What to eat ? Newly diagnosed

[joannem]

Hi everyone, I was borderline diabetes for couple of years and I have been told I now have diabetes type 2. I find it very confusing and conflicting advice online on what I can eat. I need to also lose weight. My hba1c was 7.1 so I really need to reduce it. I have porridge with strawberries and blueberries for breakfast, home made soup or wholemeal tuna sandwich and chicken with veg for tea. Any advice on what I call normal food. Thanks

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi everyone, I was borderline diabetes for couple of years and I have been told I now have diabetes type 2. I find it very confusing and conflicting advice online on what I can eat. I need to also lose weight. My hba1c was 7.1 so I really need to reduce it. I have porridge with strawberries and blueberries for breakfast, home made soup or wholemeal tuna sandwich and chicken with veg for tea. Any advice on what I call normal food. Thanks

A look at this link may give you some ideas as it is based on real food and on a suggested no more than 130g carbs not just sugar per day.

Freshwell Low Carb Project - Home

lowcarbfreshwell.com

You could made an easy reduction in having Full fat Greek yoghurt with your berries and say some seed or nuts. Home made soups are usually good as long as they don't have potatoes. Dinner sounds good if you don't have rice or pasta. You could have an 'open sandwich' with just 1 slice bread and have salad or coleslaw with it instead.

 

[Vonny]

If you have the time to make an omelette in the morning, that's a good low-carb breakfast. You can add whatever veg you like to ring the changes: mushrooms, cheese, peppers, onions etc.
If you're not a fan of greek yoghurt (I can't stand it!) you could also have double cream with your berries in the morning. Bizarrely, double cream is a good go-to for diabetics with far fewer carbs than milk.

 

[joannem]

Thank you, I like greek yogurt and have had the fat free one with fruit. I also like eggs so will make omlettes. Could I have the odd jacket potato, brown rice, wholemeal spaghetti?

 

[Leadinglights]

Thank you, I like greek yogurt and have had the fat free one with fruit. I also like eggs so will make omlettes. Could I have the odd jacket potato, brown rice, wholemeal spaghetti?

You may find that the book Carbs and Cals helpful as it gives carb values for different portion sizes of a whole range of foods so it is easy to see what a jacket potato would be in terms of carbs and what a portion of rice or pasta is as they are all high carb foods and can be deceptive as to how many carbs there are i what seems like a small amount. A portion would generally need to be much less that you would be served in a restaurant.
People often substitute lower carb versions, like edamame bean or black bean pasta or cauliflower rice or baked butternut squash, cereeriac or swede.
How much you need to do will depend on what your HbA1C is now.

 

[joannem]

thanks

 

[trophywench]

Why the fat free yoghurt? Whilst nobody in their right mind wishes to become clinically obese, unless you have lots of weight to lose, since nobody's very likely to eat tons of yoghurt (or gallons of it) either, may not be instantly necessary. But - of course - the important things re diabetes are to reduce the amount of carbohydrate you eat and ensure you move more on a regular basis.

This 'ere 'movement thing' doesn't necessarily mean training for a marathon. By now I'm wiped out by the time I've vacuumed a room, whereas I used to vac the whole house or maybe one floor of it with no prob. Making the bed in a morning's OK but can't actually change bed on my own now. We always walked - and my OH got paid to do that as a meter reader, at one time. So if you are OK to walk, walk! As I said - make sure it becomes a regular thing though so eg if you don't have a dog that needs walks, maybe accompany a neighbour or friend that does.

And yeah you can have anything you like, OCCASIONALLY !!

 

[saffron15]

@joannem welcome to the forum. You will only really know how your body reacts to particular carbs by buying a blood glucose monitor and testing. I still haven't tested how I react to porridge which used to be my go to winter breakfast. I have full fat Greek or Greek style yoghurt usually M and S or yeo valley but I have also bought from other supermarkets with berries and sometimes seeds or nuts or a sprinkle of granola or nutty muesli or mushroom or cheese omlette. If it is late morning I sometimes have a fry up in a cafe preferably without beans or hash browns. I started out being told my cholestral had crept up and discovered my surgery last tested me for diabetes in 2014 ( no reason given for stopping)

I asked for a test and the second reading in July was 64.

