Is this too high?

[Tes78]

I was diagnosed last Friday type 2. I brought a glucose meter and it arrived today.
I have done 2 readings so far. One 90 mins after eating, the other 2 hours after eating.
I ate slimming world chicken saag and basmati rice (I was told basmati was ok because it's low gi)
My first reading was 13.1 and my second 12.8
I don't know what is was before eating because my meter had not been delivered when I started eating.

 

[Lamont D]

Yes that is too high, but as you say you didn't test before.

Ok, what you need to do is gain the knowledge what puts your bloods so high.
To do that means, testing and experimenting, especially with your favourite food and how much of the type of food you can tolerate.
You take a reading pre meal, then two hours from first bite.
If your reading is more two mmols higher, then something in that meal is not recommended.

If you continue in that way, you will see what foods you can eat and what you can't.
If you need to get your blood glucose levels down then reduce your carbs and sugars and also your plate size, also if you can do some exercise, just a light walk around the block will help with your blood glucose levels.

If you have had the newbies information, then make sure you follow the recommended suggestions.
Also have a read of the low carb forum and the success stories thread.

If you need questions answered, just post, someone will answer.
Welcome to the forum.

Oh yeah, rice is probably a bad thing to eat if you want to do this properly, low GI is still carbs! Also check the curry, as that may be too many sugars in it.
I love homemade curry, with meat.

 

[kjc2011]

Hello and welcome. Everybody is different as to what they can tolerate and in what quantities, and you will find this out for yourself as you continue testing. If I'm not mistaken type 2 should be anything under 8.5, 2 hours after food from what I have researched. All rice contains carbohydrates which your body then naturally turns to sugar, and this is what may have splked your BG, but also hard to say as don't know what your levels were before. Lots of people on this forum folow low carb high fat diet (LCHF) but you have also got to find what works for you. Have a look around the forum, ask as many questions as you need and you will find everyone so supportive. Continue testing first thing in the morning, before every meal and then 2 hours after, you will soon learn what spikes you. It may also be helpful for you to keep a food diary.

 

[Tes78]

Thank you for the advice... People on here are really helpful.
I guess it's a lot of trial and error till I know what works... Levels down to 7.1 before my last meal.
No carbs... Pork salad so I'm hoping it won't go up too much.

 

[Lamont D]

If you didn't know, you

Thank you for the advice... People on here are really helpful.
I guess it's a lot of trial and error till I know what works... Levels down to 7.1 before my last meal.
No carbs... Pork salad so I'm hoping it won't go up too much.[/QUOTE

If you didn't know it's impossible to do no carb.
But if you low carb, like your salad with maybe some cheese, then that is ok.
That pre meal reading is not so high and hopefully the two hour reading will be fine.
The target you will probably want is to be as near normal as you can.
You will find that once your target levels are realised, that you can introduce more carbs (if you want) as your insulin resistance will be lower.

 

[Magisham]

Hi. Don't bother with these diet meals. Eat real food, it's more satisfying. Just read up on carbohydrates and acouplevoid them if possible. It's the only thing that has worked for my partner, who is also Type 2. We have cut out anything made from flour except the occasional slice of Burgen Soya and Linseed bread which doesn't see to put his blood up much. I am going to experiment with coconut flour and almond flour, but haven't yet. We have cut out all root vegetables, including potatoes. We also don't eat pasta and rice. I make cauliflower rice to go with curry and it's okay. I bought a little mini chopper from Argos, only £14.99, and it zaps the cauliflower in seconds. Just boil it up for 5 minutes or so. It even looks like rice! We eat fish or meat with green veg or a big salad. I make all sorts of dishes with low carb foods. Tonight I made a really nice moussaka. For breakfast we usually have eggs or a fry up or porridge made with water. Snacks are nuts, olives, avocados, hummus, bits of cheese. Look for Dr Eric Berg and also Dr Jason Fung on YouTube as they both have lots of useful information. Good luck.

