Hba1c

[annealex1]

Hi and welcome.

Please don't wait until you reach that goal before you come back to us.... we are here to support you the whole journey, not just to share your success.
Cutting your carbs really can make a big difference.
There is conflicting dietary advice for diabetics, and the NHS may be somewhat behind the curve because they still recommend moderate wholemeal carbs and low fat. This will often not reduce your BG levels and leave you feeling hungry which will make sticking to it difficult long term and we need to make this a lifestyle change not a short term diet, so enjoying what you eat is important to success.
Eating some dietary fat like creamy Greek natural yoghurt rather than low fat (which is higher in carbs) will help to keep you feeling fuller for longer because fat is slower to digest than carbs, provides slow release energy and it tastes good. I have it for breakfast with a few berries and a tablespoon of mixed seeds and another of chopped nuts.... again the nuts contain fat to help keep you full. Berries like rasps, strawberries, blackberries, black and red currants (not the dried fruit currants) or some stewed rhubarb (with a little sweetener) are the lowest carb fruits This yoghurt, fruit, seeds and nut mix makes a great breakfast. Eggs are another great choice for breakfast. I like to have a 2 egg omelette with a variety of fillings including any combination of mushrooms, onion, peppers, courgettes, aubergine, ham and cheese. I have it with a large leafy salad and some creamy coleslaw (not reduced fat coleslaw). That usually lasts me until tea time without the need for any lunch or I have a chunk of cheese or a handful of nuts or some olives if I feel peckish.

You are really looking to reduce your consumption of bread, pasta, rice, couscous and potatoes and anything made with grains/flour and also fruit, which is of course normally considered healthy, but often contains lots of natural sugars.

Cauliflower is a great low carb alternative to use. It can be cooked and mashed with a dollop of cream cheese and a spoon of mustard or grated and used as a rice or couscous replacement. And who doesn't love cauliflower cheese..... but instead of making a sauce using flour and milk you par boil and then coat in cream cheese and then grated cheese and brown off in the oven. I mix a spoon of wholegrain mustard into the cream cheese and some sour cream and chive dip which gives the cream cheese a softer consistency for coating and more depth of flavour and then a mixture of Red Leicester, Mature Cheddar and Parmesan to top it. Some people experiment with other herbs and spices. It tastes great with gammon or high meat content sausages or pork chops/steaks. You can use the cauli mash to top a cottage or shepherds or fish pie instead of potato. Cauli can even be used to make a pastry alternative together with parmesan cheese to make a quiche base instead of flour, resulting in a very low carb quiche.

It is also helps to increase your activity levels and it doesn't have to be anything overly energetic. A brisk walk is one of the best ways of reducing your BG levels and with this wonderful weather, it's a real pleasure to get out and "swing your legs" in the fresh air. Even with very limited mobility, doing some seated exercises with your arms and legs each day will be beneficial.

Hope this gives you some idea of how to move forward with this. There are plenty of other food and recipe ideas here on the forum. Learning what to buy and how to cook it is key and reading nutritional information on the back of food packaging is key to not buying the wrong things.... you need to look at the total carbohydrate content not the sugars and take your specs as it is usually in tiny print on the back or side.... not the traffic light info on the front which is always easy to see but not helpful to us diabetics.

If you don't understand anything just ask and we will do our best to explain.
Good luck!

Thanks for such an informative post, much appreciated. I love cauliflower but it doesn't love me as I have IBS.

 

[NotWorriedAtAll]

Thanks, That is exactly what I am doing now. On waking I tested and BS was 8.3 at 6 a.m. I had tested prior to sleep at midnight and it was 8.8. I moved onto breakfast and had 2 grilled small sausage - 1.1gm total carbs
a hard boiled egg .6 carbs and coffee made with 100ml of oat milk - 6.5 carbs. I realised if I switch to whole full fat milk I can save 2 carbs. Total for breakfast was 8.2. I took BS at 9 a.m. approx 3 hours later and it was 9.7. To test out the walking I went to the garden centre for a stroll walk and then back to Asda to whizz a trolly round ( bought 2 items) back home at 11.29 I tested blood sugar and it was 6.2. Seems I have to walk round with a trolley for 10 mins to get BS down. Thanks for all the help. Back to reading and research.

