4 weeks diagnosed and struggling

L

lomasdiz

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
So it's been a month now and I feel like I'm stuck
My diet has dramatically changed I've cut out all nasty carbs and sugars,eating plenty of white meat fish and veg but this last week I've been craving naughty foods like a chippy tea or a massive Lasagne and last night I actually burst into tears at the thought of eating another vegetable
My fasting bs is stubbornly stuck around 7.5 for the last week but this morning it was 8.1
My emotions are all over the place too
Please tell me this just a blip
 
So what would an average day’s food look like for you @lomasdiz ? And are you on any meds? Perhaps you’ve gone too strict with your diet?
 
Inka said:
So what would an average day’s food look like for you @lomasdiz ? And are you on any meds? Perhaps you’ve gone too strict with your diet?
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Breakfast is either a small portion of Porridge or Greek yoghurt and berries. lunch is either Tinned oily fish in olive oil or chicken or 2 eggs with salad. Dinner is either fish or poultry with veggies or cauliflower rice/mash
My average carbs for a day is between 60-70g
 
Inka said:
So what would an average day’s food look like for you @lomasdiz ? And are you on any meds? Perhaps you’ve gone too strict with your diet?
Click to expand...
Forgot to add the meds, 30mg gliclazide
And 500mg metformin slow release
 
lomasdiz said:
Breakfast is either a small portion of Porridge or Greek yoghurt and berries. lunch is either Tinned oily fish in olive oil or chicken or 2 eggs with salad. Dinner is either fish or poultry with veggies or cauliflower rice/mash
My average carbs for a day is between 60-70g
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The carbs average sounds a bit low. If you are taking Gliclazide you need carbs to prevent hypos. I have been reducing carbs to approx 150g per day which made me feel rough. Blood glucose readings have dropped so I have increased carbs to around 200g daily. Much lower than pre- diagnosis as I was a carb fiend. Try reducing carbs more slowly. It's a bit kinder on your body and will allow you small portions of the food you are missing. Long term, whatever changes you make need to be sustainable and enjoyable.
 
lomasdiz said:
Breakfast is either a small portion of Porridge or Greek yoghurt and berries. lunch is either Tinned oily fish in olive oil or chicken or 2 eggs with salad. Dinner is either fish or poultry with veggies or cauliflower rice/mash
My average carbs for a day is between 60-70g
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On a Greek yoghurt day, that would probably work out as less than your 60/70g carbs. You might well feel better with a few more carbs spread across the day. Low carb is anything up to 130g carbs a day.
 
Thanks for the replies I think I've been too fixated on getting the blood levels into a normal range and probably have gone too hard to fast
 
My HbA1c was 91 when I was diagnosed, but 6 months later it was 41 just by changing my diet - I think that medication can help some people a lot - but not everyone needs it.
I did take Metformin and Atorvastatin for a month or so and it made me very unwell, so I stopped taking it. I doubt I'd have lasted through Christmas until I could get a GP's appointment I was so down. By the time I saw a HCP I was no longer in diabetic numbers, so not really a problem. I was no longer depressed either, so I blame the tablets.
As you are taking Gliclazide you do need to have carbohydrate in your diet, so eat the things you crave seems one way out of the dilemma - blow healthy choices if it means you can't stick to what you want to achieve with blood glucose - there are no really good or bad carbs, they all get into the blood as simple sugars in the end so I can't see any virtue in brown starch - if you are going to eat carbs it does the same as lemon drizzle cake or other carb of choice.
Personally any meat or fish, eggs or cheese is fine by me, I don't do low fat, although I eat a fair amount of vegetables stir fry, vege mixtures and salads, some days I make a sugar free jelly and add frozen berries to set it quickly, then eat it with yoghurt, cream - even real ice cream, sometimes even before my protein/fat food. It seems to work to keep my BG levels in the normal range.
 
