Any advice or tips welcomed.

[num]

Hello everyone, I'm finding this new life of being a diabetic a bit overwhelming right now what with all of the information that I have to read and get used to. Luckily I'm only just over the thresh hold of being a diabetic but I'm very worried that that will change for the worse. I have an eating disorder anyway and find it really hard to stick to a regular eating habit and unfortunately I don't like vegetables so I know I don't get enough nutrients in my food but I do suppliment with vitamins. I think this whole diabetic thing is quite scary and I'm not really sure what are the best things to do. Any advice or tips woud be welcome.

Thanks in advance, I hope you're all well and take care.

 

[Leadinglights]

Welcome to the forum.
Hopefully as you are only just over the threshold into the diabetic range you will have been given the opportunity to address the issue without medication for a few months. In any event some small modification to your foods will help. It will be finding foods that you like and maybe reducing the portion size of those high carbohydrate foods which will be the ones which will be affecting your blood glucose levels.
Maybe if you give an idea of what a typical day is for you food wise then people will get a better idea of what may help you and suggest changes you can make.
Don't think you are alone in having other conditions which may influence how easy/hard it is to see a way forward in managing your diagnosis.
Have a look at the Learning Zone where there is a link to Maggie Davey's letter to the newly diagnosed which has some very sensible suggestion.
There is always lots to learn even for people who have had diabetes for years so don't feel you have to know everything all at once. Baby steps day by day and you will get there.
Do ask any questions and I'm sure you will get lots of suggestions from well experienced others.

 

[Kaylz]

Have you ever sought help for your eating disorder? That may be something to look in to, sadly I only attended one session and had to decline because I couldn't make the 6 hour round trips every fortnight but most places aren't as bad as here for support xx

 

[Toucan]

Hello @num and welcome to the forum.

Many of us here have been through that feeling of being overwhelmed when we are diagnosed as diabetic.
It can some time to come to terms, and to find a good way forward, so it helps just to take your time and gradually make some adjustments that will help to lower your blood sugar levels.

It helps to try and work out what foods you eat are the main ones that increase your blood sugars, Usually it is some of the carbohydrates, things like rice, pasta, things made with flour and reducing some of these may help. - but we are all different and you need to find out what is right for you.

One way to work it out is to get a blood glucose monitor so that you can work out which foods have the worst effect and find out what works best for you. If you are interested in doing this, let us know and we will give you some more information.

As @ Leadinglights mentioned (2) Maggie Davey's letter to newly-diagnosed Type 2s | Diabetes UK gives some good practical ideas on how this lady worked out what to do,

 

[num]

Welcome to the forum.
Hopefully as you are only just over the threshold into the diabetic range you will have been given the opportunity to address the issue without medication for a few months. In any event some small modification to your foods will help. It will be finding foods that you like and maybe reducing the portion size of those high carbohydrate foods which will be the ones which will be affecting your blood glucose levels.
Maybe if you give an idea of what a typical day is for you food wise then people will get a better idea of what may help you and suggest changes you can make.
Don't think you are alone in having other conditions which may influence how easy/hard it is to see a way forward in managing your diagnosis.
Have a look at the Learning Zone where there is a link to Maggie Davey's letter to the newly diagnosed which has some very sensible suggestion.
There is always lots to learn even for people who have had diabetes for years so don't feel you have to know everything all at once. Baby steps day by day and you will get there.
Do ask any questions and I'm sure you will get lots of suggestions from well experienced others.

Thanks very much for your reply and I'll certainly have a look at Maggie's letter.

I've been given 3 months before my next blood test which will determine whether or not I need medication.

A typical day for me would be a banana for breakfast, a ham roll or sandwich for lunch and either chicken kievs or pork loin steaks or pork bellies with either oven chips or rice for dinner. Eating binges which happen roughly 2/3 times a month include mainly chocolate bars, large bags of crisps and multiple thick and creamy yoghurts and cooking late at night. I get what you are saying about portion size and I've been eating for 2 for a long time now that it's become a habit.

I was looking at the Learning Zone a day ago and yes, there is some really useful information on there, in fact, that's where I started to feel bit overwhelmed due to the amount that's on their site. One day at a time though with baby steps is the way forward.

A week ago I had started a healthy eating plan where I'd eat kale and spinach in a smoothie and limit my cups of coffee and tea for the day following the 30g of free sugar a day limit, sadly though my mum passed away on the Wednesday morning and for right now anyway, all of that healthy eating and sugar watching has gone out of the window. I plan to try and start it again when I return home as I'm staying with my dad at the moment for the much needed company.
A few years ago I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic and with more or less cutting out sugar in my hot drinks I managed to reverse that.

Another very unhelpful pass-time is to binge drink, although I am learning to kerb this and it now happens about once a month where I try not to drink excessively.

Does smoking effect it in any way?

 

[num]

Hello @num and welcome to the forum.

Many of us here have been through that feeling of being overwhelmed when we are diagnosed as diabetic.
It can some time to come to terms, and to find a good way forward, so it helps just to take your time and gradually make some adjustments that will help to lower your blood sugar levels.

It helps to try and work out what foods you eat are the main ones that increase your blood sugars, Usually it is some of the carbohydrates, things like rice, pasta, things made with flour and reducing some of these may help. - but we are all different and you need to find out what is right for you.

One way to work it out is to get a blood glucose monitor so that you can work out which foods have the worst effect and find out what works best for you. If you are interested in doing this, let us know and we will give you some more information.

As @ Leadinglights mentioned (2) Maggie Davey's letter to newly-diagnosed Type 2s | Diabetes UK gives some good practical ideas on how this lady worked out what to do,

Hello Toucan, I'd deffinitely be interested in the blood glucose monitoring if you could send me some info. please 🙂

 

[Toucan]

Oh dear @num this is indeed a very difficult time for you, and I am so sad to hear that your Mum has passed away.

