First time!

[LBurg1642]

Good morning everyone,
I hope this message finds you all well. This is my first time ever using a forum.
I have type 2 Diabetes, and hopefully will be able to be an active member of the group.
I am currently outside of the UK due to work commitments and lockdown working hard on my diet and fitness regime.

Les

 

[Ralph-YK]

Welcome to the forum Les from a fellow T2

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @LBurg1642

Have you lived with T2 for long?

How do you currently manage your diabetes? Do you take tablets, insulin, or manage with diet and activity?

Ask away with any questions you may have. We are a friendly bunch, and have many many years of lived diabetes experiences and all treatment types and management strategies for you to compare notes with 🙂

 

[LBurg1642]

Welcome to the forum @LBurg1642

Have you lived with T2 for long?

How do you currently manage your diabetes? Do you take tablets, insulin, or manage with diet and activity?

Ask away with any questions you may have. We are a friendly bunch, and have many many years of lived diabetes experiences and all treatment types and management strategies for you to compare notes with 🙂

Hi Mike,

Thank you for the welcome its appreciated. This is the first time i have ever spoken about my Type 2.

I take medication, as well as watch my diet carefully. I exercise daily which helps me as well as my well being. I was diagnosed 5 years ago with Type 2.

I have been on a mission to reduce my weight and extend my daily exercise which is going well thus far.

I am getting good blood sugar level readings daily of 100 (glucose levels), However the issue i have is due to my work location (Sahara desert) I struggle to get quality food to support my diet.

Any advice and support regarding what type of foods would be appreciated.

Best

Les

 

[zuludog]

Hello Les, and welcome to the Forum
There is a lot of advice and information here if you read through old Threads & Posts, and we will try to answer specific questions

There is plenty of advice on the type of food you should be eating, but as you say you might be restricted by what's available in your location
Try playing around with the Search boxes on Google, YouTube, and Amazon Books for combinations of things like -

Mediterranean diet / Middle Eastern / for diabetes / healthy, and see what turns up

Note that many of the recipes, including 'healthy' may contain a lot of carbohydrate, so you'll have to adjust them for diabetes - I assume you know about diabetes & carbs

I have always found Amazon Used books to be good value, and I have these -

Mediterranean Cooking for Diabetics by Robin Ellis
The Healthy Lebanese Family Cookbook by Mona Hamadeh

Alright, they might be miles from your location, but it's a start, and should give you some ideas

Go to the Home Page of this website and click on Living with Diabetes, then Enjoy food
There are lots of tips on what to eat, reducing carbs, meal plans & recipes, including Mediterranean

 

[LBurg1642]

Hello Les, and welcome to the Forum
There is a lot of advice and information here if you read through old Threads & Posts, and we will try to answer specific questions

There is plenty of advice on the type of food you should be eating, but as you say you might be restricted by what's available in your location
Try playing around with the Search boxes on Google, YouTube, and Amazon Books for combinations of things like -

Mediterranean diet / Middle Eastern / for diabetes / healthy, and see what turns up

Note that many of the recipes, including 'healthy' may contain a lot of carbohydrate, so you'll have to adjust them for diabetes - I assume you know about diabetes & carbs

I have always found Amazon Used books to be good value, and I have these -

Mediterranean Cooking for Diabetics by Robin Ellis
The Healthy Lebanese Family Cookbook by Mona Hamadeh

Alright, they might be miles from your location, but it's a start, and should give you some ideas

Go to the Home Page of this website and click on Living with Diabetes, then Enjoy food
There are lots of tips on what to eat, reducing carbs, meal plans & recipes, including Mediterranean

Hello Z,

Thank you for your informative email, and taking the time to respond it really is appreciated!

I have just bought Mediterranean Cooking for Diabetics by Robin Ellis so fantastic i am on the right track!! We have a Lebanese chef at our site so i will be chatting with him.

Thank you again for the advice, it really is appreciated!

Best for now and stay safe

Les

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome from me too.