 

[Tes78]

I have got a few low carb recipe books on the way. They should help with my levels.
9.4 2 hours after the pork salad.
I'm sure with the help of the books I can get them numbers lower.

 

[Robbity]

Hi, we have an excellent low carb area of the forum, with a huge recipes thread, and members also post (often with photos!) about what they've eaten every day, so have a poke around there too.

The glucose levels to aim for are listed on our main diabetes.co.uk site here: http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html
and I'll also tag @daisy1 who will post some detailed information for you here on this thread.

Just be a little patient, and working with your meter to get your new diet sorted, you should hopefully begin to see some definite downward trends both before and after your meals.

Robbity

 

[Kristin251]

Just be aware large portions of protein causes spikes.

 

[daisy1]

@Tes78

The information mentioned above by @Robbity is the advice I posted to you yesterday. The link is in my signature to make it quicker for you to access it.

 

[Tes78]

All the information given has been really helpful.
It's quite an eye opener what effects everything we eat or drink does to us inside without realising.
After only one day of testing I can see I need to lay of carb braised foods, even the low GI ones. Pork, salad, morrisons sugar free cream soda and my morning coffee seem to be ok.
Trying out oranges this morning. Oranges seem to satisfy my sweet cravings... "Fingers crossed"
2 of the 5 recipe books I have ordered should arrive today along with a spirailizer. I am quite a faddy eater and don't like many vegetables, but have been told they taste different spirailized. So going to give them a try.

Thanks again everyone, starting to understand what levels should be and things I can change myself to improve them though my diet.

Is it true that exercise helps lower levels? If so what it best?
Currently I walk my dog about 30 mins a day and I go swimming once a week. As well as normal daily movement ( housework/ shopping e.t.c)

 

[Magisham]

All the information given has been really helpful.
It's quite an eye opener what effects everything we eat or drink does to us inside without realising.
After only one day of testing I can see I need to lay of carb braised foods, even the low GI ones. Pork, salad, morrisons sugar free cream soda and my morning coffee seem to be ok.
Trying out oranges this morning. Oranges seem to satisfy my sweet cravings... "Fingers crossed"
2 of the 5 recipe books I have ordered should arrive today along with a spirailizer. I am quite a faddy eater and don't like many vegetables, but have been told they taste different spirailized. So going to give them a try.

Thanks again everyone, starting to understand what levels should be and things I can change myself to improve them though my diet.

Is it true that exercise helps lower levels? If so what it best?
Currently I walk my dog about 30 mins a day and I go swimming once a week. As well as normal daily movement ( housework/ shopping e.t.c)

Walking seems to bring it down and we were told it is the best exercise. I think I read somewhere that too much strenuous exercise can push your levels up.

 

[Magisham]

All the information given has been really helpful.
It's quite an eye opener what effects everything we eat or drink does to us inside without realising.
After only one day of testing I can see I need to lay of carb braised foods, even the low GI ones. Pork, salad, morrisons sugar free cream soda and my morning coffee seem to be ok.
Trying out oranges this morning. Oranges seem to satisfy my sweet cravings... "Fingers crossed"
2 of the 5 recipe books I have ordered should arrive today along with a spirailizer. I am quite a faddy eater and don't like many vegetables, but have been told they taste different spirailized. So going to give them a try.

Thanks again everyone, starting to understand what levels should be and things I can change myself to improve them though my diet.

Is it true that exercise helps lower levels? If so what it best?
Currently I walk my dog about 30 mins a day and I go swimming once a week. As well as normal daily movement ( housework/ shopping e.t.c)

There is a web site that gives the carb values of most things too. I think it is called something like www.low-carbdiet.uk. I found a list of low carb snacks too, I'll try to attach it here.

 

[TooManyCrisps]

I've found the "carbs and cals" app on my tablet so useful. You input what you're planning to eat, along with portion size, and it tells you how many carbs, calories and protein the meal has. There are photos for guidance over portion size. It's very visual, you can also record the meal against the date you ate it.

