Another newbie

[Irish-Chris]

Hi All,
I'm new to the sight and have T2. I was diagnosed approx. eight years ago and must admit I haven't taken it quiet as seriously as I should. I need to educate myself and make adjustments. Other than that, Hello!

 

[Drummer]

If you are a typical type two then the thing to concentrate on is carbohydrates - the starches and sugars we are all assured we ought to be eating, but for a type two that is bad advice. Reducing the carbs reduces the blood glucose levels, and by using a meter such as the Tee 2 from Spirit Helthcare which have strips cheap enough to use regularly it is possible to see which foods cause spikes after eating and should be avoided or reduced.
Welcome to the forum, do have a good look around and see what has worked for others. We are all different, but there are trends.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Irish-Chris

Glad you could join us. There are literally centuries of lived diabetes experience on the forum, so fore away with any questions - nothing will be considered too obvious or ‘silly’.

You've been playing the diabetes game for a while, but it might be worth going back to basics. There is lots of useful information and helpful links in the ‘useful links’ thread - useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes

Members here frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter and Gretchen Becker’s book ‘type 2 diabetes the first year‘ as very helpful starting points

Well done for deciding to renew your diabetes management efflet’s. There’s no ‘one size fits all’ we are all just here to help each other find our ways through the maze of options, approaches, meds and gadgets to develop our own unique ‘diabetes toolkit’

 

[Toucan]

Hello @Irish-Chris and welcome from me as well.
You have already been given some great advice, and I can only add that if you do start to work on finding the right solution to improve your blood sugar levels you will find many benefits. I certainly did and now have much more energy and zest for life.

We are all different though and it takes time to find out what works for you.
For me, a new way of eating, and increased exercise, plus some metformin has worked. As well as cutting out all the sugary things, I cut down on the carbs particularly the ‘white’ ones (white bread and flour,rice,pasta,etc ) and mainly eat fresh fish and poultry, some dairy and nuts and have learned to love vegetables. I also found that fruit raised my sugar levels a lot, so limit to 1 portion a day - usually berries. I also try to avoid too much processed food, and to include plenty of fibre some from the veg, plus seeds and pulses. There are many good recipes to make these things really tasty.

Hope you will let us know how it goes for you and please ask about anything you are concerned about.

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @Irish-Chris

You have already had plenty of useful advice above.
I will just add the encouragement to ask any questions that you have.
Nothing is considered silly on here.

 

[Irish-Chris]

If you are a typical type two then the thing to concentrate on is carbohydrates - the starches and sugars we are all assured we ought to be eating, but for a type two that is bad advice. Reducing the carbs reduces the blood glucose levels, and by using a meter such as the Tee 2 from Spirit Helthcare which have strips cheap enough to use regularly it is possible to see which foods cause spikes after eating and should be avoided or reduced.
Welcome to the forum, do have a good look around and see what has worked for others. We are all different, but there are trends.

Thanks Drummer. I'll take it on board and yes, as I'm new I'll have a good look around. Thanks again, Chris.

 

[Irish-Chris]

Hi, and welcome.

When you say you haven't taken it seriously and need to educate yourself and make adjustments, is there anything in particular that you feel you need to work on, eg diet, weight loss?

Martin

Martin

Hi Martin, if anything its going to have to be diet, if possible id like to put on weight so going forward I'm thinking diet and exercise and maybe monitoring too.

 

[Irish-Chris]

Welcome to the forum @Irish-Chris

Glad you could join us. There are literally centuries of lived diabetes experience on the forum, so fore away with any questions - nothing will be considered too obvious or ‘silly’.

