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Hi had a good few weeks since diagnosed, xmas wasn't as bad as i'd expected, i've been monitoring my BG before & after meals and i've trimmed out my carbs to a pretty low level, and daily testing has shown improving results, i've done 84 tests lowest being 6.1 post meal actually, highest 14.2 post meal too and an average of 8.8 across the 84 readings, in the last 7 days i've seen a consistent lowering of my levels both pre and post meal.

I went to my diabetic nurse appointment today armed with my print out and was pretty disappointed with the approach and the advice, she stated due to my high level at the initial blood test that i should be on medication and stated that most people she sees don't ask questions and just take the meds, I categorically said i'd discussed meds with the doctor and he was happy and noted on my records for me to try diet & exercise - she clearly didn't read my notes prior to my visit. She also discounted my daily readings saying that the 3 monthly blood test is the one that is important, my reply was well surely the daily ones make up the background to the 3 monthly test, which she eventually agreed, we started to discuss diet etc and she went through the balanced diet stuff 1/3 carbs etc i questioned things like potatoes, bread, porridge she said slow release carbs were ok, at that point I think the penny dropped then and she realised I'd been doing quite a bit of research, she waffled on and gave me a "my diabetes" folder, two websites, diabetes.co.uk and the local health authority, booked me on a 1 day nutrition course called DESMOND (she couldn't tell me what DESMOND stood for either) and gave me another appointment in 2 weeks to weigh & measure and to check my feet.

I think in all honesty from the sounds of it 99% of all Diabetics she meets arnt interested in the cause, prevention or getting it under control and just take the medication and continue to eat the same.......poor show

Cant get my head around the 1/3 carb intake - it must just be the NHS "Balanced Diet", i'd have thought they would be more interested in keeping people off meds, as it surely saves them money!

Anyway its not deterred me i'm more determined when i go back to prove my levels have reduced dramatically.
 
Hi nethers66, you are heading the right way ,a most useful book by Jenny rhuhl is diet 101 she explains t2 diabetis diet and control very well with lots of useful facts , keep posting ::))
 
Yep, that just about sums it all up. The majority of us receive the same advice. Pretty poor, isn't it? You may find the Desmond course much the same.

So glad you found this forum and are being proactive. Carry on doing what you are doing, keep reading, keep asking questions, and most importantly, keep testing.
 
Well done in doing the homework and standing your ground! Onwards and downwards (your BGs that is) now!
 
Nethers66 said:
Hi had a good few weeks since diagnosed, xmas wasn't as bad as i'd expected, i've been monitoring my BG before & after meals and i've trimmed out my carbs to a pretty low level, and daily testing has shown improving results, i've done 84 tests lowest being 6.1 post meal actually, highest 14.2 post meal too and an average of 8.8 across the 84 readings, in the last 7 days i've seen a consistent lowering of my levels both pre and post meal.

I went to my diabetic nurse appointment today armed with my print out and was pretty disappointed with the approach and the advice, she stated due to my high level at the initial blood test that i should be on medication and stated that most people she sees don't ask questions and just take the meds, I categorically said i'd discussed meds with the doctor and he was happy and noted on my records for me to try diet & exercise - she clearly didn't read my notes prior to my visit. She also discounted my daily readings saying that the 3 monthly blood test is the one that is important, my reply was well surely the daily ones make up the background to the 3 monthly test, which she eventually agreed, we started to discuss diet etc and she went through the balanced diet stuff 1/3 carbs etc i questioned things like potatoes, bread, porridge she said slow release carbs were ok, at that point I think the penny dropped then and she realised I'd been doing quite a bit of research, she waffled on and gave me a "my diabetes" folder, two websites, diabetes.co.uk and the local health authority, booked me on a 1 day nutrition course called DESMOND (she couldn't tell me what DESMOND stood for either) and gave me another appointment in 2 weeks to weigh & measure and to check my feet.

I think in all honesty from the sounds of it 99% of all Diabetics she meets arnt interested in the cause, prevention or getting it under control and just take the medication and continue to eat the same.......poor show

Cant get my head around the 1/3 carb intake - it must just be the NHS "Balanced Diet", i'd have thought they would be more interested in keeping people off meds, as it surely saves them money!

