Hello from a Newbie

[mopinwil]

Hello, Thank you so much for allowing me to join. I have only just been diagnosed as having Diabetes Type 2 and taking Metformin medication. I feel I need to talk to people who are experienced at coping with this disease. Only too happy to discuss the possibility of reversing it and what is involved. I have already purchased a Blood Sugar monitor and a Heart Monitor and I am doing a daily log of the foods that I am having on a daily basis, divided into Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

I have also been reading up on the good and bad foods for people with Diabetes. So much to learn. I have other complications so it may be even more diffiult.

It has been a long journey to finding out but I do believe that was because I didn't really have many processed foods, preferring to use fresh but it was possibly an imbalance regaring portions of Protein/Vegetables/Fruits and Fats. I have also led a more sedentary life since I have had Osteo-Arthritis but until recently I could still look after my garden, greenhouse and do crafts like quilting, knitting and sewing garments. I am a little wiser now and trying to pace myself but still far from being wise enough.

My main fear is Neurophathy which I wasn't aware of when people were testing me for Diabetes Type 2. I had many tests on the advice of an organization I had joined but no one ever explained it to me. Just that people with Diabetes were prone to get painful legs and feet and at the worst may lose limbs.

I look forward to chatting with you,

Kind regards mopinwil. 🙂

 

[Vonny]

Hi @mopinwil and welcome to the club no one wants to join! 🙂 It sounds like you've made a great start with bg monitoring and keeping a food diary. They are things I learned from this forum and frankly, it was the only way to discover what I could and couldn't eat. You'll see from many threads on this forum that many of us are very low carbers but as everyone reacts differently you need to see for yourself what works for you.

There are people here who can give you advice about neuropathy. It's by no means guaranteed that you'll get it!

Any questions please fire away, there will always be someone who knows the answer 🙂

 

[Leadinglights]

It can all come as a bit of a shock especially when one feels that you are eating a healthy diet, unfortunately some of those foods are too high in carbohydrate for the body to cope with as it is either not producing enough insulin or using it efficiently to control the blood glucose level.
There is no need for meals to be boring or tasteless as a lot of people imagine when first diagnosed. Have a look at the thread What did you eat yesterday and you will see the sort of meals that people with type 2 have, some people can allow themselves more carbohydrates if they are on medication like insulin but otherwise if people are following a low carb regime and not everybody does then they will be trying to stick to less than 130g carb per day. Everybody will be different in how they tolerate carbohydrates but you have you monitor so can test for yourself.
Welcome to the forum by the way.
Have a look at the learning zone as that will have lots of information about the basics.

 

[Cherrelle DUK]

Hi @mopinwil, welcome to the forum.

Great to hear that you have been able to make a good start in managing your diabetes. Getting together a consistent testing routine and figuring out what foods work for you is really going to help.

Keeping active is a really beneficial way of preventing neuropathy so keep going with the things that you enjoy.

We've got a wealth of info on the site so do have a look around and let us know if you have any questions.

 

[mopinwil]

Hi @mopinwil and welcome to the club no one wants to join! 🙂 It sounds like you've made a great start with bg monitoring and keeping a food diary. They are things I learned from this forum and frankly, it was the only way to discover what I could and couldn't eat. You'll see from many threads on this forum that many of us are very low carbers but as everyone reacts differently you need to see for yourself what works for you.

There are people here who can give you advice about neuropathy. It's by no means guaranteed that you'll get it!

Any questions please fire away, there will always be someone who knows the answer 🙂

Thank you Vonny, I will for sure have to research my best low carb figure. I have known for years that I crave carbs and purchased a book on reducing carbs because the author believed that carbs within grains was one of the worst offenders regarding arthritis. I managed to carry out the recommendations in that book but the diet was so dire that I slowly let it go. If I would have had all the knowledge that has now come to the fore all those 50 yrs ago I might have been successful with it. Never mind, having known that I was carb intolerant I did reduce the carb intake but obviously not enough to make a difference regarding diabetes.

