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44 and 59

timehastoldme

timehastoldme

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Hello!

While being investigated for high blood pressure it turns out my Hba1C is high at 59. I had a slightly patronising chat with the diabetes nurse on Friday who reminded me we don't need cakes or biscuits and has booked in to see me in January (10th, which didn't work because OH is having an op, then 17th but I need to reschedule because I can't actually get there). I have a second blood test booked for just before Christmas.

I'm 44, definite fatty. Depressed, stressed and heavily medicated for it. I work part time from home in the middle of nowhere, but walk on the regular, hiking and dog walking both.

Comfort eating, demand avoidance and poor impulse control is what has me in this position. A period of depression related being a shut in didn't help, but we've moved house and have been making big efforts to move our bodies more.

Since the call I've audited and taken a massive carbs cut (<120g a day target), monitoring on Cronometer. Also reduced calories to help shift some weight. It's only a few days now, the first three were headache heavy, today feels better.

The plan is to lose the weight and get this thing into remission. My OH knows, I'm not telling the rest of my family because I don't want to get stuck in toxic diet dialogue. Mum's up for Christmas, but I'll be using the blood pressure excuse to avoid having to eat extra roasties.

1. I've ordered carbs and cals and poured through recipes on low carb sites (not keto)
2. Had a nice soup for lunch
3. I'm not testing at home until after mum goes home, then I'll do a trial and see how each food affects me
4. I'm being careful not to jump the exercise up while adjusting to the reduced calories because I feel clumsy right now
5. Going hard at the start with the hopes I can get to maintaining a reasonable position once this is under control.



I've had two days of weeping about no longer being able to eat without thinking about it, and then I've tried to put that to bed and get on with it.

It's very boring, all I talk about is food, poor OH.
 
Hi and welcome.

It sounds like you have made a great start, so well done!. I think many of us have had a weepy phase in getting accustomed to our diagnosis and there is certainly an element of grieving about it but like all grieving, you gradually come to terms with it and get on with the practicalities of life. You seem to have a good plan and I wish you lots of luck following it. Don't forget that we all slip off the wagon from time to time but the important thing is to get back on ASAP. I was a comfort eater and sugar addict before diagnosis and what I find amazing is that since going low carb, it has given me more control over my eating and cravings for comfort food. The binging was killing me slowly, so in many respects getting my Diabetes diagnosis has probably saved me and I am actually healthier and fully expect to live longer as a result, so there have been positives to come out of it. There are many other people here who feel the same and I hope that you will become one of them in time.
 
Ditto @rebrascora! I thought my life was over when I realised I couldn't just eat what I liked when I liked but here I am, happier and healthier than before.
You've made a great start and should be proud of yourself for that. Keep up the good work as it will become easier as you go on.
 
Hello @timehastoldme welcome to the forum, I hope we can give you some better advice about what to eat - it is fine to eat whatever carbs you like - to be honest, they are much the same, they all turn into simple sugars and so if you want to eat cake - fine - just be aware of the carbs in it - perhaps make yourself a low carb cake using a recipe from sugar free londoner's website, which is really useful.
Today my carbs are going to be from one orange and half a bag of Lidl frozen stirfry, which might be considered quite low - but I can eat anything from the freezer or fridge, which I should go and look into shortly so dinner is not late.
I never found that eating low calorie ever got rid of much weight - when I reversed my type 2 I concentrated only on the carbs - when the sink is blocked turning the tap off is the thing to do, first of all. I was rather amazed to find I'd lost loads of weight with no effort and no restriction on other foods. I did stop using seed oils and found I no longer got burnt in the sun. That was a bit weird, having a tan never used to happen.
I was eating at 12 hourly intervals and having things such as steak and mushrooms for breakfast then did not need to eat anything until the evening, which really feed up my time. I messed things up trying the shakes diet and I am now struggling to get back into my former routine - but it isn't anything dreadful - to be honest I am feeling that I can still do so much even being 73 and 3/4 years old.
 
timehastoldme said:
Hello!

While being investigated for high blood pressure it turns out my Hba1C is high at 59. I had a slightly patronising chat with the diabetes nurse on Friday who reminded me we don't need cakes or biscuits and has booked in to see me in January (10th, which didn't work because OH is having an op, then 17th but I need to reschedule because I can't actually get there). I have a second blood test booked for just before Christmas.

