New diagnosee, type 2, 39 years old

[Andybyrne79]

Andybyrne79 you changed your avatar (either that or I'm remarkably unobservant ...I presume you're a Canadian now living in the UK? (I'm also Canadian, living in Toronto).

A friend with Type 2 told me about this site, she said it had lots more information than any Canadian diabetes site, especially about low carb and Type 2 (which it does). The people here are wonderful too.

Hi, no I'm British, although at the moment I sometimes wish I wasn't. No link to Canada as far as I am aware.

 

[Andybyrne79]

We have been conditioned to fear fats for decades, so it is natural that most of us are apprehensive. But in reality it is not as metabolically unhealthy as we have been led to believe when it is not mixed with carbs as shown by flatline glucose charts.

When we monitor our pre/post meal glucose, we soon realize that many supposedly "healthy" grains will spike our glucose and subsequently our insulin levels.

Pork belly is not the only source of healthy fats...you can get it from nuts. cheese, avocado etc but you will probably learn to fuel yourself with your choice of fats/proteins rather than predominantly sugar and carbs.

It isn't because of the media etc, I just don't like the texture of fat in my mouth lol

 

[Chronicle_Cat]

Hi, no I'm British, although at the moment I sometimes wish I wasn't. No link to Canada as far as I am aware.

Really? I'm seeing a Canadian flag as your avatar which is why I asked.

 

[Andybyrne79]

Really? I'm seeing a Canadian flag as your avatar which is why I asked.

Don't know why you're seeing that, it's a picture of me and my family lol.

 

[Chronicle_Cat]

Don't know why you're seeing that, it's a picture of me and my family lol.

Strange. I see you and your family (and the birthday cake) when I see the thread and the flag when I'm looking at the messages inside the thread. Obviously there is something wonky in my computer that I need to check. Thank you for your reply.

 

[Stephen Lewis]

The issue with some fats is that the body will turn these into glucose if this is low or store if not. However I am on a low carb diet have reduced insulin from 68 units to 11 units per day, have lost nearly 15 lbs and my cholesterol levels were all below normal a ferw weeks ago. I do take a statin but I think a low carb diet helps the body to use fats properly for energy when insulin levels are low. My last A1c was 6.0 diown from 8.6 in May. Cut out the sugars and starchy carbs as a start.

 

[rhubarb73]

Eating fat doesn't make you fat. It makes you full, happy and satisfied.
Eating carbs makes your BG spike; which makes your insulin spike; which makes you fat; which also makes you hungry;
which makes you eat more (probably more carbs) and around we go....
Low carb, high fat is a great alternative: make a plan for a week, for 2 weeks. The people here advocating it are not selling it, we didn't invent it, we FOLLOWED IT and (guess what) IT WORKED.
welcome to the forum - look forward to hearing your progress.

 

[paulinderby]

Hi Andy. Comes as a shock doesn't it. It did with me when diagnosed in 2016. I started well controlling it with diet but soon slipped on to my old ways of bread crisps and chips.
8 weeks ago weighing 109 kgs I was diagnosed with a prostate problem and them got a bout of gastroenteritis. 6 weeks ago doc prescribed metfomin, don't really want to take it! Weight then was 107 kgs
It kicked my **** big style. Virtually cut all the carbs introduced different foods. Also started walking a mile or 2 before work every day. I have ignored my DNs advice and brought a blood sugar monitor. Still not taken the metformin.
My sugars are now fairly steady in the 6-8mmol range and my weight this morning 101.7 kgs. Plus I don't fall asleep in my chair at night ( did once check my sugar and it was 11.6).

Change the food (dont be made to feel a fool for eating salad at lunch when your work mates are on chips and burgers. Your body your life!
Try to introduce exercise every day (20 mins walk 10 each way will do to start).
Get a BG meter

But most of all STICK WITH WHAT WORKS FOR YOU.

What drives me on? I'm 57 and would like to see my grand kids grow up for at least the next 20 years!

The advice on here is great...... use it.