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I have not organised myself sufficiently. I also think the stress of diagnosis is underestimated. Given I was peeing too much and my toes were sometimes numb the diagnosis wasn't a surprise ( I requested the test) but the reading was 69. I also felt deflated when I made a big effort between tests and only went down five. Originally I cut everything bad out although a lot of it I didn't eat regularly. I stopped all meat and ate lots of fish. I like fish and never eat meat every day. I was bouyed by a regular weekly weight loss. I early on decided I would eat some bread usually if choosing to eat at a local cafe mainly because meals tend to be pastry potato or bread based. I have had fish and chips once since diagnosis in July and left some of the chips. I didn't enjoy it. I expect to be given statins on Monday and have decided I don't need to be so strict on cholesterol. I'm on a drug where you shouldn't go too low carb, I thought this was probably below 80 but some have said 130 would be more realistic. I have had my first fry up at a cafe, 1 rasher, 1 sausage, 1 poached egg mushroom and tomato. I declined the beans but had the poached egg on sour dough. It was a late breakfast early lunch and I enjoyed it. I have also two days running had cottage pie. I would happily have eaten whole serving but had suggested I eat it with my sister but our plans fell through. I had half with lots of veg swiss chard mushrooms carrot cauli etc ( small amounts eg I mushroom) Again I enjoyed it. Today I had a granary cheese sandwich with coleslaw and salad on the side. I walked to the cafe and had a short walk after before I went to hairdressers. I have over the last few days adding up carbs and finger sticking. The cottage pie and lots of veg did not raise my blood sugar much. I'm eating crab tonight. I'm rarely touching processed food. I have some berries or clementine if I want to snack or some nuts. With cold weather coming I'm going to test my response to porridge and hope to make soup.

A few weeks ago when I went to my local city I decided to go to a local pasta restaurant. I chose carefully and asked for less cheese but when I left I felt very sweaty and will not visit for a while. My local deli sells homemade moussaka and lasagna I intend to try one eating in two settings with lots of veg.
Don't lose sight of your aim of better health but don't let yourself think you are eating in a punishment block. Realistically doughnuts will not be a treat because it uses lots of calories and is very sweet but if it is a special occasion why not have half of one.
Basically you need to be mindful of what you eat. I don't buy biscuits because I would snack on them. Be kind to yourself. Pace yourself. If you want to eat high calorie or high carb consider a smaller portion with more veg or a walk afterwards.
Good luck
 
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saffron15 said:
I have not organised myself sufficiently. I also think the stress of diagnosis is underestimated. Given I was peeing too much and my toes were sometimes numb the diagnosis wasn't a surprise ( I requested the test) but the reading was 69. I also felt deflated when I made a big effort between tests and only went down five. Originally I cut everything bad out although a lot of it I didn't eat regularly. I stopped all meat and ate lots of fish. I like fish and never eat meat every day. I was bouyed by a regular weekly weight loss. I early on decided I would eat some bread usually if choosing to eat at a local cafe mainly because meals tend to be pastry potato or bread based. I have had fish and chips once since diagnosis in July and left some of the chips. I didn't enjoy it. I expect to be given statins on Monday and have decided I don't need to be so strict on cholesterol. I'm on a drug where you shouldn't go too low carb, I thought this was probably below 80 but some have said 130 would be more realistic. I have had my first fry up at a cafe, 1 rasher, 1 sausage, 1 poached egg mushroom and tomato. I declined the beans but had the poached egg on sour dough. It was a late breakfast early lunch and I enjoyed it. I have also two days running had cottage pie. I would happily have eaten whole serving but had suggested I eat it with my sister but our plans fell through. I had half with lots of veg swiss chard mushrooms carrot cauli etc ( small amounts eg I mushroom) Again I enjoyed it. Today I had a granary cheese sandwich with coleslaw and salad on the side. I walked to the cafe and had a short walk after before I went to hairdressers. I have over the last few days adding up carbs and finger sticking. The cottage pie and lots of veg did not raise my blood sugar much. I'm eating crab tonight. I'm rarely touching processed food. I have some berries or clementine if I want to snack or some nuts. With cold weather coming I'm going to test my response to porridge and hope to make soup.

A few weeks ago when I went to my local city I decided to go to a local pasta restaurant. I chose carefully and asked for less cheese but when I left I felt very sweaty and will not visit for a while. My local deli sells homemade moussaka and lasagna I intend to try one eating in two settings with lots of veg.
Don't lose site of your aim of better health but don't let yourself think you are eating in a punishment block. Realistically doughnuts will not be a treat because it uses lots of calories and is very sweet but if it is a special occasion why not have half of one.
Basically you need to be mindful of what you eat. I don't buy biscuits because I would snack on them. Be kind to yourself. Pace yourself. If you want to eat high calorie or high carb consider a smaller portion with more veg or a walk afterwards.
Good luck
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I think it's so important what you say about us needing to pace ourselves: our bodies are quite smart and if we try to starve them they won't always react as we expect/want, as they'll go into 'survival' mode.
 
