Hopeless Case!

[Saramel]

Hi,

I am struggling to control my diabetes because I find it such a hassle. Looking back I can see I have been overeating for years and it is a very hard habit to break. Now I have put on a lot of weight and I feel dreadful most of the time so I have to do something

Yesterday and today I have taken my blood sugar tests first thing in the morning before I have eaten anything. On both occasions they were too high. My question is this, if they are too high in the morning should I still eat? If so, what should I eat? :?: :?: :?:

I think one of the problems I have is that I don't know how much I should eat. If someone could give me a diet plan for a week, I would know what to do but the dieticians say I need to work it out for myself. If I was any good at that I probably wouldn't be diabetic! I always joke and say I'm semi-bulimic in that I binge but I don't bring it back up. Everybody laughs but it isn't really funny because I know I'm killing myself but I just don't know how to stop it.

 

[catherinecherub]

Hi Saramel,
Nobody is a hopeless case, you just need some help. Perhaps a way forward would be to tell us what you think is a sensible plan to manage your diabetes and what you are eating now and we can explain where you maybe going wrong. Please don't try missing meals as you need regular food intake, your sugars may go even higher without food. Also, don't stress about it all as that will send them up as well.

Nobody here can tell you what will work for you, only what works for them. It has to be an eating plan that you can cope with and enjoy.
Any form of sugar should be avoided and diabetic products are a waste of money and can lead to frequent trips to the loo with diarrhoea. It may be that you need to implement portion control when it comes to carbohydrates, bread, pasta, rice, cereals, potatoes, or you may find that some of these have to be avoided. Up your intake of fresh vegetables and go easy on fruit as some of these have high sugar content. Testing is the only way to determine what suits you personally.

Hope this goes some way to helping you and I am sure that others will offer suggestions.

Catherine.

 

[mobrien]

Excellent reply Catherine, we have all had to go through the quagmire of do I don't I eat this or that I personally have found Pasta and Potaotes to be my enemy but rice is working OK . You need to set your mind and eat the foods you enjoy. In the forums there is a section on Low Carb you may find this useful to you

 

[Synonym]

What you are going through is horrendous and we all know this because we have all been through it ourselves and some of us are still there.

You should eat regularly and not miss meals. Have you done a search on dawn phenomena?

What are you eating at present – just tell us as it is, after all you are anonymous on here. If you can give the information there will be someone along fairly quickly to give advice.

 

[Saramel]

I think its more a case of what I don't eat, lol. I start the morning off with Greek Yogurt, 1/2 an apple, 1/2 a banana and 2 heaped dessert spoons of nutty meusli - I usually give the raisins to my son.

At lunchtime I would usually have a sandwich or baguette with, say, egg mayo or ham. Sometime I have a cooked meal and I confess it is usually fast food like KFC or MacD's. I do try to avoid them as I can never resist the ice-cream!

Tea time I usually have meat, potato and veg but I know my portion sizes are too large. However, the problem is the evening when I get a yearning for chocolate, biscuits, cake, ice-cream, etc. Once I start it is a quick and slippery slope down. One of my favourite sandwiches is peanut butter and hazlenut spread on fresh white bread (I leave off the butter :lol and I could kill for a Nutrageous bar or 3 :!: The irony is, I never really enjoy them because I feel guilty and I eat them so fast I barely taste them.

18 months ago I had a radical hysterectomy to help with my PMT but they would only operate if I lost a stone - I lost 2 and I was so pleased with myself as I had stopped the bingeing which I was so sure was due to the hormonal treatment I was on. As a child I would opt for carrots rather than chocolate and seconds of dinner rather than pudding, only starting to binge once I hit puberty. Since then I've yo-yo dieted, each time putting on a little more weight. I don't understand myself, I enjoy being slimmer, feel so much better but it seems like I have self-destruct button which I hit regularly. :? In every other way I am a positive person but this is just such a huge thing for me - just like my waist line :!:

On a positive note, my husband took me to the Harvester for lunch and we discussed strategies for me helping myself. I am NOT going to look at the pudding section of the menu any more (usually the place I start) and I will do low carb but not Atkins as it is too restrictive. I only ate the skin of the potato and was careful to scrape off as much of the potato as possible. It slowed me down with my eating (another area I am going to work on) and I didn't feel quite so cheated. Are there many carbs in the skin (please say no). My husband is going to help me rather than buying me 4 boxes of choccies for Birthdays, Christmas, etc. I made an appointment to see the DSN and bought a new bg tester today (bg was 6.2 tonight, hurrah). I'm also going to make a food diary.