You have so many things to deal with and to try to come to terms with.
It may be that it is best to not to try to be too ambitious in changing things right now.
May be just focus on one change that you wouldn't find so difficult, and take one step a time. Trying to reduce portion sizes would be a very good start.

 

[Toucan]

If you do want to start testing, then you will need to get a monitor.
Ones that many members use are SD Gluco Navii or Spirit Tee2

The main plan then is to test just before eating, and then 2 hours after, and the difference should be no more than around 2 points. If it is then either the food type or quantity you ate, may need adjusting. It takes a while to do this, but eventually you can arrive at an eating list that is good for you for keeping your blood sugars down.
There is more information on:
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/managing-your-diabetes/testing.

.... but as per my previous message, it may be best to find a time when there are fewer other things to deal with before trying this.
Very best wishes

 

[Drummer]

Your healthy eating concept doesn't seem all that good for a diabetic - meat, seafood, eggs and cheese are a good list to choose from and then some good solid foods, not a smoothie which can result in a spike as the cells are ruptured and the carbs released.

 

[Leadinglights]

Thanks very much for your reply and I'll certainly have a look at Maggie's letter.

I've been given 3 months before my next blood test which will determine whether or not I need medication.

A typical day for me would be a banana for breakfast, a ham roll or sandwich for lunch and either chicken kievs or pork loin steaks or pork bellies with either oven chips or rice for dinner. Eating binges which happen roughly 2/3 times a month include mainly chocolate bars, large bags of crisps and multiple thick and creamy yoghurts and cooking late at night. I get what you are saying about portion size and I've been eating for 2 for a long time now that it's become a habit.

I was looking at the Learning Zone a day ago and yes, there is some really useful information on there, in fact, that's where I started to feel bit overwhelmed due to the amount that's on their site. One day at a time though with baby steps is the way forward.

A week ago I had started a healthy eating plan where I'd eat kale and spinach in a smoothie and limit my cups of coffee and tea for the day following the 30g of free sugar a day limit, sadly though my mum passed away on the Wednesday morning and for right now anyway, all of that healthy eating and sugar watching has gone out of the window. I plan to try and start it again when I return home as I'm staying with my dad at the moment for the much needed company.
A few years ago I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic and with more or less cutting out sugar in my hot drinks I managed to reverse that.

Another very unhelpful pass-time is to binge drink, although I am learning to kerb this and it now happens about once a month where I try not to drink excessively.

Does smoking effect it in any way?

So sorry to hear of your loss, such news is difficult to cope with and the stress will obviously affect you. Your menu does seem to be particularly carb heavy, bananas are one of the highest carb fruits so a portion of berries with full fat yoghurt would be a good breakfast option. Rice and potatoes are food which people find have just too many carbs to tolerate but if you do get a monitor you could check what portion you could cope with. Look for full fat yoghurts as they have less carbs than the low fat version and dark chocolate is Ok in moderation. Nature Valley protein bars are quite low carb and are quite sweet and nut based, Nuts and seeds are also a good option for snacks. There are plenty of things you can have meat. fish, eggs, cheese and non starchy veg are all good.
Having low carb things like, carotts, peppers, celery, cucumber, cheese or cooked meat in the fridge that you can grab if you feel hungry will help stop you snacking of the higher carb crisps and biscuits.
If you like cooking there are lots of low carb recipes on here or look for keto or low carb recipes on the internet. But day at a time especially at the moment and there is support to help you.

 

[silentsquirrel]

I would not worry about the kale and spinach smoothies, both low carb, and no worse than a smooth blitzed soup from them. It does, of course, depend what else was in the smoothie!

Be kind to yourself at the moment, you have a lot to deal with, and if you try to be strict with diet at the moment it may backfire and lead to bingeing. You are only just into diabetic territory, so no need to go full out on the healthy eating until you are feeling emotionally stronger. Baby steps!

When you are stronger, I would suggest you look at total carbs in what you eat, rather than "free sugars".

Take care.

 

[Cherrelle DUK]

Hi Num, welcome to the forum.

So sorry to hear about the loss of your mum. Changing eating habits can be difficult at the best of times let alone during this season.

It might be worth just tracking the food you eat so that you can have a look at what you eat over week and make gentle adjustments.

Given that you're just over the threshold, doing things like increasing your water intake and doing some exercise can help to build good habits that will keep you out of the worrying zone.

We're here to support you so, take your time, have a look around and let us know if you have any questions.

 

[num]

I would not worry about the kale and spinach smoothies, both low carb, and no worse than a smooth blitzed soup from them. It does, of course, depend what else was in the smoothie!

Be kind to yourself at the moment, you have a lot to deal with, and if you try to be strict with diet at the moment it may backfire and lead to bingeing. You are only just into diabetic territory, so no need to go full out on the healthy eating until you are feeling emotionally stronger. Baby steps!

When you are stronger, I would suggest you look at total carbs in what you eat, rather than "free sugars".

Take care.

I had an apple and an orange with the kale and spinach with water in the smoothie

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

So sorry to hear about your Mum @num

It can take a lot of adjustment to get used to a significant bereavement like that, and it is absolutely unsurprising that you might find it hard to summon the energy to focus on your diabetes when the feelings of grief are strong.

My experience is that the feelings tend to come in ’waves’, and that the ‘5 stages of grief’ can arrive all jumbled and in random orders - sometimes all on the same day!

Your limiting of sweet and sugary things will certainly be helping, but like @silentsquirrel I think that when you are ready looking at ‘total carbohydrate’ rather than ‘of which sugars’ is a really powerful strategy, depending on how your body is reacting to your current menu.

Keep asking questions, be kind to yourself, and let us know how you get on 🙂