Reply to Thread

Guest, we'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the Diabetes Forum Survey 2025 »

Message: <blockquote data-quote="mrbee" data-source="post: 1276071" data-attributes="member: 343232">LONG POST:All of those things you have spoken about, I, and I suspect many other good folks have gone through at some point.Try not to get too distressed by it. I know that’s tough sometimes and I agree with all you have posted so I will tell you a little of some of my own steps. I spent a good number of years, in denial somehow being desensitised to it all, after all so many people have it now, its common, and you just blow it off like it’s nothing to worry about.After some time, maybe 3-4 years I started to notice things, like retinopathy screening, the lady says, ooh you have a bit of nerve damage, nothing serious but doctor will tell you to keep an eye on it (yes pun intended). I though huh, maybe I should take notice, and take some active part in my own health/treatment.I knew a fair few T2s and a fist full of T1s (who I find generally behave a little better, mostly because they have had to learn to deal with it from a much younger age so they generally seem more relaxed, more skilled, in the replacement pancreas role). Most the T2s I knew had poor attitudes, they would say things like, oh yeah I’ve just eaten 2 apple pies, I’ll just have an extra metformin, and I thought, that’s not really how it works…is it JohnMy BGs were creeping up, and I was paying for my own BG testing strips and needles at this point as my surgery point blank refused to supply me with any.I would have good days and crazy through the roof days, and at this point I was on Metformin and Gliclazide, and the BGs were rising. Every time I spoke to the nurse or Doc they would just give me a load of feedback about how it was all me, I wasn’t eating right, eating too much, not enough exercise, which was tall true to some extent, I just hadn’t reached the point I needed to be at in both properly dealing with myself and with the my diabetic support team.So I decided to lose some weight, did Slimming World for a bit, I kind of liked it, it dawned on me, though they kind of help in a lot of ways, the one thing they tend not to deal with, greed, most SW buddies I had, were still pretty greedy, yes you can have a stack of ‘free’ foods, but it doesn’t help you deal with your underlying problem, greed…and it doesn’t help you understand the value of your food. You can learn about these things, as I did but I also realised, I couldn’t live SW for the next 30 years, it just was not going to work for me.In the end I packed up, having realised I was still greedy, I still had cravings for sweet things and pastries, and despite having lost some poundage, I realised, I was just looking for an easy option.I just came awake one day, there is no easy option and any path I took looking for an easy way out, could only really end up as a failure. So I decided the only real way to live, day to day and for all other days in my future, was to eat real food, food I can afford, food I can access, eat more sensibly, curb my greed and learn about the value of food, not just the carbs, but the proteins, fats, calorific values etc…I had folk telling me all kinds of stuff ranging from the fantastical to the cold hard truth. Some of it, useless and some of it sobering, some of it scary too. Anyway I got a bit down about it all, panicking and beating myself up for being such a Richard Head, it was suddenly a huge task, more panic and denial, I had been flapping away, trying to look like I had been trying hard when really I had just wasted about 5 years or more.Fell back into nonsense for a while, quoting reasons why I had to eat out, or grab a pie, or drop into Mcdonalds, yes yes I was just so busy, busy, busy, couldn’t possibly manage to find the time to organise my food properly. One day I was talking to a friend of mine, and she says you know that Big Tasty, its like nearly 900cals…cripes (or something along those lines). While I was in there, some woman was at the counter causing a right stir because they had no milk shakes, and she was top volume, and she was banging on about what could she have now, she is diabetic, what am I supposed to drink now, bang…bang…on…and on…anyway I thought to myself, my goodness does she not realise that there are like 1000 and 1 billion calories in them milkshakes and enough sugar to knock a big dog to sleep (even I knew that)…And this made me think…what the hell am I doing wasting 900 calories on this Big Tasty thing, it’s not even that nice…And I kept remembering the woman, ranting on at the McDonalds staff who were trying to offer her a Sprite Zero or something, and I thought, she really needs to educate herself, and also stop being a big cry baby.So I went home and started to look about, what could I get for 900C, how does my Metformin actually work, what the hell is an incretin mimetic…and my fire was alight.Then I had a few months up and down, busy some days, 2 month stretch working away from home, my BG was climbing and I was really frustrated, because by now I had lost over stone since visiting the Doc last, I had been keeping an eye on my carbs, and still my fasting BG was going up. Had a moan to the nurse about it all and felt like no one was listening. Gave up for a bit.Then a friend of mine, had both his legs amputated (he has passed away now) due to diabetes. This was a smack in the face. Got me back in the driving seat. I started a food diary, pressed my nurse for BG testing strips, showed her my diary to show I was trying, lost another half stone, spoke to the Doc about this morning thing, and how I felt about the Victoza, he decided I could take insulin.So did a few more weeks, food diary, BG diary, keeping under 2500C a day (Avg about 1950) started walking a bit more (not enough but more than I used to), started to get a grip on my food as I was by now not having to weigh every single thing, and of course I knew cals, carbs and protein of lots of the foods I had been eating, so even the food diary was getting easier. Lost another half stone in that 6 weeks despite the nurse telling me most folks put weight on with insulin.But I had learned something really valuable, something a friend of mine (who is a doctor) said a number of years back about ‘putting fuel in’, you can’t put more fuel in than you burn otherwise you will grow more little storage tanks (fat cells) and for most folks this is undeniably true. So when I accepted (and had proof thanks to my initial food diaries) that I was simply eating too much, I worked on it.I started by buying food that was measured out, such as sliced cheese, cheese triangles, Weetabix, a can of soup, I also bought things in smaller packets, say buy 4 bread rolls instead of a loaf, and if I wanted a loaf I bought a Danish/Nimble. When that was part of my routine, I then started buying things I could measure more, such as bigger pots of cottage cheese, yogurt, things that basically you need to measure to discover how much a portion is. Then you can figure it all out, figure out the calories, how many carbs, how much protein etc…and you can then take from it what you need in order to suit your lifestyle and choices.Now, if I want KFC for example, I may get a Mighty Bucket for one, I know it’s about 1200C I swap the fries for corn usually, and I know I can make it through the day with 800C left, I’ve done it a few times…If I want a pie, I have one, I want a cake, I have one, I use full fat milk, I eat full fat yogurt, I like fried eggs, bacon with fat, butter, I eat fruit, and I eat cereals and breads, sandwiches out, etc. And still I lost about 1lb per week as long as I kept under 2500C for at least 5-6 days a week and I was averaging 1950C over the week despite hitting over 3000C sometimes due to things like lazy KFC day, some days, I would just eat less, sometimes I knew I needed to and other times I just did not feel like it or was just busy.The real difference now, I portion it out, in the respect that I know I have a limit and when that limit is reached I curb it, I look for value in calories, just like you do say with money, I imagine it is like a bank of coins and I can spend my stipend on things I like but I can only spend X amount, it’s not some unlimited buffet with no consequences, there is always a payback at some point and mine was diabetes.I am much more at ease with my food now and I think this has really helped me because I don’t feel like I am in some constant battle with it, being controlled with cravings and desires nor embroiled in some big drama on a daily basis where I constantly worry about what I can eat, I just know as long as stick within my limits I am doing ok and I have lost over 3 stone now.Whatever you choose to do, whatever food plan you go with, my advice, educate yourself, learn about your meds, your condition, learn about food, its values, how it affects you, how it helps, how it hinders. Talk to your nurse/doctor, be honest with yourself and them, they can’t help you otherwise and most of all, know you are not alone, there are a ton of people who know a lot about this condition, and how to live with it, happily and not feel like you are trapped.Best wishes…</blockquote>

Verification

Top Bottom

Search

Search

Reply to Thread