You've been playing the diabetes game for a while, but it might be worth going back to basics. There is lots of useful information and helpful links in the ‘useful links’ thread - useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes

Members here frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter and Gretchen Becker’s book ‘type 2 diabetes the first year‘ as very helpful starting points

Well done for deciding to renew your diabetes management efflet’s. There’s no ‘one size fits all’ we are all just here to help each other find our ways through the maze of options, approaches, meds and gadgets to develop our own unique ‘diabetes toolkit’

Thank you. I will bare all that in mind and get around to it. Back to basics maybe the way forward too and I like the name, "Diabetes Toolkit"
Chris

 

[Irish-Chris]

Hello @Irish-Chris and welcome from me as well.
You have already been given some great advice, and I can only add that if you do start to work on finding the right solution to improve your blood sugar levels you will find many benefits. I certainly did and now have much more energy and zest for life.

We are all different though and it takes time to find out what works for you.
For me, a new way of eating, and increased exercise, plus some metformin has worked. As well as cutting out all the sugary things, I cut down on the carbs particularly the ‘white’ ones (white bread and flour,rice,pasta,etc ) and mainly eat fresh fish and poultry, some dairy and nuts and have learned to love vegetables. I also found that fruit raised my sugar levels a lot, so limit to 1 portion a day - usually berries. I also try to avoid too much processed food, and to include plenty of fibre some from the veg, plus seeds and pulses. There are many good recipes to make these things really tasty.

Hope you will let us know how it goes for you and please ask about anything you are concerned about.

Hi Kay, thank you and well done you. Hopefully I can get to that stage. There's a lot in there that sounds familiar and I must look into it. Is there a recipe book you can recommend I buy Kay?
Chris

 

[Irish-Chris]

Welcome to the forum @Irish-Chris

You have already had plenty of useful advice above.
I will just add the encouragement to ask any questions that you have.
Nothing is considered silly on here.

Many thanks, encouragement is half the battle but in my case I belive it could be 3/4's. Once I navigate the site a bit and get chatting more I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions. Thank you.
Chris.

 

[Toucan]

Is there a recipe book you can recommend I buy Kay?

Hello Chris, - not so much a recipe book but something I use quite a lot is Carbs & Cals
https://www.carbsandcals.com/ this is a very well illustrated carb counter with pictures of meals as well, which for me really brings home the message of how much carbs are in what.

For some recipe ideas, plus insight into what other members eat take a look at Food/carb queries + recipes

Best wishes, and I hope you keep posting

 

[Ditto]

Hello and welcome to the forum. 🙂 I must check out that carbs and cals...

 

[trophywench]

You will never know how well any diet and exercise is working for your diabetes if you do not test! Hence it's daft not to do it.

Here's how to do it, if you want it to benefit you

Test, Review, Adjust

Managing blood glucose levels for type 2 diabetes. Learning how to achieve long term control by testing and diet.

loraldiabetes.blogspot.com

 

[Irish-Chris]

Hello Chris, - not so much a recipe book but something I use quite a lot is Carbs & Cals
https://www.carbsandcals.com/ this is a very well illustrated carb counter with pictures of meals as well, which for me really brings home the message of how much carbs are in what.

For some recipe ideas, plus insight into what other members eat take a look at Food/carb queries + recipes

Best wishes, and I hope you keep posting

Thank you Kay. Who knows, might even find a new found love for cooking!!

 

[Irish-Chris]

You will never know how well any diet and exercise is working for your diabetes if you do not test! Hence it's daft not to do it.

Here's how to do it, if you want it to benefit you

Test, Review, Adjust

Managing blood glucose levels for type 2 diabetes. Learning how to achieve long term control by testing and diet.

loraldiabetes.blogspot.com

Thanks Jenny, I'll deffinately have a look and hopefully a go at this.
Chris.

 

[Irish-Chris]

Hello Chris, - not so much a recipe book but something I use quite a lot is Carbs & Cals
https://www.carbsandcals.com/ this is a very well illustrated carb counter with pictures of meals as well, which for me really brings home the message of how much carbs are in what.

For some recipe ideas, plus insight into what other members eat take a look at Food/carb queries + recipes

Best wishes, and I hope you keep posting

Bought the book Kay, so lets see where it takes me. Alos, after reading other posts on here I'm thinking of the freestyle libre for some CBGM, any thoughts on them?
Chris.