Phew, sorry about such a long post

 

[IanD]

Hello Saramel,

Hope we can help. You may find this thread useful - self management

I am currently on a T2 X-PERT course, & you will see my approach to diet there. Please - only read the first page - there were lots of unpleasant comments from page 2 onwards. I've just prepared a leaflet to go with the course. I'll put the recipes on a second post.

For exercise with limited mobility I would suggest singing, chair exercises, line dancing. Have you a community centre nearby? Ours has lots of suitable activities, & anything done in company will be easier with mutual encouragement. My wife swims, & we go to the hospital gym for their heart rehab exercise class. (Ann had a heart attack several years ago.)

 

[IanD]

Recipes

Bread
50 ml ground almonds; 50 ml soya flour; 1/2 tsp baking powder;
optional - milled nuts; bran; cinnamon; herbs
Mix dry ingredients thoroughly in a small bowl
Add 1 egg; 30 ml oil & mix thoughly;
Add water - for soft 'dropping' consistency
MW on full for 1 1/2 mins
loosen edges & tip out on a rack to cool
About 100 g - total 4 g carb, 1 g per portion.
Its bread, Jim, but not as we know it. Double the quantities & double the cooking time. It toasts OK.
That is enough for 1 day

Cake
50 ml ground almond; 30 ml soya flour; 30 ml cocoa;
Splenda (sweetener) 30 ml; 1 tsp baking powder
Continue as for 'bread.'

All sorts of variation possible - add soaked sultanas for a fruit cake.
Use unsweetened yoghurt or cream for a sponge puddings.

Porridge
2 dsp ground almonds; 1 dsp oat bran; 1 dsp wheat germ;
1 dsp milled nuts; 1 dsp coconut; 1 tsp cinnamon; 1 saccharin
Mix in a glass jug, mix with about 200 ml soya milk
M/wave for 2½ minutes, stir & m/wave for 1 minute
Needs watching as it may boil over. Adjust times for your m/w.

Main meals
Meats & fish are cooked as usual. I eat a lot of root vegetable casseroles cooked with a little water (150 ml) a stock cube & about 150 ml tomato passata.
Green veg are usually steamed over the casserole.
I use a spoon & a slice of my 'bread' to eat the gravy, & serve the casserole gravy as soup.

Snacks
Nuts (not salted); cheese; small fruit; TEA; thin soup; water

Beware of biscuits, baked beans, crisps, sweets; fruit juice (20 g sugar in a 200 ml glass)
& milk (10 g sugar in a glass.)

 

[phoenix]

Ian mentions his method, in the same thread I refer to this
http://www.extension.uidaho.edu/diabetesplate/index.html
There is a lot of information there on suggested portion sizes that might help as a starting point. As the others say using your meter will show you if there are certain foods that cause more problems to you than others,
Another useful tool is the glycemic index
http://www.glycemicindex.com/

One thing is that you have to be very careful of meals at places like the Harvester, some of the things that seem as if they shouldn't have many carbs in them have lots. Some of the restaurants give nutritional information online which can be useful if you look in advance.
http://www.harvester.co.uk/nutritional-information.html

 

[Synonym]

Hello again Saramel

Congratulations on your 6.2 – that is a good start. Test before and after meals to see how what you are eating affects your BG levels. You can then work out what foods you need to cut down or cut out and what foods are the best for you.

I suggest that you get the Collins Gem Carb counter which will really open your eyes to what is in a broad range of foods. You can then start to control what and how much you eat and get the BG levels down to where you want them.

It sounds to me as if you need to plan what you eat as that would give you a solid framework to build on. Plan a menu and shop for that menu also making sure that you remove all temptations from your cupboards. Be ruthless!! :evil: 8)

Personally I can’t eat grain products or potatoes at all at present as they shoot my BG levels to the skies. You may find this is the same for you but as your weight goes down things may improve so that you may have them even if only in a limited way – however by that time you may no longer want them. You say your portions are too big so that could be the very first thing to start with by cutting them down. Hana suggested on another post that your cupped hand is a good portion control size and that works well.

It is really good that your husband is coming on board with you and that he is not going to buy you temptations any more!
8)
Looks like lots of hope eh?!

