A question of Carbs and calories

[Leadinglights]

I think you are pre diabetic

Anything over 47mmol/mol is diabetic but once you are diagnosed as diabetic then even if you reduce your HbA1C below that diagnostic threshold then you are always diabetic though you can perhaps say in remission if it is without medication.
At least that means you get annual checks or should do.

 

[eddymyers]

the GP says i am not a typical Type 2 diabetic - not overweight, play football/active, don't smoke, have a relatively good diet....she doesn't want me losing weight but hasn't really said much other than "be more aware of what i am eating but don't deny myself a takeaway or anything" - which leaves me confused! I have been diagnosed for a couple of years now but still find it hard to work out how to eat and enjoy eating!

 

[Leadinglights]

the GP says i am not a typical Type 2 diabetic - not overweight, play football/active, don't smoke, have a relatively good diet....she doesn't want me losing weight but hasn't really said much other than "be more aware of what i am eating but don't deny myself a takeaway or anything" - which leaves me confused! I have been diagnosed for a couple of years now but still find it hard to work out how to eat and enjoy eating!

That is absolutely right, the occasional take away or meal out is fine the skill is in making good choices in what you have.
Often peoples problems are the extras they have rather than what they eat for their meals. If you don't want/need to lose weight then having protein and healthy fats but keeping carbs down but no NO carbs. It is suggested that a good starting point for reducing carbs to is no more than 130g per day so to help knowing where you are in relation to that then keeping a food diary of everything you eat and drink with an estimate of the amount of carbs would help.
Have a look at this link for some ideas of the variety of meals you can have. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/

 

[Martin.A]

then there is the GI - no one seems to publish this information even though it seems to be more pertinent? high carb content but with other things (fibre i think) reduces the impact it has and there fore isn't as bad as something else with a lower carb count but no fibre????? my head is constantly spinning and i think i am developing an unhealthy relationship with food! IE i do not like/enjoy thinking about my meals any more!

GL (Glycemic Load) is more pertinent. This is calculated by multiplying the weight of available carbohydrate in the food (in grams) by the food's Glycemic index, and then dividing by 100. In simple terms it means that even if something is high GI, for example, having just a spoonful will not have the same effect on BG as having a plateful.

At least that's how I understand it.

 

[eddymyers]

How are you with nuts? A couple of handfuls of peanuts, for example, is just under 5g carb but around 360 calories. Walnuts even better, a couple of handfuls is around 2g carb but 350 calories. Also, although nuts are mostly fat, it's predominantly unsaturated - the 'good fat'. I include both in my diet.

Nuts? I love salted peanuts but not too keen on unsalted ones! That leads to worry about salt intake!

 

[Martin.A]

Nuts? I love salted peanuts but not too keen on unsalted ones! That leads to worry about salt intake!

A handful of KP Dry Roasted Peanuts (about 30g) is half a gram of salt, or 1/12th of the RDA, so provided you don't go overboard it should be manageable. I'm wary of my salt intake too and so I limit myself to 50g of salted peanuts per day.

I tend to have walnuts mixed with some bite-sized chunks of apple, otherwise they're much too dry.