 

[Catlady19]

Hi. Don't bother with these diet meals. Eat real food, .

FYI, Slimming World is real food - it is low fat natural foods (meat or fish and vegetables) cooked without fat.

@Tes78 you know you can have two Option B from Slimming World as you are diabetic? You have to follow the Extra Easy SP every day and watch the carbs. I make the SW meals and just omit any potatoes, rice and pasta and eat more of the meat and veg. Make sure you test before your meal and then 2 hours after - if it has risen more than 2 points then it is not the best.

Oh and watch your fruit intake!

 

[Magisham]

FYI, Slimming World is real food - it is low fat natural foods (meat or fish and vegetables) cooked without fat.

@Tes78 you know you can have two Option B from Slimming World as you are diabetic? You have to follow the Extra Easy SP every day and watch the carbs. I make the SW meals and just omit any potatoes, rice and pasta and eat more of the meat and veg. Make sure you test before your meal and then 2 hours after - if it has risen more than 2 points then it is not the best.

Oh and watch your fruit intake!

I was meaning not to use ready meals of any description, but to cook everything from scratch. We were doing Slimming World before we tried the low carb high fat diet. We lost weight, but my partner's bloods were still high. It is a very good way of eating and I do still use some of the recipes. It does tell you to use low fat spreads, low fat yogurt, etc though and these "low calorie" things are often loaded with other stuff to make up for what's been taken out ...... often sugar. We now use full fat everything, real butter, etc and have both carried on losing weight and my partner's blood sugar has come down more in the last 3 months than in the last 2 years since he was diagnosed. Each to their own, but this is what works for us.

 

[Catlady19]

I was meaning not to use ready meals of any description, but to cook everything from scratch. We were doing Slimming World before we tried the low carb high fat diet. We lost weight, but my partner's bloods were still high. It is a very good way of eating and I do still use some of the recipes. It does tell you to use low fat spreads, low fat yogurt, etc though and these "low calorie" things are often loaded with other stuff to make up for what's been taken out ...... often sugar. We now use full fat everything, real butter, etc and have both carried on losing weight and my partner's blood sugar has come down more in the last 3 months than in the last 2 years since he was diagnosed. Each to their own, but this is what works for us.

Oh yes I agree about the ready meals. Many of the recipes are delicious. I started Slimming World as I wasn't losing any weight on LCHF and decided I needed something more structured. I only use natural fat free yogurt and then flavour it with a little vanilla essence and haven't used any fat or butter as I haven't needed to yet. Working so far.

 

[Tes78]

I do like slimming world and before being diagnosed I have lost almost 2 stone.
I still plan on doing slimming world, but cutting out carbs. Since getting the glucose meter and knowing that for me not even low GI carbs are ok my levels have lowered. 6.3 being my lowest today and 9.1 my highest. Not great, but so much better than the 12's and 13's at the start of the week. I'm hoping that as blood tests showed in March I was inculin resistant and 4 weeks later I had just crossed that boarder to type 2, I can hit the weight loss, dieting/low carbs and cross back into the resistant stage and then back to health. The proactive approach.

 

[KevinPotts]

Resistance training (weights) is recommended by all the big names on the DiabetesSummit. Muscle uses more energy and burns off the glucose. My wife and I do this for 1 hour 3 times a week and a little cardio - just 10 mins and it has had a demonstrable impact in helping lower my BG. From 12.6 when I was diagnosed two weeks ago to 4.75 my average for this last 7 days.

 

[Magisham]

Oh yes I agree about the ready meals. Many of the recipes are delicious. I started Slimming World as I wasn't losing any weight on LCHF and decided I needed something more structured. I only use natural fat free yogurt and then flavour it with a little vanilla essence and haven't used any fat or butter as I haven't needed to yet. Working so far.

I do their turkey curry on a regular basis as it's mostly low carb vegetables and we have it with cauliflower rice and a big dollop of Greek yogurt. Delicious!