First post

kay1165 said:

Thanks agree the Holiday Inn I normally stay have really good buffet options. My wife is on it at home and been out and bought the right cereals bread etc. Still considering the Atkins though.

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Good. Atkins is really another variant of the low-carb method, and one of the earliest popular ones.

You may find it bewildering at first because there are so many paths to select from. I went straight for the "ultra-low-carb" option and it worked great for me. You may be able to go for something less extreme given that your HbA1c was 55 at diagnosis.

My advice would be to experiment and see what works for you.

kay1165 said:

....the right cereals bread etc.

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Cereals and bread are both high-carb. That includes "healthy" breads such as whole-wheat by the way. One of the easiest ways to lower carbs initially is to eliminate grain-based foods (bread, cereal), or reduce them sharply.

Having said that, some of us can tolerate a moderate amount of these foods and still control BG successfully.

Confusing, I know.

welcome here

Hi and welcome,

Hotels can be good in a lot of ways, especially breakfasts if they serve a good old English fry up (bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes - no beans or fried bread though!) or any egg dish is excellent, cold meats and cheese if available.

What you really need is your own blood glucose meter. These are essential when you are trying to work out which foods will suit you personally, and if used properly will show you at a glance what any particular meal has done to your levels enabling you to change that meal in some way. To be honest, without a meter you are working blind.

The best thing that I did was get a meter and start to test. In my case I opted for a Libre (it's cost is minor compared to the amount I used to spend on wine).

Basically you test before eating and note your blood glucose level (bgl), then you eat your meal and then 2 hours after eating you test again to see what your bgl is. So you see what effect that food has on your bgl. Then you get to make the decision about what to eat and what not to.

Personally I changed to a low carb diet. I have not eaten breakfast for decades so just carried on not eating breakfast. But if I was eating breakfast then it would be eggs, bacon, tomatoes and mushrooms. No fried bread. I've never believed that beans and hash browns have anything to do with a full english. Also for breakfast some berries and full fat greek yoghurt.

Given you have done the Atkins diet before and got on well with it, why not as a first step do it again. If you no longer have the book you used, "A New Atkins For a New You" is one of the best modern versions of it. Choosing something you know is of great benefit.

Personly I am a great believer in having your own blood glucose (BG) meter, and check your BG levels before and 2hrs after each meal. Doing so for may result in you never eating cereals for breakfast again... Once you have learned how your BG respond to different meals, you can do much less testing. Think of your BG meter as a tool for learning what foods your body can cope with.

When doing the Atkins diet, instead of trying to find your "Critical Carbohydrate Level for Losing Weight" use your BG meter to find the level of carbs where you BG never increases by more than 2 due to you eating a meal. You may need to keep on the "induction phase" for longer than is normal, so as to get your post-meal BG under control before moving on to "phase 2".

Diet is key, exercise has much less effect. However, 10 minutes walk after eating has been proved to have benefit in reducing BG levels.

Oddly enough my CCLL according to Atkins and the amount of carbs I eat to control my blood glucose are exactly the same.

Hello. I have not read the replies so sorry if I repeat. I am a pescatarian (no meat only fish ) I also dont eat cow dairy only goats. look into that.

I have done a lot of research over the years and this is my perfect diet. I leave 3 hours between eating and I try to move about 30 mins after I eat to clean or walk or something just around the flat nothing major. I eat around 130g carbs a day im aiming for 100g soon but thats total carbs. todays menu was:

Breakfast 1/2 cup of muesli (rude health no added sugar)or no added sugar granola with full fat goat yogurt / milk and 1/3 cup frozen bleuberries

3 square dark chocolate

Lunch: Puy lentils , goats cheese grated on top of steamed courgette and sauteed mushrooms.

Flapjack snack while out

Dinner : tofu (or fish or chickpeas as protein as a coconut curry) steamed broccoli and more courgette drizzled with a good bit olive oil

Plain goats yogurt with strawberries for dessert , would of had double goats cream if the waitrose had not stopped selling it

kay1165 said:

My hbA1c is 55 but the doctor didn’t indicate what it should be any takers.

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Here’s this websites page about HbA1c readings:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/what-is-hba1c.html

kay1165 said:

Evening Guys,

Dave here. Just being diagnosed this afternoon by my Doctor following wellman check and several blood tests. Thought it was coming, however surprised when Dr said that I probably had the condition well over a year. Got to fetch the tablets from the pharmacist in the morning.

Don’t drink or smoke but admit to being totally inactive apart from chasing my two grandchildren around.

Job does not help and most of the time I am on the road up and down the UK roads and motorways as part of my role.

I am keen to drop the weight about 18stone 6'1" tall, so ideally would like to lose a min of 3 stone.

Understand the need to exercise, but I suppose diet is key. Years ago I did try the Atkins diet and lost quite a bit , notice that a low carb diet is good but would welcome any comments about going back on the Atkins or something similar?

Completely new to this situation and more than willing to give it a go, so any advice would be greatly received.

Dave

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I am the wife of a newly diagnosed T1, then T2, then back to T1. If I have any advice to you it is take your time and learn what's right for you.