Hi - I’m Kim and learned yesterday that I’m T2 diabetic

[K.J.]

I joined yesterday and have spent hours reading lots of discussions. Right now I’m feeling overwhelmed with all the changes I’m going to have to make and totally blame myself for this. I’ve googled everything from life expectancy of a diabetic to the increased risk of cancer (I’m also 5 years post breast cancer although all clear now)..I just don’t know where to start.

 

[bulkbiker]

To start
Clear the cupboards of all sugary and carby foods.
Start a new shopping list comprised of single ingredient low carb foods (meat, fish, green veg, eggs, dairy, berries).
Start to enjoy food again and watch the pounds fall off and your blood sugar levels drop.

You'll feel so much better for it and your HCP's will be amazed.

Edit to add "Clear the cupboards of all sugary and carby foods." but not by eating them!

 

[Lobsang Tsultim]

Welcome! Take a breath, forget about blame and start with one easy improvement and move on from there. I’m also a new kid on the block and it gets easier quite quickly I promise
For me, the first step has been reducing the carbs in my food and getting a meter so I can see what’s happening. There’s a load of wonderful people on here who will happily share their experiences and support so keep reading and ask any questions you have or just post to get stuff off your chest, it’s all good!

 

[NicoleC1971]

For some practical help head over to this great app and free advice/meal planners. there are other sites like Diet Doctor that do a great job explaining it to but they run a subscription model whereas this is free!
https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/

As others have said the self blame is not valid. You have a condition that you were susceptible to and the modern food environment and doubtless your individual circumstances has triggered this but you can definitely reverse out of this and the sooner you begin the better!
Change one meal at a time or dive right in but either way it needs to be a n sustainable change! And let us all know how you are getting on of course..

 

[Ronancastled]

Welcome to the Dark Side.
Good advice above, get a meter & research low carb, that's it for the time being.

So you're worried about life expectancy, we all were at first.
What if I told you that in 3 months you could have the best biological markers of your life.
Only about 1 in 20 T2 diabetics make the necessary changes to achieve remission, the other 19 skew the statistics.
Which side of the fence do you want to be on ?

 

[EllieM]

Welcome to the forums @K.J.

The others have said it all, but I want to emphasise that

THIS IS NOT YOUR FAULT

You have a genetic susceptibility that means you can't cope with the carbs that are present in a typical modern diet, or in a typical modern diet recommended by the NHS.

Would you blame yourself for having eaten bread of you were diagnosed with coeliac's disease.

And here is my favourite (short) discussion of T2 and low carb

JoKalsbeek's blog | Diabetes Forum • The Global Diabetes Community

Good luck, you can do this.

 

[jjraak]

Hi @K.J.

Welcome.

Overwhelmed...

that's a word we hear a lot on here, sadly.

But you've made a better start then I did, I didn't find this site until weeks my DX, and my awful attempts at eating as the doctor advised for 8 weeks, only to get worse.

All good advice above.

So WHERE the heck to start

Let's take a breath.
And look at what's really changed.

You'll still eat food, right
It will just be better food for YOU.

Rest of the world seems to get by just fine eating whatever comes to mind, with no worries ...until they can't....

And then they join a forum such as this for support & advice .

So how quickly you change or adapt your diet is up to you, slowly dipping a toe in or just dive straight in

Just remember everything you change with the knowledge gained on here, puts you in a better place then you were yesterday.

Knowledge IS Power.

But the question lurking, is does it work ?

So here's my two bits worth.

Great news about the all clear.btw

I guess that dreadful experience has you taking more notice of your overall health.

Before I got my DX, I barely looked at my blood results if I had any.

All that doctor saying all's well, was good enough for me.

But not any more.

I got interested in my blood tests.
And looked back over the previous 10 years.

2010-2018 (DX) I saw my lipids put me in high risk or very high risk., And no one mentioned it.

I had a health scare in 2010 so went all healthy (yeah ) low cal low fat everything and it had made very little difference

2018 (DX) to June 2019 went LCHF
Not only did I get my HBA1c from 58 down to 40 (Normal)
But every lipid measure went from risk to normal or optimal.

So from my perspective, after a slow toe dip into LCHF, it worked really well for me.

Best of luck getting your head around this and any possible changes you can make.

You've made the very best of starts just finding this warm, caring, friendly & knowledgeable forum

No questions too silly..
(trust me, I asked waaay too many, and all I got back was kind responses )

You're in good hands

Best wishes on your journey.

 

[Andydragon]

I joined yesterday and have spent hours reading lots of discussions. Right now I’m feeling overwhelmed with all the changes I’m going to have to make and totally blame myself for this. I’ve googled everything from life expectancy of a diabetic to the increased risk of cancer (I’m also 5 years post breast cancer although all clear now)..I just don’t know where to start.

Hi there,

Its a club no one really wants to join but I believe there is a genetic aspect to this, there are many who eat awful food and are significantly overweight who never develop T2 and there are some who are slim who still develop it. So, blaming yourself isn’t something you should do.

Maybe you didn’t eat the best, I’ve been there too and we all own our choices in life but we can also change

Eating healthier and making changes though will certainly help and others have said, lowering carbs has been shown to have a significant effect. It can help in weight loss too, there aren’t guarantees in life but many have found it works so hopefully it will for you also

It’s scary but it’s early days and you are taking control. That’s a huge step that unfortunately some never take

 

[VashtiB]

Hello and welcome @K.J.

You've received some great advice already so I will just say welcome- read around the forum and post whether it be to ask questions, vent or just let us know how you are going.

This place is an awesome resource and life changing.

Welcome and good luck