type 2 and new to this please help

jenjen75 · Jan 24, 2010

hi there im type 2 diabetic on 2x500mg of metformin....
i dont no what foods im aloud to eat....and struggling to lose weight does any one have any advice that could help me please ....
thanks jen

cugila · Jan 24, 2010

jenjen75 said:
hi there im type 2 diabetic on 2x500mg of metformin....
i dont no what foods im aloud to eat....and struggling to lose weight does any one have any advice that could help me please ....
thanks jen

Hi Jen.
Welcome to the Forum. Here is some advice that we hand out to the newly diagnosed. Might be some help to you. Have a read.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

The main carbs to avoid or reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such a bread, potatoes, pasta and rice also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating then two hours after eating you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try !!

JanetS · Jan 24, 2010

Hi, I am in the same situation. Newly diagnosed and doing my utmost to keep the situation under control.

I am due to see my nurse again in Feb for a review and am wondering whether to ask about self testing. Boots are currently selling a self check meter for £8 and I am dithering as to whether to buy it, seeing as I am so new to this!

My readings were 7 and 7.1, so not significantly high, but I am keen to see them lowered.

I try to go out for long walks. Some days it is not possible but today I was proud of myself: usually I am out for an hour, just traipsing to and round my local park or go in a huge circle in the neighbourhood.

I am due to start an X-pert course next month, 5 and half hours a day, 3 weekly sessions. But I have been proactive already, by keenly studying carb levels in foods in the supermarket, cutting out the sweets (which I ate daily... yes, a dreadful habit which had to be stopped), drastically reducing the biscuits and cakes, going for walks, and of course joining this site.

I have also bought a games console similar to a Wii, in that it connects to the TV and uses a wrist-strapped remote, and has 40 games, ranging from table tennis, to golf, to fencing, to swimming! (can't wait to try that one) and it cost just £15 from Morrisons. It was reduced recently down to £10 but it has now gone from the shelf. Is called Zone 40. (Recommend you look out for it). I am hoping to start using this soon so I can exercise the upper parts of my body, while exercising my legs with the walking. I have rheumatoid arthritis and neuropathy pain in my feet, so have to be careful.
Good luck!

JanetS · Jan 24, 2010

By the way Jen, were you advised that you are now eligible for free prescriptions, now you are on Metformin? My pharmacist was quick to point this out to me when I went in with my script. I usually have a pre paid certificate, but as this expires next month I have applied for my exemption cert just in time!

Synonym · Jan 24, 2010

Hi JenJen and Janet and welcome.

You will find lots of information and help on this forum and if you need to ask any questions there is usually someone along quite soon with an answer.

IanD · Jan 24, 2010

JanetS said:
I am due to start an X-pert course next month, 5 and half hours a day, 3 weekly sessions. But I have been proactive already, by keenly studying carb levels in foods in the supermarket, cutting out the sweets (which I ate daily... yes, a dreadful habit which had to be stopped), drastically reducing the biscuits and cakes, going for walks, and of course joining this site.

I am on an X-PERT course at present - see link

I have also bought a games console similar to a Wii, in that it connects to the TV and uses a wrist-strapped remote, and has 40 games, ranging from table tennis, to golf, to fencing, to swimming! (can't wait to try that one) and it cost just £15 from Morrisons. It was reduced recently down to £10 but it has now gone from the shelf. Is called Zone 40. (Recommend you look out for it). I am hoping to start using this soon so I can exercise the upper parts of my body, while exercising my legs with the walking. I have rheumatoid arthritis and neuropathy pain in my feet, so have to be careful.
Good luck!

They say a lot about exercise, but so many programmes rely on walking, or other leg movements. Before I started the reduced carb diet I had serious leg pains that threatened my mobility. Coventional exercise wasn't really an option. The reduced carb diet had me active again - playing tennis - within 3 months - And I had lost a stone in weight.

Hope we can help.

wallycorker · Jan 25, 2010

jenjen75 said:
hi there im type 2 diabetic on 2x500mg of metformin....
i dont no what foods im aloud to eat....and struggling to lose weight does any one have any advice that could help me please ....
thanks jen

Hi Jen,

In my opinion, the main lesson that non-insulin dependent Type 2s need to learn is the importance of cutting back dramatically on the starchy carbohydrates - i.e. cereals, bread, potatoes, pasta and rice.

