Saying hello after lurking in the background for a couple of weeks

[Dave_Z1a]

Shocked, horrified, worried, annoyed at my diagnosis which is a typical reaction I guess but determined to do something to mitigate it. Huge leaning curve, initialy getting quite confused in all the available information.
After reading some of Alan Shankey's blog and Jennifer's amazing u.s.a. website info together with the mass of info on this site and some wonderful knowledgable comments by seasoned posters on here I am a lot calmer and focused. So I thought I would say hi and thank you all for your postings which have been very helpful and informative. My doctors surgery doesn't appear to be very supportive so far and realise its down to me to be proactive and make myself heard. Next meeting with DB nurse at end of March where I am hoping my HBA1C will have gone below 53. Does lowering it help improve your spot readings with the BG meter, i.e. does a lower HB help your body to deal with day to day tolerance of carbs? Finding the food thing very difficult with just the two of us and differing tastes, cooking two meals most nights!

 

[Lily123]

Hi, the HbA1C is an average measure of BG over three months so if you get your HbA1C down then your BG will be in range more

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Dave_Z1a

And congratulations on delurking!

My opinion would be that an improved reaction to the carbs you are eating will lead to a reduced HbA1c rather than the reduced HbA1c affecting your carb reactions. 🙂

 

[Dave_Z1a]

Thank you for your replies. Think I am doing quite well 4 weeks in after following advice on this forum so am in a better place so to speak. Monitor gives weekly averages of 6.2 mmol/l and bp down. A couple of questions if I may?
1 can I private message people on the forum? If do how? I am interested in "Docb's" recipe for home made marmalade if he dosn't mind sharing!
2 Am steadily losing weight, was 80 kg, want to get to 70, whilst this is fairly easy I am a bit worried that I won't be able to stop! Lots of books and advice on diets with the aim to loose weight but not much info on ones that will maintain weight on low carbs that show recommended daily intakes of nutrients etc? Can anybody point me in the right direction?

 

[Mrs Mimoo]

Thank you for your replies. Think I am doing quite well 4 weeks in after following advice on this forum so am in a better place so to speak. Monitor gives weekly averages of 6.2 mmol/l and bp down. A couple of questions if I may?
1 can I private message people on the forum? If do how? I am interested in "Docb's" recipe for home made marmalade if he dosn't mind sharing!
2 Am steadily losing weight, was 80 kg, want to get to 70, whilst this is fairly easy I am a bit worried that I won't be able to stop! Lots of books and advice on diets with the aim to loose weight but not much info on ones that will maintain weight on low carbs that show recommended daily intakes of nutrients etc? Can anybody point me in the right direction?

Professor Taylor (newcastle uni) says for maintenance diet eat 3/4 of what you ate before portion size wise, continue to avoid beige food (carbs) and eat a mediterranian diet. I see that as lean proteins, full fat dairy and loads of veg with the occasional small potato....? Keep weighing and use BG monitor to see what upsets the blood sugars.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome from me too.

Sounds like you have found some really helpful and reliable sources of info and already made a good start and most importantly, you have the right mindset.
As regards weight maintenance once you hit your target, up the natural fats and use the fat to regulate your weight..... So for instance I have cream in my morning coffee and full fat creamy Greek style yoghurt and nice cheese pretty much every day and olives and nuts and my guilty pleasure, pork scratchings. If my belt needs letting out a notch or my skinny jeans feel a bit tight, I cut back on my fat intake, if I am getting a bit lean I add some back in. It's not rocket science, just making simple adjustments to keep things in balance. I rarely weigh myself and apart from monitoring my carb intake, I don't log any other nutrients. I do make sure to have plenty of fibre and particularly soluble fibre as I think that may be important with eating more fat.

 

[Robin]

1 can I private message people on the forum? If do how? I am interested in "Docb's" recipe for home made marmalade if he dosn't mind sharing

If you have the facility to private message, there will be an envelope symbol you can click on somewhere in the top right corner to get started. Sometimes until you’ve made a certain number of posts, the facility doesn’t show, I think this is to help deal with spammers. You can tag someone in a post though, by putting an @ in front of their name, then they will get an alert to his thread. So if you put @Docb , it will alert him to this thread, and that his marmalade is coveted, and he can respond here. (He’s also a Moderator, so he may be able to help with the private messaging facility too.)

 

[Dave_Z1a]

Thank you guys, very useful replies, much appreciated, so glad I joined this forum.

 

[Docb]

Thank you for your replies. Think I am doing quite well 4 weeks in after following advice on this forum so am in a better place so to speak. Monitor gives weekly averages of 6.2 mmol/l and bp down. A couple of questions if I may?
1 can I private message people on the forum? If do how? I am interested in "Docb's" recipe for home made marmalade if he dosn't mind sharing!
2 Am steadily losing weight, was 80 kg, want to get to 70, whilst this is fairly easy I am a bit worried that I won't be able to stop! Lots of books and advice on diets with the aim to loose weight but not much info on ones that will maintain weight on low carbs that show recommended daily intakes of nutrients etc? Can anybody point me in the right direction?