I'm 44, definite fatty. Depressed, stressed and heavily medicated for it. I work part time from home in the middle of nowhere, but walk on the regular, hiking and dog walking both.

Comfort eating, demand avoidance and poor impulse control is what has me in this position. A period of depression related being a shut in didn't help, but we've moved house and have been making big efforts to move our bodies more.

Since the call I've audited and taken a massive carbs cut (<120g a day target), monitoring on Cronometer. Also reduced calories to help shift some weight. It's only a few days now, the first three were headache heavy, today feels better.

The plan is to lose the weight and get this thing into remission. My OH knows, I'm not telling the rest of my family because I don't want to get stuck in toxic diet dialogue. Mum's up for Christmas, but I'll be using the blood pressure excuse to avoid having to eat extra roasties.

1. I've ordered carbs and cals and poured through recipes on low carb sites (not keto)
2. Had a nice soup for lunch
3. I'm not testing at home until after mum goes home, then I'll do a trial and see how each food affects me
4. I'm being careful not to jump the exercise up while adjusting to the reduced calories because I feel clumsy right now
5. Going hard at the start with the hopes I can get to maintaining a reasonable position once this is under control.



I've had two days of weeping about no longer being able to eat without thinking about it, and then I've tried to put that to bed and get on with it.

It's very boring, all I talk about is food, poor OH.
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Well done for making such a good start on making some changes. I expect you have been looking around the forum and may have come across this link https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/ which I found was a very doable approach and is now my new way of eating. Cutting out those big hitting carbs will go a long way to bringing your blood glucose down, make sure you drink plenty of fluids to prevent the headaches which sometimes people get when they substantially cut carbs as the initial weight loss is fluid so easy to be dehydrated.
 
I'm very newly diagnosed also (Friday), type still unknown - registrar thinks T1, GP T2. The GP was similarly a bit condescending and dismissive in equal measures so I know how this doesn't help.

My Hba1c was 121 on Thursday so an emergency trip to hospital for an outpatients and then 2 hours of being bombarded with information was enough to about tip me over the edge.

Over the weekend it hit me hard and I was very upset and downbeat so I can empathise with where you're at.

I can also relate to the depression and weight gain. I was on mertazipine a couple of years ago and my weight ballooned out of control and I didn't have the motivation to do much about anything.

However you can get there with your weight, I now run a lot and have got down to a pretty good weight so with the right thinking, which it looks like you're getting into, you can do it for sure.

Sounds like you have the right idea for managing family too!
 
Welcome @timehastoldme , when I was told in July my reading was 69 even though I had asked for the test it was a huge shock. I reduced all the naughty stuff and ate eggs cheese, fish and veg with yoghurt and berries for breakfast the next test 4cweeks later was 64 and I was disappointed it wasn't lower, but as a longterm fatty I was losing 2 lbs a week and wasn't hungry. No calorie counting just a modicum of carb counting. I have since had some additional medication which has made carb counting trickier. However my first two weeks on metformin were great. Look at the freshwell site for ideas. I've eaten a lot of smoked salmon and other fish. I have eaten chicken and turkey and occasionally sausage and bacon. I have high blood pressure so am carefull with processed meat. Don't try and change everything too quickly your body has to catch up. I now believe you can eat anything if you portion control eg extra veg but it is probably a good idea to substitute celeriac or swede for potatoes and red lentil or edamame for pasta ( i bought mine in Holland and Barrett) i have a well hidden greedy gene so have to be very careful with extra bits. I've decided not to buy bread and leave it as something I may have out. I have been eating chocolate biscuits to boost my carbs [ not every day] I found some Christmas biscuits in Marks and Spencer dark chocolate nuts and ginger. 8 in a pack 10 carbs per biscuit. If you like meat a fry up without hash browns or beans is low carb.
I have to sort my blood pressure which is not now under control. I was taken off a tablet I was on in Sept when I was placed on a new diabetic med. Subsequently I've had a seven week cold, an eye op, oral steroids and antibiotics for a poorly finger. I suspect stress is playing a part. Don't forget you can have a roast potato or a mince pie but only you know if you would handle saying no to the first one is easier than walking away from the second.
Good luck.
 
Hi @timehastoldme and welcome to the forum - a diabetes diagnosis is definitely a shock, and a game changer but the five steps you have mentioned you are implementing are spot on - there is loads of information and shared experiences on this forum for you to look at - someone will always be around to answer any questions you may have - keep positive 🙂
 
Thanks all! Feeling cautiously optimistic? Which is bloody weird for me. Dreading the inevitable meetings, but reading the forum so far means I feel better armed to take it on.