If you stop having milk in your coffee you will dump a load of carbs straight away - I took a while to get used to black coffee but I prefer it now.

My husband who is not diabetic but was a bit overweight cut out milk from his diet and lost a lot of weight just because of that because there are a lot of hormones in milk (not added but simply naturally there because of what the product is - a fluid produced by strongly female mammals and that fluid is purely to promote growth in infant mammals so it has quite a strong oestrogenic action which encourages weight gain and weight retention) and so milk has a BIG effect on weight quite out of proportion to simply what you'd expect going by calories.

I started off with low carbohydrate to try and reverse my diabetes as soon as I got my diagnosis and then when I decided I didn't want to take metformin I quickly moved onto a full keto regimen which ignored calories and went against all my previous instincts by upping fat intake. For me as I am under five feet tall I chose to aim for fewer than 20g of carbs per day and I found that easily achievable most of the time once I changed to baking with psyllium husk, almond and/or coconut flour and found a sweetener I could get on with in cooking.

I was scared in case it would raise my cholesterol because I'd also been told I had early fatty liver disease at the same time as my diabetes diagnosis but I decided to give it a try for a few months to see what would happen and if I had bad reactions I could stop.

In fact my fatty liver disease reversed completely and when I had my next bloods - my blood sugars were okay and my blood pressure was much better too.

I have stayed on keto ever since. I haven't lost much weight because I was concentrating on just making sure I was in good health and focussing on my weight would have made me depressed and made my diet about cosmetic things rather than about whether I was healthy and well.

I am now increasing my activity levels and my body is getting trimmer and my clothes are loser and I feel healthier still.
I do not have a weighing scales in the house and I refuse to be told my weight when they weigh me at the surgery. I have been told that I am losing steadily and that is good enough for me.

Using this strategy I have not had any trouble bringing my hba1c steadily down and keeping it there and I enjoy the new way of eating more than I did before. I had fish and chips from the chip shop this week for the first time in I think a year and shared a portion with my husband getting most of the chips and my blood sugars stayed around 8 but apart from that I mostly stay on track. It is very doable for me and I hope it will be for you too. I can't even look at oats without my blood sugar spiking though.

 

[annealex1]

Thanks, I have tried cream but it doesn't fit with my IBS and Diverticulitis. I don't use cows milk, I use oat milk.
Thanks for your tips they do help and encourage me.

 

[trophywench]

Have a distinct feeling you wouldn't get on with psilium husk either! (not amusing at all)

 

[annealex1]

For many diabetics GI is simply irrelevant - carbs are carbs and slow or fast, the glucose just builds up and up. Oats helping to regulate blood glucose is against all logic.
By reducing the carbs eaten you reduce the loading of your metabolism with glucose it cannot cope with. To me that is perfect sense.

How many carbs do you have?

 

[annealex1]

Have a distinct feeling you wouldn't get on with psilium husk either! (not amusing at all)

I am prescribed Fybrogel for my diverticulitis and I am wary of that too with the Metaformin churning my stomach. It is settling down a little now so fingers crossed. I’ve been on Metaformin for two weeks and my vision is blurred but I’m told this will settle down. Thanks for the help

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

my vision is blurred but I’m told this will settle down

blurred vision can be a side effect of elevated blood glucose - it changes the pressure in the eye, and can distort the lens. But yes, it should right itself as your BG returns to normal.

 

[annealex1]

If you stop having milk in your coffee you will dump a load of carbs straight away - I took a while to get used to black coffee but I prefer it now.

My husband who is not diabetic but was a bit overweight cut out milk from his diet and lost a lot of weight just because of that because there are a lot of hormones in milk (not added but simply naturally there because of what the product is - a fluid produced by strongly female mammals and that fluid is purely to promote growth in infant mammals so it has quite a strong oestrogenic action which encourages weight gain and weight retention) and so milk has a BIG effect on weight quite out of proportion to simply what you'd expect going by calories.

