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I've got diabetes 2??

R

Robinstall

Newbie
Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi all, yes I've been diagnosed with diabetes2, it's a bit of a shock to the system and looking to blame anything except myself.
I keep in moderate shape as I have a physical job, and I do watch what I eat, so where have I gone wrong?
There is no generic links but still I was told I was at a level of 78, so basically I never seen this coming.

So I find myself hitting the road running and need direction, I have been put on Metformin and now just started my second week taking 1000mg a day.
I am afraid to eat anything as research and a pharmacist has told me to keep off the salt, the carbs, the sugar etc.
My question is what can I eat? Myself and the wife are stressing, I'm basically saying no to everything she is cooking, do I really have to live off nuts, fibre cereal, eggs, and fish the rest of my life. Any information would be excepted with the highest of gratitude, it could also save my marriage. Stay Safe Warren xx
 
Meat, fish, eggs, dairy, green above ground grown veg (if you like them) .
Berries with double cream. Ignore "fibre cereal" and nuts in moderation.
Try to avoid processed food of all types. Salads are fine (if you like that sort of thing).

Ditch stuff made from cereals and flour and avoid sugar.

Once you get the hang of it it's pretty easy and can bring amazing health benefits.
 
Thank you, what's this about counting carbs? Is there some formula (rule of thumb) to go by
 
Robinstall said:
Thank you, what's this about counting carbs? Is there some formula (rule of thumb) to go by
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I suggest it is useful first to determine your current usual carbs daily intake, to know your starting point. Then, much will depend upon your own carbs tolerance level. You can gradually ascertain this by using a simple glucose meter. Others here will doubtless point you to detailed advice on that. Some here follow very low carb ways of eating, others quite a lot more carbs. There is a wide spread of views and experiences. I think most here will emphasize the value of using a meter in this early stage of your journey. You could first aim for 130g of carbs and see how it goes, and if that doesn’t help much then drop to 100g, and so on. Above all don’t worry, you will find a way to gain control.
 
Thank you for that I have ordered a meter and will try your carb count , can you give me any advise on alcohol? Is beer OK in moderation of course
 
Robinstall said:
Thank you for that I have ordered a meter and will try your carb count , can you give me any advise on alcohol? Is beer OK in moderation of course
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I’ve never been a beer drinker but it is often referred to as ‘liquid bread’ as it’s high carb. Here’s a link to a couple of Diet Dr website pages. Have a look around the site, there’s loads of info available without having to subscribe.

A Low Carb Diet Guide for Beginners – Diet Doctor

In this top low-carb guide, we show you what to eat, what to avoid and how to avoid side effects. Get delicious low-carb recipes and meal plans.
www.dietdoctor.com

Best and Worst Low Carb Alcohol Drinks – Visual Guide – Diet Doctor

What are the best and the worst alcoholic drinks on a low carb diet? There is a huge difference between different kinds of drinks.
www.dietdoctor.com
 
Robinstall said:
Thank you, what's this about counting carbs? Is there some formula (rule of thumb) to go by
Click to expand...
I try to avoid as many as humanly possible.
We "need" precisely zero to survive so if you aim for that you won't go far wrong.
If you are aiming for dietary ketosis (simply put using your body fat as fuel) you'll probably need to cut down to about 20g of carbs per day. Not very many at all.
 
Hi @Robinstall We are all individuals here, so our bodies react slightly differently to carbs. There is no one size fits all and no magic number of carbs per meal or per day. Hence the use of a BG meter in order for us to determine how well our body just handled that last meal (less than a 3 mmol rise from just before the meal to a second reading 2 hrs after first bite).
Unlike @bulkbiker I suggest that the utmost importance is to remain inside the ideal BG range (which means also the HbA1C range) for as long as possible. And by that I mean both in terms of hours per day and also month, years, decades.

For me personally this means keeping my carbs low enough to be in the desired range, but high enough for me to enjoy my food, and treats so as to find it the least possible imposition on my enjoyment of life - and boy do I enjoy my food! So I say reduce carbs enough, but not too much because this is a marathon, not a sprint. Since the vast majority of Type 2's in remission are unable to go back to9 eating the way the rest of society does, without suffering the same problems they did before they went Low Carb the first time!
 
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It's all a bit much at the start, isn't it? I think most of us felt way, but over time it gets easier, I promise. The Diet Doctor website has some good info, these forums are a wealth of information, and the members are friendly and experienced. Another source I found useful was the Freshwell Low Carb Project. They describe themselves as:
They have some excellent explanations for the low-carb approach as well as meal planners to help you ease into the way of eating.

