New to diabetes

[Rodcat]

Hi
I have very recently been diagnosed and had my meeting with the diabetic nurse on Tuesday, who confirmed the diagnosis. My blood sugar is 47 so I know I am just on the borderline and I need to take more care over my diet and exercise. I am very overweight so need to lose weight.

I am trying to embrace a very low carb diet at the moment but towards the end of the week I noticed I was mixing up my words a few times. I am still eating wholemeal bread for breakfast at work-trying to avoid the treat table-but apart from that I am eating protein and vegetables.

I know that I am very at the beginning of this but I have not been told to check my sugar levels and so at the moment, I can see I have lost weight this week but have no idea of what I am eating is going to work long term or if I need to measure. I might just be losing water weight this week.

Can anyone advice-is checking your blood sugars at the beginning the way to go or is it better to get my next blood test in three months and then go from that if they haven’t improved?

 

[KennyA]

Hi
I have very recently been diagnosed and had my meeting with the diabetic nurse on Tuesday, who confirmed the diagnosis. My blood sugar is 47 so I know I am just on the borderline and I need to take more care over my diet and exercise. I am very overweight so need to lose weight.

I am trying to embrace a very low carb diet at the moment but towards the end of the week I noticed I was mixing up my words a few times. I am still eating wholemeal bread for breakfast at work-trying to avoid the treat table-but apart from that I am eating protein and vegetables.

I know that I am very at the beginning of this but I have not been told to check my sugar levels and so at the moment, I can see I have lost weight this week but have no idea of what I am eating is going to work long term or if I need to measure. I might just be losing water weight this week.

Can anyone advice-is checking your blood sugars at the beginning the way to go or is it better to get my next blood test in three months and then go from that if they haven’t improved?

Hi and welcome to the forums. Like many others on here, I would recommend testing before you eat and then two hours after. That gives you a baseline to assess how much the food consumed affects your blood glucose. Ideally, you're looking for a rise of no more than 2 mmol/l at the two hour mark and not to a point above 7mmol/l. You need to record the food and the associated readings somewhere so you can build up a complete picture of how things work for you. We all seem to have the potential to react differently to different things.

If you're still eating bread (wholemeal or not makes little difference as far as carbs are concerned) you probably won't be able to achieve a "very low carb" diet. Vegetables are generally OK as long as they are not root veg (potatoes, turnips, carrots etc) which are carb-rich. The other thing I and others have found is that fat (from meat and dairy in particular for me) is a necessary part of low-carb eating.

Best of luck. Plenty of good advice on here.

 

[Rodcat]

Hi and welcome to the forums. Like many others on here, I would recommend testing before you eat and then two hours after. That gives you a baseline to assess how much the food consumed affects your blood glucose. Ideally, you're looking for a rise of no more than 2 mmol/l at the two hour mark and not to a point above 7mmol/l. You need to record the food and the associated readings somewhere so you can build up a complete picture of how things work for you. We all seem to have the potential to react differently to different things.

If you're still eating bread (wholemeal or not makes little difference as far as carbs are concerned) you probably won't be able to achieve a "very low carb" diet. Vegetables are generally OK as long as they are not root veg (potatoes, turnips, carrots etc) which are carb-rich. The other thing I and others have found is that fat (from meat and dairy in particular for me) is a necessary part of low-carb eating.

Best of luck. Plenty of good advice on here.

Thank you so much for replying. I am a bit gutted about the wholemeal bread. I thought that maybe that was a better carb and if that was the only one I was eating in small quantities that might be ok. I need to find something else then. I have also been eating a lot of vegetables but still carrots. I guess I have a lot of reading to do to make sure I am doing the food as well as I can.

Thank you for the advice about testing. It is really appreciated.

 

[KennyA]

Thank you so much for replying. I am a bit gutted about the wholemeal bread. I thought that maybe that was a better carb and if that was the only one I was eating in small quantities that might be ok. I need to find something else then. I have also been eating a lot of vegetables but still carrots. I guess I have a lot of reading to do to make sure I am doing the food as well as I can.

Thank you for the advice about testing. It is really appreciated.

I know, it's one of the things I miss. For me, there's no sucjh thing as a "better carb" - but reactions vary, established through testing. You need to find out how you react, not me or anyone else.

Also, there are low-carb breads (I use Seriously Low Carb https://seriouslylowcarb.com/) which to my mind don't approach real bread in taste and texture but close enough to allow bacon sandwiches. Some people make their own ( I don't).

There's a number of links in my signature block below that might be helpful.

 

[Rodcat]

That looks like a great link-thank you.

 

[MrsA2]

but I have not been told to check my sugar leve

As a T2, you won't be as it would cost them for prescriptions. It's a short term cost that would save so much in the future, but that's current guidelines.

