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T2 tantrum…

McHelen said:
New I was diagnosed T2 in July 2021,
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Quite recently then.

You are still in the "DON'T PANIC" stage of coming to terms with T2.
It took me at least 6 months to get my head around it and quite a lot longer before I really understood what was going on (although I still have a "wobble" every now and then).

You are doing fine, better than most, and it will get better and easier with time.
 
Grief goes in cycles, and is not linear. We move between stages of grief randomly. Be kind to yourself. You are doing well in coming to terms with this, even if you don't realise how well you are doing yet.
 
Another way to deal with the loss and grief and so on re beloved carby foods and sugary treats, is to eat substitutes - keto/LCHF versions of past loves, finding your sugar substitute/s of choice.

I bought an ice cream maker, and found a good stevia crystal, for instance, and make some pretty good lchf substitutes of old ice cream faves that don't raise my BG too much if at all. (It aint very sweet - so I eat it alone.)

i make Fathead pizzas, make my own marinara sauces. Found some 'cookies' and 'cake' recipes that fulfull some sort of desire for such (I can take them as a substitute but have not found a non-T2 who can stomach them it must be said!). Diet doctor coconut porridge, and lchf swedish 'buns' with cream and blueberries to replace a devonshire tea etc etc.

It all goes a long way to soothing the cravings for lost loves in the carby-food department.
 
Yep I am there with you. It’s so unfair when if like me you are a picky eater and don’t fancy eating meat all day long. We just have to realise if we want to live a long healthy life then we have to have control. Thou I’m definitely having a small bit of my grandson’s 9th birthday cake this weekend. X.
 
Who are the Other Lot then? Obviously they do not kno much. I thought this was diabetes UK. Sorry if I’m thick. Lol. X
 
SuNuman said:
Who are the Other Lot then? Obviously they do not kno much. I thought this was diabetes UK. Sorry if I’m thick. Lol. X
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There are two separate entities. DUK is Diabetes UK (the other lot) and this site is Diabetes Community UK (DCUK). Each of these sites hosts their own forums and support the diabetic community. They do on occasions offer conflicting advice, so it is better to choose one as your support network.

For instance the DUK site finances and supports the Newcastle Diet plan, and supports Eatwell and low calorie diets. Our site here offers the Low Carb online training courses and supports LCHF and keto diets.
 
To be fair to DUK whose carbfests I attended, They were fundraising rather than educating on those occasions, so the raffle was designed to be a honey trap for rich nondiabetics to part with their money. This is something that the other site is known for.

If you ring their local office (as I have done in the past) they seem to assume you are offering a donation, and their first question is how much? Same with their website - it is peppered with popups asking for donations. I gave up on that site when I got moderated off the forum for advocating LCHF as a possible way to remission.

I find this site here to be more diverse and welcoming, though you can still find yourself being shouted at on the forum, and rustication (banning) is also used on occasions.
 
My DN was very careful to direct me to Diabetes UK and ‘not the other one’ as she put it!!! They have some useful articles but it is so carb orientated. I attended my educational session last week and it was a disaster. I got told off, no I think scolded is a better description for using a Libre to understand the impact of carbs etc on my BG. Apparently the only thing I should be doing as a T2 is eating 3 meals a day with carbs at each meal, no sugary snacks and no more than 3 portions of fruit a day.

Well having just spent the last 2 weeks monitoring, I now can visualise the effect carbs have on ME and I know that porridge and potatoes are the worst things I can have. So I t hunk I have found my home here on this site.
 
Welcome to th
Welcome to the Land of Dr. Google, the Land where GP's and HCP's believe Satan himself lives. Just think, if you had not found this site before, that you could have ended up on the other side, so to speak.

I got the same directions as you from my GP some 6 years ago, and I too choose to ignore them. He also instructed me not to test as a T2, but I self-funded, and when I had my review I surprised him with my obvious glide into control as per my spreadsheet graphs. Since then he has funded my test strip habit willingly, and I try not to disappoint him. Sadly I had to go into hospital recently, and as a result, I was force-fed the Eatwell carbivore diet, and my HbA1c taken today may well show a sharp rise since the hospital also removed most of my diabetic meds. I now only take one small tab in the evening. Control is now running higher than 'normal'.
 
Thank you. This site seems perfect for me. X
 
I was a huge huge huge lover of pasta and chocolate. I couldn't stop thinking about them!

When I got my diagnosis, I decided to try to get back to non-diabetic A1C levels (achieved for 6 months now). A few mind tricks that have kept me sane on different days because I just love food - all food. I was pretty shocked when I got the diagnosis, because I'm only 40, so the idea of doing damage so young was certainly a very good motivator to change. I think I was in panic-mode for the first few months now I look back.

