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Why Can't I Sort Myself Out?!

jocoll

Member
Messages
17
Location
UK
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi all,
I was diagnosed a few years ago as type 2 and have been trying to manage it on diet alone since then, unsuccessfully
I have been lurking here since diagnosed, I have read all the info, re testing, low carb diets, starter pack etc but for some reason just cannot stop myself eating **** that I shouldn't!
My levels are always really high, now my last eye test showed the beginnings of retinopathy. I have been losing weight, gradually but people have started to mention it, most people think its great but I know its because of the diabetes.
I have admitted defeat and agreed to start metformin, I took my first one today but I am worried about taking them as am scared of the side effects (more scared of this than diabetes complications, how does that work lol).
I'm a well educated adult, who knows what to do to get my levels down, why can't I just get on and do it?!

Sorry to come on and moan in my first post, just wanted to get it off my chest, feeling pretty upset and frustrated today for some reason and can't really say all this to anyone irl.

Thanks
 
I've had retinopathy . Injections I've had laser not nice .. of Friday .. I'm having a quadruple by-pass all down to ignoring my T2.. good luck .. but it needs adressing
 
Because carbs are addictive and you have to get through the withdrawal period before things start to fall into place. For me anyway.
 
This is a big thing to get your head around. Metformin (and other Diabetes drugs plus insulin) have absolutely nothing to do with defeat. These treatments are aids and in some cases vital to life for some of us.

You know what must be done, as you have said. Take it one step at a time but do take that first step and soon.
 
Hi, like most things in life we have to make choices, some easy and pleasant and some not so. As @Guzzler has said, you need to wean yourself off the carbs, it can be done and foods you can replace them with are enjoyable.
You need to be in a good place mentally before you can start to make the changes needed. When I was diagnosed I had a moment where I thought about what needed to be done verses what “I” wanted to do, but, I also thought about the consequences of choosing the later, after that the choice was easy. I thought about all the things that I didn’t want to loose, my health, sight, parts of my body, I didn’t want to be a partner, mum/nanny who was unwell, couldn’t join in or worst of all not here, I no longer view this condition as a bad thing, yes it’s life changing but it doesn’t have to be for the worst, in my case and I’m sure for many others it’s been a bit of a blessing, better health, weight loss, fitter, more energy...........
You will find people here supportive and motivating, you just need to take your first step.
 
Thanks all, I think I needed this bout of upset and frustration to kick myself up the bottom to start to make a proper change, more than the little things I did when first diagnosed.
I get anxious when I look at the food alternatives as I don't like many of them and sometimes they look like they take a lot of effort to prepare when I haven't got much time but I am going to make a list of all the low carb foods I do like and go from there.
Thanks for the support x
 
A low carb diet is pretty simple - I do have a few kitchen 'toys' which make it even easier, but some meat and a stir fry isn't exactly difficult to do, or open a tin of tuna and add it to a bowl of salad - or cook sausages eggs and mushrooms.
Making a list of low carb foods might take some time, it would perhaps be easier just to remember to avoid things over 10 percent carbs and start from there.
 
That’s a great place to start, meal planning is a great help for keeping on track. A good thread to follow https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/posts/1847107/
We post our daily menus and have a general chit chat about our day, trials, tribulations, and successes, we are a friendly and supportive group of posters to this thread, you might find some inspiration here.
 
So what do you like eating? Lets see if we can make it easier for you to leap down the rabbit hole of low carb.
 
its a two pronged attack. the carbs and high blood sugars make you feel ill and depressed on top of any other issues you have going on. The way that worked for me (I am recovered from an eating disorder 99% of the time) was to slowly cut down on my carbs and change my diet. As the days and weeks went by, I felt healthier, my mood improved, my carb addiction reduced, and it became easier to keep going.

The start is the hardest, one minute, on hour, one day at a time. Keep coming here for support. We do understand and many of us have been there. And dont worry about talking about the failures as well as the good days - you wont get judged, we have been through it.

