Stepped off the Wagon a bit

blanc71 said:

Just seems like I have "introduced" the bad things like red wine at the weekend etc.

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A lot of people think red wine is ok in moderation for a T2, I have a glass or two of Merlot or Port with out guilt.

blanc71 said:

Hi all
This is my second Christmas post diagnosis.
With all the festive food and sweets around I am finding it so hard to ignore.
I self test every day at the right intervals and my sugars barely go over 5.4, HBa1c of 33,I have been LC and not too high fat dieting so hard but seem to be nibbling to many naughty things as a reward.
The guilt then kicks in and then think I better go and walk it off.
Just seems like I have "introduced" the bad things like red wine at the weekend etc.
Just can't get a balance at the moment between OK and guilt.

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I have wine regularly as it is my only treat. I don’t eat anything sweet at all or any substitutions so that is the only thing that keeps me going!! Don’t feel guilty

I think you need to focus on where you want to be with regard to diabetes going forward.

Your reversal can be reversed. Not with the odd well thought out treats on high days or holidays but with the 'one wouldn't hurt' building up. I see it every week, the return of old members who left on a high and returned to get back to basics. It happened to me and now I can only dream of my HBA1C of 35 and fasting meter readings to match.

Maybe we need a reversal maintenance section on the forum. This is a new territory. What do you do when you have achieved your diabetes goals? How do you keep focussed when the sheer terror of diagnosis is a distant memory?

l found updating my signature and reflecting on what I have achieved helpful as well as spending time on the forum and sharing what I have learnt. It's why I'm still here reading or posting on the forum since 2010.

If your sugars barely go above 5.4 as you say then I don't think you have anything to worry about

blanc71 said:

Hi all
This is my second Christmas post diagnosis.
With all the festive food and sweets around I am finding it so hard to ignore.
I self test every day at the right intervals and my sugars barely go over 5.4, HBa1c of 33,I have been LC and not too high fat dieting so hard but seem to be nibbling to many naughty things as a reward.
The guilt then kicks in and then think I better go and walk it off.
Just seems like I have "introduced" the bad things like red wine at the weekend etc.
Just can't get a balance at the moment between OK and guilt.

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Neither can I.
This will be my first post-dx Christmas.

Santa is type 2 diabetic. True story.

Personally I don’t do “treats” as I have my treats every day in the form of delicious high fat foods. I speak only for myself of course, but there is a very valid argument that says if you need treats then your diet probably needs some tweaking. This will be my second Christmas after diagnosis and I’m 100% resolute that I will not be consuming any carbohydrate or alcohol, because I don’t want to be diabetic again in 2019

Sorry if my tone seems terse, just injecting some motivation

blanc71 said:

Hi all
This is my second Christmas post diagnosis.
With all the festive food and sweets around I am finding it so hard to ignore.
I self test every day at the right intervals and my sugars barely go over 5.4, HBa1c of 33,I have been LC and not too high fat dieting so hard but seem to be nibbling to many naughty things as a reward.
The guilt then kicks in and then think I better go and walk it off.
Just seems like I have "introduced" the bad things like red wine at the weekend etc.
Just can't get a balance at the moment between OK and guilt.

Click to expand...

With your numbers, you can afford a glass of wine here or a nibble there. Stepping of a VERY well controlled wagon is something else than falling off of it completely. And once the holidays are over, a lot of these temptations will be gone from life too, for another year. A lot of us are a little more lenient over the holidays, though I find them relatively easy. (Save for the Dutch holiday of Sint Nikolaas, because it's all candy, all the time). Christmas is quite do-able with cheese, meat, fish and poultry... It helps when you have a hand in what's being served. But yeah... Take a breath. You're doing alright. Knowing what you're doing (estimating carbs, checking bloodglucose levels), it helps you to know when you're crossing lines. And you can go for a walk any time, not only as punishment but for a nice breath of air. This is a lifestyle, not a straightjacket; you do deserve some joy in life you know.

blanc71 said:

Hi all
This is my second Christmas post diagnosis.
With all the festive food and sweets around I am finding it so hard to ignore.
I self test every day at the right intervals and my sugars barely go over 5.4, HBa1c of 33,I have been LC and not too high fat dieting so hard but seem to be nibbling to many naughty things as a reward.
The guilt then kicks in and then think I better go and walk it off.
Just seems like I have "introduced" the bad things like red wine at the weekend etc.
Just can't get a balance at the moment between OK and guilt.

Click to expand...

