New and a bit confused

[Capslock]

Also, is it normal to feel nautious from the metformin? And does this susbside after a while?

 

[catinahat]

just a bit confused about the 2 hour rule if there is one.

Not really a rule as such. The idea is that just before you have your meal you test, that gives you a base level. Then about 2 hr after you test again, the difference between the pre and post meal tests let's you know how well you managed the carbs in that meal. The general rule of thumb is if you are no more than 2mmol higher then that meal was ok. Anything over the 2mmol and you need to have a think about how you can cut down on the carb content of that meal.

 

[xfieldok]

As has been said, you test before you eat and then 2 hours after the first bite. Looking to stay within a 2 mm/mol rise.

Google keto mug cake, nuke for 90 seconds and servce with double cream. There is nothing that isn't decadent about this Think about adding berries or chocolate chips. Your imagination is your limit.

Best dessert, toast a few almond flakes. Melt a couple of squares of 85 per cent chocolate in a ramekin dish. Add sliced berry, I used strawberry, Add a couple of tablespoons of double cream, top with the almonds and retire to the sofa with a spoon.

Ice cream, mash a few berries into double cream, into the freezer. Not tried it, same with greek yoghurt.

Lookup keto fat bombs.

Google keto pakistani recipes
Google keto indian recipes
Google bangladeshi recipes

You get the picture!

 

[hatsoff]

Is it any good?

Yes you can try and also keep an eye on your meter and you will see the result. Good luck

 

[KK123]

Also, are chocolate eclairs good then for you?

But of course they are, didn't you know???? Seriously though, it was in the earlier days after a type 1 diagnosis so I hesitate to give you 'advice' on your management of type 2, but yes, I'd do a test just before eating, then a test 2 hours later in your case as you are not on insulin and you then record the difference between the 2 readings as others have said. If the difference is within 2mmol, generally speaking then the carbs in the meal were ok for you. Of course your starting level could be sky high meaning your 2 hour test would still also be sky high, but if within the 2mmol rule, then the meal was ok. You probably will want to test your fasting levels too, ie in between meals. You can record it on any old thing, I'm old fashioned, I used my notepad.

With me it wasn't so much a question of finding out what I could and couldn't eat, it was more about how different foods and quantities raised my levels and determining how much insulin to give myself. You will find that we are all different in what we can tolerate but generally speaking the main culprits are all the same, pasta/pastries/rice/bread/cereals etc which are very high carb and anything else with carbs in it. I hope I haven't given you the impression you can eat a chocolate eclair with impunity because I doubt many people in your position if you are insulin resistant for example, could tolerate the 30 carbs of a chocolate eclair without a significant rise. Maybe try your 'normal' meals for a week or so and do the testing, you will see exactly what they are doing to you.

It may sound fairly simple but again if you splurge on carbs one day you may find there is a knock on effect the following day, it can be very complicated, hence it's test, test, test, no other way!

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Thanks for your input Jo, really appreciate it. The ice cream is a good shout (I love ice cream so having something that still tastes half decent is a must).

I'd find it hard to be an all or nothing type of fella, so I will need to ease in. In terms of you saying is between and my meter, is that me eating something (carb or none carb), then testing myself two hours later? What mmol am I aiming for? Also, I tend to get a higher mmol a couple days later. So on Saturday I ate out, but my sugar spokes more today, so just a bit confused about the 2 hour rule if there is one.

Many thanks

Blood sugars are always fluctuating. While the spike and drop after food occur in the hours after consumption, you might have replenished the stores of glucose which'll be released/dumped at a later date. Sometimes when someone eats carby meals they'll see a rise in the morning for a little while after. But there's a bunch of things that may make blood sugars rise too, from a restless night to a touch of a cold.

As for metformin making one feel sick, well... That's one of the side effects. If it doesn't go away after 2 weeks, it's not likely to. (Metformin was hell to me, and I stuck with it for far too long, because I didn't know about the two weeks thing. It was my whole reason for trying alternatives, and diet stuck).

You're aiming for a rise of no more than 2.0 mmol/l between pre and post prandial. If you manage that, your blood sugars should come down over all eventually. With two hours you miss the initial spike, but you can see, which is more useful, whethe your body responded adequately to what you've put in there. Hence the 2 hours, which is a bit of an average of when your blood sugars should drop back to acceptable levels. Under 8,5 was my usual aim at the beginning, now I hover between 4 and upper fives before and after meals.

 

[Deediabetic]

Total newbie.

Hey everybody. Hope you're ok. I'm new here as dr said I have type 2 diabetes and I'm 37.