Exactly what CliffH has said! Sometimes (not always) our bodies will start preserving things in our body as it goes into that 'survival mode'. Weight loss will go to a halt, energy levels will be low as it will only be 'used' to survive, which can affect the mood and general wellbeing. You do need to be kind to yourself and ease yourself into these things. If you feel like you're denying yourself things, that means in the long run the path that you're on will be difficult to maintain. People often find more variety for meals and choices when they start exploring different recipes and cooking for themselves. I know that's not always easy or viable, and as you said - veg after veg can become tedious, but that's where different methods of preparation, spices or even experimentation can help a lot.
 
My diagnosis wasn't a surprise (I knew I was pre-diabetic for a couple of years) but that didn't mean I wasn't shocked. I remember talking on here about going through the stages of grief - and quite a few people agreed that they had felt the same. This diagnosis is hard.

It sounds like you're doing very well -possibly better than you think you are.

Have you added additional fats/protein to your diet? I've gone low carb too - and, as important as the vegetable are for getting nutrients like fibre, without the other nutrients I wouldn't feel full and couldn't stick to it.

Are you a baker? I haven't stopped eating baked goods - the difference is I have to make them myself now so I can bake with low carb ingredients. The Sugar Free Londoner has an amazing blog full of low carb recipes. Some sweet, some savoury.

Has anyone mentioned the Freshwell App too? They have a really good selection of recipes (I'm sure there's a no pasta lasagne on there!).

Just for reassurance (I hope): It can feel exhausting, trying to plan. I do miss the spontaneity of just being able to grab what I fancy but I feel so, so much better eating like this that the temptation to 'cheat' has faded over the past 2.5 months and I have a bit more of a repertoire of really enjoyable things to eat that I know don't bother my blood sugars.
 
Thanks everyone I'm going to try and vary my meals a bit more and not be so scared of some carbs I tested pre dinner for the first time last night(only ever done fasting bs)and got a 5.1 which was encouraging so as I've been craving a chippy tea I had a small fishcake 18gcarbs and some roasted Mediterranean veg it definitely hit the the spot
 
lomasdiz said:
Thanks for the replies I think I've been too fixated on getting the blood levels into a normal range and probably have gone too hard to fast
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When I was first diagnosed I cut my carbs drastically, but after joining the forum and being told by more experienced members that it's unwise to go too far and too fast, I ramped my carbs up to 130g per day. As a result it took me 5 months to get by BG back into normal range. The advice that it's a marathon and not a sprint is so true.
 
I also query the excluding the red meat. I mean - if you wanted to exclude it anyway - fine! But just that having diabetes doesn't require it.
 
trophywench said:
I also query the excluding the red meat. I mean - if you wanted to exclude it anyway - fine! But just that having diabetes doesn't require it.
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I'm not deliberately excluding red meat I have beef and pork occasionally but I'm not a massive fan of them
 
I am 6 weeks in and some days I can't face another vegetable!! I have started experimenting with recipes with more spices in ( a chicken and lentil curry from a diabetic cookbook today) and having some chilli or bolognese sauce with mushrroms as a filler. I felt so positive the other day when I was out for longer than expected and got the munchies and popped in the M&S and they had some high protein low carb little snack pots and I also bought the first ready meal in 6 weeks which had cauliflower rice. As it happens I realised I don't like cauliflower rice that much but it felt so 'normal' grabbing a ready meal and just having a break from cooking. I also want to take my kids out to eat and some restaurants have menus that list carbs ( prezzo for example) so I can find something on the menu that is relatively low carb and enjoy eating out. ( unfortunately there is no getting away from it that pizzas are super high in carbs!!)
 
lomasdiz said:
Thanks everyone I'm going to try and vary my meals a bit more and not be so scared of some carbs I tested pre dinner for the first time last night(only ever done fasting bs)and got a 5.1 which was encouraging so as I've been craving a chippy tea I had a small fishcake 18gcarbs and some roasted Mediterranean veg it definitely hit the the spot
Click to expand...
You could probably have had a large fish for the same amount of carbs - fishcakes have a lor of what isn't fish in them.
 
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