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AdeleMB

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Hi all,
I'm new to this forum and found it completely by accident! Some excellent advice on here from many people and I hope to become a more regular contributer :D
I created a DAFNE group a little while ago on Facebook as it seemed to be lacking diabetes info, so if any of you are FB'ers, please feel free to join and tell your friends!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=50541169332
Speak to you all soon!
Adele
 
More to the point Adele, point your friends in this direction as well - we could do with some more healthy debate ?
 
cugila said:
More to the point Adele, point your friends in this direction as well - we could do with some more healthy debate ?
Click to expand...
I have joined & added the link to here.

Should diabetics aim at "normal eating" with presumable a high use of insulin & whatever that causes in terms of complications? (Fergus?) Or "Normal living" with reduced carb & reduced medication?

That is where type 1 & type 2 overlap.
 
As T1s don't produce any insulin it will often seem as though they need "more" than T2s, since ALL their insulin will be injected or pumped, so the higher amounts are immediately obvious.

I think any diabetic "should" aim for good blood results primarily, and whether this is achieved by high, medium, reduced or low carb (or other?) diets, will be down to individual circumstances, preferences and lifestyle. There really is no "one size fits all", but the experiences of others (for example on this forum) will help individuals make a more informed choice about what works best for them. Normal, healthy, good - they're all subjective words that have little meaning when applied to an individual's activities, eating habits etc.

Hope that's a fair assessment?
 
I agree with all of the comments about healthy living whole-heartedly and thanks to IanD for posting the link in the Facebook group.

In an ideal world I would have had some self-disciplin, exercised more, eaten more healthily and generally been a 'good diabetic' as my doctor called it - and so would probably not have needed DAFNE. But to be honest, I was a rubbish diabetic :( Diagnosed just before my 21st with T1, I was already a skinny chain smoking, binge drinking, weekend partying fiend who was addicted to Haribo and full english breakfasts. Plus to be even more honest, I wasn't even bothered about diabetic complications in the future, I was almost 21, "whatever, I'll deal with it later."

So DAFNE was perfect for me. It gave me some structure and control while actually improving my health (and probably my life-span!). DAFNE just makes perfect sense to me, instead of restrictive living to the clockwork injections and uniform doses - as I saw it - you take on the role of your broken pancreas and adjust your insulin intake according to your life and lifestyle. You're just doing what everyone else's pancreas does naturally, no more, no less. It shouldn't replace healthy eating, exercise and good management but should be done alongside them. It also makes you analyse your lifestyle and so feel compelled to make some healthy adjustments!

I don't believe that diabetes should restrict your life, but DAFNE helps me to cope with whatever my life brings. If nothing else, the 5-day DAFNE course at the hospital showed me how my body reacted to certain things like exercise, illness, alcohol etc. and I was quite suprised by what I learnt! It doesn't matter if I'm not hungry and miss a meal (or eat until I pop), run a marathon, have a nite out drinking or experience serious illness, because now I know how to deal with it.

Of course everyone is different and different regimes suit different people but I've yet to find a person who did the course that didn't get some benefit in their own management... of course theres always exceptions!

(sorry for writing an essay!)
Adele
 
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