 

[suffolkboi61]

Hi Saramel

There has been some excellent advice on here, I am living testement to that.
I was diagnosed T2 Nov 09 and due to my partial dissability had put on weight up to 18 stone :shock:
Since coming to these forums and sitting reading all the advice I could find (I felt like a sponge :lol: ) I took on board what I had read and also what I was advised,
So now 2 and a half months later, and it is thanks to these good people on here that I began my diet and can now proudly say that I am down to 15 stone and am feeling much much better for it.
I go for walks everyday without fail and have now got to the stage where as I am nearing my home am wanting to continue walking.
So it can be done and it does get better, so dont be disheartened, when you are feeling down come on to here and read the posts, it does help and you can always be sure that there will be someone here to answer any questions you have, even if it is just to blow off steam.
So you are not a hopeless case just someone who like us has had a bad day.

 

[carty]

have you tried using a smaller plate? I know it sounds silly but our eyes have a lot to do with our eating habits Think about how you would feel if some one put a plate of disgusting looking mush in front of you! If your eyes recognises a full plate your brain thinks there is more to eat .Worth a try CAROL

 

[Ardbeg]

Hi,

I am struggling to control my diabetes because I find it such a hassle. Looking back I can see I have been overeating for years and it is a very hard habit to break. Now I have put on a lot of weight and I feel dreadful most of the time so I have to do something

Yesterday and today I have taken my blood sugar tests first thing in the morning before I have eaten anything. On both occasions they were too high. My question is this, if they are too high in the morning should I still eat? If so, what should I eat? :?: :?: :?:

I think one of the problems I have is that I don't know how much I should eat. If someone could give me a diet plan for a week, I would know what to do but the dieticians say I need to work it out for myself. If I was any good at that I probably wouldn't be diabetic! I always joke and say I'm semi-bulimic in that I binge but I don't bring it back up. Everybody laughs but it isn't really funny because I know I'm killing myself but I just don't know how to stop it.

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Having been diagnosed T2 just over a month ago I know exactly what you are going through.

I had a VERY sweet tooth, ate (too much) irratically (wrong things at the wrong times) plus I enjoyed a few bevvies every night.

I'm trying to get my BG down by diet and exercise only (altho' STILL haven't joined the gym yet ). What I'm about to give you is just my typical new routine. I'm only sharing it with you to give you some ideas, I'm not suggesting it's the Holy Grail or a carefully worked out diet plan, because it isn't. It's just how I'm doing things.

Breakfast now normally consists of half a grapefruit (a tip picked up on this forum) and 2 slices of Hovis brown bread. Sometimes I also add to this scambled egg. In the past I was using porridge, but when I started testing myself with a BG meter I found it caused a huge spike in my BG. For more details, read this thread: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12612&start=15

Lunch varies. It can be a few Ryvita with benecol spread, or a brown bread sarnie (tuna, prawn, chicken salad, etc) or sometimes soup. I use those Covent Garden soups which come in cartons (Tesco sells them). Usually also eat at least 1 apple a day.

Dinner is usually either fish, red or white meat accompanied by either salad or veg. I don't eat many spuds as a rule and I'm no lover of chips either (thank goodness).

For snacks in between or on an evening I eat nuts (walnuts, almonds or brazils mainly) but only a handful at most. I also like dips, such as taramasalata or houmous and either use a raw carrot or wholemeal pittas for dipping.

I'm pleasantly surprised to find that, despite a full month of no booze or chocolate I have had no cravings (I am touching wood as I type this bit).

Hope that is of some use to you?

The main thing is to approach your condition with a positive mental attitude. I see this as a wake up call for me and I'm so glad it was the onset of T2 that brought me to my senses rather than the proverbial heart attack.

 

[Saramel]

Thank you for all your advice; today I have been far more focused, tested lots and felt more in control although slightly hungry. We are going shopping tomorrow to try to get in a few ingredients to make some scrummy but healthy meals.

 

[Synonym]

Make a list BEFORE you go! 8)

 

[hanrahanj1]

Hi i noticed that you to are struggling, when initially diagnosed in aug 09, i was fastidious with my management of my type II. Sadly no longer the case.

It is like being in self-denial completely. Now eating everything i should not. Had lost three stone now starting to make a reappearrance. Feel out of control now. Not tested blood sugar for weeks.
It is like i am pretending everything is normal when it is not. Family members also concerned. I am also aware of the risks, and still i go on in this fog of self-denial. It is reassuring to know i am not alone.

I am eating for England. Am trying to get back on track, so can sympathise with you. Good luck to you.

 

[Synonym]

Hello Hanrahanj

It is really tough when you discover this isn't going to just go away and you will have to be vigilant for life. Clearly you know how to do it all and so you can start right now to get a grip on your condition again. 8)

You just need to halt the slide down the slippery slope as fast as you can. If you are quick you won’t have to do it ALL again! 8)

Let us know how you get on.