Advice

[KDP72]

Hi, I am 46 yrs old, mum of 2, I was diagnosed with Type 2 last Feb. I started dieting and by May had lost nearly 2 stone and my results had come down. But have since totally fallen of the wagon. I really need to get back on track, any advice on things I can eat and do. BTW, I haven't been tested again since May so have no idea what my results are, I'm taking Metformin once a day, but often forget to take it. I need to take control but I am not very good at looking after my myself.

 

[jpscloud]

Hello @KDP72 and welcome to the forum! I think I need to tag @daisy1 so she can give you the welcome briefing, so you'll see that post soon.

Your story sounds very much like mine, I also did well initially but couldn't sustain it. Eventually I ended up on two more medications, the last of which helped to moderate my (very out of control) appetite a bit. But eventually that tailed off too, and I felt utterly helpless to change my habits.

Low-carbing with intermittent fasting has changed things for me, I hope sustainably this time. If you're interested, you can have a look at the posts on here, on the low carb forum, and lots of people will post very helpful replies on this thread and any you start if you post questions about how you'd like to go forward.

Probably the single most helpful thing you can do as Type 2 is reduce the amount of sugar and starches (all carbohydrates) you take in. The content of food once carbs are (mostly) taken out of the equation is much more filling, and I can honestly say going low carb with intermittent fasting has completely changed my appetite. I do lapse, and include things I should rather avoid at times, but I am working on not doing that. I have lost weight and reduced my blood glucose to near-normal levels in the past few months doing this, though.

I read Jason Fung's books (thanks to @bulkbiker and others!) and find myself convinced low carbing and intermittent fasting is the way to go for me. Jason Fung also has a website with a lot of free content, and some youtube videos. The website is https://www.dietdoctor.com/ Everyone is different, and you might choose a different path... you can do some experimenting and researching to see what you think you'd like to try.

 

[kitedoc]

Hi @KDP72. Hello and welcome.
I am type 1 but I know the ups and downs of diabetes and weight and diets, just not as a professional:
When you say you are not good at looking after yourself I assume that you are putting hubbie and children first, and yourself a distant third. That will not do. (do I look stern enough)!!!
But before you try to say that they come first, what good will that be if you become ill in the process?
Organisation: Perhaps make a list and discuss with your hubbie: Can your hubbie get his own breakfast? Can the children help with theirs? Can the school things be done the night before with the children and hubbie involved to spread the load? Do you have some time to yourself to relax?
Testing: Despite the NHS a lot of T2Ds on here do the finger prick tests to see how their (blood sugar levels) BSLs are going. How else do you know if your diet is OK? In theory your GP should be doing the blood test called glycosylated heamoglobin A1C, or HbA1C, for short, every 3 months.
If he/she will not prescribe a glucose meter and test strips for you you can look on the Home Page, then to Living with Diabetes, about middle upper page, then on far left , 4 down is blood glucose meters (this is like a crossword puzzle )!! Down the list of meters under SD Biosensor is the SD Codefree which is the least expensive UK over the counter meter with a container or two of strips. Have a breath, that was a long zig-zag, I'm exhausted!!
Also in the same column at the top is Blood glucose levels which will give you an idea of what levels are OK and which not.
To obtain help with using the meter and strips ask your diabetes nurse or the nurse at your GP's practice.
Whilst you might get a slight rousing on for not perhaps keeping to diet and medication they will be likely to help you get back to the 'Straight and Narrow" as it were. You are the 'reformed diabetic' and proud to be doing something for yourself.
One or both may say you do not need to be testing but you have seen what not testing does - you are so busy at home you lose sight of what is important for you.
Also on the Home Page under "Type 2 Diabetes" is information about diets which you may find helpful. A lot of us try to fit in with family and compromise our diet. Allowing for the ages ( and appetites) of your family you can decide as the chef, chief bottle washer and domestic goddess to serve diabetes type meals!! you outvote 'em all!!
Keeping on track: Confess your multitude of lapses (dramatic pause for effect) and see your GP and ask for the 3 month HBA1C test to be done. At least that way you will know how your diabetes (yours, not one else's, absolutely 100% yours) is going.
Ask for a family meeting (children like meetings, especially if they can coaxed into playing the part: opening the meeting, appointing minute-taker etc. You wish to ask them all to help remind you of your need to do the best you can with your diabetes.
Of course children are open to bribery of sorts (but I just whispered that).
Who will remind you about your tablet? And who has to remind you to prick your finger and if old enough, read out the number for you to write down ( the nurses often have free record books or you could incorporate it into a diary) Was it the Moody Blues who had a song with the words. Dear Diary ....)? Oops my age is slipping!!
And who will let you know that that particular food is not on your menu ?(either the child who wants it instead or your hubbie who wants the same thing, I leave it up to you to work out who is your hubbie and who the child)!!
Post/ask questions/find the nurse who you can get on with on this journey. We all have experience and know how easily we can forget something and we have all asked to simple questions at some stage (and me more than once)!!
Make sure you and hubbie have your time together .
Bestest Wishes.
Pictures below for well behaved children (all three of them) !!
Hello there, ............if I just sssstretch.... I got out of the...........kite festival - can.....Love makes us.....This one is
what names??..........I might eat that......wrong side of bed........you name them?.......all feel better........'armless

