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Another newbie. Vegetarian.

justpeachynb

justpeachynb

Newbie
Messages
1
Type of diabetes
Type 2
New to the site here and new to Type 2 Diabetes............Shock.....**** right . I was concerned because my long range vision was off just a bit so I went to the doctor who ordered blood tests. I was overweight, exercised a bit, liked junk food, used carbs to supplement a vegetarian diet, and undoubtedly a bit cocky about my health which I thought was just fine. I even expected the doctor might say my blood sugar was a bit high, but to do a few things to reduce it and everything would be good to go....

Doctor gave a thorough explanation of how the blood sugar works leading up to finally telling me I had diabetes.........I think I went into shock for about a week...........No way I could... I felt fine..........Anyway the doctor said my A1C was 8.9........and the fasting reading about 11. He said I could go on meds and some might say I should but that if I was motivated to change he would let me do that and reassess in 3 months..... Well I never took meds before so figured lets give a change in lifestyle a go. May need meds down the road but why hurry that.

So now I am a couple of months into dealing with diabetes. I used to weigh almost 220 pounds and have dropped about 10% of that. Now I exercise 5 or 6 times a week, no junk food (potato chips) and try to eat balanced diet with carbs only 25% of plate and a lot more veggie and fruit compared to my previous ways.........

Good news is I think its working... I still have a lot to learn and more to accomplish but current readings before a meal are in the 4.0 to 7.0 range. I just hope my next A1C reading in January is good as well. Biggest challenge seems to be planning meals so I know what to eat at each meal.

If anyone has any advice or resouces to share would greatly appreciated it.
 
Welcome to the forums, have you found the vegetarian section .. It gives you lots of id ideas of foods to eat. I am tagging @daisy1 who will be along soon with lots of information for newbies. You may also find that reducing your carbs even more and increasing your fats will work at reducing your weight and keeping the blood sugars down.
This is the link to the Vegetarian forum what have you eaten today section, hope it helps.
 
@justpeachynb

Hello and welcome to the forum :) Here is the information we give to new members as mentioned above and I hope you will find it useful. Ask more questions and someone will be able to help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

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 over 150,000 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

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

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

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


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 bloodglucose 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.
 
Welcome - I started on here yesterday!
Slow and steady wins the race. Better to start things you can stick to and do regularly :)
 
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