The good news is that many of us have found that switching to a low-carb diet can swiftly improve our blood sugar levels which are reflected in our improved HbA1c results: at diagnosis, mine was 74. Six months later, that had dropped to 41. So commiserations for joining the club, but now you're in, make the most of it
 
Thank you all, I think I get it. Carbs turn to sugar so lower the carbs to a degree that we can obtain a relatively normal life, with a possibility to intake a treat now and then. Is diabeties non reversible? Again I thank you all for your help
 
Robinstall said:
Thank you all, I think I get it. Carbs turn to sugar so lower the carbs to a degree that we can obtain a relatively normal life, with a possibility to intake a treat now and then. Is diabeties non reversible? Again I thank you all for your help
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Non reversible? Well that depends upon what you call a reverse. Though some claim they can go back to eating bread, potatoes, cakes etc like the majority of western society, for the majority of us T2's in remission that just isn't possible.
Certainly we may no longer need to cut back on carbohydrates as much as we did to get back to normal Blood Glucose levels and HbA1C test results in the first place, but I for one am unlikely to be able to eat 2kg of mango or 6 weetabix or a 1/2lb bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk at a sitting without sending my BG skyrocketing. But I don't want to! And anyway back when I did those things my insulin was probably sky high, damaging my arteries. So it would just be stupid to test my luck on that one.
 
Some really great comments above, thank you all!
I have just found out that i am pre diabetes 2, and am dong lots of research. Steep learning curve! On the positive side i am well overweight and been meaning to reduce for at least the last five years, but fell off the diets pretty quickly. I am a real hedonist and love good food and drink! Now I have a very good reason to stick to it! In the last week I have cut my sugar down to 0, stopped drinking alcohol almost completely ( had a scotch and a glass of fizz last night), and almost cut out all carbs.
This has been fine the first week but i am already missing rice, pasta and bread. I started looking at keto meal plans and tehy looked pretty good. If i stick to Keto is that good enough for pre type 2, or do i need to cut out some things on the Keto diets?
I have bought a mmol tester but it has not arrived yet so difficult to know the change, also what is the ideal range to stay within?
 
I like you love those things, but if it was ok to fall off the wagon once a week with a treat like a couple squares of chocolate or half a mango...ie a small amount of sugar, I personally could easily handle that and would look forward to "treat day"!... My GP said it was OK to eat rice,pasta, bread up to three times per week in 100g portions, but after doing some research, i am not so sure that is good advice.
 
Years ago I was told that. Realised very quickly they were the foods I could not eat. I was prediabetic then. I fell off the wagon during lockdown and look where it got me. Everyone is so individual. Best of Luck and hope you don't find your journey too difficult.
 
Sorry to hear that your "Pre" escalated during lockdown...I put on a massive amount of weight, and that is what got me to this Pre state.
I am not going to fall off any diet this time, just need to work out what are the real no-no's and what i can get away with once a week for a treat. My plan at the moment is to cut sugar out by using a sweetner, and cut carbs to the very minimum. I am really missing potatoes and crackers so far.. For a sweet treat i tried some Greek yogurt, a few raspberries and blue berries, a grating of 99% cocoa chocolate and 1/4 tsp of candarel sugar substitute sprinkled on top... Not so bad ;-)!
 
To all the newbies on here
Just to say changing your way of eating will take time. Don't beat yourselves up if it doesn't happen immediately and perfectly BUT do make sure that a mistake becomes a learning experience - not an excuse to stop!
The cravings do go, and quicker than you imagine.
The first few weeks are the toughest, but this is sooo worth doing.
It's great to enjoy, tasty, filling food, and to be free of the need to eat all the time.
Banish the word diet, this is a way of eating for life
 
Do you stick rigidly to a list of foods you can eat and not have the odd treat? I am still trying to work out some meal planning that tastes good. The Keto thing worries me as it is a lot of fat, and i cannot believe that that is good for your arteries long term.
 
It's interesting how my view changed over time.
At first I was like you "there's nothing I can eat!" "what , eat loads of cheese?" Especially after we've had low fat drummed into us for years
But gradually, as the weight fell off, easily and mostly without hunger (good fats keep you full) I've got to the stage where I don't miss pasta potatoes etc. I don't see them as treats but as things that severely raise my bg (my meter has proved that time and time again)
I have a supportive husband who lets me have 2 bites, no more, of somethings I want to try. That way I have found I can tolerate the odd small good quality icecream. Dark chocolate but only a square or 2 is my daily "end of the day" marker. I drink alcohol but only neat spirits or wine.
I never thought I could do this, but it's now both habit and taste, but is mostly my meter which shows so graphically and instantly what my body doesn't tolerate.
I have changed so much. I used to binge milk chocolate, stuff whole packets of biscuits, eat every 2-3 hours. Now I quite often forget to eat!!!!

You've nothing to lose except bg and weight...go for it!
 
Really, i do not think it is as awful as when i tried a diet or two, years ago.. Maybe the prospect of Diabetes 2 is helping in that, plus i really have to lose some weight... seriously now. I am very new to this and each day i am finding new meal ideas, and missing stuff i loved much less. The sweetner in my tea i thought would be a big problem.. No problem after a week! The eating loads of fat like cheese and frying many foods does unnerve me though.. For so many years i was told that was bad bad bad! I love cheese and often have it instead of a desert........ but felt guilty... apparently wrongly as if you are not eating carbs it is not a problem. LOL i will miss a spot of pickle or a fig with it though
My wife is being super supportive too and is taking the opportunity to lose a bit of weight too so we are both eating more or less the same.
 
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