I started off with low carbohydrate to try and reverse my diabetes as soon as I got my diagnosis and then when I decided I didn't want to take metformin I quickly moved onto a full keto regimen which ignored calories and went against all my previous instincts by upping fat intake. For me as I am under five feet tall I chose to aim for fewer than 20g of carbs per day and I found that easily achievable most of the time once I changed to baking with psyllium husk, almond and/or coconut flour and found a sweetener I could get on with in cooking.

I was scared in case it would raise my cholesterol because I'd also been told I had early fatty liver disease at the same time as my diabetes diagnosis but I decided to give it a try for a few months to see what would happen and if I had bad reactions I could stop.

In fact my fatty liver disease reversed completely and when I had my next bloods - my blood sugars were okay and my blood pressure was much better too.

I have stayed on keto ever since. I haven't lost much weight because I was concentrating on just making sure I was in good health and focussing on my weight would have made me depressed and made my diet about cosmetic things rather than about whether I was healthy and well.

I am now increasing my activity levels and my body is getting trimmer and my clothes are loser and I feel healthier still.
I do not have a weighing scales in the house and I refuse to be told my weight when they weigh me at the surgery. I have been told that I am losing steadily and that is good enough for me.

Using this strategy I have not had any trouble bringing my hba1c steadily down and keeping it there and I enjoy the new way of eating more than I did before. I had fish and chips from the chip shop this week for the first time in I think a year and shared a portion with my husband getting most of the chips and my blood sugars stayed around 8 but apart from that I mostly stay on track. It is very doable for me and I hope it will be for you too. I can't even look at oats without my blood sugar spiking though.

I came back to your post to tell you the I have come off the full fat milk and have had some cream with jelly. I am using unsweetened almond milk in my coffee from now on because of the low carb count. Thanks for the tips.

 

[annealex1]

Hi and welcome.

Please don't wait until you reach that goal before you come back to us.... we are here to support you the whole journey, not just to share your success.
Cutting your carbs really can make a big difference.
There is conflicting dietary advice for diabetics, and the NHS may be somewhat behind the curve because they still recommend moderate wholemeal carbs and low fat. This will often not reduce your BG levels and leave you feeling hungry which will make sticking to it difficult long term and we need to make this a lifestyle change not a short term diet, so enjoying what you eat is important to success.
Eating some dietary fat like creamy Greek natural yoghurt rather than low fat (which is higher in carbs) will help to keep you feeling fuller for longer because fat is slower to digest than carbs, provides slow release energy and it tastes good. I have it for breakfast with a few berries and a tablespoon of mixed seeds and another of chopped nuts.... again the nuts contain fat to help keep you full. Berries like rasps, strawberries, blackberries, black and red currants (not the dried fruit currants) or some stewed rhubarb (with a little sweetener) are the lowest carb fruits This yoghurt, fruit, seeds and nut mix makes a great breakfast. Eggs are another great choice for breakfast. I like to have a 2 egg omelette with a variety of fillings including any combination of mushrooms, onion, peppers, courgettes, aubergine, ham and cheese. I have it with a large leafy salad and some creamy coleslaw (not reduced fat coleslaw). That usually lasts me until tea time without the need for any lunch or I have a chunk of cheese or a handful of nuts or some olives if I feel peckish.

You are really looking to reduce your consumption of bread, pasta, rice, couscous and potatoes and anything made with grains/flour and also fruit, which is of course normally considered healthy, but often contains lots of natural sugars.

Cauliflower is a great low carb alternative to use. It can be cooked and mashed with a dollop of cream cheese and a spoon of mustard or grated and used as a rice or couscous replacement. And who doesn't love cauliflower cheese..... but instead of making a sauce using flour and milk you par boil and then coat in cream cheese and then grated cheese and brown off in the oven. I mix a spoon of wholegrain mustard into the cream cheese and some sour cream and chive dip which gives the cream cheese a softer consistency for coating and more depth of flavour and then a mixture of Red Leicester, Mature Cheddar and Parmesan to top it. Some people experiment with other herbs and spices. It tastes great with gammon or high meat content sausages or pork chops/steaks. You can use the cauli mash to top a cottage or shepherds or fish pie instead of potato. Cauli can even be used to make a pastry alternative together with parmesan cheese to make a quiche base instead of flour, resulting in a very low carb quiche.

