Holidays still fun?

[Grateful]

A woman I work with is type 2 and has been for a while. She was pretty good (her words) and not very overweight but she is now having problems. I'm only 47 and need to take a long view as statisticaly I should be dead in 19 years. I'm aiming much higher!

Nineteen years! I am not sure where you get that statistic, unless you already have a life-shortening disease (in addition to diabetes).

I could not find a full actuarial life table for New Zealand, so instead, I used the American one (https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html). It is likely that life expectancy in New Zealand is higher than in America, so the following estimates are conservative.

If you are 47 years old and a female American, you are expected to live another 35.96 years, on average. This may sound odd because it is above the average life expectancy that you will see in the general reports (as opposed to the detailed actuarial table I have linked to). The reason is that you survived chilhood and reached 47 already and are still alive. This automatically raises your life expectancy.

Even if you accepted the common statement that "diabetes lowers life expectancy by 10 years" then you could expect to live for another 25.96 years, not 19. But here's the rub: that is an average figure. If you successfully bring your BG levels under control, at non-diabetic (or close to non-diabetic) levels, and keep them there, the 10-year figure is meaningless. Yes, you need to be vigilant. But I agree with the earlier posters who are suggesting you might want to chill out a bit.

I feel for you because your reaction is identical to mine in the few weeks after my diagnosis. With the passage of time, comes a bit of perspective.

 

[Goonergal]

I’ve only had a few weekends away and a couple of ‘proper’ holidays since diagnosis, but have found it fairly easy to stick to low carb. Granted I generally travel alone, which makes things a bit easier but there have always been options: meat, fish, eggs, salad, veggies. If the protein/veggies minus carbs isn’t enough. I just order something else.

The hardest thing so far was a hotel in York which put a ‘welcome’ pack full of chocolate, crisps and other things which are off limits. I stored it out of sight on top of a wardrobe so that I wasn’t tempted.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Do they do coconut yoghurt in the UK? I love that stuff and the fat content makes normal Greek yoghurt look like non fat! My only problem with it is my daughter has discovered it and I have competition for it now!

Yes, they do. It is generally regarded as a bit special and posh as far as I can tell, and sells in places like Waitrose at a suitably inflated price. Good for people who are dairy intolerant.

Oh, and on the subject of life expectancy I read a while back that a well controlled T2 on Metformin could have a longer life expectancy than a non-diabetic. Causing a certain amount of mental indigestion as my partner is non-diabetic and somehow this feels a bit unfair to have a longer life expectancy because of my chronic condition.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

<snip>
A woman I work with is type 2 and has been for a while. She was pretty good (her words) and not very overweight but she is now having problems. I'm only 47 and need to take a long view as statisticaly I should be dead in 19 years. I'm aiming much higher!

To slightly paraphrase, in her own words she was "pretty good and not too overweight".

As you read more on this forum you will see again and again people saying "I eat well, I eat healthily" and being asked to provide a bit more detail.

This is because there is a vast difference between different peoples' views on what is over weight and healthy food.

Oh, and in the UK there are (or used to be) "all you can eat" deals in pizza houses where a wide range of salads were included. There were things like grated cheese and hard boiled eggs included. This was long before my diagnosis but it occurs to me that you could avoid the pizza and eat like royalty on the salad bar.

See https://www.pizzahut.co.uk/restaurants/blog/unlimited-buffet/ for an example. Unlimited salad buffet! The rest of the family can dig into cheesy goodness whilst you get egg bound.

Oh, and there is the tradition of a carvery where you again have "all you can eat". They expect you to fill up on roast potatoes (drool) and veggies but you can just load your plate with meat.

Ah! They do exist in NZ. See https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowU...istchurch_Canterbury_Region_South_Island.html for a quick example.

If your kids have never been to a carvery then expand their horizons. When we were young (20s) we used to really enjoy making sure that the carvery was a scene of devastation before we finally crawled out groaning. Then again we used to have multiple puddings as well.

 

[Resurgam]

Do they do coconut yoghurt in the UK? I love that stuff and the fat content makes normal Greek yoghurt look like non fat! My only problem with it is my daughter has discovered it and I have competition for it now!

I mix my own - Greek yogurt and desiccated coconut - leave for a few minutes and then enjoy - I have sometimes bought coconut milk and shaken it up with several tablespoons of the yogurt as a refreshing drink.

 

[CL_in_NZ]

Nineteen years! I am not sure where you get that statistic, unless you already have a life-shortening disease (in addition to diabetes).

I could not find a full actuarial life table for New Zealand, so instead, I used the American one (https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html). It is likely that life expectancy in New Zealand is higher than in America, so the following estimates are conservative.

