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Cereals are only seen as the breakfast to have, because Mr Kellogg has been telling everyone for over a 100 years. Prior to this everyone usually had the leftovers from the previous evening. "Breakfast" just means you haven't eaten for however many hours, and breakfast, breaks the fast, whatever time of day it is.

Ali006 said:

No sugar on the Weetabix just milk. Are there any good cereals? I used to have Yorkshire pudding with beef. Didn't think I could have it now. Stuffing was from a pk. Don't make my own. Thought that was out because it's made with dried breadcrumbs. I hate fat on meat so I've always had lean apart from crispy bacon.

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I eat Yorkshire puddings several times a year - I am very good at making them, but on a normal day I eat only one meal and have no more than 40 gm of carbs. I used to eat twice but recently just stopped being interested in food in the mornings. I suspect that if I was younger, I am 72 now, I would be doing things a little differently, but it seems to work for me as I am maintaining weight, regaining a waist and feel well.

ajbod said:

Cereals are only seen as the breakfast to have, because Mr Kellogg has been telling everyone for over a 100 years. Prior to this everyone usually had the leftovers from the previous evening. "Breakfast" just means you haven't eaten for however many hours, and breakfast, breaks the fast, whatever time of day it is.

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They are quick and easy. When I visited Nepal I had curry for breakfast more than once! And really if they are bad or not depends 1) on which cereal it is - some have lots of added sugar - 2) what one's personal reaction to them is. We are told here that the way to find out is to take blood glucose before eat and 2 hours later. If the OP does that and finds that his choice doesn't spike his blood sugar too much then what's the problem? I've lost weight (around 10kg) and got my HbA1c into the pre-diabetic zone whilst having porridge for breakfast most days, and also a couple of small slices of bread at lunch.

You could argue that if I knocked the porridge and/or bread on the head I would have lost more weight and/or reduced my HbA1c more, but I all for finding a way of eating that I think I can live with for the next 20-30 years rather than being absolutist about it.

The point i was trying to make is, it doesn't matter what you eat for breakfast, or even not have breakfast. As long as it suits the individuals metabolism, then anything goes.

ajbod said:

The point i was trying to make is, it doesn't matter what you eat for breakfast, or even not have breakfast. As long as it suits the individuals metabolism, then anything goes.

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So we agree!

Firstly, I'm glad she advised you to join this site, but secondly I'm appalled how little time was spent explaining what effect diabetes can and will have on your life. To be sent away to basically get on with it is just simply wrong.

I don't know if it has changed since I was diagnosed back in 2006, but I was given a free Glucomen Aero finger prick tester which contained enough strips and lancets to get me going. I was also given a prescription for test strips and lancets before leaving.

My diabetes care at my GP practice went to pot when the diabetes nurse left the practice. Shortly after I was diagnosed with cancer and I was having a hell of a time controlling my BG. The advice I was getting from my GP practice was simply not helping. Then I bumped into a friend and we got chatting and she said she would see if she could get me assigned to the team at the community diabetes team.

What a godsend. I was contacted weekly to start with. They put measures in place to help me manage my condition so much more effectively. They even managed to get me a trial of the Libre 2 blood glucose monitor. I'm now contacted every 2 months, with email access to the team who respond usually within 24 hours with a phone call. They are very pleased with how I manage my diabetes, and I put notes where applicable on each scan so the team can read why I've injected more insulin than usual.

Here's hoping that you find someone at your practice that will actually help you. If you are struggling, then make an appointment with your GP and explain to him/her that you need help managing your diabetes.

All the best going forward.

CatsFive said:

They are quick and easy. When I visited Nepal I had curry for breakfast more than once! And really if they are bad or not depends 1) on which cereal it is - some have lots of added sugar - 2) what one's personal reaction to them is. We are told here that the way to find out is to take blood glucose before eat and 2 hours later. If the OP does that and finds that his choice doesn't spike his blood sugar too much then what's the problem? I've lost weight (around 10kg) and got my HbA1c into the pre-diabetic zone whilst having porridge for breakfast most days, and also a couple of small slices of bread at lunch.

You could argue that if I knocked the porridge and/or bread on the head I would have lost more weight and/or reduced my HbA1c more, but I all for finding a way of eating that I think I can live with for the next 20-30 years rather than being absolutist about it.

