New to type 2

Hi and welcome. It sounds like you may be a borderline diabetic T2, but with a bit of luck if you can continue to lose weight your possible diabetes should go into remission. Yes, do get a meter. Any purchased in the UK will be suitable for UK measurements and some can be changed in software anyway. For diet the key thing is to reduce all carbs. Don't worry about protein and to some extent fats. If you want to come back with more questions about which foods to avoid or you can have do ask or look around the forums

Hi welcome

by the look of it, you are going to be one of the lucky ones, lose the weight and get normal levels, but you still have to remember that your pancreas isn't normal output

to lose weight you cut the carbs, easier said than done. if you ever tried to diet..what I found was LCHF where the lost carb energy is made up with healthy fats
this is a lot of reading but take your time to get through it

http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf it’s a long page and a video
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbliving/a/Food-Cravings.htm For me, the more carbs we eat the more carbs we want. they don’t give up easy.
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/a/firstweek.htm

http://www.lowcarbdietitian.com/blog/carbohydrate-restriction-an-option-for-diabetes-management

blood testing
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php
http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm

food counting
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

Newcastle diet aims in 8+ weeks to mimic or better the rate of ~80% remission, for surgery T2
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/
http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2010/mar/weight-loss-surgery-and-type-2-diabetes.html

American diabetic association ( http://www.professional.diabetes.org/)
http://www.professional.diabetes.or...=DP&s_src=vanity&s_subsrc=nutritionguidelines
Evidence is inconclusive for an ideal amount of total fat intake for people with diabetes;
therefore, goals should be individualized; fat quality appears to be far more important than quantity.

In people with type 2 diabetes, a Mediterranean-style, MUFA-rich eating pattern may benefit
glycemic control and CVD risk factors and can therefore be recommended as an effective alternative to a lower-fat, higher-carbohydrate eating pattern.

Even though it is not fully understood why some people develop type 2 diabetes, It is clear that certain factors do increase the risk.

* Weight.
Being overweight or worse obese, is a major risk factor for diabetes type 2.
The more fatty tissue you have, the less the insulin receptors will function correctly.

* Inactivity.
Physical activity, especially exercise, uses up glucose as energy and makes your cells more receptive to insulin.
Physical activity helps you to control your weight.
Physical activity greatly contributes to a healthy lifestyle.
The less active you are, the more you run the risk of contracting type 2 diabetes.

* Family history.
If a parent or a sibling has type 2 diabetes, the risk of you getting diabetes type 2 increases.

* Age.
As you get older, the risk of type 2 diabetes increases, most noticeably after age 45.
People are more prone to a sedentary lifestyle and tend to exercise less, thus losing muscle mass and gaining weight as they age. This could be the reason why the risk escalates with age.
However, type 2 diabetes is also increasing dramatically among children, adolescents and younger adults.

* Prediabetes.
Pre-diabetes is a condition in which your blood sugar level is higher than normal, but not high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes.
Left untreated, prediabetes often progresses to type 2 diabetes.

* Gestational diabetes.
If you develop diabetes when you are pregnant (gestational diabetes), your risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases.
If you gave birth to a baby weighing more than 4.1kg.(9 lb), then you are also at risk of type 2 diabetes.

* Low birth weight.
People who weighed less than 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) at birth are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes later in life.
Source(s):
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MS30IWW

That looks like a pretty good diet. If you are losing weight and your levels are under control like this maintain it. You could drop to one weetabix or swap to porridge. That would help more and even allow you to lose more weight

zero fat yoghurt is not the best in my opinion.

Rosie1953 said:

Yes I noticed on the activa one I had this evening it said 10.8% sugar which I thought was quite high! the ones I had last week was a muller light and they had 7.8%. I'm still new to reading and understanding labels. Not sure on what % is classed as high or low.

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The fat is not the issue for me. I try to eat low carbohydrate. Low fat yoghurt is usually in my opinion higher carb.

Hello and welcome ..hope to chat more ...Kat

good evidence that it actually lowers cholesterol

Hi Rosie. Just a quick reply in between rushing off to another job.
I'm also on the lchf diet and have suffered constipation for many years due to ibs. Lactulose is the only thing that helps me and I take it daily, but when I was diagnosed as type 2 my gp changed it to sugar free lactulose. It's sachets so much better than the bottle. I don't think you can buy it from chemists but I might be wrong. Have a word with your gp. I've found on this diet that I do need to drink plenty of water now also. It also doesn't raise my bg readings.
I hope this helps.

Rosie1953 said:

Thanks Pip. The Dr gave me some sachets of Laxido sugar free, but I don't get on with them as they give me very bad pains in my stomach. I will ask in the chemist if there is something better that the Dr can prescribe for me.
I ordered a blood glucose monitor Sunday evening, so I will be able to adjust the things I eat and keep a check on my levels.

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Hi Rosie. Like you I had many blood tests over the past 18 months.(after a water infection showed high glucose) After each one I never got a straight answer about my bg levels. It was always let's do a repeat in 3 months/6 months Each time I asked if I had diabetes, they dodged the answer. Type 2 is in the genes in my family so many members have it, so I wouldn't have been shocked. I had another in august which I asked for as I had a frozen shoulder and the physio said it was very common with diabetes. Got called back for another repeat and was told after that I had type 2. Hba1c was 51. I wasn't given much advice apart from lose weight and more exercise by a locum dr in a phone consultation. On my first visit with the DN 3 weeks ago, I had already lost 1/2 stone which she was pleased about and told me to continue as I was. She Also said something about our bodies not needing a jam doughnut.??? My cholesterol was 6.5 and she wanted me to start on statins which I refused. I started the lchf diet about 2 weeks ago and with my meter I'm learning what I can and can't eat and portions etc. I've lost another 1/2 stone so am really pleased. I do eat the odd slice of bread. It's tiny and full of seeds but it doesn't seem to affect my bg very much. My bg are now in the 5's on waking, 5's before lunch and dinner and mainly 5 or low 6's after. After Evening dinner am either 6's or low 7's (Still experimenting) They were all in the 7/8/10's when I first started testing so I've learnt a lot with using the meter. I'm not due for another hba1c test til mid December and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a better result on both the bg and cholesterol.
I still want to lose another 1/2 stone and I will get there.
You seem to be doing really well and once you get your meter you will learn lots more. There's so much help and advice on this forum if you need help with anything just ask. By the way laxido didn't agree with me either.