That usually leads to a big improvement in blood glucose levels and very quickly too.

Best wishes - John

Synonym · Jan 25, 2010

Take John’s advice – it really does work and, once you are organised, changing your diet in this way is easy to do and it is well worth making the effort to keep any ill effects of diabetes at bay as long as possible.

You need to be proactive and testing is the key so that you know what your food is doing to your BG levels.

It is worth asking for the meter and testing strips so talk to your DN before buying anything as I found that they sometimes have meters available. Also, if you can get a prescription for testing strips, I was told that they may only be available for certain meters and apparently this can differ from area to area. It is worth trying anyway.

There does seem to be resistance to T2s testing but if you want to manage your condition it really is essential so you need to emphasise to your DN that this is the reason why you want to do it and need the equipment.

trident2000 · Jan 30, 2010

Hi,

new to type 2 myself, and thouroughly confused by it all especially the stuff on here about lowering carbs spuds bread cereals and the llike which seems to contradict the advice in the leaflet I was given telling me to make sure these things were part of every meal.

Not that the advice I've been given so far is detailed in any way, diagnosis was just that, you're diabetic take 3x metformin 500mg daily, make an appointment for the practice nusre, a week on and even more stressed than I was to start with a 15 minute session where I got a lot of leaflets, see you in a month, although i remembered the bit where I was told injecting is inevitable, which makes it depressing as well.

Anything to help the confusion and make sense of things will help

Dave

hanadr · Jan 30, 2010

Dave
first:
to reduce your anxiety. If you follow conventional medical advice, insulin will probably be your fate.
If however, you cut back your carb intake and let your diet do most of your bg control and keep to as near non-diabetic Bg as you can.( non diabetic bg is around 5 pretty much all the time), you can probably avoid "progression".
Bg of 5 sounds difficult, but it is achievable. Some people can do it on a GI diet and others on low carb plans.
Certainly it isn't likely on the "eat plenty of starchy carbohydrates with every meal" advice, which diabetics are often given.
In addition, to dispel another common myth
Wholemeal and wholegrain forms of starchy foods are very little if any improvement on the refined version.
If you look through this forum, you'll find a lot about diet, as found to be effective by actual diabetics using it.
I can also recommend some reading
"Dr. Bernstein's Diabets Solution" explains a LOT
David Mendosa's huge website has mountains of information and hundreds of links to other useful resources.
The D-solve website is also very helpful.
Hana

Ardbeg · Jan 30, 2010

I guess it's different strokes for different folks.

As a newly diagnoses T2 myself I'm determined to keep the betes under control by diet, supplements and exercise for now (altho' I still haven't rejoined the gym yet )

Having tried the Atkins diet previously I've a fair idea the foods to eat and the foods to enjoy. I still have the occassional cooked breakfast and enjoy lots of red and white meat with either veg or salad.

I snack on things like Ryvita, nuts, cottage cheese, houmous, taramasalata, raw carrots, brown bread or brown pittas, but only in small quantities.

Supplement wise I'm experimenting with Benfitomine, Acai 1200 and extra high strength cod liver oil liquid (yum, yum :mrgreen: ).

I've only been to the nurse once and my HBLa1c or whatever it is called was 11.2. The nurse has set me a target of getting that down to 7 and I'm pleased to say that I regularly hit or get under the 7 mark when I test my BG now. 8)

Oh, almost forgot; I've also been off the booze since Jan 1st and have to say it was surprisingly easy to do so, even though I was a big drinker in the past. I had given myself a new year's resolution to stay off the booze for a month, but to be honest I may just continue with it until I see the nurse again. I'm encouraged by the fact, which I gleaned from this forum, that whisky or red wine in moderation can actually aid keeping the BG down.

See, every cloud really does have a silver lining. :lol:

Stay positive guys; don't look down look up and you will realise that when you do you can only smile.

type 2 and new to this please help

jenjen75

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cugila

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trident2000

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hanadr

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Ardbeg

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type 2 and new to this please help

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