Struggling female

[FairyDust]

Hi I am introducing myself as have just joined the forum. I am an older female who has been diabetic T2 for over 10 years now but of late have been struggling to control my blood sugars. I think carbohydrates are having quite a bad affect on my blood now and I am struggling to get my readings down to an acceptable level. I take 5 Gliclizide tablets a day but my readings are getting higher. I am about 3 stones overweight but no matter how hard I try I can't seem to loose weight. Any ideas on how to cut out carbs would be appreciated. I do an exercise class at my local gym twice a week which is quite strenuous but it does not appear to make much difference. These have stopped just now due to Covid and because of other health conditions I find walking very difficult..Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Inka]

Welcome @FairyDust 🙂

A good place to start is to look at what you’re eating now (keep a food diary) and then see places where you can make changes. Gliclazide can cause hypos so it’s better to cut your carbs down gradually rather than suddenly cut them out altogether.

Can you give us an idea of a day’s food for you?

There are some low carb recipes on the info pages here. Let me find a link for you. You can also look through the thread What Did You Eat...?

 

[Inka]

Here we are:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/enjoy-food/eating-with-diabetes/meal-plans/low-carb

*Bear in mind you might need to add a few carbs to start with if your current diet contains a lot of carbs (because otherwise the Gliclazide could cause hypos).

 

[cameron]

Hi there, welcome to the forum. 🙂

Good advice by @Inka, especially about keeping a food diary.

Without reducing your carb intake just yet, have you tried replacing refined cereal foods with wholegrains? Instead of white rice, you could eat quinoa for example.

 

[FairyDust]

Thank you Inka for such a prompt reply. My usual type of days food is 2 poached eggs on 2 slices of 50/50 wholemeal toast and small orange.
Lunch usually homemade soup e.g. broccoli & spinach or butternut and red pepper another piece of fruit. Dinner home made chicken curry with Basmati brown rice. Supper 3 cream crackers with small amount of cheese. I always eat brown rice/pasta, I give rabbits a run for their money with all the veg I eat, mostly green and I eat lots of fruit. Downsides of my diet is I like biscuits but try to stick to sugar free and love a piece of cake but not everyday. I also love potatoes, I have an Actifry so limit oil intake. Your link is greatly appreciated and will study it well. Thank you.

 

[FairyDust]

Welcome @FairyDust 🙂

A good place to start is to look at what you’re eating now (keep a food diary) and then see places where you can make changes. Gliclazide can cause hypos so it’s better to cut your carbs down gradually rather than suddenly cut them out altogether.

Can you give us an idea of a day’s food for you?

There are some low carb recipes on the info pages here. Let me find a link for you. You can also look through the thread What Did You Eat...?

Thank you for replying. Yes I think Inka's reply makes a lot of sense. Am going to give it a go. I always eat brown rice and pasta, but had not thought of quinoa and I will beware of reducing carbs too swiftly. Thank you 🙂

 

[grovesy]

Thank you for replying. Yes I think Inka's reply makes a lot of sense. Am going to give it a go. I always eat brown rice and pasta, but had not thought of quinoa and I will beware of reducing carbs too swiftly. Thank you 🙂

Over the years I have had to adjust what I eat many times, I can no longer eat rice or pasta regularly even if I had a small portion.

 

[Drummer]

Ah yes, that explains it. Your diet is full of high carb foods, and although you might need to eat some carbs to counter the effects of the medication, you are eating maybe four or five times a day and having starches and sugary foods throughout the day.
I eat twice a day, no grain or high starch foods, no sugary stuff, and I don't need tablets to have normal blood glucose. It really is a simple way of eating, and very effective.

 

[Perfect10]

You could try replacing rice with cauliflower rice, it also makes a good mash
celeriac makes good chips and again mash
Berries are lower carb than other fruit
There are lower carb breads - go is do a lower carb and whole meal nimble and there is a loaf called Livlife that I have found in Waitrose which is lower still.
But as others have advised, don’t change everything all at once!

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @FairyDust

Sorry to hear that you are having trouble with your diabetes management recently.

@Inka’s suggestion of a food diary could be a very helpful one, especially if you make a note of the estimated carb content of each meal - as this will help you spot which meals are most likely to be increasing your BG levels. If you get hold of a BG meter and include your BG levels before and 2hours after eating you will also be able to see which carbs suit your body best (everyone is different, and you may find some happy surprises along the way)

If this approach interests you, the most affordable meters members here have found are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 - which both have test strips at around £8 for 50

 

[adrian1der]

You could try replacing rice with cauliflower rice, it also makes a good mash
celeriac makes good chips and again mash
Berries are lower carb than other fruit
There are lower carb breads - go is do a lower carb and whole meal nimble and there is a loaf called Livlife that I have found in Waitrose which is lower still.
But as others have advised, don’t change everything all at once!

Not forgetting courgetti spaghetti