I will look into getting a meter this weekend as I now realised that it I should a must, that I am driving blind at the moment like you said. I've been reading too much about diabetes and got drown in the sea of different information. It has been only a week today since I was diagnosed and I guess I am still emotionally unstable, and I had been trying too hard.. Nevertheless I do find it very hard to think of what to have, that I will enjoy..
Hi Red_river_,
I have been diagnosed with T2D in Jun-2017 with HbA1C as 6.9 with high cholestrol levels. I want to share my personal experience here if it is helpful for you. I apologize in advance that many people on this forum may not agree with me but here I am sharing only my personal experience here with no offence to anyone.
After getting to know about LCHF diet, I was fully convinced that only way to lower BG levels is reducing carbs. Being an Indian and Vegetarian, it is nearly impossible for me to live without carbs, so I decided to reduce carbs to my tolerance level. So I followed the flexible diet which was based on LCHF. My diet consists of:
Drinking 2-glasses of water after waking up.
Empty stomach: home made juice of 1 small bitter guard with half tomato sprinkled with cinnamon powder. Not eating anything for next 30 minutes.
Breakfast: one portion of Papaya or 1 cup full fat yogurt with few berries and a pinch of salt or 30-40 grams of Muesli (Oats) with full fat milk
+
5 almonds, 2-3 walnuts soaked overnight in water
Morning snack: 1 Green tea (if required)
Lunch: one big bowl of salad (consisting of Lettuce, Cucumber, Kale, capsicum for crunch, tomatoes) with topping of either guacamole or 1 tsp cheese spread or 1/2 cup boiled kidney beans/black beans sprinkled with salt and Lemon.
and
200 ml of full fat buttermilk sprinkled with roasted cumin seeds and salt.
Evening snacks: handful roasted/ salted peanuts (if hungry)
Dinner: Stir fried vegetables (any except Potatoes) or legumes or kidney bean curry or chickpea curry with 1 or 2 Indian chapati (Tortilla) made from mix flour of whole wheat, oats and barley.
Before sleeping: 1 glass full fat milk if hungry without sugar.
With this diet. I have been able to recover my HbA1c levels from 6.9 to 6.1 in 4 months and lost weight of around 10 Lbs. My fasting blood sugar improved from a level of 8.6 to 5.9. My cholestrol levels have also improved than earlier.
I have not been much disciplined to check my sugar levels every now and then because I was sure that cutting on unhealthy food will surely make a positive difference in my Blood Sugar levels however it may take more time to achieve the desired HbA1c level or reverse my diabetes completely.
In terms of exercise: I have only walked on average 6k-8k steps per day for last 4 months with no Gym.
My personal recommendation to you would be: Do not starve much, opt for natural and healthy food. try to reduce carbs to a level you believe you can tolerate.
Apologies if my response confuses you more.
Disclaimer: Not taking any medicines for Diabetes or Cholestrol