Thank you for the welcome. 🙂

 

[mopinwil]

It can all come as a bit of a shock especially when one feels that you are eating a healthy diet, unfortunately some of those foods are too high in carbohydrate for the body to cope with as it is either not producing enough insulin or using it efficiently to control the blood glucose level.
There is no need for meals to be boring or tasteless as a lot of people imagine when first diagnosed. Have a look at the thread What did you eat yesterday and you will see the sort of meals that people with type 2 have, some people can allow themselves more carbohydrates if they are on medication like insulin but otherwise if people are following a low carb regime and not everybody does then they will be trying to stick to less than 130g carb per day. Everybody will be different in how they tolerate carbohydrates but you have you monitor so can test for yourself.
Welcome to the forum by the way.
Have a look at the learning zone as that will have lots of information about the basics.

Thank you Leadinglights,

I will most certainly be heading for the Learning Zone and thank you for your welcome message.

 

[mopinwil]

Hi @mopinwil, welcome to the forum.

Great to hear that you have been able to make a good start in managing your diabetes. Getting together a consistent testing routine and figuring out what foods work for you is really going to help.

Keeping active is a really beneficial way of preventing neuropathy so keep going with the things that you enjoy.

We've got a wealth of info on the site so do have a look around and let us know if you have any questions.

Thank you Cherell,

One of the most difficult things for me is excercise. I used to be an ardent Badminton player and used to take long walks and do all weather swimming in the ocean until the onset of a Neuroma. I had an operation to remove it but sadly it grew back and it became more and more difficult to walk without becoming extremely tired and painful. I couldn't take up the offer of a further operation for removal as there were things going on with the family that I had to be up and running for and when able to do so I didn't take up that offer again. My mistake, I should have taken another direction and had that second operation. I am taking up the challenge of getting more exercise by using an elliptic exercise machine my daughter has leant me but my breathing is bad and it is a hard task but attempting to start slowly and gain momentum over the next few weeks.

Thank you for your welcome. 🙂

 

[Leadinglights]

Although exercise is going to make a difference, in your situation you can only do what you can do, so it will be looking seriously at your carbohydrate intake to make the difference.
The book or app Carbs and Cals is very useful for giving you the carb value of a whole range of foods and meals which gives you the information to make some better food choices or an internet search for anything not in there. Food packaging is also helpful but remember to look at total carb not just sugar. Protein and fats are not a problem for blood glucose control so you should base your meals on those with veg or salads. There are lots of recipes on here or if you look for low carb or Keto recipes on the internet it will give you some things to try.

 

[mopinwil]

Thank you so much for that information Leadinglights.

I will most certainly be looking for low Carb and Cals recipes. I enjoy cooking and researching recipes and so far I have established a fairly easy set of 7 days recipes that appear to be Carb, Cal, Sugar and Salt friendly but looking for others. I am also looking for something a little jazzier for a once a week treat but will steer clear of making a splash more than once a week at first so I don't mess up my weekly program. Off to look up some of those tasty recipes.

I found a recipe in a book in my library using

Easy Cook Polenta
Garlic
Rosemary
Chilli peppers

I used a pan that had been lightly brushed with coconut oil to warm those ingredients in a small pan.

I then made up the Polenta in another pan and added the garlic, rosemary and chilli pepper concoction together with a very small portion of grated Mature Cheddar Cheese.

Although I am also Lactose/Milk intolerent I learnt from one website that Lactose is lower in mature cheddar:

the carbs are zero
Fat is a little high
high sodium content of 190mg per ounce

I didn't feel I was causing too much harm using it for a once a week or once a month treat later in my program as a speciality meal.

The Polenta concoction served four and it was brushed with coconut oil again and put under the grill to make a nice crust. Served on a plate with freshly made tomatoe sauce infused with garlic and pepper. The three remaining portions were sent to the freezer. I hope this was a good experiment on my behalf but would accept constructive criticism gladly 🙂

 

[Vonny]

the carbs are zero
Fat is a little high
high sodium content of 190mg per ounce

If the carbs are zero, you will need some fat to compensate 🙂 so all seems good with that recipe

 

[mopinwil]

If the carbs are zero, you will need some fat to compensate 🙂 so all seems good with that recipe

Thank you Vonny I did wonder 🙂.

 

[Drummer]

Thank you so much for that information Leadinglights.