Anyway its not deterred me i'm more determined when i go back to prove my levels have reduced dramatically.
Click to expand...
H @Nethers66 and WELCOME. I was diagnosed just a couple of months. My best advice has come from the EXPERIENCE on this forum. You sound much like me after diagnosis DETERMINED. I am getting great control and have lost over 1 and half stone in in a little over 2 months on a LC moderate fats diet. Feel 20 years younger. Good luck stay on the case.!!
 
Update - been plugging away on the low carb medium to high fat diet since 10 December and had blood test results back today

HbA1c down to 61 from 102 mmol
Cholesterol down to 3.1 from 6.7
HDL up to 0.9 from 0.8
Trylyceride down to 2.7 from 6.0
Calc LDL down to 1.0 from 3.2

Age 48 still 48 !!
Height 6'2" Still 6'2"
Weight 95.8kg (15.1stone) down to 93.6kg (14.8 stone)- not as low as i'd hoped
BMI 27.8 Down to 26.2

Overall i'm pretty chuffed at the result, its been tough sometimes, but the works not done yet.

Thanks for reading
 
Nethers66 said:
Update - been plugging away on the low carb medium to high fat diet since 10 December and had blood test results back today

HbA1c down to 61 from 102 mmol
Cholesterol down to 3.1 from 6.7
HDL up to 0.9 from 0.8
Trylyceride down to 2.7 from 6.0
Calc LDL down to 1.0 from 3.2

Age 48 still 48 !!
Height 6'2" Still 6'2"
Weight 95.8kg (15.1stone) down to 93.6kg (14.8 stone)- not as low as i'd hoped
BMI 27.8 Down to 26.2

Overall i'm pretty chuffed at the result, its been tough sometimes, but the works not done yet.

Thanks for reading
Click to expand...
Hello and a late welcome from me ....
 
Great results there you must feel good about them, still a bit of work to do on the hbA1c but early days but knocking 41 off in that time is great work.
Keep it up.
 
Also Hello & a late welcome from me.

You should be pleased in such a short time to reduce those numbers like that.

Don't kick yourself too much about the weight loss, it took me 9 months to lose a stone on the NHS sort of diet, then started the LC '& I say' Moderate to High Fat diet.

I lost another 1st 8lbs from October 2014 to now where I'm 14st, but I have been stuck here for over a month.

The fact is as you lose your weight your body needs less to look after the smaller mass, so you still need even less. I found (until I plateaued) the weight loss easy No potatoes and very little bread 3 slices a week, no rice no pasta no cereals. Lots & lots of veg. A lot of fish. I am now looking at portion sizes to lose some more again.

Are you having many carbs?

Neil
 
daddys1 said:
Also Hello & a late welcome from me.

You should be pleased in such a short time to reduce those numbers like that.

Don't kick yourself too much about the weight loss, it took me 9 months to lose a stone on the NHS sort of diet, then started the LC '& I say' Moderate to High Fat diet.

I lost another 1st 8lbs from October 2014 to now where I'm 14st, but I have been stuck here for over a month.

The fact is as you lose your weight your body needs less to look after the smaller mass, so you still need even less. I found (until I plateaued) the weight loss easy No potatoes and very little bread 3 slices a week, no rice no pasta no cereals. Lots & lots of veg. A lot of fish. I am now looking at portion sizes to lose some more again.

Are you having many carbs?

Neil
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, i'm having virtually no carbs at all, no potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, biscuits flour (except a bit of coconut flour) the carbs I am having are pretty much trace so I guess no more that 30g per day.

Whilst my weight hasn't dropped that much, my body composition & shape has changed quite a bit, i've now got loose 36" waist trousers, comfortably fit Large & XL instead of XL & XXL, i think the extra protein has added muscle weight rather than fat & shape. I'm definitely burning more calories than i'm eating, just need to tweak the balance and need to get my exercise sorted a little better, I have to say motivation to exercise has been difficult, i've also had a few really down days, but I guess thats part of the process.

I'm down to see the diabetic nurse next week, she'll probably try to take the credit for the NHS balanced diet approach, can't wait to see her face when I tell her its been a LCHF diet thats down it.
 
Well done, that is an excellent start and a wonderful HbA1c improvement. Worry not, the weight will come off. It's early days for you. Cholesterol is a good improvement too. Keep it up and you'll get there. :)
 
Nethers66 said:
Thanks for the reply, i'm having virtually no carbs at all, no potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, biscuits flour (except a bit of coconut flour) the carbs I am having are pretty much trace so I guess no more that 30g per day.

