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Type 2 Is it possible to reduce HbA1c levels by losing weight ANYWAY u can

bootyful0

Well-Known Member
Messages
83
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
running
I was just wondering if there is anyone out there who has improved their HbA1c levels and /or lost weight WITHOUT using the LCHF method or NEWCASTLE diet.

I have been low-carbing ish and I have lost weight and my blood sugar levels have gone down but I want to try eating what I want (within reason) and just think about calories (not carbs- although I don't plan on going wild) I plan on eating around 1300 cals per day but eating meals that include carbs such as brown pasta, rice etc.

Has anyone lowered their blood sugar and/or lost weight whilst not following the LCHF diet or Newcastle diet? If so please can you tell my what you did /ate.

Low carb is not working for me at the moment. Plus I want to eat strawberries, sweet potatoes and pasta.

Also has anyone with T2 tried Slimming World and had success lowering their HbA1c levels and weight.

hope this makes sense
PS I take metforming

Thank you x
 
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Surely you CAN eat Strawberries ... In fact ANY berries, as a diabetic?
I always have berries every morning on my porridge (no blood glucose rise) and I eat sweet potato too. I don't eat pasta so cannot comment on that ... never been a 'pasta' lover
 
Low carb-ish?
My experience (so far) is that I started low carb and fell of the wagon a few times as my body craved the carbohydrates it had been trained to expect.

Now that I am low carb these cravings have stopped. I do LC for the sake of my blood glucose and whilst I am not "Dieting" I am losing weight because I really don't want to eat that much.

You could try adding in a few more carbs back in and just keep testing
Eat to the meter. It just depends on what your priorities are.
 
bootyful0 said:
Has anyone lowered their blood sugar and/or lost weight whilst not following the LCHF diet or Newcastle diet? If so please can you tell my what you did /ate.
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Hi booty,
As with everyone you have to start some where.
When I learned I was diabetic I knew nothing about carbs and have never counted a calorie in my life. The only thing I did know for an absolute fact was as a diabetic my body could not handle sugar.

So I stopped eating sugar, in everything even cut out tomato sauce, beans etc.. because they contained sugar. By the time of my first 3 month check up the Hba1c had gone down notably and I had lost a noticeable amount of weight.

I am on LCHF diet now, but I didn't start there and managed to achieve encouraging results. I have had even better results on LCHF and would recommend that to anyone but it's not the only way.
It's what works for you.
 

Thanks Xfieldok. I have been adding more carbs. I will keep experimenting and see how I go, but your right its all about blood sugars. Thanks again
 
You say
bootyful0 said:
Low carb is not working for me at the moment
Click to expand...
but you also say
bootyful0 said:
I have been low-carbing ish and I have lost weight and my blood sugar levels have gone down
Click to expand...
Which seems a bit contradictory..

What I'm trying to say is that low carb seems to be working for you although you maybe aren't enjoying it..

What do you like eating? Maybe we can give some low carb suggestions?
 

Thanks No Spoon. So far low carb is the only thing i have tried. I usually eat between 40-80 carbs perday but I just want to know if dieting alone will be good enough to improve things. but like you my main aim is to keep blood sugars down. Thanks again for your reply.
 
bulkbiker said:
You say

but you also say

Which seems a bit contradictory..

What I'm trying to say is that low carb seems to be working for you although you maybe aren't enjoying it..

What do you like eating? Maybe we can give some low carb suggestions?
Click to expand...

Bulibiker
I think you hit the nail on the head. Low carb ish has worked for me But lately I have found that i'm not enjoying it (I cant tell you why because I'm not even sure myself) I know how to make the low carb version of all the things I eat but there are some things I miss like real pasta, not courgettes and real mash , not caulimash. Does this make sense? I want to continue reducing by sugar readings but is there another way?
Thank you for replying and for your help
 
Mal37 said:
Surely you CAN eat Strawberries ... In fact ANY berries, as a diabetic?
I always have berries every morning on my porridge (no blood glucose rise) and I eat sweet potato too. I don't eat pasta so cannot comment on that ... never been a 'pasta' lover
Click to expand...
I love pasta and miss it so much
 
You may not need to give these things up forever, it depends. I remember thinking there were a lot of things I would never be able to eat again. Turns out that is not the case. I didn’t have that much weight to lose but lost it and kept very low carb for about 6 months. I have now been experimenting and found I can eat things I didn’t think I could and my BG is just fine.

I haven’t gone back to eating the amount of carbs I used to but have realised if I eat a burger or have some decent beer on occasion I can. It does make it much easier I have to say.

Test and see what works for you.
 
bootyful0 said:
I love pasta and miss it so much
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I did a post a couple of weeks back about how I had a bar of chocolate, I think like every one I struggled with giving up chocolate, the first piece in the best part of a year and "Mehh"....
Wasn't impressed.