I will most certainly be looking for low Carb and Cals recipes. I enjoy cooking and researching recipes and so far I have established a fairly easy set of 7 days recipes that appear to be Carb, Cal, Sugar and Salt friendly but looking for others. I am also looking for something a little jazzier for a once a week treat but will steer clear of making a splash more than once a week at first so I don't mess up my weekly program. Off to look up some of those tasty recipes.

I found a recipe in a book in my library using

Easy Cook Polenta
Garlic
Rosemary
Chilli peppers

I used a pan that had been lightly brushed with coconut oil to warm those ingredients in a small pan.

I then made up the Polenta in another pan and added the garlic, rosemary and chilli pepper concoction together with a very small portion of grated Mature Cheddar Cheese.

Although I am also Lactose/Milk intolerent I learnt from one website that Lactose is lower in mature cheddar:

the carbs are zero
Fat is a little high
high sodium content of 190mg per ounce

I didn't feel I was causing too much harm using it for a once a week or once a month treat later in my program as a speciality meal.

The Polenta concoction served four and it was brushed with coconut oil again and put under the grill to make a nice crust. Served on a plate with freshly made tomatoe sauce infused with garlic and pepper. The three remaining portions were sent to the freezer. I hope this was a good experiment on my behalf but would accept constructive criticism gladly 🙂

Polenta is about 4/5ths carbohydrate by weight so not something I'd ever think of eating - why do you think that there are zero carbs?

 

[Leadinglights]

@mopinwil you may need to revisit your polenta recipe as polenta very definitely has carbs, 65g which looks about a tablespoon full is 10 g carb, so I suspect it was rather more than you thought.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @mopinwil

Lots of friendly helpful folks here to help you get your head around things.

To add to the information you’ve already picked up, members here frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter and Gretchen Becker’s book T2 Diabetes, the first year, which you can work through gradually in your own time. 🙂

 

[mopinwil]

@mopinwil you may need to revisit your polenta recipe as polenta very definitely has carbs, 65g which looks about a tablespoon full is 10 g carb, so I suspect it was rather more than you thought.

Thank you for your input Leadinglights it is most welcome 🙂. I am wearing two hats and sometimes get a little confused. I used Polenta frequently as a person intolerant to grains and gluten intolerant before having to wear a Diabetic hat also. Being a complex carbohydrate it gave me less of a problem than any other grains as did Buckwheat. I realise I have a lot to learn.

 

[mopinwil]

Welcome to the forum @mopinwil

Lots of friendly helpful folks here to help you get your head around things.

To add to the information you’ve already picked up, members here frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter and Gretchen Becker’s book T2 Diabetes, the first year, which you can work through gradually in your own time. 🙂

I will most certainly read the letter and books you recommend and thank you 🙂. One lessen I appear to have learnt is if it is too high in carbs it is a no no. Good lesson to learn early I think. I am so lucky to be able to make my mistakes with kind people with experience to point me in the right direction.

 

[mopinwil]

Polenta is about 4/5ths carbohydrate by weight so not something I'd ever think of eating - why do you think that there are zero carbs?

The zero carbs mentioned in my earlier post refer to the Mature Cheddar Cheese which was added to the Polenta and not the Polenta itself. So now I realise Polenta is not a friend now.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I will most certainly read the letter and books you recommend and thank you 🙂. One lessen I appear to have learnt is if it is too high in carbs it is a no no. Good lesson to learn early I think. I am so lucky to be able to make my mistakes with kind people with experience to point me in the right direction.

Hope you find them helpful 🙂

 

[Leadinglights]

The zero carbs mentioned in my earlier post refer to the Mature Cheddar Cheese which was added to the Polenta and not the Polenta itself. So now I realise Polenta is not a friend now.

I don't think I was saying don't have it but just be aware that it has carbs and make sure you count that in to your calculation of the carbs you are having at that meal. As we keep saying testing your blood glucose before and 2hors after the meal you can see if that food is OK for you. Yes the cheese is zero carbs so perfectly OK. You don't have to have no carbs but choose them carefully.

 

[mopinwil]

I don't think I was saying don't have it but just be aware that it has carbs and make sure you count that in to your calculation of the carbs you are having at that meal. As we keep saying testing your blood glucose before and 2hors after the meal you can see if that food is OK for you. Yes the cheese is zero carbs so perfectly OK. You don't have to have no carbs but choose them carefully.