32 and got diagnosed today

[MissHippo86]

There is no need to starve - in fact, if you have been on low calorie diets in the past then it is probably the worst thing to do as I have seen that my blood glucose goes up when I do not eat - certainly if I miss breakfast my BG just keeps on going up.
I only eat twice a day, early and late, as that seems to work best. I have no trouble when out of the house wondering what to eat. I can usually get a cup of coffee with cream if I feel like it, though I usually take a bottle of squash or low calorie fizzy drink with me.
I have lost weight since diagnosis, but I did so quite without effort - or even realising at first, I cut out the carbs and ate the good stuff, and suddenly had nothing to wear.

Thanks Drummer, after waking up this morning I do realise the starvation talk is nonsense on my part. It doesn’t help me and isn’t sustainable

Do people with diabetes occasionally have a treat they enjoy without substituting it? Ie instead of eating a square of dark chocolate do they just have that slice of cake ? Or is that part of my mentality I need to change now?

 

[Eddy Edson]

Thanks Drummer, after waking up this morning I do realise the starvation talk is nonsense on my part. It doesn’t help me and isn’t sustainable

Do people with diabetes occasionally have a treat they enjoy without substituting it? Ie instead of eating a square of dark chocolate do they just have that slice of cake ? Or is that part of my mentality I need to change now?

You can do it but only if you feel guilty about it afterwards 🙂

Seriously, it's probably the kind of thing you could work on cutting out completely except for extra-special occasions. But as everybody says, start testing yr BG before & after eating to get a handle on which foods do what to you.

 

[Ljc]

Of course we have the occasional treat, it’s when it becomes daily that it’s not good. If you have a look through the recipe link I gave you you’ll find plenty of low carb treats that you may actually prefer.

 

[Drummer]

Thanks Drummer, after waking up this morning I do realise the starvation talk is nonsense on my part. It doesn’t help me and isn’t sustainable

Do people with diabetes occasionally have a treat they enjoy without substituting it? Ie instead of eating a square of dark chocolate do they just have that slice of cake ? Or is that part of my mentality I need to change now?

It depends on what cake you make - after a few weeks on a low carb diet you are likely to realise just how sickly sweet 'normal' food is, and gag if you taste it - and to my mind, what sort of a treat is it to eat something which might cause you physical damage?
There are quite a of of low carb options to try out to see if they spike you or not - people do vary in what they can eat.
If you are baking be cautious about following recipes which say 'and then add a shovel full of sweetener to ruin what you are making' - or words to that effect - 'normal' people are so conditioned to the idea that we 'treat' ourselves by eating something sweet that even when devising foods for a diabetic it isn't right if it doesn't conform to 'normal' tastes.
Personally I am having a treat every time I tuck into a really fresh crunchy salad with a tasty dressing and some sort of delicious protein.

 

[Northerner]

Thank you for the suggestions especially the page “what did you eat yesterday”...I like bread in the morning, usually have brown bread with peanut butter but I realised on the page a lot of people were having burgen bread so will try that from tomorrow. It has soya and linseed?

Yes, I always have Burgen soya and linseed bread - it is lower in carbs than most other, similar bread, because some of the flour has been replaced with soya flour, plus it has seeds in and is relatively slow to digest so doesn't hit your blood sugar levels as quickly. The thing to do is to test and see what happens 🙂

Forgot to mention earlier - get a copy of 100 things I wish I'd known about diabetes, free from Diabetes UK. It's full of hints and tips from people living with diabetes and tells you all sorts your doctor or nurse are probably not even aware of! 🙂

 

[Martin9]

There’s great advice above, I was diagnosed around 3 months ago with an initial HBA1c of 77 (slightly above 9%) I lost a bit of excess weight, upped the excercise a bit, stuck to the diet LCHF as advised and 3 months later I had an HbA1c of 35(around 5.5%)
So if you follow advice above you could see improvements, but as we’re all different what works for one may not work for another, but it’s a great place to start
Good luck & best wishes....

 

[Flossypops]

Hi MissHippo86 I had the big shock last June where as you say you are told you life will never be the same. Well there can be positivity in my opinion. I lost 3 stone and I am probably the healthiest I have ever been. I am 45 so a little 🙂 older than you and have through stubbiness will not let the doom and gloom hit me. I have dropped to 5.8 - 40 in the last year from 11.9 . I have cut down on the bread, pasta and sweet foods but still eat a pizza every Friday night with lashing of red wine. I was lucky as my nurse is very supportive and said life is for living but everything in moderation. My driver (and what has work for me) is if I go to the gym every morning I can have my pizza on a Friday. This forum is great as well as the books recommended which I ordered after reading the various posts. As another poster said watch the low fat, It appears when the fat is removed they add sugar. I eat the full fat just a little less of it and really enjoy it. Yum. Good luck and enjoy life.

 

[Maz2]

I think everyone needs a treat from time to time but it depends on the person and if they don't need them that is fine. I don't do it too often and find that, when I do, I find things very sweet so would not need too much of them. I think if you fancy a treat it would be OK as long as it was not day in and day out and also if you keep the portion small. My GP told me it was a good idea to have an occasional treat but to keep some portion control.

I am pre-diabetic, got back to normal, but gone back to pre-diabetic again so am battling on.

Welcome to the Forum.

 

[Martin Canty]

This is why I wondered if anyone can just control it through diet and exercise and as you clearly demonstrate it can be done

Sorry to hear the news, MissHippo,,,, Certainly Type 2 Diabetes can be controlled through Diet & Exercise.... I haven't taken any Diabetes medication for almost a year.

My strategy was to cut/reduce carb sources such as Bread, Pasta, Rice, Cereals & starchy vegetables such a potatoes; instead replacing them with green leafy vegetables grown above ground. Pretty much all of my meals are made from scratch, very little processed food makes it's way into my pantry.

My exercise comes in the form of walking my dogs & Yoga 4-5 times a week.

Now, my A1c, at DX I was 9.3 so your 7.1 is not too bad, but there is definitely a lifestyle change that needs to be made.... I ended up on the Low Carb Healthy Fats route which definitely works for me, weight going from 230lb to 165lb, A1c foing from 9.3 to (probably in the low-mid 5's but that's a guess as I'm due a test, but for the last couple of years it has been below 6). I refer to my diet as a Way of Eating (WoE) as this helps me think of my diet in terms of my lifestyle which will be carried on for the rest of my life rather than a diet to follow until I have reached my target weight.