Here was the thing I though I was missing and realised I hadn't been missing it at all.
Similar experience with spaghetti bolognese, it was just too sweet.
The point is you may just think your missing it.

To my way of thinking, a pasta dish every week or every 2 weeks is still low carb in comparison to how you ate before. (obviously if it spikes your blood sugar then that's not a good thing)

Word of caution: You may start of with the best intentions in the world 1 pasta dish every 2 weeks which creep up to every week. If you listen to many stories on here this is often the case for people, carbs sneak back into there diet, and the next thing they know there numbers have crept up, so has the weight.

Remember: Carbs are a gate way drug they lead to cake.
 
Sometime I have so big temptation for meal with carbs (mainly bread or dessert)... The trick which works for me is to go for a brisk walk just after this carb meal. So I cheat sometimes - and the brisk walk will do the trick not to go over my target of 7.7 one hour after meal.
 
bootyful0 said:
I love pasta and miss it so much
Click to expand...
Have you tried the cook cool and reheat method to see if it has less effect?
I'm not advocating this but if it serves to keep you going low carb for longer then it might help just a thought.
Remember though carbs are addictive and you could well end up undoing all your successes...
 
Like over boiling veg, dry pasta over cooked but drained from starch once or twice (like rice) whilst cooking will help. (Removing nutrients/starch). Portion size will make the difference.
Is pasta your loss because your addicted to the full feeling in your tummy, especially before bed?
Try and figure out why you cannot stop yearning for pasta. It will hold the key.
 
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Spaghetti squash with a good rich sauce is pretty darn good I have to say!
 
Hi @bootyful0

I know where you are coming from with the food wistfulness!
And I also know that low carb versions are simply not the same, are they?

Maybe the trick is to just eat to your meter.
Start with a clean slate.
Test the foods you are craving, in isolation, and as part of a whole meal, and see what the blood glucose rise is.

When I was low carbing, I did this, and discovered little tweaks and twiddles that kept me in control of my blood glucose, but still left me enjoying foods.

For instance:
- I would could never tolerate a bunch of strawberries on their own as a snack. But half a dozen, in a bowl with double cream at the end of a meal with meat and plenty of veg, and the strawberry 'spike' was negligible.
- I find cherries to be irrisistable. And cherry season is approaching but one year I sat with a punnet of cherries on my desk all day. I ate 1 cherry every 20 mins. Made the pleasure last all day, AND my blood glucose didn't 'spike' AND it sated my cherry craving for weeks.
- re pasta, there are a few new pastas on the market you could try. Yes, they are substitutes, and yes, they are made from legumes, but I am told they are pretty **** good. Worth a try? I will tag in @Rachox and @maglil55 because I believe they have both tried them.
- as for sweet potatoes, I only ever liked them in curries, and now prefer celeriac, so going without them isn't a hardship. But if you want them, just test run them with your meter, and work out acceptable portion sizes. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Good luck with this.
There is a horrible phase lots of us go through with lower carbing, where it is all about what we are missing.
But if we stick with it, and look around, and try new things, then eventually a switch goes in our heads and we start to notice the things we can enjoy - guilt free - on lower carbing. For me that is certain types of chocolate, cheese glorious cheese, cream in my drinks, and the odd chip, because if chips have been double or triple fried, and are golden crunchy and resistant starchy, then they affect my bg much less than expected.

So, my suggestion is just to eat to your meter, and find where you can reach a balance and still enjoy life.
 

Re pasta substitutes, I sometimes use Explore Cuisine alternatives see pic, these are the three available in tesco, I haven’t tried the black one yet but the other two are good.
For spaghetti bolognese and lasagne I use butternut squash inplace of pasta.
 

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Agree with @Rachox on this I have this pasta twice a week 30g is only 3.9g of carb so easily fits into my less th@n 20g per day keto. I use the bean spaghetti as noodles in a stir fry and the fettuccine with bolognese sauce. Also had carbonara it hits the spot for me.
 
One way would be to stick to the low carb in general - but have a planned limited 'blow out' once a week for treats and treasures.
 
Hi @bootyful0

I was diagnosed just over 3 years ago. For the first 6 months I weighed everything and recorded and tested before and 2 hours after food. I aimed to eat 500 cals less than I was burning and also adjust foods to what my meter was showing. During that time I lost 2 and a half stone and got my HbA1c down to 33 (now 36). I actually lost more weight than I needed to and got told to put weight back on but probably put too much back on. I can and do eat sweet potatoes but probably only about once a fortnight. Pasta I very seldom have but know I can manage up to 50 grams (about half a normal size portion). My recommendation is eat to your meter as we are all different.
 
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