It is also helps to increase your activity levels and it doesn't have to be anything overly energetic. A brisk walk is one of the best ways of reducing your BG levels and with this wonderful weather, it's a real pleasure to get out and "swing your legs" in the fresh air. Even with very limited mobility, doing some seated exercises with your arms and legs each day will be beneficial.

Hope this gives you some idea of how to move forward with this. There are plenty of other food and recipe ideas here on the forum. Learning what to buy and how to cook it is key and reading nutritional information on the back of food packaging is key to not buying the wrong things.... you need to look at the total carbohydrate content not the sugars and take your specs as it is usually in tiny print on the back or side.... not the traffic light info on the front which is always easy to see but not helpful to us diabetics.

If you don't understand anything just ask and we will do our best to explain.
Good luck!

Hi, me again. I like the eggs on a morning too now and I always have some in the fridge. I can cut my carbs now no problem as Ive changed from full fat milk to almond milk but I can't find out how many fats I should have. Any help much appreciated.

 

[rebrascora]

Pleased you have found a suitable fix for your breakfast. I can't really advise exactly how much fat you would need as it depends upon a number of factors like how much, if any, weight you need to lose and how low carb you have gone.
I don't think about the amount of fat I eat, I just eat what I fancy and if I need to lose weight, I cut back a bit on my fat intake, so I reduce the amount of cheese, nuts, pork scratchings and cream etc that I eat or include more of those high fat foods if I feel I am losing weight and I just keep my carb intake at about 50-80g a day, but I am Type 1 so I need to inject insulin for those carbs. You will need to figure out what level of carbs your body will tolerate as a Type 2.

I do currently eat quite a lot of fat which seems to maintain my body weight pretty well for the amount of exercise I do.... I would guess that most people would be shocked/appalled even, if they knew just how much fat I eat, so I would guess a moderate amount of fat should allow you to lose weight if you need to.

 

[annealex1]

Annalex1, glad you took my comment as support rather than criticism. Fundamentally you have got to take in fewer calories and one thing you might look at is ways of cutting the amount of carbohydrate you take in. This gives you a two pronged attack since there can be a lot of calories in carbohydrate and carbohydrate leads to blood glucose.

The way I would go about things would be to start with a food diary writing down everything, yes everything, you take in, even doing some weighing to get your portion sizes. Then start looking at labels and the web to find out how many calories and grams of carbohydrate you are taking in with everything you eat and drink and work your total intake for each day. Do a bit of research to find out what would be a sensible intake for somebody of your age and lifestyle. Set yourself a target below that and start looking in your diary for the big hitters...things that are high in both carbs and cals, and work out how you can cut them down. Take it slowly and methodically and readjust your diet until you get a new way of eating that you can cope with and gets you where you want to be. That approach might suit you, it might not. Suited me, but then I trust the numbers rather than listen to opinions and am very wary of those who say they have a perfect solution for anything that is right for everybody.

Good morning, Update. I started the diary straight away and decided to cut back the carbs by going the LCHF way. Ive managed to shift 4lbs the last two weeks which is a start. I take one Metformin 500mg with breakfast and one in evening. I monitor my sugar and its around the 7.5 and `im praying that I can get it to the 5-7 range. Thanks for shifting me to action with your humour. Im keeping my carbs below 20 a day so lets see.

 

[KARNAK]

Well done @annealex1, been following this thread, so glad you are taking the advice from your fellow members.

Your weight loss and carb intake is to be admired, keep up the good work.🙂

 

[annealex1]

Well done @annealex1, been following this thread, so glad you are taking the advice from your fellow members.