Made low sugar muffins for visitors from a recipe on the low carb freshwell site today, used ground almonds instead of flour. No complaints from visitors so that's a win. It's also a small recipe so not loads hanging around looking at me.

Good point about hydration, it's something to get used to. Years ago I tried intermittent fasting but failed due to absolutely crashing headaches. I used to teach science and because you can't run to the loo while the bunsen burners are going/scalpels are out, we were all a bit chronically dehydrated.

OH is gamely working through the mincemeat cake I made just before getting the results and we've adjusted the shopping after a long time label reading in Lidl. Today has had a better variety of food than I've eaten in years, more veg, some fruit, even a (small) dessert, and the carbs are 98g for the day.

Genuinely would not have thought this possible a week ago. Depression can be a filthy liar sometimes.
 
timehastoldme said:
Thanks all! Feeling cautiously optimistic? Which is bloody weird for me. Dreading the inevitable meetings, but reading the forum so far means I feel better armed to take it on.

Made low sugar muffins for visitors from a recipe on the low carb freshwell site today, used ground almonds instead of flour. No complaints from visitors so that's a win. It's also a small recipe so not loads hanging around looking at me.

Good point about hydration, it's something to get used to. Years ago I tried intermittent fasting but failed due to absolutely crashing headaches. I used to teach science and because you can't run to the loo while the bunsen burners are going/scalpels are out, we were all a bit chronically dehydrated.

OH is gamely working through the mincemeat cake I made just before getting the results and we've adjusted the shopping after a long time label reading in Lidl. Today has had a better variety of food than I've eaten in years, more veg, some fruit, even a (small) dessert, and the carbs are 98g for the day.

Genuinely would not have thought this possible a week ago. Depression can be a filthy liar sometimes.
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Good you are looking at the food labels, just make sure you are looking at the carbs not the sugar which is a mistake some people make, so they may choose something low sugar but it will still be high carb. It can be easier to look at the shop website for the carbs of things before you go shopping, easier than squinting at the small writing on the back of the packet. Also ignore the traffic light system it is useless.
Yes it is easy not to be drinking enough, we were not allowed to drink in the lab and often didn't have time to go out having to take lab coats off wash hands etc.
Have a look for the Kvarg deserts, or high protein flavoured yoghurts or the high protein mousses or you can make sugarfree jelly with berries and have with cream. I make fruit crumble with the topping with almond flour/ground almonds, a low sugar granola, seeds and butter.
 
We bought the milbona high protein yoghurts from Lidl, I had half a pot (100g, 6g of carbs) of blueberry with half a banana for breakfast. Last week was porridge and home made pear jam! I actually scoffed at the yoghurt and fruit suggestion when I started reading around after seeing my results, converted now, looking forward to the rest tomorrow.

My small dessert was half a pot of the protein mousse (88g, 5g carbs) and to be honest I could have had less. It's nice to feel like I've had a something after dinner, at least while transitioning.

Thank you for tip about the crumble, our cooking apple tree really pumped them out this year ☺️
 
timehastoldme said:
We bought the milbona high protein yoghurts from Lidl, I had half a pot (100g, 6g of carbs) of blueberry with half a banana for breakfast. Last week was porridge and home made pear jam! I actually scoffed at the yoghurt and fruit suggestion when I started reading around after seeing my results, converted now, looking forward to the rest tomorrow.

My small dessert was half a pot of the protein mousse (88g, 5g carbs) and to be honest I could have had less. It's nice to feel like I've had a something after dinner, at least while transitioning.

Thank you for tip about the crumble, our cooking apple tree really pumped them out this year ☺️
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Yes I can only manage half a pot of those pots of yoghurt or mousse. Our apple trees did really well and didn't have the extra protein which they usually do. I never felt confident at biting into the eating apples but this year they have been good.
I tend to have full fat Greek yoghurt with berries and a scattering of keto granola for breakfast or eggs
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. It's a shock finding out you have diabetes even if you suspect something is not quite right. Impressed that you have got a plan sorted to get your blood sugars down. As many people have found, counting carbs instead of calories has also helped with weight loss. Wishing you well. Keep posting to let us know how you get on and share the good, the bad and the downright frustrating. We have all been there. If not eating biscuits and cake cured diabetes, none of us would be on this forum.
 
