Please share the secrets of your success

The only dessert I've had time to organise yet is natural Greek yoghurt with a few berries (blackberries, raspberries) and desiccated coconut. Also often my breakfast if I'm not having egg/bacon/mushroom/tomato, aka the diabetic full English.

Must try the rhubarb one as well.

My dessert tends to be a handful or two of nuts, but today I crushed up my hazelnuts and mixed them into a scope of vanilla ice cream. Absolutely heavenly

Low carb yes, no carb no...


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ramblingspider said:

Hi, We are looking for advice from those that have been there and succeeded. My OH has just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and my blood sugar is on the high side of normal. We both lost fathers to diabetes so it is important to us to get this right. OH has an appointment with an NHS diabetes lifestyle advice clinic but not for six months. We would really like to get started on getting healthy now.
So if you have been successful in controlling your diabetes over a decent period of time and have managed to get your blood sugar/ Hbac1 levels down please can you share the secrets of your success so we have an idea of what we have to do.
In particular I am looking for dietary and exercise advice. Our situation is slightly complicated by the fact that my son can't eat yoghurt/cheese/buttermilk and soy sauce (in short anything fermented) and wont eat anything spicy.
Thanks for your help.

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First let me say welcome to the forum.
I am type 2 diabetes also, so I can understand how you feel. The good news is that you don't have to alter your diet in a big way. My Dr told me that I can still eat whatever I feel like eating, so long as it is in moderation. But you get a lot of obsessive people here (as in life generally) who fret over every mouthful of food they have. I hope you don't turn out like this! All I would recommend you do, if you don't already, is to exercise regularly. I go to the gym three times a week and walk around 12 miles each week. So long as you exercise you have nothing to worry about.

What I would recommend is :
1) Get an enjoyable exercise regime.
2) Get a BG meter to measure fasting BG and the2 hr difference between pre & post meal BG for various foods.
3 Work at paring down your carb intake.
The result should be a way of life that is sustainable long term (you might find that food X is a no-no but replaceable easily but food Y that others find"spikes the h*ll out of them" is OK for you.
Good luck!
I am an "obsessive" but only in having a healthy diet that I enjoy! so do not fret over EVERY mouthful of food, just prefer to choose foods that work better for me.

ne0h said:

First let me say welcome to the forum.
I am type 2 diabetes also, so I can understand how you feel. The good news is that you don't have to alter your diet in a big way. My Dr told me that I can still eat whatever I feel like eating, so long as it is in moderation. But you get a lot of obsessive people here (as in life generally) who fret over every mouthful of food they have. I hope you don't turn out like this! All I would recommend you do, if you don't already, is to exercise regularly. I go to the gym three times a week and walk around 12 miles each week. So long as you exercise you have nothing to worry about.

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Ne0h,

I've noticed from this and several of your other posts that you are basically assuming that you can add a little exercise and carry on eating as normal.

IF this were true (and only regular blood tests would prove this), then you are very lucky.

However, assuming that your head-in-the-sand approach will suit everyone else is both ignorant and irresponsible. We are all different, and some of the 'obsessive people' that you criticise are people who, like you, ate what they liked, ignored their blood sugars and thought that life could continue as normal. Now they have learned, through experience, that approach does not work, long term, and they now find it necessary to take 'obsessive' measures, to avoid further illness. Good for them!

The OP has received some very good, practical advice from other people. I hope they use it, and ignore your contribution.

ramblingspider said:

Hey guys be nice! The arguing kind of puts me off posting.....

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I don't see it as arguing, more correcting those who make wide ranging generalisations that are potentially dangerous to either newly diagnosed diabetics or those who know their control is poor and are seeking advice.

I have been Low Carbing since January after many attempts to stick to 'the Rules' as laid down by the clinic. Since then my readings have dropped from 'serious frowning' by the Dr to 'all smiles'. They never once suggested LC to me - I read about it on these forums and gave it a go. I was getting very frustrated and pretty fed up when having a pasty or a simple sandwich to see my BG hit the roof. I didn't realise that they were giving out ridiculous advice - I trusted them. No more. After this initial 3 month period I am feeling great, sugars are way down and staying there. Also, I am more motivated for life in general and am testing a lot to find out what works for me. Indian Chicken Vindaloo is a major find. Hardly any reaction on BG as long as I don't touch the rice. Pasta, spuds and rice are a big no, but Burgen bread is OK for me - so back to the buttys. Means I can have a burger with the two crusts. Hopefully they will bring out a burger bap version. I am on Metformin but the Doc has halved my Replagine to 1mg with food that has a medium amount of carbs in it - otherwise I can't take one if there a very few carbs (had a few low sugar hypos). Costs a bit to test a lot (Asda Gluco Nexus strips only £10) as Doc won't give out too many strips very often (only just had them on repeat). So far so good apart from high morning readings of between 6 and 8 generally. I'm working on reducing that but so far nothing seems to have an effect. I don't have many carbs - probably no more than 50g a day and find no problems keeping it low as there are loads of advice and recipes around. Also some foods may be higher carb but may be tolerable. Passatta is quite high but I can use it Ok.

Hello and welcome , it can feel.as if your thread gets lost at times and you may feel,like not posting , but after a years experience of visiting I have met some really nice supportive people who except everyone's diet...

That is it you see we are all so different and all have different health issues and medical,conditions ...

Do what is right for you , breath and read all that you can , a bit of trial and error is needed sometimes....
Everything will feel,very new and confusing ...it can make you feel,very stressed at times...

I am for example, a medium carb person and I use low sugar recepies sometimes, and I don't do high fat , but I have still lost 3 stone...
I have never eaten a high fat diet, I am a veggie and have found what I am comfortable with myself ....

I really hope you have not been put off posting , there is some good advise and support here,,but it is about you at the end of the day and what keeps you feeling well, that is really important , we can only share with you our own experiences , what works for one does not always work for another person .....I really hope you find a way forward for yourself ....let us know how you get on....best wishes Kat

I was diagnosed at the end of last year. I used this to change my diet and i have stabalised my glucose to normal levels for 3 months now and i think i'm close to reversing my type 2 diabetes. If you are interested how follow this , link removed..