi-from-a-newbie.183572/#post-2429514
Best wishes
Pipp

 

[chani111]

Thank you both so much, finally some real help

 

[EllieM]

And I find jokalsbeek's blog a really useful intro to T2 and low carb
JoKalsbeek's blog | Diabetes Forum • The Global Diabetes Community

 

[Rachox]

This website is good for meal plans and recipes. No need to subscribe there’s loads of free information:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb

 

[Fenn]

Hi, welcome

Strangely it may have been lucky you was not given info from the doctors as it would have most likely been wrong, can be hard to ignore the bad advice when it is given to you by the “experts”.

Well done you for seeking the info for yourself and finding this forum, lots of knowledge and friendly advice here, you sound like you have your head in the right place so you are already on a good path, your future is bright

Please go ahead and ask questions when they come up, sometimes even a good old rant is all the medicine we need, best of luck.

 

[AliceInDiabetesLand]

Sorry, I'm new here. But I wasn't exactly looking for a forum.
Does this place have a chat? Or does anyone know of a chat outside?

 

[EllieM]

Hi @AliceInDiabetesLand and welcome to the forums. You can PM (private message) people here but it's not a chat site per se. However, feel free to post a new thread with your concerns and you should hopefully (depends a bit on time of day) get a response soon. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by a chat site (twitter?). These forums can get pretty chatty, specially if you go to the general chat subforum

General Chat | Diabetes Forum • The Global Diabetes Community

(I like your user name by the way )

Would you like me or another mod to move your question into its own thread where it might get more attention?

 

[KateS14]

Hi @channi111. I was diagnosed T2 a month ago today. I was diagnosed in hospital when I was admitted with a massive infection and was in dka. I was put on insulin, but will be moving to metformin soon and start weaning off the insulin.

I have cut out added sugar, bread, pasta, potatoes, rice etc. and am looking really carefully at carb content in packaged foods. I've also upped the protien, veg and salad content of my meals. What was also really important for me was looking at and reducing my portion sizes, which I now realise had crept up and up over time until they were far too big for what I actually needed.

I was given a blood test meter by the hospital, and I find it absolutely invaluable. Testing just before and 2 hours after a meal has really helped me to work out what foods I can and can't tolerate, and helped me to get my blood glucose levels generally trending down (with a few bumps along the way!).

I haven't set myself daily carb targets, but am taking it slowly and surely to make sure that what I'm doing is sustainable long term.

I've also upped my excercise levels. Ihave lost plenty of weight in a month (not sure exactly how much as I'm yet to replace our broken scales, but enough that several pairs of trousers now won't stay up without a belt).

The best advice I can give (based on my admittedly short experience so far) is to take it slowly and steadily, get a blood test meter if you can and test regularly, and use the forum as there is some really great advice and encouragement on here. And most importantly, be kind to yourself - it's not an easy thing to change a lifestyle overnight!

 

[EllieM]

I haven't set myself daily carb targets, but am taking it slowly and surely to make sure that what I'm doing is sustainable long term.

Welcome to the forums. I just wanted to congratulate you for doing so much to help yourself to come off insulin and improve your condition.

 

[chani111]

This is all so useful, thank you. What is a sensible amount of carbs to have each day?

 

[KK123]

This is all so useful, thank you. What is a sensible amount of carbs to have each day?

Ah, now the answer to that is as many or as few as works for you and your aims and personal choice! A low carb diet is classed as around 130 carbs per day (or less) and a keto diet as around 50 carbs (or whatever amount sends you into fat burning mode). Most people have to experiment with the amount, some go very low carb, others a little more. If you eat a set amount for meals (for example 20 to 30) then test yourself and you will see how that affects your glucose levels. If your levels are high then lower the carbs per meal until you see the figures you want. It's not quite as easy as all that of course as there are many variables and diabetes is a stubborn you know what. Lots of people on here go as low as 20 carbs per day or virtually none, what are you aiming for and what is a typical days diet (and numbers) for you?

 

[catinahat]

What is a sensible amount of carbs

That's a really difficult question to answer when you consider that we don't need any carbs, our bodies can manage very well without them. Of course protein and fats are essential but not so much carbs, so how many you decide to incorporate into your diet depends on how well you can handle them, we are all different, your insulin resistance is not the same as mine or anyone elses so only you can decide.

 

[Fenn]

At first I found the target of 30g of carbs a day unachievable and frankly ridiculous, I used an app called “my fitness pal” I recorded everything I ate, at the end of the day it gave me a breakdown of the carbs etc. It became like a game, seeing how low I could go, eventually below 30g was a doddle, inspiration came from my meter numbers getting better and better.

 

[welovedzig]

Hi, welcome

Strangely it may have been lucky you was not given info from the doctors as it would have most likely been wrong, can be hard to ignore the bad advice when it is given to you by the “experts”.

Well done you for seeking the info for yourself and finding this forum, lots of knowledge and friendly advice here, you sound like you have your head in the right place so you are already on a good path, your future is bright

Please go ahead and ask questions when they come up, sometimes even a good old rant if all the medicine we need, best of luck.

Totally agree about the doctors!

 

[coby]

At first I found the target of 30g of carbs a day unachievable and frankly ridiculous, I used an app called “my fitness pal” I recorded everything I ate, at the end of the day it gave me a breakdown of the carbs etc. It became like a game, seeing how low I could go, eventually below 30g was a doddle, inspiration came from my meter numbers getting better and better.

I'd have loved to have been able to use that app Fenn, but it's for phones (I presume) and not for a laptop, which is what I use x

 

[zand]

I'd have loved to have been able to use that app Fenn, but it's for phones (I presume) and not for a laptop, which is what I use x

I use it on my PC. I find it easier to make a note of all I eat and then log it once a day rather than spending time on my phone during the day.

www.myfitnesspal.com

 

[chani111]

I am almost a year in, I started at under 130, fairly quickly moved to under 100, and then dropped it by 20 every other month, this month I have gone to under 30. It made a massive difference to my blood results, but I seem to be in a tiny minority where it hasn’t yet made any impact on my weight.
By dropping every couple of months I could exclude things from my diet and introduce new foods slowly which worked for me, if I had immediately gone under 30 I am far from certain I would have stuck to it.

This is very useful thank you, I think I am going to start at 130g and drop it slowly as I learn and adjust. I have ordered my BG monitor so if I am going to to readings just before food and 2 hours after what am I aiming for. This is the bit that scares me tbh. Should I also tell my GP as presently I am on metformin 1000mgs morning and evening? If things improve, surely this might need to change as my weight drops and I eat less carbs?

 

[coby]

I use it on my PC. I find it easier to make a note of all I eat and then log it once a day rather than spending time on my phone during the day.

www.myfitnesspal.com

Oh! so you can get it on laptops then?