Hi all I was diagnosed yesterday with type 2 as you can imagine my head is all over the place. My GP told me that diabetes.co.uk was my new best friend and should use the site for advice.I have an appointment booked with the nurse in 2 weeks and have been told to keep a food diary. I’ve also been told the usual about cutting portion size down and exercising more but that’s about it. They have said nothing about medication(if needed or not) or if I need to monitor my blood. Was wondering if people have been told to blood monitor or if you just bought your own testing kit. I find it all very confusing at the minute but I’m sure I’ll get my head round everything in time thanks for reading any advice gratefully received
I was diagnosed just under 3 months ago. My Hb1Ac was 48, just in the diabetes range. Not sure what country you’re in but in the UK I was referred to a Desmond course. The course details what diabetes is, why it us, and what you need to do to take control if it.
Off the back of that course and with lot of additional research I went down the road on focusing on my carb intake. Allowing the good carbs and eliminating as much of the ‘bad’ carbs as I can. I have also started exercising in the mornings, before my breakfast. My premise is that I use up as much of my glucose reserves as possible before start adding more carbs/ glucose during the day. I also got myself a glucose meter and measure my glucose levels regularly, so that I can build an idea of what my body is doing, before and after exercise and food. First few weeks my levels were all over the place but as I took control of everything my predicted Hb1Ac levels suggest that I’m in the ‘normal’ levels. I’m hoping that my next actual Hb1Ac blood test will confirm this, next week.
Although I have kept an eye on my calorie intake, I haven’t specifically tried to reduce them, but by reduced my carbs, I have found it easy to keep my calories below the recommended for my age and muscles mass size.
Ultimately, you will need to work out what best fits you. This is going to be a lifestyle change for you so whatever flavour of diabetes management you settle on will have to be something you can maintain. Personally I haven’t forbidden any food from my diet, per-say, I have just reduced how often and how much of them I have.
One thing I have noticed is that once you have reduced your carbohydrates intake, any carbohydrate in your meal tastes much sweeter.
The other major thing I did was to focus on building my gut microbes. Worth doing research on that, as there is early research which is suggesting a connection between your gut microbes and many common ailments, including diabetes and weight gain. At very least it has reduced my bloating..
Your health practitioner my not be fully up to speed on this yet as the research is relatively new. What I will say about this is, aim to build you microbes with natural, healthy foods and drink, rather than off the shelf supplements.
All the best.