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Time to get a grip of my health and take action

A

annejane

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi I am new on here. I was diagnosed a few years ago and took metformin and things have been ok but steadily my numbers for the 3 month reading has been increasing and was a shocking 95 this week! I have not given it much attention or time over the years and dont really understand it all but I believe I have to take control now and put things in place to reduce this number and improve my health.
I hope by coming on here I dont get booed at for not doing something sooner. if so I will not be back as that is not what anyone needs.
I do not have a normal diet. there are more foods that I dont like than I do. this is a huge issue that obviously has lead me to where I am today. I am overweight. this I know. I am more active the last 6 months but not enough. I need to do much more in the way of exercise.
What I would love is a little help/suggestions with food, meals. I would be classed as a vegetarian but I dont really like most veggies or salads etc. I have a texture issue and would not be able to sit and eat a plate of veg or salad cooked or raw. most things I eat are bland, mushy or easily broken down. Pasta and melted cheese is my go to food.
Because of my thoughts and feelings about food when i have gone to diabetic support classes or dietician in the past it just confuses me and I shut down like a toddler!!
I need to take baby steps of cutting things out, introducing good foods and slowly increasing and decreasing over time. Its mostly a mind thing for me but the eating, physical side of it is relevant too.
I drink a lot of fizzy juice. I guess that would be the first thing to go and any confectionary. move more and more often. I like nuts, some cereals, can tolerate homemade soups and smoothies although they say thats not a good choice. what other simple suggestions can anyone make to help me please?
 
Hi @annejane , welcome to the forum!
annejane said:
I hope by coming on here I dont get booed at for not doing something sooner.
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You won't get booed by anyone, and if you are, please hit the report button! Booing is definitely against our forum ethos, the first rule of which says:
"The Diabetes Forum is our Member interaction area, where questions are asked and exchanges of views take place. Please ask questions, provide answers, start debates and challenge where appropriate - but please be compassionate, considerate and kind towards others. Civil debate is healthy, but rudeness, bullying and/or Member belittling is not acceptable and will not be tolerated."

Your food preferences don't make it easier, but there's a lot of room still!
annejane said:
I drink a lot of fizzy juice. I guess that would be the first thing to go and any confectionary. move more and more often. I like nuts, some cereals, can tolerate homemade soups and smoothies
Click to expand...
If you like fizzy juice a lot, what about drinking the light versions? While they're not exactly healthy, they won't raise your blood glucose like the regular versions do, it might make a lot of difference!
Nuts are perfect, very filling and not a lot of carbs.
And soups give you a lot of playing room. If you leave out the pasta/potatoes and add in some cream or cheese (or both), perhaps some tofu or eggs for protein, you'll have a very diabetes friendly and filling meal.
If you use the stick blender on the veggies in your soup you might find they're fine, structure wise.

Cereals are likely to raise your BG. Do you happen to like full fat plain greek yoghurt? Because it's 10% fat it's a filling breakfast all by itself. Many of us like to add some berries or nuts too, or grated chocolate of a high (85% or more) cocoa percentage.

Most fruits are high carb and will raise your BG, so with the smoothies it just depends on what you put in.
 
Hi @annejane and welcome to the forums.

Here's my favourite link about T2 and low carb, jokalsbeek's excellent blog.
JoKalsbeek's blog | Diabetes Forum • The Global Diabetes Community

And no T2 is not your fault, some people just have a genetic inability to cope with carbs in the quantities that modern diets recommend.

The good news about your current diet is that there is lots of scope for reducing the carbs in it. I second @Antje77 's suggestion that you replace the sugary fizzy drinks with zero carb alternatives.

As for cheese and pasta, you might be better substituting the pasta with courgettes/zucchini . I personally spiralise them and then fry them and they end up with a texture very very similar to pasta. (Sounds complicated but isn't though you might need to get a spiraliser, which is a bit like a cheese grater in action, no electrical devices needed.)

Good luck, I'm sure you'll get more suggestions soon.
 