Diagnosis:
My hba1c was 82 (ouch). And now been trying to lower the levels and tbh I'm struggling a bit.
On Metphormin x1000mg, 500g in morning and Eve (been getting loads of tummy aches etc when I jumped to the second per day tablet - that normal and does it subside?)
Reason:
Folks have it and my diet wasn't the best (I have a real sweet tooth) and other stresses.

Here's the deal:
So I have been trying some of the lower carb thingymajiggy and I am struggling, simply because I am a real food lover (I'm Pakistani (south asian - though born and bred Londoner) and we love our rotis, curries etc), so this has hit me pretty hard (also doesn't help having a blog etc). So I'm kinda struggling with what to eat as being Asian, I like spices and fairly rich foods.
The other thing is at times I'm out and about and used to eating a pret or wherever sandwich so not having bread is kinda hitting me hard (I know there's low carb bread but when out and about, not as easy).

My biggest issue though is:
Chocolate, pastries and desserts. Considering my favourite food is ice cream and desserts (lol), this has hit me really hard when it comes to having a snack. I love that stuff and to just go without, it's hard (I reiterate my sweet tooth). So I'm not sure how to fill that hole when it comes to snacks or desserts (a pastry on the weekend when out for coffee or a dessert in a restaurant after a meal won't hurt will it?). I can't bake, and that will take time, so I'm struggling a bit with this.

I feel I'm going a bit extreme (having only just finding out a couple weeks ago) and maybe I should still have some carbs and treats? (Going extreme plus taking in the news has hit me a bit).
Plus growing up on Asian food, trying to adjust it so I can still eat it.

Head a bit all over the place atm with the diagnosis, but hoping I can find some balance (and me being realistic with myself even with the low carb bit).

Sorry for the long post but hope somebody may be able to help (be nice haha).

Thanks,
Fella with a sweet tooth.

I'm about your age and I was diagnosed 4.5 months ago with a hba1c a lot higher than yours. I'm of Italian heritage so I get how you are feeling regarding not being able to eat the carb rich foods you are used to eating. I've been eating low carb and finding good substitutions for things I love to eat. I'm in Australia and I'm finding some great low carb substitutions in the big chain supermarket heres. Low carb pizza bases, low carb bread, low carb high protein pasta, low carb stevia chocolate, keto Ice cream etc. I don't eat these substitution very often but they are there for those days that I want something more.

I'm not craving stuff either anymore and they just don't taste as good as they once did. Eating higher fat and protein really has helped. I feel full and satisfied the majority of the time and enough to not need to pick between meals. If you look up 'keto' followed by the food you are craving, you will likely find a low carb version of the meal you are wanting to eat. Fathead dough is delicious as a substitute to pastry and dough. It won't be the same as what you are used to but it will be equally as delicious. I can be low carb and eat the substitutions quite happily every day but on certain times and occasions where the real thing is too good to pass up, I've decided to be ok with having a very small portion which is enough to feel satisfied but not enough to undo all my hard work and take me down the path of type 2 complications. We get together every week as a family and pasta is always served. I will have half a scoop and get very liberal with the parmesan on top! In four months I've dropped my hba1c from 120 to 38mmol/mol and dropped 14kg. It's possible but you need to do the work for your health.

I admittedly don't know much about the food from your culture but just subbing out rice for cauliflower rice and making your own breads and pastry, desserts from low carb ingredients should be doable. Get friendly with an app that counts macros and learn to read food labels. Meal prepping and making better food options when out is pretty doable too. I'm not to familiar with pret being Aussie but can you pack a few low carb bread slices in the morning to take with you and just get the fillings from them and diy? Low carb is gaining popularity and a lot of food places are familiar with it and offer low carb options or can easily sub things like chips for a salad.

You and I are very young for a type 2 diagnosis. We have 43 years to get to 80. That's a lot more years to deal with as a type 2 diabetic than someone diagnosed in their 60s. The odds are against us by way of avoiding diabetes complications for that very large space of time. We need to be proactive and make the best choices to get as far as we can without complications. I love pasta and bread and cannoli and while I will have a really little portion of them to be sociable or satisfy a craving on the odd occasion, they simply aren't worth losing my feet over by having them too often or in quantity. My hba1c has dropped dramatically so my half a scoop of pasta once a week hasn't created issues but if it does start to create issues with my bgls then I'll be okay with giving it the boot permanently. It's just not worth my health. You really should concentrate on getting this in control ASAP. Your health is important.

 

[Lakeslover]

This is a good recipe for a keto naan bread. It’s dead easy to make, and I make 6 naan breads from the full recipe and freeze 5 individually so I can just take one out when I want it. I have also rolled a naan from this recipe out sprinkled coconut and a few sultanas (careful just a few as they are high in sugar), fold over and roll out again. Makes a very close substitute for peshwari naan and is delicious.

https://www.wholesomeyum.com/low-carb-keto-naan-bread-recipe/#Low_Carb_Keto_Naan_Bread_Recipe

I also adapted a recipe I have for onion bhajis using something called lo dough which you buy on line. I just blitzed 2 pieces of low dough and used it instead of the chickpeas in the recipe, will try and post a photo.