 

[KK123]

That's a tricky one as the menu in work for lunch changes all the time, there isn't a set menu. At home, a typical week would consist of a pasta night (bolognese or lasagne) and a pizza night. One night we might just have ready meals. The rest depends on the 3 for a tenner meats in asda. I have an 8 and a 5 year old so when I get in from work I focus on getting them sorted. Sometimes it's just easier to chuck a ready meal in the microwave when they're in bed.

Hi Andy, the problem with all of that is that it is all high carbs and mostly processed. I know how hard it can be at work canteens or feeding the kids, or 3 for a tenner meals or not having access to anything low carb etc, but if you are truly looking to combat this diagnosis it is YOU that has to do it (as I am sure you know because you are asking questions on this site). If you rely on whatever happens to be available wherever you happen to be, you will be unsuccessful. Most people you will find take their own meals in to work so that they can control what they eat there, it will also involve planning ahead if you don't have much time after you've sorted the kids out, you'll be amazed at what you can prepare for yourself in the time it takes to microwave a ready meal (ie 5 minutes). It ain't easy but you need to stop thinking 'well what can I do when this stuff is all the world is providing me with' and come to terms with the fact that only YOU are responsible for what goes in your mouth. I am sure others will be along to give you some great ideas. That mental blockage is quite common and can take a lot of effort to break through. It's the very first step to success!!!! x

 

[manion]

Hi there,

I have recently (yesterday in fact, over the phone) been diagnosed with type 2 and have an appointment with the diabetes nurse at my GP surgery in a couple of weeks. I need a little help before then.

I completely understand that the condition is my own doing, I'm overweight, have been having 3 sugars in hot drinks for years and drinking a can of monster every day at work for the last 4 years or so. So yes, I know I have created a rod for my own back

My question is, in the short term, is there anything I can do to combat my tiredness whilst at work? Obviously I've got to cut out the energy drinks altogether, and hopefully after a few weeks of eating healthier the tiredness will start to abate, but in the meantime, has anyone got any tips?

I don't want to go down the pro plus route but if there is no danger in that then I may have to for a couple of weeks.

Thanks in advance,

Andy

Well first of all get off all of the sugar, you will be sugar crashing without the sugar hit hence feeling tired but Monster drinks are the work of the devil in my opinion, get yourself on a low carb diet and a solid excersise regime and i am sure as your body becomes less sugar dependent your energy levels will lift. Try and not be dependent of drugs to increase your energy but a more healthy lifestyle, its a long road that must be trode starting at the first step!

 

[Antje77]

pizza night

Google fat head pizza...

 

[Andybyrne79]

Monsters in the bin, bought sweeteners this morning instead of having sugar in my tea.

Already started having salad with sliced ham, chicken or turkey for lunch.

Small steps, but making a start...

 

[Smallbrit]

I'm with you with the problems about feeding kids and somehow trying to feed me too, as I have 9 and 12 year olds, one of whom is a pasta-holic.

Sometimes two meals occur. Sometimes I forget myself and eat only what I can off their meal (ie the meat!). Sometimes I have the best of intentions to cook twice and after their bedtimes I lose all will to follow that plan and either starve or do the worst thing possible and start snacking on cereal. Cereal is incredibly bad for me, as I've discovered. Incredibly bad.

There's a lot of trial and error involved in figuring out what works for you and what foods you can/can't eat. Very bizarrely, my children now love stir fries. Lots of meat, lots of good veg, and there are some nice low-carb sauces out there (but you have to read the labels, as they're not advertised as such). The kids have rice with it. I don't have rice. When I'm feeing rich, I have Oomi noodles from Ocado/Waitrose (they're fish protein noodles, which sound disgusting, but aren't and they're a good alternative to regular noodles). But now the kids like them too, which is not fair as they're my noodles and expensive.

The kids also like my Oppo ice cream.
They don't like the LivLife bread.
Or cauliflower rice.

I'm kind of with them on the last one.

My 9 year old is now tuned in to what I can and can't eat. You'd be amazed (possibly not) at how children can be annoying if you give them a task! My son now tells me off when he sees me eyeing his crisps in moments of weakness, and offers me nuts instead. And when that doesn't help, strawberries with 10-cal jelly, slathered in double cream with dark chocolate grated on top (that's my go-to dessert). The kids like that too.