Your weight loss and carb intake is to be admired, keep up the good work.🙂

Thanks, I am good at listening to folks who have talk sense! Today I woke to blood sugar of 7.5, had a breakfast of lean bacon and two eggs fried in a little butter. Just taken my blood sugar now at two and it’s 5.6. Two hours after lunch I will take it again.

 

[Browser]

Remember that the BG numbers you are quoting are finger prick samples and you can’t really work out in your head exactly how these will affect your HbA1c. For example, over the past year, I regularly had figures anywhere from 5 to 7 before dinner and maybe rising to 7 or 8, occasionally higher two hours later. When I had my recent annual review, I expected my figure to be around 6 but I was surprised to learn I had gone down to 4.2.

 

[NotWorriedAtAll]

Thanks, I am good at listening to folks who have talk sense! Today I woke to blood sugar of 7.5, had a breakfast of lean bacon and two eggs fried in a little butter. Just taken my blood sugar now at two and it’s 5.6. Two hours after lunch I will take it again.

Brilliant. The main thing is to enjoy the changes so you don't feel you are being deprived. That way you will keep on with this lifestyle as it will be something you prefer and then the benefits will be permanent.

 

[annealex1]

Brilliant. The main thing is to enjoy the changes so you don't feel you are being deprived. That way you will keep on with this lifestyle as it will be something you prefer and then the benefits will be permanent.

Love your Facebook page and ideas that's cheered me up. I set the link to follow you. I must admit am struggling to learn this low carb high fat as I have been putting the calories down also and noted today how high the lean bacon was, 301 cals and two eggs 222. Yiks. I went on diet doctor too for info and it shows a lot of protein. Like you say, I need to enjoy and haver something I can live with. Many thanks

 

[annealex1]

Remember that the BG numbers you are quoting are finger prick samples and you can’t really work out in your head exactly how these will affect your HbA1c. For example, over the past year, I regularly had figures anywhere from 5 to 7 before dinner and maybe rising to 7 or 8, occasionally higher two hours later. When I had my recent annual review, I expected my figure to be around 6 but I was surprised to learn I had gone down to 4.2.

Thanks, that's worth noting.

 

[NotWorriedAtAll]

Love your Facebook page and ideas that's cheered me up. I set the link to follow you. I must admit am struggling to learn this low carb high fat as I have been putting the calories down also and noted today how high the lean bacon was, 301 cals and two eggs 222. Yiks. I went on diet doctor too for info and it shows a lot of protein. Like you say, I need to enjoy and haver something I can live with. Many thanks

That's only 523 calories for an entire meal.
Even a strict diet for a sedentary person allows 1,500 calories a day - add in a salad for one meal or maybe skip a meal because you find you aren't hungry at lunch time because the high fat meals keep you fuller longer and you will find you won't have a huge calorific intake over the whole day.

 

[rebrascora]

Good post above by @NotWorriedAtAll.
I do not give calories a second thought these days and I eat quite a lot of fat these days. I buy the fattiest bacon and meat that is on the shelf. I cook my veggies with butter or cream cheese or cheese. I have double cream in my morning coffee and my daily treat is a half a square of 70% dark choc with a spoon of peanut butter or a packet of pork scratchings or half a jar of olives today.
Because fat and protein takes longer to digest it keeps you feeling full for longer, whereas 2-3hours after eating carbs, they are digested and you start feeling hungry again. I am currently on a system of having breakfast and evening meal one day and just a midday meal the next, but on those days when I have just one meal, I might have 2 cups of coffee with cream in the morning and a chunk of cheese before bed. I no longer feel hungry in between meals and I am quite active and don't feel like I am lacking energy.

 

[Steve75]

Hi annealex1
I was the same six months ago but changed to a low carb diet and have now gone from a hba1c reading of 51 down to 44
I couldn’t eat oats at all but now I can and find eggs a good snack
I normally start with oats for breakfast as it fills me up until lunch time when I have two whole bread sandwiches with a tea spoon of jam and for dinner mostly a salad with fish
I use a app called my fitness pal to monitor the food and carb intake because it gives u a running total of carbs calories also fats
Hope some of this helps