Finally dont beat yourself up, carb addiction and the resulting cravings are a real and bit thing to tackle and experience. Its not your fault you are one of the people who happen to have this reaction to carbs. All the best.
 
Thanks again for all the advice, you are making me blub but for good reasons this time lol! Wow that low carb thread has loads of ideas and makes it seem less restrictive than at first glance. The difficulty I have is breakfast and lunch, I don''t have a lot of time in the mornings to do breakfast during the week, I eat at work and usually have a yoghurt, piece of fruit and a flavoured milk type drink like Yazoo. Lunch is a packed lunch but I am trying to cut down on the sarnies and having more salads, Ryvita etc.
When I was diagnosed I stopped drinking full fat fizzies (loved Coke!!) and since then have gone from having three sugars (I know!!) in my tea to two sweeteners, so trying to recognise the small victories!
 
jocoll said:
The difficulty I have is breakfast and lunch,
Click to expand...
Skip breakfast and replace with coffee with double cream and cold meats with salad are good for lunch. Just leave out bread so eat the sandwich filling without the stodgy wrapper you be 3/4 of the way there just doing that.
 
Hasn’t a Yazoo milk drink got about 4 days worth of carbs in it, if you’re on a low carb diet? And I think Ryvita is loaded with carbs too. Sorry to sound smug but I’ve eaten 2 x eggs, a piece of Macketel, some cream with a 1g of carb jelly and a slab of roast lamb plus cream in my cups of tea, as my low carb diet.
 
Aww thought they were the slightly better ones, maybe not then!
Not sure I can skip breakfast but boiled eggs etc and sarnie fillings without the sarnie sound good. Looks like I need to play around with combinations of foods to see what suits x
 
I’ve just checked and the Yazoos aren’t as bad as I thought but nearly 50g of carbs (sugar) per bottle
 
What sort of fruit are you eating? A few berries with double cream are ok. Bananas, apples, grapes among others are not.
 
Oh yes that is a lot
I usually have strawberries, melon, pear or sometimes a small banana
May start mixing the yogurt and berries, may seem like a bigger meal that way lol
 
Hmm have you thought why tennis players eat bananas between sets? Melon and pear not good. Fruit contains fructose. The only organ in the body that can use it is the liver. Yours is working hard enough as it is.
 
Are you testing your BG with a meter @jocoll ?

These are my figures for the last 3 days and you’ll see the jump to 11.3 on Friday after a small amount of fruit. There’s also a jump after my run which is a normal response cos your liver dumps glucose after heavy exercise. You can see that the v low carbs make a big difference.

27th
8.9 at 8.15
8.8 at 10.48 2 hours after egg and bacon and double cream (? carbs) with jelly (1g carbs) then 2.7 mile walk
11.3 at 5pm 2 hours after lunch 2 chicken legs, 2 boiled eggs, half grapefruit, 4 strawbs, 6 cherries
7.9 before dinner 7.30
8.7 2 hours after pork belly, no veg, cream and sugar free jelly

28th
9.6 at 7.30 Egg and bacon
5k run
10.3 at 10.17 45 mins after run
6.8 14.30 after 6 mile walk, 2 eggs at 14.00
7.4 at 16.46 2 hours after mackerel and cream and jelly at 3pm
6.3 19.30pm before dinner after glass red wine
6.5 at 23.30 2 hours after chicken and prawns and glass red wine

29th
8.9 9.30am
7.6 12.10pm 2 hours after 2 boiled eggs little exercise
7.2 16.30pm 2 hours after mackerel, pork and 6g carbs in a sausage little exercise
7.7 at 21.00 2 hours after 400g of lamb and 1g of carb in jelly and 4g in cream
 
jocoll said:
Aww thought they were the slightly better ones, maybe not then!
Not sure I can skip breakfast but boiled eggs etc and sarnie fillings without the sarnie sound good. Looks like I need to play around with combinations of foods to see what suits x
Click to expand...
An omelette takes the same amount of time to whip up as a piece of toast toasted and buttered, great, filling and 0 carbs, you can always add a little bit of cheese, ham, tomatoes etc makes it even more filling.
 
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