........ ............................. ......

 

[briped]

But have since totally fallen of the wagon.

We've all been there. In fact I may even be famous - or infamous for it. Staying on the straight and narrow is a mental question of balance (more Moody Blues), but using a meter really is a very good motivating factor.
I'm on LCHF too, and have lost weight as well as blood sugar. I'm not losing weight fast, but I prioritise my BG levels now, and they look beautiful on this way of eating. The rest will come in due course. Welcome
Edited to tag @JoKalsbeek , who has great nutritional info, but might be off line till Monday.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. You need to get a glucose meter so you can check your levels from time to time. With regard to foods and diet in many ways it's quite simple. Keep the carbs down and have enough fats and proteins to keep you feeling full. Check the Total carbs at the back of the packaging. Apart from controlling the carbs you can eat virtually anything. Keep the total daily carbs below something like 150gm but it will vary from person to person.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hi, I am 46 yrs old, mum of 2, I was diagnosed with Type 2 last Feb. I started dieting and by May had lost nearly 2 stone and my results had come down. But have since totally fallen of the wagon. I really need to get back on track, any advice on things I can eat and do. BTW, I haven't been tested again since May so have no idea what my results are, I'm taking Metformin once a day, but often forget to take it. I need to take control but I am not very good at looking after my myself.

Hi, and welcome!

I was really, really bad at looking after myself... But my husband is already my carer, and I saw what T2 did to other family members... I didn't want to make his life any harder, so... That was my motivation to really start to do what was healthy for me, whether I thought I was worth the bother or not: he certainly was. (And with 2 kids that may be hard, because you're already running around with very little time for yourself probably, but think about what it would mean for them if something happened to you.)

In any case, here's my little nutritional bit. Hope it helps.
Jo

There’s a few things you should know.

1. Practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested, so not just straight sugars, but starches too. Food doesn’t have to taste sweet to make your blood sugars skyrocket.

2. A meter helps you know what foods agree with you, and which don’t. Test before and 2 hours after the first bite. If you go up more than 2.0 mmol/l, the meal was carbier than you could handle. (It’s easy to remember, as you’re a T2: all 2’s, all over the place!)

3. In case you didn’t know already, this isn’t your fault. It’s genetics, medication, decades of bad dietary advice, and basically all manner of things, but nothing you can actually blame yourself for.

4. Diabetes T2 is a progressive condition, unless you (also) change your diet. So you have options. Diet-only, diet with medication, or medication only. But that last option will most likely mean more medication over the years. (And there is more than just metformin, so if it doesn’t agree with you, there’s lots of others to try). So even if going really low carb isn’t for you, you might consider moderately low carb an option, with meds to assist.