@timehastoldme I see you shop in Lidl - you might like their frozen stir fry - I get the Italian and the Asian ones as they are low carb and an easy option to have with meat. I get their mixed veges - the one without the sweetcorn as it is so easy to create a beef stew in the pressure cooker with a pack of ready chopped meat and a bag of mixed veges with an onion and some celery, maybe mushrooms or tomatoes - I basically do a stock take on the fridge - I have even added a bag of salad which was not going to get eaten any other way.
your breakfast choices seem a bit high carb to me - but I need to eat realy low carb to have normal numbers.
I would not eat blueberries and banana at any time, but I would tend to eat a dessert in the evening as checking with a blood glucose meter showed that it has less effect eaten after dinner than for breakfast, so I end to have only a few gm of carb from salad or veges in the mornings.
Left over swede, mashed for dinner the previous day, used as the basis for bubble and squeak is great on a cold morning. After that with bacon or with cheese, I can tackle anything.
 
Thank you, I'll look at those stir fries

Everything is an experiment for me at the moment, I've not had a face to face with anyone about this, and it doesn't look like I will for at least a month. I'm focusing on overall carbs for the day being less than 120g, and taking a walk after breakfast and lunch to help use up sugars. I work some evenings (online, couple of hours teaching) and that helps keep me out of trouble. Might expand the days I work

Because I've got mum over Christmas, I can't do specific meals/food blood monitoring for now, she will worry over much and it'll make everything a ton more stressful. When that's all out the way, I'll be trying to see how specific foods affect things and what causes spikes.

The (patronising) nurse just said to be careful about the starches until I see her and the now infamous in my house "we don't need cakes or biscuits". But I've decided to go hard, my blood pressure is high, my weight is high and it can't hurt to try to bring those down.
 
timehastoldme said:
Thank you, I'll look at those stir fries

Everything is an experiment for me at the moment, I've not had a face to face with anyone about this, and it doesn't look like I will for at least a month. I'm focusing on overall carbs for the day being less than 120g, and taking a walk after breakfast and lunch to help use up sugars. I work some evenings (online, couple of hours teaching) and that helps keep me out of trouble. Might expand the days I work

Because I've got mum over Christmas, I can't do specific meals/food blood monitoring for now, she will worry over much and it'll make everything a ton more stressful. When that's all out the way, I'll be trying to see how specific foods affect things and what causes spikes.

The (patronising) nurse just said to be careful about the starches until I see her and the now infamous in my house "we don't need cakes or biscuits". But I've decided to go hard, my blood pressure is high, my weight is high and it can't hurt to try to bring those down.
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If you keep your monitor in the bedroom then there is no need for her to know you are testing as it takes seconds, so you would be out of sight no longer than it takes to go to the loo. Look upon it as information gathering to help you make better food decisions.
 
timehastoldme said:
Today was positive, 84g total carbs and extra dog walks. First day all by myself since the phone call with the nurse and it didn't descend into doom spirals.

Thanks all for your replies.
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Great to hear about your positive day, and how you have begun to settle into things.

Be kind to yourself over Christmas, and don’t stress about eating slightly differently than you have been trying to recently.

I remembered a blog post a few months back which I always found a very wise take on festive seasons, and how to nagivate some of the inevitable choices, pressures, and compromises to be made

everydayupsanddowns

Post in thread 'The dreaded 'C ' word.'

EMcKT said:
Another opportunity to shout out THANKS to all those who give their experience and expertise in this forum.Not sure if this makes sense but I know what I mean.....
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Here’s something I've posted once or twice on the forum before, because it really struck a chord with me when I first read it.

It’s by Jennifer (of Jennifer’s Advice) who doesn’t get shared so much on the forum these days, but who wrote about her experience of life with diabetes with real pragmatism and wisdom. This is a small extract:

With the holidays coming up, give yourself permission to be human.There is a...​
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Nick Drake inspired user name?
 
It is! it's my favourite of his.

Thanks for the much needed read @everydayupsanddowns. I'm trying to be gentle with myself without letting myself off the hook.

Today was frustrating and that would normally trigger a binge, in the end I was 122g of carbs, 2g over target, and considering how it could have been given the circumstances I'm still happy with that. Tomorrow is planned out, tomorrow is a new day.
 
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