Here are some of my tricks:

1. If I really really want it, and it's going to be the best version of that thing (the best cookie ever), then I'm allowed it. No guilt. I have only ever needed this if I'm in a super awesome restaurant a few times. I still have a cadbury bar in the freezer, and pasta in the cupboard. I've actually never ended up needing them, but I like the idea of them being there just in case.
2. Have fun with keto-hacking your faves. I've found almost all of them good. Except fat head dough. So gross and oily. I think you need american cheese for that to work.
3. This is the thing that's strange for me... I used to spend hours browsing uber eats for my next meal, and eating bowls of pasta a night. After a week or two of being hungry as I went on 800cal and keto at the same time, that mind obsession over carbs clicked off and never came back. I don't know why. I still like the idea of a croissant if I'm at an awesome bakery or pasta at an amazing italian, but the obsession - can't stop, must-eat-it-all feeling is gone. I feel like when I've read some of the blogs people say they don't miss their old diet. I'm not quite there yet because I'm such a foodie I like the idea of trying it all, but the actual physical craving is gone and makes it easier for me to make a more rational choice. I think I have a treat item (not a meal) every week or two.

Hope that helps
 
It comes down to being a Wonderer (feeling like you are doing something because you've read books, talked to people etc.) or a Warrior i.e. getting going with it! The latter takes a bit of practice and it is a daily choice meaning that some days or some meals you'll retreat but there's always the next choice (to exercise or not to, to eat a carby meal or not) and it should never be put off until Monday/January/after your birthday IMO.

Overwhelm is common but that's because you've framed it as something really bard. Break it down make it smaller and easier but do practice at least 1 change consistently.
 
So I have indulged in my ‘tantrums’ and a huge amount of denial tactics over the last few weeks! Thank you for your support. I feel ready to face this challenge, armed with my low carb book, food diary, blood glucose monitor, couch to 5k app and hubby support. So the wanderer needs to become the warrior (thanks @NicoleC1971 )
 
I'm trying to get used to giving up red meat except possibly for a treat on special occasions. I have always preferred it to white. However I have recently been reading about how it causes the microbiome to make a harmful substance called TMAO. This stuff increases the risk of cancer especially colon cancer as well as having been more recently found to increase atherosclerosis. I keep telling myself that it is not worth it, and that there are plenty of other kinds of protein. Somehow, what you shouldn't have does always seem more appealing than the bad stuff though!
 


TMAO is also present in fish and vegetables but the activists usually fail to mention that.

Also it's tenuous associational links to cancer are likely nonsense.

As Nick Mailer says

"TMAO spikes our hearts

When from meat that's red it darts,

But drawn instead from veg or fish

It grants us each our live-long wish!"


Take everything you read in anti meat literature with a pinch of salt.
 
Long live the Ruminati!
Keep busting the red meat gives you cancer and cow farts are causing global warming.
There is a slight link between processed red meat and incidence of bowel cancer possibly explained by the unhealthy user bias (the people who eat more processed meat also smoke, drink and don't exercise) .
The proposed mechanisms for such links are always hypothetical and haven't been proven despite well funded attempts to do so from those with a bias against meat.
So I see red meat of decent quality to be a health giving food and fairly good for the planet if it is coming from a British beast fed on grass and living on land that otherwise could not be used for any other production.
 
TMAO is derived from TMA and is oxidised to TMAO in our liver. So it is TMA that is the primary input. T<A is found naturally in both plant and animal sources and is prevalent in fish. It is made up from choline, lecithin, and L-Carnitine(apparently). The first two of these substances occur in plan-based sources, and are not prevalent in meat and not with red meat. Both of these first two are known to reduce inflammation and swelling, and the repair of cells in the body, They are not essential since our bodies can manufacture what is needed from other dietary components. A low level of choline leads to NAFLD apparently, and it is often added to feeding tube meals for those in the hospital to prevent fat build-up in the liver.

The third ingredient L-Carnitine is mainly derived from animal products especially red meat, and especially in organ meats (offal). It can be synthesized by the body from other amino acids, so is not essential. Its function is to act as a transferase enzyme to allow long-chain fatty acids to enter the mitochondria. Without Carnitine, these chains cannot be used by the body, and build up until broken up into smaller chains by rogue oxidants in the blood. Carnitine also acts to remove waste products from the mitochondria.

Carnitine is shown by meta-studies to reduce cardio mortality especially heart failure.

All three of the prime ingredients are used as supplements and are individually considered healthy. Combined they are accused of creating a monster (TMA) that acts primarily in our olfactory organs and allows us to smell and taste things. Apparently, an overdose of TMA can cause body odour akin to fish.

The gut microbes involved in synthesising TMA have not been identified, but a major antibacterial can kill the effect (and also the healthy biota too). Since bodybuilders use supplementation of all three primary ingredients it is not a recognised risk factor for that pastime and bodybuilders are not significantly succumbing to the effects of such supplementation. This observation does not disprove the animal meat is a killer theory, but it raises doubts.
 
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And back on topic please.
If any of you want to further discuss red meat you'll need to start a new thread or take it to PM.
 
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