 

[Andybyrne79]

@Smallbrit thanks, glad to hear someone else has as hectic a life as we do!

 

[Prem51]

@Prem51 @Bluetit1802 at the risk of sounding like a diva, the only fish I can stand is battered cod!!!

I wasn't too keen on fish before my diagnosis, or vegetables. I tended to eat all the unhealthy stuff, and the year leading up to my diagnosis I had retired and was eating biscuits, cake and chocolate during the day and going for a pub meal in the evening - pie, steak, and such like and chips with everything washed down with 3 or 4 pints of beer.

I had to adjust my eating habits. I found it helped to use sauces, melted cheese and butter to make fish and veg more palatable,
and now I quite like them. If you like cod you would probably like other white fish like sea bass (one of my favourites now), sea bream and haddock. Monkfish isn't easy to find but tastes a bit like lobster.

I also like more oily fish now, like salmon, trout, tuna and king fish. One great advantage of fish is that it's easy to cook, just bung it in a frying pan or under the grill for a few minutes.

 

[kokhongw]

What would a diet such as this.. high in fat do to my cholesterol levels?

It may seem counter intuitive...but high fats diet by itself don't necessarily raise cholesterol...my ratios improved significantly. So not everything the statins pusher tell us about fats and cholesterol is true...

Triglycerides/HDL ratio: 2.12->1.09

 

[Resurgam]

I was eating high carb to lower cholesterol - the doctor insisted - I got to 264lb in weight and the cholesterol results are somehow not on my records from that time, but since diagnosis and going low carb and high fat, my levels have improved, and I have lost three stone.
I used to do meals for the family where everyone would have the same core ingredients - usually protein and one vege, but then they would have all sorts of different things, and I would have a couple of my own. I found it useful to have some kitchen 'toys' such as a steamer, an induction ring, a grill with temperature control (my present one is temperature sensitive) now I have a halogen oven, an Actifry hot air cooker, a slow cooker - and the old faithful pressure cooker is still around too.
I really would not want to go back to the horrible boring stodge prescribed as good for me - I open the fridge door and beam happily these days.

 

[SRARY]

Hi there,

I have recently (yesterday in fact, over the phone) been diagnosed with type 2 and have an appointment with the diabetes nurse at my GP surgery in a couple of weeks. I need a little help before then.

I completely understand that the condition is my own doing, I'm overweight, have been having 3 sugars in hot drinks for years and drinking a can of monster every day at work for the last 4 years or so. So yes, I know I have created a rod for my own back

My question is, in the short term, is there anything I can do to combat my tiredness whilst at work? Obviously I've got to cut out the energy drinks altogether, and hopefully after a few weeks of eating healthier the tiredness will start to abate, but in the meantime, has anyone got any tips?

I don't want to go down the pro plus route but if there is no danger in that then I may have to for a couple of weeks.

Thanks in advance,

Andy

I think that you can reverse your sugar blood when you change your lifestyle.
1/ Reduce your sugar intake significantly
2/ Reduce your weight.
3/ Increase your physical activity by taking walks 5days a week (prisky walks) half an hour a day.
4/your main menu should include a lot of vegetables and less Carbs.

 

[Andybyrne79]

Ok, just over six months since my diagnosis and I have managed to reduce my HbA1c from 51 down to 46.

Going to keep going with my current diet and see if I can keep it there or even reduce it further.

Once you have been diagnosed, is there a level you can get to which means you are no longer considered diabetic, or is it with you for life once you've been diagnosed?

 

[Bluetit1802]

Once you have been diagnosed, is there a level you can get to which means you are no longer considered diabetic, or is it with you for life once you've been diagnosed?

You can certainly go into remission. Experts disagree about the level required for remission. Some think an HbA1c of under 48 is acceptable, others think it must be under 41, but in either event there must be several consecutive HbA1cs at this level, and no meds. The problem is, to keep oneself in remission, it is necessary to keep to the way of eating that allows you to stay there. Very few people can go back to eating starchy carbs and grains, or sugar, on a regular basis. There are several threads on these forums about it, with many differing views on the definition of remission, reversal, and cure.