Hi sorry to hear you’re struggling it can be hard especially at this time of year and wonder if you’re more like me needing to build in acceptable treats into your way of eating? I’ve also never given up alcohol just kept to small regular amounts mainly red wine and gin and soda water. I also eat a fair amount of fat which keeps me full and less vulnerable to the naughty stuff. I don’t go around feeling deprived or as if I’m missing stuff as I don’t believe I am. Suppose what I’m saying is maybe you need to look at tweaking your diet generally in order to build some ‘low carb treats’ in for the long term. We are all different and this works well for me and has helped me maintain for now too. Others find it better to cut everything out like alcohol I’m not one of them and love the challenge of making something naughty into a low carb treat.

I’m afraid I drink red wine, gin, which I’ve learned to love with fizzy water and a squeeze of lemon juice, and brandy. I have a tipple or two most days, guilt free! Doesn’t appear to raise my BG or significantly lower ketones.

And extra treats like a few berries and cream are also guilt free, but the other thing I do, which sounds bizarre, but works for me. Things like birthday cake, Christmas cake etc (which somehow I regard as ‘lucky’) I take a tiny taste! I mean tiny, like 1 teaspoonful. Maybe because my fondness for sweet things is now a distant memory, such a tiny taste satisfies my requirements, then I move onto a ‘legal’ treat like a piece of good cheese with celery.

I shall be cooking Christmas dinner, there will be all the normal food, but most of the stuff we eat will be entirely legal. I’ll fry the Brussels in butter, do the cauliflower in a rich flourless cheese sauce, and just one tiny roast potato or parsnip for us. I’ll choose sausages carefully and make home made pigs in blankets and stuffing with no breadcrumbs, with minced pork, lots of herbs and chopped walnuts. Cranberry sauce will be cranberries cooked in a drop of port sweetened with natural Stevia leaves. I’ll buy individual Christmas puddings for those that eat them and do berries and brandy double cream for the rest of us.

There will be a Christmas Cake on the table, which I will take a tiny taste of ‘for luck’ some time in the evening, and I’ll pack it up and give it to a guest at the end of the day.

Not quite so easy if you’re not in charge of the cooking, I know, but you can have totally delicious ‘treats’ that are ‘legal’. Might not keep my carbs down quite so low as normal that day, but will be surprised if I have no ketones, will test and see!

Swiss roll made from streaky bacon and cheese?

Sugar makes me feel ill thinking about it

blanc71 said:

Thank you so much folks.
Such a warm feel around me coming from you all.
My wine is a trade off for my real ale days but as it's alcohol I still feel guilty.
Ok trouble is I'm getting to like the wine too much and panic I'm slipping into old ways,again a guilt issue.
Also the mega amount of cheese I eat with it causes me to eat too many crackers as well.
I find it hard at the moment to draw a line to say that's ok.

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Stick with the cheese, skip the crackers.

I not so much stepped off the wagon as leapt off and set fire to it when I relapsed! I spend a fair bit of time in denial, irrational as that is, and it's only recent medication that has helped me get some control and the resulting motivation back. I'm currently trying to eat to the meter, and reduce carbs with some success which I'm very happy about, but I will be very surprised if I don't lapse a bit over the Christmas hols.

I am thinking now, if it's a lapse and not a relapse, I'm good with it.

I fell off and got left up the road - HbA1c 73!!!

Saw the nurse today and have had gliclazide increased to maximum, next step insulin. Today I lost a battle but not the war, I'm in it for the long haul, onwards my friends

blanc71 said:

Thank you so much folks.
Such a warm feel around me coming from you all.
My wine is a trade off for my real ale days but as it's alcohol I still feel guilty.
Ok trouble is I'm getting to like the wine too much and panic I'm slipping into old ways,again a guilt issue.
Also the mega amount of cheese I eat with it causes me to eat too many crackers as well.
I find it hard at the moment to draw a line to say that's ok.

Click to expand...

Only you know yourself well enough to decide how best to proceed.
I have both feet firmly planted in St Augustine's camp.- Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation
I have never been able to do the so called moderation, especially around the foods that epitomise my complete and utter loss of control, whether its of my food choices, food quantities or being able to walk away from the foods that I used to love pre dox, which I know could spell my catastrophic demise.
I took a long hard look at myself and accepted that fact.
I have other strengths, and doing moderation around food I love, which will ultimately be deadly for me, because of my condition is not one of them....I pick my battles.
Getting into fights I am guaranteed to lose is not one of them.