I had cut out the naughty stuff and effectively gone low carb between 80 and 120 gms carbs. Suddenly I was losing 2lbs a week. I had heaped weight on with an early menopause.

Start moving more. Ten minute walk after eating, housework, gardening stretching. I go swimming but have had an eye op so cannot go for a few weeks.

What i have learned is to eat mindfully. I decided to cut out pasta and use substitutes, I've also cut out rice. I've bought a pack of cauli/ broccoli rice from h and b but haven't tried it yet. If I go out I often eat bread. I occasionally have potatoes but then I'm careful with portions. A few months ago I bought a cottage pie from the WI market. I had half one day with extra veg and the same the next day. Tonight I'm having sea bass carrots and cauliflower with a bit of cheese and some creme fresh. Tomorrow I'm having sea trout fennel and winter sprouting broccoli. In the end you could eat anything if you look at portion control. I sometimes have a toasted tea cake and once a month a pastel de nata or piece of cake. All carbs turn to sugar. If you are buying from a shop carbs are usually on the bottom under nutrition.

Freshwell has good ideas and graphics. Moseley and Caldesi have books and info Good luck.

 

[JITR]

@joannem
Have a look at Dr Kim Andrews' simple Freshwell Meal Planner and Red Amber Green Food Lists and, for something more descriptive, Dr David Unwin's Diet Sheet and click the 'Read Sample' button below the front cover image on this Amazon book page.

As you want to lose some weight you could read the weight loss section of this article, What should we eat?'.

Good luck.

 

[Drummer]

Hi everyone, I was borderline diabetes for couple of years and I have been told I now have diabetes type 2. I find it very confusing and conflicting advice online on what I can eat. I need to also lose weight. My hba1c was 7.1 so I really need to reduce it. I have porridge with strawberries and blueberries for breakfast, home made soup or wholemeal tuna sandwich and chicken with veg for tea. Any advice on what I call normal food. Thanks

To fix my type 2 I steer clear of all grain - all high carb and so an easy option, and chose lower carb veges - no potato.
Some people can cope with porridge, but I can't - my blood glucose meter soon showed that.
I avoid high sugar fruits, but most berries are OK, I limit blueberries as they are the highest carb of the berries.
My diet is very normal though under 40gm of carbs a day.

 

[Pandora71]

Thank you, I like greek yogurt and have had the fat free one with fruit. I also like eggs so will make omlettes. Could I have the odd jacket potato, brown rice, wholemeal spaghetti?

I am type 1 but also find low carb very useful at controlling myy weight. I've done this one meal at a time and then one day! No calorie counting needed.
Re wholemeal pasta I don't think it is of any benefit versus white pasta from glucose point of view, but you could try cutting back on quantity and eating it with plenty of protein and non starchy veg.
Re the potato, a 'sweet potatoe' is a good sub or new potatoes. If you have it with some soured cream this will also blunt the spike of glucose rises.
And finally, try to avoid carby snacks. You will need to reduce the amount of excess insulin in your body and give your metabolism a chance to recover. Every time you eat a so called healthy snack (rice cakes, apples, bananas for example) your body is blocked from releasing the fat you have stored because of the insulin you've released to deal with the snack.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Have you had a browse of the Diabetes UK Meal Planners @joannem ? There are a variety of different approaches, including various lower calorie options if you are aiming for weight loss, or a low-carb approach if you are prioritising glucose levels. Plus options for veggies, families, or the Mediterranean diet.

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

 

[DaveB]

Hi. As many others have said, keep the carbs down. The porridge may not be ideal perhaps just keep the quantity down. Eggs and bacon is fine and there is no need to have low fat anything as fat doesn't make you fat or clog the arteries.