Hi all

[ryanm100]

Hi all,
I'm Ryan from Hertfordshire.
Diagnosed Type 2 Dec 19 and still trying to get my head around everything. Like everyone, the past 12 months have made things a little more tricky.
Hoping to get some tips on nutrition and exercise etc. from you lovely people.

Ryan

 

[Goonergal]

Hi @ryanm100 and welcome to the forum.

A couple of questions for you, if I may. Firstly, are you taking any medication for your diabetes? And do you know what your HbA1c was?

I’ll assume you’re either just using diet or are taking nothing but metformin. If that’s not the case, shout as you’d need to exercise a bit more caution.

Anyway, the key to reducing your blood sugars will be what you eat. Exercise can help, and has other benefits, but food is the critical thing to get right. In short, you need to reduce your consumption of carbohydrates. How much varies from person to person, but in general if you eat real, fresh, unprocessed foods, limiting fruit and below ground veg, you won’t go far wrong. This website will tell you more: https://www.dietdoctor.com/

Exercise - up to you. Start with something you enjoy and don’t overdo things if you’re new to it. Any adjustments you make to your lifestyle that you rely on to control your diabetes need to be sustained, so keep that in mind and you’ll be fine.

 

[ryanm100]

Hi,
Thanks for the message.
No I'm not currently on medication, but have just been asked to see my GP to discuss my latest results.
Before my last bloods last week, my hba1c was 6.4

Exercise is also tricky as I have a protruding disc in my neck, so moderate walking is pretty much all I can cope with at the moment.

Thanks for the advice on the food habits.

Ryan

 

[Goonergal]

Hi,
Thanks for the message.
No I'm not currently on medication, but have just been asked to see my GP to discuss my latest results.
Before my last bloods last week, my hba1c was 6.4

Exercise is also tricky as I have a protruding disc in my neck, so moderate walking is pretty much all I can cope with at the moment.

Thanks for the advice on the food habits.

Ryan

Hi there

An HbA1c of 6.4% or 46.4 mmol/mol is towards the top end of the pre-diabetic range - full blown diabetes is diagnosed at 48 (6.5%) or above. As you were diagnosed type 2 in 2019, I presume this is an improvement on whatever the number was before. It’s certainly not beyond the realms of possibility that it could be reduced to non-diabetic numbers pretty quickly with some dietary tweaks.

 

[KennyA]

Hi all,
I'm Ryan from Hertfordshire.
Diagnosed Type 2 Dec 19 and still trying to get my head around everything. Like everyone, the past 12 months have made things a little more tricky.
Hoping to get some tips on nutrition and exercise etc. from you lovely people.

Ryan

Welcome to the forum. It's entirely possible to be back in normal BS within months - I managed it without too much effort. This is what I think works, on a low-carb lifestyle:

1. You need to unlearn all the standard NHS healthy eating advice, all the assumptions made by the media, your family and friends about what's healthy and what's not. I do mean all.


2. As Type 2 diabetics we are not, by definition, good at handling carbohydrates. Some of us are better than others at it but we all have the same problem. Eating carbohydrates causes our blood glucose to rise out of control and that causes us physical damage.


3. Eating carbohydrates, of any kind, is therefore potentially going to cause us a problem as Type 2s.


4. Just how big of a problem depends on the individual.


5. Test your blood glucose and record your results to find out what your pattern and tolerances are. Then cut the things that cause the rises.


6. Nobody will do this for you. Only you can do this.

Best of luck. Lots of good advice and support on here, helped me enormously.

 

[Daibell]

Hi and welcome. I agree with all the posters so far. Carbs are our problem. Fats, proteins, veg and non-tropical fruits are fine. You should have no problem getting down below the diabetes BS level with a tweak to the diet and any exercise you can do.

 

[muzza3]

Hi and Welcome

An important first step is to get a meter so you can test your blood glucose levels and minimise carbs consumed. You will get great advice here if you have any questions