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Just arrived in the world of diabetes.... so many questions :-)

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B

BRIGHTERSIDE

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi All,
Recently diagnosed with T2. I'm 45 , female and very overweight. I've been dieting for years and always ended up getting bigger and bigger... and hungrier and hungrier. Reading some info about the sugar spikes and food cravings it all adds up now. Anyway, my first question is regarding reduction of my HBA1C reading. It is currently 64... Can I expect to get it down to 52 by January? Is this achievable even?
I have no clue how bad 64 is in the grand scheme of things? I'm not on medication but was offered Metformin. I have decided to try and reduce it through diet (cos that's worked already eh?!) but I have to try first... surely?. I have cut refined carbs but I have no way of knowing whether this will be making a difference - I've lost 1kg in a few weeks... depressing.
I want to know which foods are raising my blood sugar too high, as I suspect there could be unexpected ones … such as porridge, green smoothies (mainly veg not fruit), Burgen bread. I would like to test my blood sugar to start hunting down the sneaky foods. Any idea which I should buy? Diabetic nurse said I don't need one but it's hard to stay motivated on reducing the a1c if I don't know how I'm doing along the way. Sorry for waffling and I hope this makes sense to someone. Thanks. T
 
Welcome to the forum Brighterside from a fellow T2.
My diagnosis HbA1c was 64. How fast and how far you can get it down will vary. My figures, shown in my 'signiture' show what happened for me.
Ranges:
30 (?) - 41 is "normal"
42 - 47 is pre diabetic
48 and up gets you a diagnoses of diabetic (even if it goes down, you're still counted as diabetic).
Some on here had a HbA1c of around 100 or higher on diagnoses.
Food generally doesn't raise our blood glucose. It's carbohydrates in particular. Potatoes, rice, breakfast ceriel, bread, pasta etc.

Meter:
The SD Code Free often gets recomended on here. The strips are cheapest at £8 for 50, including postage. The meter itself is around £12.
Using one will help figure out what affect food has on your BG levels, as well as any changes you make.
 
Hello @BRIGHTERSIDE , welcome to the forum. The SD Codefree meter is only available online .
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Codefree-G...fm-21&linkId=f39210144fdc26c27738e45b6d957003
You’ll need to buy more test strips ,their are 50 in a pot and a box of lancets .

You should find thes links helpful
maggie-daveys-letter-to-newly-diagnosed-type-2s

test-review-adjust by Alan S

You’ll find the above and more here
useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes.
Have a read of Painless pricks
Testing on a budget both by Alan S

Ask as many questions as you need to about diabetes, we’ll do our best to help.
 
Many here find that reducing thir carbohydrate intake helps in losing weight.
It doesn’t mean we don’t get to eat nice things, coz we do.

Here is a brief list to get you started. of what we can eat.
If you eat meat all meat is fine , very high meat content burgers and sausages too, eggs cooked anyway you like, milk, cheese, butter, cream, mushrooms , veg that grows above ground, berries (grapes are not berries and are best avoided) diet drinks, sweeteners.
Their is honestly loads more we can eat


Some of these carbohydrates that often cause us problems are probably going to supprise you as they are considered healthy. Potatoes esp mashed, rice, pasta, bread esp white , rice, breakfast cereals, things made with flour, sugar. Fruit juice , grapes, fruit that originated in hot climates. Beware sugarfree sweets, as a little to much and you’ll be keeping you loo company.
In time you will find substitutes you like, many here use Burgen bread, a high protein bread, some are fine with wholemeal, cauli rice instead of rice

We are all different in what we can and can’t tolerate , this is where testing comes into its own,
 
Of course you can do it. Like yourself over the years I’ve dieted and lost weight then put it all back on and then some more. For me the key thing was not to think of this as a diet it’s a complete change of lifestyle it’s not easy. It can all be a bit overwhelming. It’s the carbs that really make a difference some people on here eat a low carb diet and have had great results. Changing from white bread/rice/pasta though is a must. You need to find out what works for you it can be different form person to person. This is where testing your blood is key. I have reduced my HBA1C but I take metformin. Don’t however feel a failure if you can’t do it by diet alone the medication is there to help.
 
One thing that can be very useful in making decisions about changes I wanted to make, was simply to know how many carbs you are eating at each meal. By reducing this to an appropriate target for you, you will automatically reduce the amount of glucose in your system.

Each of us processes the carbs in different ways, and find that specific foods suit us. The only way of knowing what is happening to you is by testing. This alongside a food diary can help you to make choices. I was amazed at what some foods that I thought were ‘good’ were doing to me (The awkward ones were also many of my favourites!). For me porridge is off the list, but I have swapped it for a yummy alternative made from quinoa flakes. Bananas have gone, and I just steal a slice from my OH on rare occasions when the smell just beats me. These have been replaced with frozen berries. There are lots of swaps that make a big difference.
As Lyn has said this is not going to be a temporary diet, it is a lifestyle change that will make a difference.

Another tip that has had a big impact on my levels is simply not sitting down for 15 minutes after a meal. This may lead to a walk, doing the washing up/ironing/... Anything that stops me sitting down.

I hope that there are some ideas so far that will work for you.
 
But porridge, bread and smoothies are exactly the foods to increase blood glucose - they are high carb foods.
There has been so much bad advice about diet given with such emphasis and sincerity for so long that there are lots of people who have done their best but who end up overweight and ill.
I lowered my readings to normal eating foods which are 10 percent carbs or less, and found that I also lost 3 stones along the way. I am still shrinking.
 
One small tip that seems to work for me when using pasta is to cook it, let it go completely cold and then reheat it.
Apparently it alters the chemical breakdown of the carbohydrate making it more difficult to convert to glucose.
Same with chips, always use real potato, par boil, leave to go completely cold then fry at about 120, take our when cooked, increase oil temperature to maximum and fry until golden.
Only allowed six chips though.
These tips work for me but not everybody, hoped it would work with rice and plain boiled potato but it doesn't, not in my case anyway!
 
Yes definitely achievable...rather than me repeat it all, read a couple of threads Ive posted on my own experience since being diagnosed 3 months ago (hba1c 51 down to 42 without medication). This forum has given me the info/encouragement I wouldn't have otherwise found - early days but so far going better than I dared to hope for. As everyone here alludes to, learn quickly about carbs, get a meter. .oh and buy 'reverse your diabetes' by David Cavan.
 
Hello T!

I think that you’ve shown by coming here that you are motivated to do what you need to do and the advice you’ve already been given is really good so I won’t repeat it.
The good thing is that even though it might seem daunting you shouldn’t feel hungry and will soon start to reap the benefits of seeing better levels and reduced weight which will be its own motivation. I agree that testing is a good way to do this as the test that you get from the doc is too infrequent.
 
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