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Type 2s What motivates you to control by diet?

MrsA2

Expert
At a committee meeting the other night biscuits were being handed round. We are all 60+. At first everyone refused but then 4 out of 6 capitulated, and each of those 4 admitted to having a partner with T2 who wouldn't have hesitated and would have accepted on first offer, even though they have all been told to lower sugar intake.

While it was obvious there was an element of carb addiction going on in those present (they knew they shouldn't but did anyway), I was more horrified that none of the T2 partners were taking any notice of their T2 diabetes at all. All the partners had an awareness of low sugar, if not of low carb, but seemed to despair of their T2 partners lack of motivation.

It got me thinking, I know what motivates me (fear of losing what little sight I have, and having lost my sweet tooth through going cold turkey to low carb) but why do so many other diagnosed T2s do so little for themselves?

So, what motivates/motivated you to take control through diet, and to stick to it?
 
Medicine’s traditional’we have a pill for that’ attitude doesn’t help. Even the more enlightened doctors who advise low sugar tend to advise low fat at the same time, which is a nonsense and helps no one. It’s small wonder people are tempted to throw in the towel and just eat biscuits,
 
I suppose my initial motivation when I was first diagnosed was to prevent complications in the future. I had seen diabetics suffer so much during my 36 yr nursing career, losing legs, eye sight and kidney function, once you’ve smelt gangrene you never forget the smell
However my motivation has become more than that over the last 4 plus years, I feel so much better, I hadn’t realised how poorly I felt til I was feeling better! Other health issues I have improved and I lost a shed load of weight. I like feeling well so why would I sabotage it now?

Edit to add, I do take Metformin, however I believe that my diet is the major contributor to my diabetes control.
 
I'm not technically diet controlled as I take 500mg of metformin a day but I've been told it's a low dose so hopefully my diet is most important part at the moment.

But what motivates me and terrifies me the most is not being around for my children. They are very young ( baby number 3 due in 4 weeks ) and I don't want to get any complications which will have an impact on their lives. I want to lead a healthy active life and be full of energy when I'm my 60s and beyond! I'm 34.
 
MrsA2 said:
So, what motivates/motivated you to take control through diet, and to stick to it?
Click to expand...
Even though I'm not a T2, and on insulin, dietary choices are a large part of my control. The direct feedback from my meter in the early days, and a sensor after that gives me the motivation to make sensible choices for me every day.

There are days when my diabetes is just acting 'weird', and I'm ok with those higher and lower numbers. I'm also ok with the occasional day where I make a conscious decision to have something I know will mess up my numbers when I feel it's worth it.

What I'm not ok with is seeing my numbers going up and down for no other reason than wanting a slice of bread or a plate of pasta, unless it's a special occasion.

edit: Oh, and I never ever want to go back to the horrible yeast infections I had in the months before my diagnosis!
 
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When first diagnosed in 2015 with hbaca1 of 97 I followed the medical advice took the Metformin and went low fat with high carb - but of course whole grains and lots of fruit and veg! I did lose weight over the following two years - looking back partly because I used to have loads of tummy problems with a metformin sensitivity. Despite doing everything right though after initially lowering my sugars and weight a bit I started to see my sugars and weight rising despite still taking my metformin plus being permanently hungry and eating low fat and the hunger made it harder to resist those sugary temptations! I care for a adult son who has disabilities and I was finding it harder and harder to do everything I needed to do - in desperation I searched for another way to improve my health and came across the low carb program and the rest is history four plus years on into Keto my motivation like @Rachox is just how much better I feel I hadn’t realised just how poor my health and energy was until I got it back.so to summarise fear of not being around made me start and then when it worked my motivation became and continues to be staying as healthy as I can to be there for my family and to enjoy life.
 
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Exactly this.
It’s not just about BG control.
Sleep
Mental health
Cognitive function
Joy.
 
My libre sensor and seeing the direct correlation between my food choices and my blood sugar motivates me to make the right choices…..most of the time. If my sugars slip I am ok as long as it was a conscious choice to eat something,

what frustrates me,…,the days I make what I think are ok choices or the best I can in the circumstances which shoot my blood sugar up!
 
I've seen some fairly self-destructive people actively damage themselves with things that are not good for them. I think that also applies to a couple of T2s I know. For them, it's not about health, it's self loathing. I don't want to go that way. I'm also happy not to have the nasty symptoms I did have. Why would I want those back?
 
Knowing that Dr David Unwin had never has a T2 patient in remission until he discovered Low Carb and now he has 100 of them.
I want to be/stay in the healthy minority like those 100. I'm quite attached to my eyes, limbs, kidneys and heart. But I don't understand how anybody who knows that the continually increasing medication route doesn't get you to remission, wouldn't also fight for them!
 
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My kids, I didn’t get married until later in life. When my brutally honest doc told me I was likely to explode.. well I at least need to stay alive until the kids are on their own.

why diet, because it works for me. If it didn’t. I wouldn’t hesitate to get on meds.

why exercise? I feel like a teenager again, I can play hopscotch, jump rope and do other fun things with the kids. Wife denied my request to get a skateboard, she thinks I’ll break something
 
We also have to remember that food companies develop modern food to be addictive. Artificial ingredients that never completely satisfy and keep you wanting more.
Once a person knows that it not just about will power but understanding that this food is like an addiction then it’s easier to resist.
 
I don't need motivation - not extra to what I got from seeing my grandmother dying a long slow horrible death from the complications of diabetes mellitus - and no, you never forget the smell of gangrene, nor the terror of someone out of their mind with rage and pain.
We moved to live with my grandparents when I was 2 years old, and she lived about 4 years more.
 
@zand I echo that sentiment! The look on the medics faces when you do the exact opposite of what they tell you and you are able to reverse a condition that is progressive and only alleviated by increasing drug therapies. When I informed the practice nurse what I was going to do I was told that I would be killing myself if I didn't take the pills on offer and that I was not medically trained so what did I know!?!!! It was quite difficult at the next appointment with her not to say "obviously more than you do about type 2 diabetes".
My main reason now is how well I feel I have lost the excess weight and put my diabetes into remission.
 
I'm type 1 and my motivation is to stay as fit and healthy and live as long as possible , I was about 20 when a Dr said with my poorly controlled brittle diabetes I would be lucky to see 40 ! I'me 62 now and so far haven't had one complication so proved him wrong !
 
I hit upon some guy on Reddit bemoaning the fact he couldn't get a Tinder date once he revealed he was on dialysis caused by uncontrolled T2 for years. I followed his posts where he later revealed the had lost sight in one eye & it wasn't looking good for the other. Then he revealed in a dating thread that he also had ED.

The kicker is he was only 33, if that can't motivate you nothing will.
 
I was easily motivated in the early days. Good results were in themselves motivating to carry on. Ten years on and post covid I am finding it hard to stay on track as my results aren't as good as they once were.
 
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