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No one is being absolutist about it, we just pointed out that type 2 diabetics have problems with carbohydrates, not just sugars. Whether a breakfast cereal has added sugar or not, it is still mostly carbohydrate.
Many people here using diet to control their diabetes aim to have less than 30g of carbohydrates a day. Personally I allow myself up to 50g a day but this is due to following a vegetarian diet and using legumes, beans for protein ( along with diary products, nuts etc).
Knowing this, does it make sense to have around 30g of carbs just for breakfast?

ajbod said:

I drink an awful lot of coffee, and was horrified when i worked out just how many carbs a day came from the skimmed milk. That's when i switched to black coffee, ditching something stupid like 120g a day carbs

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While there are more carbs in skimmed milk than in cream, I think for most it would be very hard to get to 120 grams of carbs a day from milk in coffee.
My carton says 4.7 grams of carbs per 100 ml, so using a splash in your coffee shouldn't be much of a problem for most.

To get to 120 grams you'd have to use over 2.5 liters of milk in your coffee per day, even with very milky coffee this would mean you'd have to drink some 10 liters of coffee each day!

I fully agree that chugging large mugs of milk will very likely raise most diabetics, but some milk in your coffee aren't that many carbs.

Lobsang Tsultim said:

I've not found it a problem - cutting out the carbs and eating as much fat and protein as I wanted, dropped my daily calories to around 900 - 1000 a day. That's why I don't worry about watching calories now, it's just unnecessary in my experience.

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So glad it's working for you. That's a low calorie count, am not surprised you are losing weight.

SlimLizzy said:

So glad it's working for you. That's a low calorie count, am not surprised you are losing weight.

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It's important to note I'm not intentionally following a low-calorie diet - I'm eating as much as I like whenever I'm hungry. It's just that eating less carbs and more fat is more satisfying - I feel full after a meal. I rarely feel hungry between meals; indeed sometimes I miss a meal simply because I'm not hungry. However, if I do feel hungry, I'll happily snack on some cheese or nuts or olives or boil up an egg or even just have a few spoonfuls of peanut butter. What I don't do is resort to carb-heavy food.

Grace04 said:

Wow, that’s a lot of carbs! I generally only have one a day, two sometimes if I’m out and about. I will have a look at the difference between cow and oat milk from a carb PoV.

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Reading the posts regarding good and bad foods and realised I am doing virtually everything wrong brown bread, brown rice, skimmed milk, porridge every morning, I eat 1600 calories per day maximum but can not shift a pound in weight, I need to do more research on foods to eat for sure, so glad I joined the group.

Michael 59 said:

Reading the posts regarding good and bad foods and realised I am doing virtually everything wrong brown bread, brown rice, skimmed milk, porridge every morning, I eat 1600 calories per day maximum but can not shift a pound in weight, I need to do more research on foods to eat for sure, so glad I joined the group.

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Don't focus on your weight, look at your HbA1c. However I see your are T2 on insulin, and have had several cancer ops. Not sure if the later will affect your diabetes or not, I see it affects your ability to do sport. If you can walk or cycle, both are excellent gentle forms of exercise and getting some every day helps. No need for 10,000 steps per day, do what you can and hopefully it will gradually increase. I've read that the 'sweet spot' is 7,000 steps per day, that the benefits tail off after that.

As you are on insulin, you might be able to get a Libre from your doctor. If not, you should be getting test strips for your meter. To find out what meals are the problem, take your BG before & 2 hours later. I can't remember the figure, but there shouldn't be a big spike.

The low-hanging fruit: Hopefully you are not putting sugar in tea / coffee, are not drinking full-fat soft drinks, are not drinking lots of fruit juice and are not eating sweets, puddings, etc.

However, cut back on the carbs! Pasta, bread, rice, potatoes, cous cous etc. However that can be easier said than done, and not everyone needs a really radical change. Low carb rather than Keto works fine for many people. That's where the testing comes in (or CGM e.g. Libre), to determine just how much you have to throttle carbs back.

Also beer is rarely a low-carb drink - it is after all made from fermented grains. Dry wines & spirits are low-carb, but gin needs tonic and I can taste the sweetener in most of the reduced calorie drinks. However whisky only needs a drop of tap water... But I now only drink when eating in company, which doesn't happen very often.

Good advice elsewhere, IMHO, was to cook your own meals from basic ingredients. If you read the nutrition on most pre-packed food carbs feather quite highly.

There are some good substitutes, and this isn't an exhaustive list:

Cauliflower rice. I chop a bit of cauliflower rather than buy it as it's 1/3 or so of the cost.
Edamame & mung bean tagliatelle - expensive but very nice
Spiralised vegetables. So far I've tried courgette, plan trying mooli (if I can get it) and white turnip.
Swede (orange inside) instead of potato
Konjac noodles & rice. I have some waiting to be tried, some folks really don't like them. There seems to be two versions, one with more protein in.