 

[Grant_Vicat]

Many thanks. Yeah I think I may need to buy some 70% choc to beat the cravings

I would never have thought I could stop taking sugar in tea and coffee until a medic told me it would cause blindness within 2 years (bear in mind I had had Type 1 for 20 years in a very badly controlled regime). Within a short space of time I couldn't stand either with sugar! My father-in-law has always eaten the darkest chocolate available purely from choice, but draws the line at anything above 85% - reckons they're too bitter!

 

[AlexD14]

Before I was diagnosed with T1, I was very much like yourself, I had a massive sweet tooth and didn't think anything about eating whenever I wanted and whatever I wanted. I never seemed to gain weight which I now know is because my pancreas was failing but it did make me think that I could eat whatever I wanted without it having an impact . Whilst T1 and T2 are different and can require different approaches to treatment, I did, go through a period where I was following a fairly strict low-carb diet but found myself craving cake - forunately there are low-carb options but will require you to do a bit of cooking. I find there really aren't many satisfactory low-carb options in British supermarkets

Typically in low-carb baking, you'll find wheat flour is substituted for almond or coconut flour; sugar is replaced with sweeteners like Erithritol, Xylitol and Stevia; cows milk is replaced with almond milk, etc. It might be hard to find some of these in the shops, but they're available on Amazon and it'll work out cheaper if you buy monthly and will get a small discount if you Subscribe and Save on some products.

For recipies I follow Sugar Free Londoner, she has done everything from Vanilla Coconut Cake (which is amazing!) and Chocolate Cakes to Cheesecakes, cookies and donuts. Her donut recipe is really good too, I use a muffin tin to make them and they're great, don't take very long to make. Being based in the UK she uses metric measurements rather than cups which is what the Americans use.

 

[Deediabetic]

Before I was diagnosed with T1, I was very much like yourself, I had a massive sweet tooth and didn't think anything about eating whenever I wanted and whatever I wanted. I never seemed to gain weight which I now know is because my pancreas was failing but it did make me think that I could eat whatever I wanted without it having an impact . Whilst T1 and T2 are different and can require different approaches to treatment, I did, go through a period where I was following a fairly strict low-carb diet but found myself craving cake - forunately there are low-carb options but will require you to do a bit of cooking. I find there really aren't many satisfactory low-carb options in British supermarkets

Typically in low-carb baking, you'll find wheat flour is substituted for almond or coconut flour; sugar is replaced with sweeteners like Erithritol, Xylitol and Stevia; cows milk is replaced with almond milk, etc. It might be hard to find some of these in the shops, but they're available on Amazon and it'll work out cheaper if you buy monthly and will get a small discount if you Subscribe and Save on some products.

For recipies I follow Sugar Free Londoner, she has done everything from Vanilla Coconut Cake (which is amazing!) and Chocolate Cakes to Cheesecakes, cookies and donuts. Her donut recipe is really good too, I use a muffin tin to make them and they're great, don't take very long to make. Being based in the UK she uses metric measurements rather than cups which is what the Americans use.

I literally just made and ate her coconut flour pancakes. They were pretty yummy with sugar free maple flavoured syrup, butter and strawberries! They don't taste like wheat flour pancakes and are more eggy than typical pancakes but they were good enough to make hubby eat them too! He took one bite of the flaxseed ones I tried last time from another keto blog and spat it out!!

 

[ianf0ster]

..........................sugar free maple flavoured syrup, butter and strawberries! .............................

Sugar free can still mean very high in carbohydrates, which is what matters rather than sugar as an ingredient. Natural fresh squeezed orange juice (no added sugar) has more carbs than most colas do!

 

[Deediabetic]

Sugar free can still mean very high in carbohydrates, which is what matters rather than sugar as an ingredient. Natural fresh squeezed orange juice (no added sugar) has more carbs than most colas do!

Thanks for the heads up but I count carbs via my fitnesspal and I'm eating 40 grams or less carbs a day. I'm very well aware of the pitfalls and I'm mindful and read nutritional labels and stay away from stuff containing maltitol etc. I've gone from a hba1c of 13.3% to 5.6% in four months. I have been testing meals with my meter and my ''sugar free'' Stevia/erythritol maple flavoured syrup along with my keto pancakes and 40g of strawberries don't spike me. I used the term 'sugar free' maple syrup because that is what the manufacturer of the product call it for marketing purposes. It's a Stevia/erythritol based syrup.