Hey
@Type-2-Havent-A-Clue ,
And welcome! You've come to the right place. People here know tons, and each and every one of the T2's here have been in your shoes. (So we know about denial, the ton of bricks you're hit with at diagnosis, the anger, the helplessness, the fear etc... And what comes next to fix it!). First I'll tag
@daisy1 for her info-sheet, but while I'm typing most likely 3 other people'll do that too.
It is THAT useful.
Anyway.... So you're a T2, you want to avoid insulin shots and you need to loose weight. The same solution applies for both of those things: The low carb, high fat diet. You can get in-depth info on everything T2 related in the Diabetes Code book by Dr. Jason Fung, but I'm going to keep it relatively short... (And this is going to be a long post. Sorry.
).
So... People tend to assume you get T2 because you're big. Not true. 10% of T2's never were overweight to begin with. but once you slowly become prediabetic, the weight starts piling on. it's a symptom, not a cause. We have to make more and more insulin because we've become resistant to it. Practically all carbohydrates turn to glucose once ingested. (That's important to know!). And usually, insulin helps us burn that glucose as fuel. but when we're resistant, that glucose gets stored in fat cells. Things go from bad to worse, and by the time the stores are full, glucose is everywhere; in our bloodstream, in our eyeballs, kidneys, messing up bloodvessels, what have you... It's not good. That's when we're T2's.
So now you know processing carbs (and their resultant glucose) is the problem. Now, carbs are one of the three macro-nutrients. The others are protein and fats. If you cut one, you up the others, to feel full and to still get enough micro-nutrients (vitamins, minerals). Protein can cause a tiny rise in bloodsugars, so those in moderation, but fats... now, fats don't cause even so much as a blip. Better yet, fats, when consumed with a tiny bit of carbs, slow down the carb uptake and thus the bloodsugar spike post-meal. That's a good thing. So everything we've ever been told, about fats being the baddy, it all goes out the window. Guess what: bacon's your new best friend.
For quite a few people here, following the low carb/high fat diet worked, and we tend to pretty much swear by it. For me, I lost 50 pounds, lowered my cholesterol to proper levels even with eating bacon once or twice a day, and it got me into the normal non diabetic range and off the diabetes medication. Which I am assuming you are on, because they're not going to jump from nothing to insulin, so... BE CAREFUL....!!! Don't jump into low carb feet first when you have meds that can bring on hypo's! And use your meter often!!! Test before a meal and 2 hours after first bite. If you go up more than 2.0 mmol/l, the meal was carbier than you could process back out again. But also, considering you're probably on a bunch of medication, check when you feel a little off in case of potential hypo's. (Really, you want to start this diet under medical supervision, but it doesn't sound like your doc is on board with this if you have no info to go on and have to resort to asking a forum... But if you can get your nurse to keep an eye out maybe?)... In any case... I can't stress this enough; if you change your diet, your bloodsugars will go down. And since we don't know what you're on, I really do have to warn you about hypo's and the like if you're on bloodsugar lowering meds. Be. Very. Careful.
That said...
High carb fods that are best avoided: Bread, potatoes, rice, corn, cereals/muesli/weetabix etc, fruits (other than berries, avocado, tomato and starfruit), anything made with wheat/oats or whatever really, anything starchy like beans or sugary drinks or pastries.... No good for your bloodsugars. Not at all.
Low carb foods that'll help you get your bloodsugars and weight down: Meat, fish, poultry, above ground veggies/leafy greens, cheese, eggs, full fat greek yoghurt, proper butter, cream, olives, extra dark chocolate (85% and up, I kid ye not), nuts, that sort of thing.
You'll find a load of recipies over on dietdoctor.com or on the website that goes with this forum. Or if you want to eat something but you don't know how to prepair it so it's low carb, just type keto with whatever you're looking for in google and something'll come up.
I'm no good in the kitchen, I tend to keep things simple. So for me, moast meals look like this:
Scrambled eggs with bacon, cheese, mushrooms, tomato, maybe some high meat content sausages?
Eggs with ham, bacon and cheese
Omelet with spinach and/or smoked salmon
Omelet with cream, cinnamon, with some berries and coconut shavings
Full fat Greek yoghurt with nuts and berries
Leafy green salad with a can of tuna (oil, not brine!), mayonaise, capers, olives and avocado
Leafy green salad with (warmed goat's) cheese and bacon, maybe a nice vinaigrette?
Meat, fish or poultry with veggies. I usually go for cauliflower rice or broccoli rice, with cheese and bacon to bulk it up. Never the same meal twice in a row because of various herbs/spices.
Snacks? Pork scratchings, cheese, olives, extra dark chocolate, nuts.
If I'm out and about with my husband and I can't find a place that has salads, (affordable) meat or eggs for me, I can actually go to McDonalds or Burger King. I give the salads there a wide berth because of battered chicken corn or dressing, but the burgers.....!!! Just order 'em without the bun. It's the difference between 30 to 40 grams of carbs, or just 5.
In any case... You're going to be fine. And the doc can keep the insulin. You can do this...!
Jo