Whilst my weight hasn't dropped that much, my body composition & shape has changed quite a bit, i've now got loose 36" waist trousers, comfortably fit Large & XL instead of XL & XXL, i think the extra protein has added muscle weight rather than fat & shape. I'm definitely burning more calories than i'm eating, just need to tweak the balance and need to get my exercise sorted a little better, I have to say motivation to exercise has been difficult, i've also had a few really down days, but I guess thats part of the process.

I'm down to see the diabetic nurse next week, she'll probably try to take the credit for the NHS balanced diet approach, can't wait to see her face when I tell her its been a LCHF diet thats down it.
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Hi,
You say you expect you are around 30g carbs per day, you then cannot really say you will be moderate fat, you need to replace the calories that the carbs were giving you. Your brain & nervious system needs 135 carbs per day to operate properly once you go below that figure you have to replace with fat. Dropping below 50 carbs puts you into Ketosis where your body adjusts to converting fat into ketones instead of glucose. That adjustment process can make you feel not so well for about a week.

You can have too much protein which can affect your kidneys.

Bear in mind if you think your are putting on muscle then that weights more than fat so the weight loss will not be as great.

You maybe need to get Trudi Deakin's book http://www.xperthealth.org.uk/shop/details/p/handbook-lowcarb-highfat-lifestyle

Hope this helps
Neil
 
daddys1 said:
Hi,
You say you expect you are around 30g carbs per day, you then cannot really say you will be moderate fat, you need to replace the calories that the carbs were giving you. Your brain & nervious system needs 135 carbs per day to operate properly once you go below that figure you have to replace with fat. Dropping below 50 carbs puts you into Ketosis where your body adjusts to converting fat into ketones instead of glucose. That adjustment process can make you feel not so well for about a week.

You can have too much protein which can affect your kidneys.

Bear in mind if you think your are putting on muscle then that weights more than fat so the weight loss will not be as great.

You maybe need to get Trudi Deakin's book http://www.xperthealth.org.uk/shop/details/p/handbook-lowcarb-highfat-lifestyle

Hope this helps
Neil
Click to expand...

A very popular misconception. Muscle does not weigh less than fat. A kilo is a kilo, regardless of what it is. Muscle is more dense, meaning that less volume of muscle is needed than the volume of fat to make the same weight. So, that means a kilo of muscle occupies less space in the body than a kilo of fat..
 
Hi Shelts, I think you have misunderstood I was replying to his comment.

shelts said:
A very popular misconception. Muscle does not weigh less than fat. A kilo is a kilo, regardless of what it is. Muscle is more dense, meaning that less volume of muscle is needed than the volume of fat to make the same weight. So, that means a kilo of muscle occupies less space in the body than a kilo of fat..
Click to expand...

In relation to his comments that is what I had said, see below.................BUT said More rather than less

Nethers66 said:
Whilst my weight hasn't dropped that much, my body composition & shape has changed quite a bit, i've now got loose 36" waist trousers, comfortably fit Large & XL instead of XL & XXL, i think the extra protein has added muscle weight rather than fat & shape.
Click to expand...

@Nethers66 said the above, That his shape had changed but he had not lost weight, I stated.

daddys1 said:
Hi nether66
Bear in mind if you think your are putting on muscle then that weights more than fat so the weight loss will not be as great.
Neil
Click to expand...

I think we all know that 1 kilo weighs the same as another 1 Kilo ;)
Neil
 
shelts said:
A very popular misconception. Muscle does not weigh less than fat. A kilo is a kilo, regardless of what it is. Muscle is more dense, meaning that less volume of muscle is needed than the volume of fat to make the same weight. So, that means a kilo of muscle occupies less space in the body than a kilo of fat..
Click to expand...
I'll take a pound of gold over a pound of feathers...........
 
daddys1 said:
Hi Shelts, I think you have misunderstood I was replying to his comment.



In relation to his comments that is what I had said, see below.................BUT said More rather than less



@Nethers66 said the above, That his shape had changed but he had not lost weight, I stated.



I think we all know that 1 kilo weighs the same as another 1 Kilo ;)
Neil
Click to expand...
Ok you said more, not less. Muscle does not weigh more than fat.
 
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