Newbie Here - T2 and feeling I need help.

[sTuLaa]

Hey, I'm new to these forums and just wanted to post in this particular food forum as I have totally lost control of my diabetes and I think I've now reached a point where if I don't or can't do anything then it's going to be curtains.

I was diagnosed t2 approx 8 years ago. In that time I have seen my hbA1c go from 65 to 56, to 52 and right the way back up the scale again to 99 (most recently).

I love food this is my problem and I can be somewhat of glutton for the sweet stuff or carbs, for example I love pasta. I have tried slimming world but honestly the groups I've attended have very limited diabetic experience and they kind of ask me what I can and can't eat and the honest answer is even after all these years I don't really know.

The reason for my post here is I am wondering if there is some kind soul who could help me with a basic meal plan.

What I can tell you is for breakfast I will either have 1 sachet quaker porridge oats (original) with milk OR 2 weetabix with milk. As I understand it this is literally the only part of my meal plan which is solid. I could do with ideas for lunch and of course evening meal and finally what could I snack on if hungry?

My issues are compounded by other significant health issues which mean I am disabled and have limited mobility and chronic pain so exercising whilst possible in small doses (and is what I do) isn't as powerful a tool as it could be.

Really just hoping for a bit of help and support I honestly feel lost and managing multiple significant health problems is just horrific, but I am certain I don't want to die young.

 

[Elenka_HM]

Hi! Welcome to the forum, sorry to hear you are finding difficult to manage your diabetes. I'm type 1 and my ideal meals may be different from yours, so I will wait for some kind type 2 to offer their advice. Don't be discouraged if nobody replies right now as the forum is not so active at night, I am sure someone will pop by tomorrow with good ideas 🙂

 

[janw]

Hi there and welcome
I'm never too sure about oats as for some they can cause a big spike - the only way to find out is if you test with a blood glucose (BG) monitor, You finger prick test before you eat, then 2 hours after. If it gives you a rise of over 2 - 3 mmol then it is too high.
A lot of T2s tend to have full fat yoghurt with berries and maybe just a tiny bit of granola sprinkled over.
I don't eat breakfast, but you can easily check out the "What I ate yesterday" post in here and see what other T2s have for the meals, including breakfast. You can even have egg and bacon or high meat content sausages.
Eggs are 0 carbs so you can hard boil some and keep them in the fridge as a go-to snack. Most meats and fish are 0 carbs too.
If you check before and after every meal, you will see which carbs affect you, then you can try reducing portion size or use an alternative instead. Unless you are on certain meds you will need to self fund a BG meter, the test strips and lancets. Also it can be very useful to keep an online food diary (a free one is sufficient), log everything you eat and drink, then you can see how you are doing with your daily limits - it can help you plan and make better choices.
Most aim to eat no more than 130g of carbs per day to help them lose weight, but make sure you get ample fats and proteins - don't worry so much about calories, it is the carbs that need to be reduced.
If you have any other questions, just ask, someone will always be happy to come back to you. We can help you along your journey and walk along with you.

 

[sTuLaa]

Hi there and welcome
I'm never too sure about oats as for some they can cause a big spike - the only way to find out is if you test with a blood glucose (BG) monitor, You finger prick test before you eat, then 2 hours after. If it gives you a rise of over 2 - 3 mmol then it is too high.
A lot of T2s tend to have full fat yoghurt with berries and maybe just a tiny bit of granola sprinkled over.
I don't eat breakfast, but you can easily check out the "What I ate yesterday" post in here and see what other T2s have for the meals, including breakfast. You can even have egg and bacon or high meat content sausages.
Eggs are 0 carbs so you can hard boil some and keep them in the fridge as a go-to snack. Most meats and fish are 0 carbs too.
If you check before and after every meal, you will see which carbs affect you, then you can try reducing portion size or use an alternative instead. Unless you are on certain meds you will need to self fund a BG meter, the test strips and lancets. Also it can be very useful to keep an online food diary (a free one is sufficient), log everything you eat and drink, then you can see how you are doing with your daily limits - it can help you plan and make better choices.
Most aim to eat no more than 130g of carbs per day to help them lose weight, but make sure you get ample fats and proteins - don't worry so much about calories, it is the carbs that need to be reduced.
If you have any other questions, just ask, someone will always be happy to come back to you. We can help you along your journey and walk along with you.

Hi thanks for your reply I am on the max dose of Metformin and max Gliclazide a day I believe, thats to say 1 x 500mg metformin twice a day and the same with 1 x 80mg gliclazide twice a day.

 

[Leadinglights]

There are many people in your situation with limited mobility but although important is is your dietary regime witch will have most impact on your blood glucose levels so it is going to be an essential to look at your carbohydrate intake and reduce what you have. I know this is easier said than done but there is no reason for meals to be boring and unsatisfying.
There are plenty of low carb foods you can base your meals on, meat, fish, eggs, cheese, dairy, vegetables, fruit like berries, nuts, salads with only small portions of any high carb foods.
Your HbA1C is pretty high but many people have managed to get it down by reviewing their diet.
You might find this link useful for finding a new approach to a low carb way of eating.https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/.

 

[Drummer]

@s TuLaa Neither the oats nor Weetabix are anything I'd consider eating, as they are high carb, which is what type 2s can't cope with. Who told you that they'd be a good choice?

 

[sTuLaa]

@s TuLaa Neither the oats nor Weetabix are anything I'd consider eating, as they are high carb, which is what type 2s can't cope with. Who told you that they'd be a good choice?

My diabetic nurse.

What are the best "quick" options for a morning breakfast? How about some Fage yoghurt with a bit of granola ?

 

[harbottle]

My diabetic nurse.

What are the best "quick" options for a morning breakfast? How about some Fage yoghurt with a bit of granola ?

