Taking it seriously now.

[AnniD]

I have recently been told that I am now in 'the red zone' and yes, I know I should have been taking my type 2 diagnosis more seriously. I have quite a hectic lifestyle and reach for the quickest thing to fill me. I just do not know what products to buy. I wandered around the supermarket for 2 hours yesterday and have spent the morning on Ocado thinking I might be able to understand the labels more without having to move out of the way all the time but I am just so confused. Trouble is I hate veg and am not too keen on meat either. I am just stuck and filling up on yoghurt, fruit and crackers (which I also don't like.) I have a sweet tooth but have gone 'cold turkey' for 10 days and don't seem to be missing the chocolate and bikkies too much. Any advice on branded foods that I could buy please? Thanks in advance.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

I have recently been told that I am now in 'the red zone' and yes, I know I should have been taking my type 2 diagnosis more seriously. I have quite a hectic lifestyle and reach for the quickest thing to fill me. I just do not know what products to buy. I wandered around the supermarket for 2 hours yesterday and have spent the morning on Ocado thinking I might be able to understand the labels more without having to move out of the way all the time but I am just so confused. Trouble is I hate veg and am not too keen on meat either. I am just stuck and filling up on yoghurt, fruit and crackers (which I also don't like.) I have a sweet tooth but have gone 'cold turkey' for 10 days and don't seem to be missing the chocolate and bikkies too much. Any advice on branded foods that I could buy please? Thanks in advance.

https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html might help a bit. I'm in the Netherlands, so I don't know what on-the-go stuff to point you to, but.... If you know the basics of carbs, you'll be able to suss out the bulk of it. Mainly,check the labels and read the carbohydrates bit. "Of which sugars" is useless, because carbs turn to glucose once ingested, so that's starches too. Keep total carbs at 5 grams or lower per 100, and you're doing pretty good. More meat, eggs, poultry, hard cheeses and such would be good, above ground veg too. If you go for yog, go full fat greek, maybe with berries or nuts in. CRackers are a no-go for me, maybe not for you, but something to consider if they red-zoned you. No idea what that means exactly, but just, you know... Look at what you can eat. Without being miserable.

In the end, if cutting carbs is just not doable for you, you could combine a bit fewer with medication, or go medication-only. But it would be less effective most likely, and the diabetes would, odds are, progress.

You don't have to overhaul everything overnight. Take time to sort this out. T2 didn't come on from one day to the next, you don't have to "fix" anything in 24 hours either. Take time and make whatever is workable for you, work.
Hugs,
Jo

 

[Deleted member 475901]

One thing I found useful in the first weeks was buying the packs of cheese portions and keeping them at eye height in the fridge. I also hardboiled 6 eggs at a time for grab and go snacks.
Instead of carby crackers try 90 second bread, made with ground almonds - I add a teaspoon of full-fat cream cheese to cut the eggy taste. It is great split and toasted.

Be careful with the fruit, many are too high in sugar/carbs for me so I mainly have fresh raspberries these days.

Ocado - Light and Free yogurts are low carb but unfortunately, low fat too but I stir in a spoon of double cream. Other than that I buy ready cooked chicken or some of the M&S curries (three of the chicken ones are relatively low carb) and Ocado also sells frozen servings of cauliflower rice.

 

[KennyA]

I have recently been told that I am now in 'the red zone' and yes, I know I should have been taking my type 2 diagnosis more seriously. I have quite a hectic lifestyle and reach for the quickest thing to fill me. I just do not know what products to buy. I wandered around the supermarket for 2 hours yesterday and have spent the morning on Ocado thinking I might be able to understand the labels more without having to move out of the way all the time but I am just so confused. Trouble is I hate veg and am not too keen on meat either. I am just stuck and filling up on yoghurt, fruit and crackers (which I also don't like.) I have a sweet tooth but have gone 'cold turkey' for 10 days and don't seem to be missing the chocolate and bikkies too much. Any advice on branded foods that I could buy please? Thanks in advance.

Hi and welcome to the forums. When you say "the red zone" what do you mean? Do you know what your last HbA1c was?

If you're looking to reduce carbs, both fruit and crackers will cause a problem. Most fruit is relatively high in sugars, and crackers are pretty much all carb.

Personally I don't trust branded items at all - anything processed and packaged may well have had a number of unwelcome items added - i fell foul of this recently. There are several companies now offering low-carb items - I buy "bread" rolls from Seriously Low Carb, but there are other providers and the ranges they offer seem to be increasing. If you have a look on the "Food and Nutrition" section of this forum you might get ideas for things that will work for you.

Best of luck