I'm one who found it easier to totally give up bread in any form. I dislike the taste, texture and price of all the low carb alternatives.
Mostly I just have more of whatever would be with the bread, for example 4 scrambled eggs instead of 2 on 2 toast, a lot of ham and cheese with salad rather than a ham and cheese sandwich,
I do occasionally when I want soemthing warm and comforting make something called 90 second bread which uses seeds and eggs, or a slice or 2 of a very high protein bread called Hilo
But none of them are really anything like proper bread and it's best to think of them as being soemthing else, or you'll just be disappointed.

Best advice of all is not to think back or think of replacing but instead trust the process and know your tastes will change away from old habits.

I had a white roll last week and had stomach ache for 24 hours after, never again!

 

[Rodcat]

Thank you-it is really strange to think of getting to a point where you might not be able to tolerate eating something again.

I have so far cut out all biscuits, sweets, cakes, crisps. Have massively increased my veg and am thinking a lot more about what I eat but it’s all small steps and just taking time to get used to stuff. This forum has been so brilliant so far for trying to get to grips with it.

 

[MrsA2]

Thank you-it is really strange to think of getting to a point where you might not be able to tolerate eating something

Yes, if anyone had told me I would stop being a milk chocolate binger I'd never have believed them! I used to love the stuff. Now it tastes cheap and oily and oversweet.
Once you see the effect of your meter though it becomes much easier to say No.
Keep reading, keep learning, keep patient and keep asking. We've all been there

 

[pinkjude]

Hi
I have very recently been diagnosed and had my meeting with the diabetic nurse on Tuesday, who confirmed the diagnosis. My blood sugar is 47 so I know I am just on the borderline and I need to take more care over my diet and exercise. I am very overweight so need to lose weight.

I am trying to embrace a very low carb diet at the moment but towards the end of the week I noticed I was mixing up my words a few times. I am still eating wholemeal bread for breakfast at work-trying to avoid the treat table-but apart from that I am eating protein and vegetables.

I know that I am very at the beginning of this but I have not been told to check my sugar levels and so at the moment, I can see I have lost weight this week but have no idea of what I am eating is going to work long term or if I need to measure. I might just be losing water weight this week.

Can anyone advice-is checking your blood sugars at the beginning the way to go or is it better to get my next blood test in three months and then go from that if they haven’t improved?

My diabetic nurse told me type 2's dont need to test. I didnt and regretted it because I didnt notice my levels were creeping up. I ended up smelling sweet and knew something was wrong. I rang my GP who did an HBA1c test and I had 87. I quickly joined the low carb programme, refused all meds and in 6 months got it down to 47. Once you know which foods affect you its a process of elimination. For eg if you have eggs with wholegrain bread and you test high then have eggs again the next day but with no bread and see what levels you get. Green tea is good for controlling BG levels and a nice change from water. Some Drs will refer you to the low carb prog for free, I pay 69.00 for 12 months. I got membership ofanother diabetes programme called second nature through my GP as my practice subscribes. Both programmes are excellent and you get a lot of support from health coaches.

 

[pinkjude]

I know, it's one of the things I miss. For me, there's no sucjh thing as a "better carb" - but reactions vary, established through testing. You need to find out how you react, not me or anyone else.

Also, there are low-carb breads (I use Seriously Low Carb https://seriouslylowcarb.com/) which to my mind don't approach real bread in taste and texture but close enough to allow bacon sandwiches. Some people make their own ( I don't).

There's a number of links in my signature block below that might be helpful.

I recommend the low carb programme

 

[Rodcat]

My diabetic nurse told me type 2's dont need to test. I didnt and regretted it because I didnt notice my levels were creeping up. I ended up smelling sweet and knew something was wrong. I rang my GP who did an HBA1c test and I had 87. I quickly joined the low carb programme, refused all meds and in 6 months got it down to 47. Once you know which foods affect you its a process of elimination. For eg if you have eggs with wholegrain bread and you test high then have eggs again the next day but with no bread and see what levels you get. Green tea is good for controlling BG levels and a nice change from water. Some Drs will refer you to the low carb prog for free, I pay 69.00 for 12 months. I got membership ofanother diabetes programme called second nature through my GP as my practice subscribes. Both programmes are excellent and you get a lot of support from health coaches.

Thank you-that is really useful. I think I am thinking a lot about weight loss at the moment as well to try and help but it makes sense to know what impact different foods are having on you. It is a lot to take in. Thanks for the tip about the green tea as well. I am drinking tea, water, green tea and trying to wean myself off diet irn bru. I don’t have a clue if it is ok to drink diet drinks.

Have not heard anything about second nature or low carbs so I will look into both of those. Thanks and that is really amazing how much progress you made in six months with the blood test.