I have Fage yoghurt with berries and peanut butter. Sometimes I put a bit of lemon zest in it and some vanilla extract. I usually sprinkle some sweet cinnamon on it.

 

[Leadinglights]

My diabetic nurse.

What are the best "quick" options for a morning breakfast? How about some Fage yoghurt with a bit of granola ?

I have full fat Greek yoghurt (I quite like the Aldi one) with berries and about 10g of a low sugar granola (Lizi's at the moment but there are some shop own as well, that one is 45g carb per 100g)

 

[Drummer]

My diabetic nurse.

What are the best "quick" options for a morning breakfast? How about some Fage yoghurt with a bit of granola ?

Well - watch out for anything else that nurse has told you to do as she appears to have no idea of how a type two should manage, control or reverse their numbers.
I have never had fage yoghurt so don't know the carb value. I get full fat Greek yoghurt but have never eaten granola. These days I have one and a half meals a day - my breakfasts are getting smaller for some reason, but in the warm weather I have been having salads or scrambled eggs and cheese, or a blob of mozzarella and a tomato.
Using my blood glucose tester I found that I was more insulin resistant in the mornings, so I divide the 40 gm of day I eat into 10 gm for the first meal and up to 30 in the evening for the days when I have a dessert.

 

[sTuLaa]

I have started really trying to track everything so here is how my chart looks today so far. I still have to take my before bed reading, but don't plan to eat anything later than 9pm. The Sugars were high this morning because last I had a god awful day yesterday and are very poorly. I have just eaten an apple but will like have some boiled eggs with 1 slice of wholemeal for my last meal of the day.

 

[Leadinglights]

You do not seem to be eating very much certainly not much protein and no vegetables or salad.
The testing you are doing is very random and is not going to tell you very much about the effect of your meals.
It is usual to test before you eat and after 2 hours and an increase of no more than 2-3mmol/l is what you should aim for.
Sometimes not eating and being active can result in the liver releasing glucose so you level will be higher than you would expect.
As your level starts to come down then a post meal reading of no more than 8.5mmol/l is where you want to be at. and 4-7 before meals or fasting ie first thing in the morning.

 

[sTuLaa]

Right now I'm testing every 2 hours, today was a bit different as I didn't wake up til later.

The Chart I linked above has testing every 2h, and within those it has my before and after for my first 2 meals of the day.

The morning times would normally be 8am but I didnt get up til later this morning.

 

[janw]

Sorry but the only way you can check for carb spikes is to test just before you eat and 2 hours after that first bite, otherwise you are not getting consistent readings and that is the way we learn to control our BGs. We are trying to help you to help yourself. I think you have the ability to do very well - and show that silly nurse the correct way we T2s do things. If they are not diabetic themselves, they really don't know the ins and outs of how we manage (or try to). x

 

[sTuLaa]

I'm aware of how to test, I've been diabetic for 8 years. its clear (to me at least) from what I posted at which point I ate something.

Example 3pm I test before eating, glucose is 9.0 I then eat boiled eggs with some butter, subsequent test 2h later at 5pm is 6.4 at which point I had a coffee with milk,and at 7pm 2h later I'm on 6.7

maybe it just makes sense to me how I have laid it out lol

 

[Mal / Blackpool UK]

Hi thanks for your reply I am on the max dose of Metformin and max Gliclazide a day I believe, thats to say 1 x 500mg metformin twice a day and the same with 1 x 80mg gliclazide twice a day.

I'm aware of how to test, I've been diabetic for 8 years. its clear (to me at least) from what I posted at which point I ate something.

Example 3pm I test before eating, glucose is 9.0 I then eat boiled eggs with some butter, subsequent test 2h later at 5pm is 6.4 at which point I had a coffee with milk,and at 7pm 2h later I'm on 6.7

maybe it just makes sense to me how I have laid it out lol

Yea I understand that, I’m type 1 levels are all over the place from 6.1-26.5, I’ve no idea what to eat it’s all hit and miss. On top of that I’ve got ruddy covid.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I have started really trying to track everything so here is how my chart looks today so far. I still have to take my before bed reading, but don't plan to eat anything later than 9pm. The Sugars were high this morning because last I had a god awful day yesterday and are very poorly. I have just eaten an apple but will like have some boiled eggs with 1 slice of wholemeal for my last meal of the day.

View attachment 20411

This looks like a great start @sTuLaa with some really encouraging signs.

First of all your BGs began to come down overnight, despite you having had a difficult day the day before. Many members here struggle with early morning BGs because their liver ‘fires up the burners’ in the early hours and dumps glucose from the liver, meaning that they can wake up higher than when they went to bed, despite not having eaten anything.

Another positive is that the rise from your single weetabix 12.2 to 13.8 is less than 2mmol/L. So while the numbers are on the high side, the meal itself was well tolerated.

A third positive is that later in the day with a high protein / low carb meal your BG levels dropped into range.

As you are taking Glic, you have to be a bit careful with carb reduction, to ensure that levels don’t drop to far too fast, but it looks to me that if you can aim for meals where the rise at 2hrs after eating is 2mmol/L, then your overall levels should gently come down into a happier place.

There are a bunch of meal plans and ideas here which might help, including low carb options that aim for approx 130g of carbs a day

Meal plans and diabetes

Eating nutritious, healthy and downright delicious food is that bit easier with our meal planners. We've created multiple different weekly meal plans to suit all types and tastes. They're nutritionally balanced, are calorie and carb counted, and can help if you want to lose weight. They also...

www.diabetes.org.uk

But by ‘eating to your meter’ and aiming to keep your meal rises to 2-3mmol/L at the 2hr mark you should be able to discover a flexible and enjoyable range of choices that suit your BGs, your tastebuds and your bank balance 🙂