The best marmalade I reckon is made with Seville oranges which have a narrow season round about now. You will have to go to a proper grocers to find them, the supermarkets (except Booths) generally don't bother.

I used a Dehlia Smith recipe to get quantities right and used straightforward granulated sugar. It is worth saving the pips and pith and tying them up in a muslin bag and adding it to the pot whilst cooking the shredded peel. I judged the set by the spoon method. Did not need a thermometer.

There is massive margin for error and provided that when adding the sugar to the pulp you take care to make sure it is all dissolved before you whack up the heat to boil off excess water to get a set, then you cannot go far wrong.

Have a go!

 

[trophywench]

The trick with eating any marmalade or jam I reckon is to only have the bare minimum when you eat it. hence while I'd REALLY like to have Keillers 'thick shred' Dundee marmalade the only way to enjoy that is with the minimum toast and maximum butter and marm both spread in deep waves on cold toast, instead I have a scrape of butter and of OH's weedy and wan looking Silver Shred. It saves me from myself anyway!

 

[ianf0ster]

The trick with eating any marmalade or jam I reckon is to only have the bare minimum when you eat it. hence while I'd REALLY like to have Keillers 'thick shred' Dundee marmalade the only way to enjoy that is with the minimum toast and maximum butter and marm both spread in deep waves on cold toast, instead I have a scrape of butter and of OH's weedy and wan looking Silver Shred. It saves me from myself anyway!

I couldn't trust myself with jam or marmalade, so I just stick to dark 95% chocolate.

 

[Gwynn]

@Dave_Z1a sounds like you have the right drive, focus, determination and direction. I agree there is a lot of good information and advice on this forum. Quite a few report that their GPs seem to take little interest and conclude (rightly) that control and success is down to themselves. So it's a long and deep voyage of discovery, but a fascinating one.

Reducing your carbs and being consistent will lower your BG readings (hopefully) which will in turn lower the 3 months HbA1C test result. It will be interesting to see what it is so do let us know.

Mine droped from 140 at diagnosis to 46 one month in (if I remember correctly) and to 39 three months in.

So, great stuff, keep going....

 

[Bloden]

Hi there @Dave_Z1a. Sounds like you’ve hit the ground running...well done. It IS a steep learning curve, but there are lots of benefits to making changes. Stay curious!

 

[Inka]

Welcome @Dave_Z1a 🙂 Determination will get you a long way!

 

[Dave_Z1a]

@Gwyn wow what a stunning reduction in HB!! Thank you for that, yes am getting much more stable readings now, the first two weeks my graph looked like the Atlas mountain range! The words "your meter is your friend" are burned into my mind. Constantly get 4 - 5 in morning and try to keep between tight limits of below 6 before food, 8 at one hour and 6.5 at two hours. Fascinating the effect some foods have and how they work differently if combined. I now know, bread, pasta, potatoes any cereal is a complete no no for me plus the obvious. A lunch snack of tesco wheat crackers works well but only if there is cheese on top, tried branstone pickle on top as well, all fine!
Based on my meter averages (6.2), I an on course for a low HB I hope, must be nerve racking waiting for the first test result.

 

[Dave_Z1a]

@Docb thanks for the instructions, will be hunting for the correct oranges tomorrow, I nave a thing about marmalade! Will go nicely with my one carb a slice bread I have found!

 

[Dave_Z1a]

Thank you for your replies, welcome and encouragement to all the other posters above!

 

[ianf0ster]

Yes @Dave_Z1a indeed you are on course for a low HbA1C reading.
You can be confident about that because you are testing soon(ish) after food which means that after those times up until you eat again (barring liver dumps like Dawn Phenomenon) you are going to be having a much lower HbA1C reading than those 2hrs after food!
Once you have tested enough to get confidence in which food to eat in which quantities and at what times (because all 3 affect how we personally process carbs), you will be able to do much less testing. Saving both money and sore fingers!

 

[Dave_Z1a]

Thanks @ianf0ster, yes going through test strips like shelling peas and the fingers are taking a hammering, still I would rather know whats going on! You did incredibly well as well and your HB was the same as mine at the start, right; I feel a challenge coming on here 🙂

 

[helli]

going through test strips like shelling peas and the fingers are taking a hammering,

A couple of thoughts related to this statement
- have you considered the free Libre trial. It is pricey for all time but over the 14 days of the trial you can get a good insight.
- why are your fingers taking a hammering? Until I had Libre, I needed to finger pricks 10 or more times a day. If I changed fingers regularly, prick on the side of the fleshy part, adjusted the depth of the Lancet and warmed my fingers before testing, my fingers did not "take a hammering"