Carbs

Hi @Joy05
If you have type 2 Diabetes, reducing carbs will decrease your blood sugars as many have done.
If you want to loose weight as well, reducing them to very low figures 25g/day or less and combining this with exercise will also work.
Read through some of the forums, Low Carb. LCHF diets etc.
It is a good idea to test your blood levels before and 2 hours after a meal, and you will over time be able to work out how and what carbs not to eat.

Hi Joy, try not to worry. I should stick to what you learn on here, at least until you have enough info to make up your own mind. You already have @daisy1's excellent guide to managing your diabetes, and that tells you that cutting carbs is the way to go. Instead of carbs for energy we eat more good fat. This sounds strange but it works. Extra fat doesn't make us fat or make our cholesterol levels go up.
I'm afraid cereals are a problem for most of us, and what people eat instead is detailed in the "what have you eaten today?" threads.
Meat, fish and green veg are mostly good; root veg including spuds are mostly not. You will learn which ones as you go along.
It's not a one-lesson course, it's a way of life. See how many postings some of the really experienced people (not me) have clocked up. That takes time and commitment.
Above all, take it easy and look for the positive. There's a lot of fun on this forum despite everything.

Hello Joy,
I would give the cereals for breakfast a rest and try to reduce carbs, anything over 10% as a general guide. For my evening meals I tend to have meat, one or two veg and a green salad with an avocado and olive oil (lots). I'm fortunate to an extent that I will eat anything, there is nothing I won't try. Celery, who knew it was so good!
You may find as you drop carbs the feeling full feeling will reduce and then you are left wondering if you have eaten enough... odd... but in my case, true.
You're in a good place on this forum.
Good luck.
Hj

Hi

I get around the sweet tooth thing by mixing in 300ml of double cream with a sachet of sugar-free jelly (pre-mixed as per instructions). I add the cream while the jelly is still warm, and put it in the fridge to set.

Lindt Excellence 90% cocoa chocolate 100g bar, currently 2 for £3 Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Waitrose and 3 for £5 Ocado. 14g carbs per 100g i.e. the whole bar.

Yes it does taste bitter at first, but also more luxurious because it has more chocolate content that cheap chocolate and less sugar, so gives health benefits e.g.fibre, antioxidants, manganese, iron, copper, magnesium and can have small beneficial effects on stress and blood pressure reduction.

Joy05 said:

Thank you , I will definitely look for that chocolate, I did buy s diabetic bar yesterday which was ok , but I only had 1 square so it wasn't that appealing . The jelly and cream sounds nice as well , will not definitely try that xx

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Way too many chemicals in sugar free jelly.
Just have the cream with a few berries instead.

Hi
Reducing high carbohydrate ( starchy or sugary) foods is what you need to do - but you generally also need to eat some foods that have a low carbohydrate content - aim for certainly less than 15-20g carbs per 100g weight, and optimally 10g per 100g. This is not particularly for their carbohydrate content, but because they are also sources for important vitamins, minerals, fibre, etc.

The number of carbohydrates you eat is entirely up to you and what you'll find possible to eat in a diet that also helps reduce your glucose levels and/or your weight. There's no point in going all out for a very low carb diet if you can't keep it up - or if eating a few more carbs actually produces the required results. You're far better to start higher - say around 100g carbs a day, see how you manage this without needing to binge, and reduce quantities gradually. This will also help avoid any withdrawal effects as you body learns to cope without so many carbs. Keeping up a low diet usually need to be a long term effort - a lifestyle change - so you need to be realistic and consider carefully what you can cope with. And a sustainable and healthy very low carb (less than 30g carbs/day ) diet needs a fair amount of thought and dedication.

If you need help the forum is an excellent source of information, but you might also like to get yourself a copy of Trudi Deakin's book "Eat Fat!"

Robbity

Unfortunately those carbs you're eating are the starchy ones you should be looking to cut down on or avoid - the ones you should be eating instead should be coming mainly from vegetables, etc .... so as a guide:

:Foods you can eat and not worry over carbs ( they contain none, very few, or traces only):
meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese, cream, butter, oils and fats in general

Carbs should mainly come from the (low carb) foods on this list (and shouldn't raise your glucose levels too much or at all)
olives, avocados, nuts, most vegetables and salads (but watch root types), and small quantities of fruit - mainly berries.

Avoid foods from this one (they WILL raise your glucose levels):
all sweets and sugary foods (and watch for hidden sugars in packaged/processed food); high starch foods: bread, pastry and other floury items, potatoes, pasta, rice, cereals.

Robbity

Joy05 said:

I'm eating even when I'm not hungry which from what I can gather is what I have to do . Never realised this would all be so difficult

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You don't have to eat if you are not hungry nothing worse than trying to force food down when you really don't want it

Joy05 said:

If nutrition information says carbohydrates 12g per severing
Of which sugars 0.5g

What one do I take notice of ?

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I asked this, and you ignore the sugar one and go for carbs total.

When you read the nutritional information, you just need to remember that all sugars./starches/carbohydrates - whatever name they go by - are turned to glucose in your body, so it's the total (and largest!) figure you use.

And, yes, definitely just eat when you're hungry, and fill up. If you do go the low carb high(er) fat way then this diet is good at telling your body when enough is enough, so you may find you need to eat less overall.

Robbity

If you're not hungry don't eat, on the other hand if you find yourself starving hungry two hours later, then maybe it would be better to have had something like a handful of nuts or a small piece of cheese, earlier.

I started off by borrowing low carb cook books from the library and photocopying any recipe that was 10g or 20g per recipe if husband was eating with me. I went through cupboards chucking out anything that was more than 10g carbs per 100g. The only treat I allowed myself the Lindt 90% chocolate. If I pigged the whole bar, it was only 14g carbs, nothing really horrible. My rough calculation was 10g + 10g + 10g meals + 2 x 10g snacks = 50g and that then allowed me to feel comfortable with doing unlimited veg and unlimited fruit provided it didn't spike me. I went down three dress sizes.

SunnyExpat said:

Way too many chemicals in sugar free jelly.
Just have the cream with a few berries instead.

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Yes there are chemicals in jelly, and there are chemicals in all foods, and our bodies are made of chemicals. When someone shows me compelling scientific evidence of chemicals in harmful doses in my food, then I'll pay attention.