The key to low carb eating is to avoid the carbohydrate rich foods and find substitutes. So cut back on the breakfast cereals, bread, rice, pasta, couscous and potatoes and go for more veggies, protein and fat.... the latter might surprise you, especially as NHS advice to diabetics (and everyone else) is to eat low fat, but fat will keep you from feeling hungry, provide slow release energy and not increase your BG levels. Many of us here on the forum follow a Low Carb Higher Fat (LCHF) way of eating and find it very enjoyable. We don't put on weight and many of us find that our cholesterol levels are reducing despite eating more saturated fats from dairy produce like cream and cheese and fatty meat as well as fats from nuts and avocados and olive oil. Cheese is my new chocolate and I start the day with double cream in my coffee instead of milk and sugar as I used to do and it tastes heavenly.... It is hard to feel deprived when you start the day on a coffee with cream and a mushroom, onion, courgette, ham and cheese omelette with salad and cheese coleslaw! Would just like to say that I don't need lunch when I have a breakfast like that, so only eat twice a day.
Anyway, not sure what food items are available to you but the easiest thing is just to cut back on the carby foods and bear in mind that fruit is also high in sugar so needs to be rationed and tropical fruits like banana, mango and pineapple are some of the worst offenders, so most of us consider a few berries or half an apple as a suitable fruit treat and save the other half for another day.

You didn't mention which medication(s) you are on for your diabetes?? If you are using something like Gliclazide or insulin then you need to be very careful about reducing your medication along with your carbs, so that your BG doesn't drop too low.

 

[KARNAK]

Hello Les welcome to the forum.🙂

 

[Ralph-YK]

I was diagnosed 5 years ago with Type 2.

Oh, I'm just 5½ years in myself.

I am getting good blood sugar level readings daily of 100 (glucose levels),

Is that finger prick test (as opposed to HbA1c)? One of the things about different countries, they use different scales. Do you know what scale your's is in?
Common advice on here is to self test.

 

[Toucan]

Hello @LBurg1642 and welcome to the forum.
Very well done on taking such positive control of living with diabetes, in such a challenging environment.
We look forward to you being part of the forum.

 

[trophywench]

I fully expect Les's meter to be in mg/Dl, since a UK mmol/L meter can't read 100, it explodes usually around 33 ! (always makes me laugh at that level when it just says HI to you, and similarly when it's below about 1.8 when it says LO - alright it being friendly and just saying a shorthand greeting - but not actually practically helpful to the totally un-informed really! )

Hence, his 100 would be UK 5.4 or 5.5.

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @LBurg1642

You have already been given loads of advice, and you have certainly taken in the Diabetes challenge.

Keep in touch and fire away with any questions that you have.

 

[LBurg1642]

Hi and welcome from me too.

The key to low carb eating is to avoid the carbohydrate rich foods and find substitutes. So cut back on the breakfast cereals, bread, rice, pasta, couscous and potatoes and go for more veggies, protein and fat.... the latter might surprise you, especially as NHS advice to diabetics (and everyone else) is to eat low fat, but fat will keep you from feeling hungry, provide slow release energy and not increase your BG levels. Many of us here on the forum follow a Low Carb Higher Fat (LCHF) way of eating and find it very enjoyable. We don't put on weight and many of us find that our cholesterol levels are reducing despite eating more saturated fats from dairy produce like cream and cheese and fatty meat as well as fats from nuts and avocados and olive oil. Cheese is my new chocolate and I start the day with double cream in my coffee instead of milk and sugar as I used to do and it tastes heavenly.... It is hard to feel deprived when you start the day on a coffee with cream and a mushroom, onion, courgette, ham and cheese omelette with salad and cheese coleslaw! Would just like to say that I don't need lunch when I have a breakfast like that, so only eat twice a day.
Anyway, not sure what food items are available to you but the easiest thing is just to cut back on the carby foods and bear in mind that fruit is also high in sugar so needs to be rationed and tropical fruits like banana, mango and pineapple are some of the worst offenders, so most of us consider a few berries or half an apple as a suitable fruit treat and save the other half for another day.

You didn't mention which medication(s) you are on for your diabetes?? If you are using something like Gliclazide or insulin then you need to be very careful about reducing your medication along with your carbs, so that your BG doesn't drop too low.

Great advice,

Thank you!!!

Best wishes

Les

 

[LBurg1642]

I fully expect Les's meter to be in mg/Dl, since a UK mmol/L meter can't read 100, it explodes usually around 33 ! (always makes me laugh at that level when it just says HI to you, and similarly when it's below about 1.8 when it says LO - alright it being friendly and just saying a shorthand greeting - but not actually practically helpful to the totally un-informed really! )

Hence, his 100 would be UK 5.4 or 5.5.

Hi there,

You are absolutely correct, my meter, is measured (Mg/DI).
Best for now

Les