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Another hello!

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Parachutist

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Getting old and wobbly, diagnosed T2 some 18 months ago, always walked or run daily, still do, avoid sugar, gave up alcohol on leaving the army long ago, never smoked so all round a good boy. Joined this site to get some idea on food in general and menus for T2. Bread is good-bread is bad, potatoes are good potatoes are bad, fruit is essential- fruit contains sugar, cereals are good-cereals are bad and so on. Tried to cook some of the 'healthy menus' and have never heard of some of the ingredients let alone cooked them. Is there a book anyone can recommend that cuts out the bovine droppings around healthy eating which is written in plain English please?
 
Parachutist said:
Getting old and wobbly, diagnosed T2 some 18 months ago, always walked or run daily, still do, avoid sugar, gave up alcohol on leaving the army long ago, never smoked so all round a good boy. Joined this site to get some idea on food in general and menus for T2. Bread is good-bread is bad, potatoes are good potatoes are bad, fruit is essential- fruit contains sugar, cereals are good-cereals are bad and so on. Tried to cook some of the 'healthy menus' and have never heard of some of the ingredients let alone cooked them. Is there a book anyone can recommend that cuts out the bovine droppings around healthy eating which is written in plain English please?
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It all depends on where you are with your diabetes, are you at a stable level or are you still trying to reduce your HbA1C, are you on medication, do you need to lose weight because the dietary advice may be different. If you are willing to share a bit more information people will be able to focus their suggestions on your needs.
The sort of books you need to look for are those with low carb recipes, I have The Keto Kitchen, A Pinch of Nom quick and easy, The Diabetes weight loss cookbook by Caldesi and the Low Carb revolution by Annie Bell. But if you don't want to pay money then an internet search for low carb or keto recipes will give you lots of ideas.
Have a look at the thread What did you eat yesterday for ideas of what Type 2 folk have for their daily menu.
 
Leadinglights, thank you for the prompt reply, much appreciated ( and for the welcome MrDaibetes (sic)). New to this but my HbA1C reads 54 and I need get it down to 48 or below I am informed. Not prescribed medication. My BMI is good, may need to lose maybe 4 to 5 lbs. I will send for the books by Caldesi and Annie Bell to get my head around carbs and cooking healthily. I have read a few threads on this site this evening and there is some very useful information, importantly- from the perspective of people who are living with diabetes. No with to be Peter Pan but I need to keep as active as is practicable, I have 24 hour caring responsibilities. On-line info I have sought is often conflicting and confusing, but many are trying to flog something. I will seek any advice in future through this site.
 
Welcome @Parachutist 🙂 Jotting down a few days of what you eat at the moment is a good starting point. You can then easily look to see where you can make little changes. Your HbA1C isn’t dreadfully high so a few tweaks might be enough. Basically you’re looking to reduce the carbs. You can still eat your usual meals but adjust the proportions of them to keep the carbs down.

No food is bad, but you might have to look at your portions and adjust them according to what your body can manage and still control its glucose.
 
Parachutist said:
Leadinglights, thank you for the prompt reply, much appreciated ( and for the welcome MrDaibetes (sic)). New to this but my HbA1C reads 54 and I need get it down to 48 or below I am informed. Not prescribed medication. My BMI is good, may need to lose maybe 4 to 5 lbs. I will send for the books by Caldesi and Annie Bell to get my head around carbs and cooking healthily. I have read a few threads on this site this evening and there is some very useful information, importantly- from the perspective of people who are living with diabetes. No with to be Peter Pan but I need to keep as active as is practicable, I have 24 hour caring responsibilities. On-line info I have sought is often conflicting and confusing, but many are trying to flog something. I will seek any advice in future through this site.
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Hi Parachutist,

How are your knees and hips, never mind T2? 😉

My starting HbA1C wasn’t too far from yours and the advice, support and knowledge here helped me massively. Food diary, regular testing etc etc etc.

What works for me is to not feel I have to wholly give things up - though I’ve not had a single crisp since my hospital stay in February 2020!

I’ve reduced my carbs considerably by cutting the quantity and frequency. I’ve reduced my portions of rice and pasta by half and eat them half as often which equals 75% reduction. Instead of two slices of toast I have one and I eat Brennan’s “Be Good” bread which is lower in carbs. A tablespoon of mashed potato (frozen cubes from Sainsbury’s and Tesco) with butter added is good too.

Lots of great people here.

Henry
 
Welcome to the forum @Parachutist

Yes the advice for eating can be frustratingly confusing and contradictory :(

In part this is because there’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach that works for everyone, and different strategies and styles of menu suit different people. Some will do brilliantly on a moderate carb low fat approach, others will need to cut back carbs more, and still otjers will do better with a keto approach. It‘s about finding the approach that works for you long term, and which gives you the results you are looking for.

You might find some ideas you can adapt here

For a general overview of T2 diabetes, many members have found Gretchen Becker’s book Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year a clear and accessible read.
 
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