I'm 64 years old and newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes which is currently being treated with diet only.
I know I need to lose weight but I also have high cholesterol.
It's a bit of a nightmare trying to juggle low carb and low fat diet and keep costs down.
I'm used to big filling (carby) meals and find it difficult to stick to less.
Hi
@PeteWolf
Welcome to the forum.
One of the friendliest I've been on,
And in terms of type 2 diabetes, by far the most knowledgeable, imho
No 1 tip...buy a glucose meter.
After that, I'd second what others have said, and certainly suggest a good read of
@Debandez links.. a very worthwhile use of your time.
Deffo ask docs for a full lipid panel ... AND ask to given the results of any blood work .
The numbers are important .
They are yours, so do ask for them.
I too, once I was aware, used the calculator
@Debandez links to
Backtracking my bloods from 8 years BEFORE being diagnosed, my report on that calculator put me at very high risk on every level for 8 years of 'healthy low fat low cal' eating .
I was very cautious attempting the LCHF diet, i just dipped a toe in at first, but once I saw it working for me, I was fully immersed after a month or two.
Great thing was not only did I lose weight AND get my HBA1c down from 58 to 40..I also got every single lipid market from high risk to optimal or good, all while eating possibly the best I ever have, on food I used to avoid because it "wasn't healthy".
If it helps, not sure how others see it, but personally the LCHF for me is simply Better fats.
More olive oil, butter NOT margarines & meat with the fat left on.
Food we have eaten for generations, and not some chemicals knocked up in a lab over the last 50 or so years.
And I'll admit pre LCHF I ate a lot. ...
Breakfast, elevens's, lunch, mid afternoon snack , evening meal, and a sneaky late night supper .
Now ?...i just don't feel that hunger, anymore.
Many times I just have an evening meal.
The joy of the forum is, it IS other people's journeys from where you are now, ...what they did, what worked best, what didn't work so well. People who have been exactly where you are now.
My advice to that earlier ME , if I could go back to that week of diagnosis (DX)
Read up, try things out...you might be pleasantly surprised.
AND
When deciding how & what to incorporate into a LCHF way of eating.(WOE)....
Make it things you CAN do, AND things YOU enjoy.
I Tried most things, some were just 'yuk' and some too much trouble to make ..so I settled for real food I could buy and cook.
'Meat that looks like meat
And Veg that looks like veg'
We all get to choose our own path.
Because this isn't a diet as many know them, this is a lifestyle choice.
Good luck finding the things that work for you .