5. Are you overweight? 90% of T2’s are. Yeah, that means 10% are slim and always were. If you did gain weight, it was the precursor of this metabolic condition. We make loads of insulin, but become insensitive to it. So carbs we eat turn to glucose, and normally, insulin helps us burn that glucose for fuel. When it doesn’t, that glucose is stored in fat cells instead. When those fat stores are full, the glucose remains in our bloodstream, overflowing, into our eyes, tears, urine, saliva… And then we’re T2’s. So weight gain is a symptom, not a cause. This also means that “regular” dietary advice doesn’t work for us. The problem lies in our inability to process carbs. And most diets focus on lowering fats and upping carb intake. Which is the direct opposite of what a T2, or prediabetic, for that matter, needs.

6. There are 3 macro-nutrients. Fats, protein and carbohydrates. Those macro’s mean we get the micro-nutrients we need: that would be vitamins and minerals. So… If you ditch the carbs, you should up another macro-nutrient to compensate, to make sure you don’t get malnourished or vitamin deficient. Carbs make our blood sugars rise. Protein too, but nowhere near as bad as carbs do, so they’re alright in moderation. Fats however… Fats are as good as a glucose-flatline. Better yet, they’ll mitigate the effects of any carbs we do ingest, slowing down their uptake and thus the sugar-spike. Contrary to what we’ve been told for decades; fats are our friends.

7. Worried about cholesterol? On a low carb diet, your cholesterol may rise a little as you start to lose weight. That’s a good thing though. (Believe it or not). What was already there, stored in your body, is starting to head for the exit, and for that it’ll go into your bloodstream first. So when you have lost weight and it stabilises, so will your cholesterol. And it’ll probably be lower than what it was before you started out.

8. You’ll lose weight on a low carb diet. Weight loss will help with your insulin-resistance, and not only that… Going low carb might help with other issues as well, like non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and depression.

9. Always ask for your test results. You don’t know where you’re going, if you don’t know where you’ve been.

10. Last, but certainly not least: If you are on medication that has hypoglycemia listed as a side-effect, like Gliclazide for instance, do NOT attempt a LCHF diet without a meter nor your doctors’ knowledge/assistance. You can drop blood glucose levels too far, too fast, if your dosage isn’t adjusted accordingly. This could mean a lower dose in stages or even stopping medication completely. Never do this without discussing it with your doctor first!


So what raises blood sugars? Aside from the obvious (sugar), starches raise blood glucose too. So bread, and anything made with grain/oats flour, rice, potatoes, pasta, corn, cereals (including all the “healthy choices”, like Weetabix and muesli), most beans and most fruits. So you’ll want to limit your intake, or scratch them altogether.

Which food items remain on the shopping list? Well, meat, fish, poultry, above ground veggies/leafy greens, eggs, cheese, heavy cream, full fat Greek yoghurt, full fat milk, extra dark chocolate (85% Lindt’s is great!), avocado, (whole) tomatoes, berries, olives, nuts, that sort of thing… Meal ideas? Have a couple:

Scrambled eggs with bacon, cheese, mushrooms, tomato, maybe some high meat content sausages?
Eggs with ham, bacon and cheese
Omelet with spinach and/or smoked salmon
Omelet with cream, cinnamon, with some berries and coconut shavings
Full fat Greek yoghurt with nuts and berries
Leafy green salad with a can of tuna (oil, not brine!), mayonnaise, capers, olives and avocado
Leafy green salad with (warmed goat's) cheese and bacon, maybe a nice vinaigrette?
Meat, fish or poultry with veggies. I usually go for cauliflower rice or broccoli rice, with cheese and bacon to bulk it up. Never the same meal twice in a row because of various herbs/spices.

Snacks? Pork scratchings, cheese, olives, extra dark chocolate, nuts.

Of course, there’s loads more on the web, for people more adventurous than I. (Which is pretty much everyone). Just google whatever you want to make and add “keto” to it, and you’ll get a low carb version. There’s a lot of recipes on the diabetes.co.uk website, as well as on www.dietdoctor.com where you’ll also find visual (carb content) guides and videos. And I can wholeheartedly endorse Dr. Jason Fung’s book The Diabetes Code. It’ll help you understand what’s going on in your body and how to tackle it, whilst not being a dry read. Not only that, but you’ll know what to ask your doctor, and you’ll understand the answers, which is, I believe, quite convenient.

 

[daisy1]

@KDP72
Hello and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it interesting and helpful.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 235,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  
  
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