If you are 47 years old and a female American, you are expected to live another 35.96 years, on average. This may sound odd because it is above the average life expectancy that you will see in the general reports (as opposed to the detailed actuarial table I have linked to). The reason is that you survived chilhood and reached 47 already and are still alive. This automatically raises your life expectancy.

Even if you accepted the common statement that "diabetes lowers life expectancy by 10 years" then you could expect to live for another 25.96 years, not 19. But here's the rub: that is an average figure. If you successfully bring your BG levels under control, at non-diabetic (or close to non-diabetic) levels, and keep them there, the 10-year figure is meaningless. Yes, you need to be vigilant. But I agree with the earlier posters who are suggesting you might want to chill out a bit.

I feel for you because your reaction is identical to mine in the few weeks after my diagnosis. With the passage of time, comes a bit of perspective.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I'm just struggling with this still but guess that is obvious. I have no perspective yet just a huge sense of loss. I have given up so many things I like, I can't even run that hard now as I get spikes.

A while ago I saw a table that said my lifespan 76 so I was basing it on that, I am male so its shorter and I subtracted the 10 years.

On coconut yogurt, it is really really good. I just get plain as it has only about 1g carbs per 100g and has a nice taste to it. I'm not doing berry's as too many carbs and this is the one treat I have found.

 

[Grateful]

A while ago I saw a table that said my lifespan 76 so I was basing it on that, I am male so its shorter and I subtracted the 10 years.

If you are 47-year-old male, based on the U.S. tables you would live another 32.26 years if you are male, i.e. until age 79. I do think subtracting the 10 years (for Type 2 diabetes) is a dubious notion because it is only an average and there are so many variables in each individual case.

The low-down on this issue is here: http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-life-expectancy.html. It makes depressing reading, but it does say (in a photo caption, of all places) that "if you manage your diabetes carefully, your life expectancy won't be reduced." That is the "catch": managing your diabetes is something you will have to do for the rest of your life. But if you can do it, you shouldn't suffer from the life-threatening complications of diabetes (heart disease, other organ damage, etc.).

I know that you have been feeling your life has been taken over by the disease. Many of us felt like that after diagnosis, and it is a feeling that can recur later, for one reason or another. When I was first diagnosed at age 59, I remember thinking, "I won't see my future grandchildren grow up." I later realized such thoughts, while normal, are not fact-based. If I can keep my diabetes under control, I will live a long and happy life (as long as a so-far undiagnosed, completely unrelated disease doesn't send me to an early grave!).

 

[CL_in_NZ]

Sorry for being so negative but I have struggled with giving up so much and not really being sure how well it was working. I just got my hba1c back at 38!

It is a lot easier it give things up seeing it works! I am over the moon and a day before my bday. Best present I could have!

 

[Goonergal]

Sorry for being so negative but I have struggled with giving up so much and not really being sure how well it was working. I just got my hba1c back at 38!

It is a lot easier it give things up seeing it works! I am over the moon and a day before my bday. Best present I could have!

Congratulations!

 

[AloeSvea]

Kia ora everyone. CL included. Aotearoa/New Zealand is an OECD country and does indeed have life expectancy figures of our own, yes on buffet style meals in restaurants, and food styles and choices specific to the weather and agriculture and horticulture of this country (not just British with Asian options!). Seafood, unsurprisingly, figures largely!

Congrats @CL_in_NZ , for getting to normal BG levels.

Yes, you will be hungry eating low carb if you don't raise your healthy fat levels too. For me that is the key to eating out - take with you a bag of mixed nuts, and/or cheese pieces, homebaked chicken wings, and - for those bunless burgers and fish without the batter and the chips - an avocado. (I am very discreet - no serving or waiting staff have noticed me pulling one out of my bag and whacking it on the beef patty, or eating it alongside the fish.) (Or eat the extras travelling home.) And all in NZ, even on public holidays with family, and where currently the life expectancy is 81 .

ps - when it comes to life expectancy I do rather look at my parents' age and minus ten years. Why I am so very encouraging of them to keep on going another ten or twenty years! . And I am very very happy for that minus ten years thing not to be the case, and one of those statistical oddities one should not take seriously. Which it could very well be. As there are plenty of them.

pps And yes, the rest of our lives is a long time to eat a transformed diet. I think the same thing myself, and it can get me down too, especially on family outings/holiday meals. But mostly I am delighted that this new way of eating post diagnosis tastes so wonderful and I am healthier than I have been for decades (if it wasn't for the diabetes .)