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Hello :)

T

Thomasunde

Newbie
Good morning, hope you are all well. My name is Thomas and I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes roughly 1 year ago.

When I found out I had diabetes, I was not shocked. I had been living through a very stressful period of my life, and using fizzy drinks (cola and irn bru mostly) to feel better... sugar rush wooo. 2L a day for around 2 years. I had all the symptoms of diabetes, and I knew them because I am a healthcare professional. I've always held the value that I should do as I say.

I was prescribed metformin and I was hoping it would bring my readings down. The difference was so minimal and I began to exercise a lot more. Walking 2+ hours a day to work and back, cycling (london > brighton... once haha), but despite losing a lot of weight, eating healthier, and exercising, my blood sugars are still reading around the 7-8 range at all times.

I have also incorporated running into my weekly routine - 5KM of running three times a week (got a PB of 27.5mins today!). And yet my blood sugars remain high. I am wondering whether the medication I am taking is not working (metformin), or I am doing something seriously wrong.

I'll be lurking in the forum and likely comment or post much, but I wanted to ask you folks for advice. I am certain there must be many people in the same situation as me, and I am hoping to draw on your experiences.

Many thanks in advance for your responses. :)
 
Hey Thomas
Welcome! And flippin well done on all that exercise.

What are you eating?
Most of the T2s on here advocate for a v low carb diet with high fat & protein to get the blood sugars down. The standard eat well/live well plate approach just doesn’t work.
 
MaviesDavies2 said:
Hey Thomas
Welcome! And flippin well done on all that exercise.

What are you eating?
Most of the T2s on here advocate for a v low carb diet with high fat & protein to get the blood sugars down. The standard eat well/live well plate approach just doesn’t work.
Click to expand...
Good morning :D
Breakfast every morning - Huel (Black edition) 400kcal, 17% carb, 40% fat, 40% protein, 3% fibre split
Lunch - admittedly, I eat the food that the hospital canteen provides. The choice is between curry with rice and jacket potato haha
Dinner - Low carb meals, plenty of veggies
 
Welcome @Thomasunde
Metformin only has a tiny effect on numbers, exercise has more effect.
Best of all is eating fewer and fewer carbs until your numbers come down, and increasing the time between meals/intermittent fasting.

Are you testing your meals? Test before then 2 hours after

Keep reading and asking. The breadth and depth of knowledge on this forum is remarkable.
 
Thomasunde said:
Good morning :D
Breakfast every morning - Huel (Black edition) 400kcal, 17% carb, 40% fat, 40% protein, 3% fibre split
Lunch - admittedly, I eat the food that the hospital canteen provides. The choice is between curry with rice and jacket potato haha
Dinner - Low carb meals, plenty of veggies
Click to expand...

It’s going to be hard to begin with, but, I would recommend ditching rice, potatoes, pasta, bread, cereal, and see if that has any impact on your BS levels. (Hint: it will) They are all just sugar as far as your body is concerned.

Also, Huel is not low carb enough, do some googling for a protein powder that is lower than 10% carbs.

Suggest you check out a book called Carbs & Cals so that you can start to see how your curry and rice is incredibly carby. It’s scary.

Also if you can borrow a copy of Micheal Moseley’s 800 diet, just to get some ideas about food (not necessarily to follow as a diet) that might help?

All just suggestions and ideas… good luck with your journey!
 
Thomasunde said:
Good morning :D
Breakfast every morning - Huel (Black edition) 400kcal, 17% carb, 40% fat, 40% protein, 3% fibre split
Lunch - admittedly, I eat the food that the hospital canteen provides. The choice is between curry with rice and jacket potato haha
Dinner - Low carb meals, plenty of veggies
Click to expand...
Like you I’ll also resort to hospital canteen. If I can I try curry without rice or ham and cauliflower cheese etc and avoid jacket potatoes. My sugars still spike so obviously carbs in some of those sauces but not as bad as if I went for whole meal. Even better the days I’m organised enough to bring food with me!
 
That would be a good idea taking the food with you.I sometimes if not bothered to cook a meal.I will then have a
patefull of cheese, apple, walnuts and a hard boiled egg etc, etc. Cheese is really nice with a crunchy apple.Walnuts
supposed to be good for the brain(same shape too).Good luck.
 
Like Maisie, I avoid foods with more than 10% carbs. I try to stick with those 5% or lower - the odd item between 5 and 10% I occasionally have as a treat. I'm impressed with the exercise you've managed to do - that's something I'm still working on adding to my routines. However, just by changing my diet to low carb, I've reduced my typical bs readings to between 5 and 7. My HbA1c dropped from 74 to 41 three months after diagnosis, so it seems to work.
 
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