Smoothies are mainly frowned upon if they contain fruit because a lot of fruits are high in sugar.
Veg smoothies or mashes are fine. Try almost any veg mashed (but not potato or parsnips). Even brocoli and/or Brussels sprouts taste good mashed with cream, cream cheese, cheese or any combination.
 
When you blend things into a smoothie I'm fairly sure that you increase the glycemic index of the food. You make it easier for the body to break down the food and absorb the sugar more rapidly, causing a bigger spike in blood sugar. It's probably easier to eat more fruit in smoothie form vs eating raw fruit and perhaps we should be limiting our fruit consumption.
 
A cooked breakfast without toast might be a good start.

You know what to do. You got this.
 
Hello and welcome,

As everyone said- you won't get booed at here it's a friendly bunch here.

I can sympathise being a picky eater. I also don't like vegetables and guess what I eat very little veggies.

So what do you like? I eat mostly fish and chicken with pork belly from time to time. Also have a sweet tooth so diet jelly is my friend- with cream of course.

So some ideas that I find helpful eggs- anyway you like them. Boiled eggs can be kept in the fridge for a while for a quick snack. There are a lot of low carb pasta replacements on the market and feel free to add as much cheese as you like. I eat a lot of cheese including cheese melted in the microwave. Most cheese is low carb so it no problem to eat. I also have chicken soup (home made with those pasts substitutes I talked about) I also have crispy skin salmon. I eat peanut butter- not much and have also tried it mixed with cream. I keep very low carb so only a couple of teaspoons at the most. I do occasionally have cauliflower mash (with cheese ).

Anyway hope you have a few ideas- read around on the low carb part of the forum for even more ideas

Welcome and good luck.
 

Thanks Antje77 , I have read all the replies and getting my head around everything. I'm not looking for attention but the specific advice and support is much appreciated. I dont feel I am on the edge of a cliff with how to go forward and deal with my foods. The forum has helped me so far which I am grateful for.
 
Oh dear - the sugar in fruits is exactly the same as that in anything else. They are going to do exactly the same thing - raise blood glucose levels.
As a type two diabetic meat, fish eggs cheese, full fat dairy are the things you can eat and not see a spike in blood glucose - I have been eating this way for 5 years and need no medication to be in normal numbers after eating.
It is rather more difficult if vegetarian, but as long as fruits with high sugar content are avoided, then all should be well enough in the long term.
 
My take on that chart is NO WAY, It's got to be a vegan thing. If i ate following that chart i'd be on insulin very quickly.
 
Appreciation for this piece of advice. I am on the same plane with the poster
 
I still would rather starve and did for a week if I go off the rails there are far better and more enjoyable things to eat that don't require suppliments.And would not mess my blood sugars up any more than following that chart would, sorry what was the topic again?

Oh yes well cut down or out the pasta keep the cheese
If you must have bread buy low carb or make it your self
Soups are ok as long as not high carb again various places have low carb soup recepies that can be made on the hob or in a soup maker.
Nuts ok in moderation would not advise eating too much cereals as they are very carby.
Where fruit is concerned red berries such as strawberries tend to be ok most other fruits should be treated with caution
I understant meat not your fave but most meats and fish are low in carbs and fairly high in vitamins including B12.
Good luck in your quest for control
 
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Hello all, I'm in the same boat! Haven't looked after myself very well for the past 3 years. Had my diabetic review last week, the last one being in 2019!! My HBA1C is a shockingly 105mmol/mol. I've lost my diabetic mojo good & proper. I know where I'm going wrong, have read just about every diabetic book going and yet still I treat my condition like it doesn't matter. I take 4 Metformin daily and I've just been prescribed Linogliptin which I've yet to start. Another set of bloods is booked in for 3 months time. Sad thing is that in 2016 I reversed my diabetes with a HBA1C of just 43!! Today is my new start after listening to what might happen if my dangerously high levels continue. Good luck to all in the same situation.
 
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