Good morning

[jitterbugboogie]

Hi there, just to say hello and to introduce myself!
I'm Emily, I'm 36 and living in Essex, I was diagnosed with Type2 Diabetes in 2020, my dad also has it so I'm aware of what's what and such, but dealing with it personally is hard and I'm finding it harder and harder to do what I know I should be doing when it comes to the food side. I'm currently metformin controlled (I'll use that term losely). Fitness wise, I'm a gym goer, and half marathon runner (although not since 2021). But I am struggling with food, I'm embarrassed to be diagnosed with type2 at what I consider to be a fairly young age, so I thought signing up and speaking to a community who is also dealing with it would give me some strength and hope to push on and get to where I need to be ❤️

 

[harbottle]

Don't be embarrassed, as it happens and it's not your fault at all.

Do you have a glucose tester? Many people find that testing before and after meals helps them work out of many carbohydrates they can tolerate without levels going (And staying) high. It all comes down to finding out how much you can tolerate.

I'm guessing your general health and weight is good with all that exercise... in my own case I was overweight with poor lipid profiles and had to lose weight.

I personally started out using recipe books by Giancarlo and Katie Caldesi (A TV chef who was is also T2) that are low in carbs and high in healthy fats, although I tend to avoid saturated fat generally and adapt recipes. If you like Fish/Meat with vegetables then these are good recipes. The books tend to be aimed at weight loss, but you can still use them if you don't need to lose weight.

I also eat a lot of nuts, berries, oranges, apples and peanut butter (Pure peanut butter.). In fact, probably too much peanut butter, as it's become a bit of an addiction.

In general I avoid:
- sweets
- crisps
- rice
- pasta
- bread
- potato (Although I do occasionally eat some, as I find it doesn't cause my sugar to go up.)
- oats

I tend to use vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, peas, green beans, leeks, and radishes to replace what would be a side dish of carby food. Fruits like tomato are OK for me. I also make a daal every now and then, as lentils are fine.

It was a bit daunting at first. The only thing I do miss now is the occasional pizza.

 

[Leadinglights]

I know you have the experience of you family to draw on but ideas have changed in how to manage Type 2 diabetes from you must have carbs with every meal to recognising that a low carb approach can work for many people and once they realise how they can still have filling tasty meals it can become the new normal way of eating.
This link you may find useful to give you ideas for modifying your diet.

Freshwell Low Carb Project - Home

lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk

It is a low carb approach which I think was developed by a GP practice in Essex.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @jitterbugboogie

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, and how tricky you've been finding the food side of things

Sounds like you have kept yourself fairly fit and active over the years - half marathon is quite an achievement!

As you say mid-30s is quite an interesting age to get a diagnosis with T2. A straw poll of forum members a few years ago suggested that mid-30s was one of the most likely ages to be diagnosed as one type, and later to be re-categorised as a different type. Especially as there are some rarer types of autoimmune diabetes which can come on slowly and look a lot like T2 to begin with.

Might be something to bear in mind if your body doesn't seem to respond to the treatment recommended for you as you Dr might expect? Diabetes can run in families, but just because someone in your family has one sort of diabetes doesn't necessarily guarantee that another person would develop the same type.

Were there any unusual aspects to your diagnosis? Are you considered overweight by your Dr / BMI *while recognising these are imperfect measures)? Did you lose any weight without trying before being diagnosed? Did your diabetes come on suddenly?

Hope you begin to feel more at peace with your diabetes over the coming weeks, and find a way to fit it into your life, rather than the other way around. 🙂