Got diagnosed with T2 diabetes today - Help

[Jinx]

There are approximately 35gm of carbs in a burger bun probably more if brioch.
I maintain on 70-100 gms of carbs a day. 1 burger would be half my allowance for a whole day.
How many burgers would you eat? Do you have fries with it?
There is approximately 40gm of carbs in a portion of oven fries ...
With 1 burger in a bun that would be my whole day's allowance...not that I would anymore because it's not a meal I have had for 6 years.
Don't wait until you get your first attack of diabetic neuropathy...it isn't pleasant and it potentially changes your quality of life.

The burger bun I usually have is around 25carb per bun and I would only have 2 max, maybe 2 buns once a week? Max twice. Fries also maybe max twice a week.

Thats great 70-100 carbs a day, and now your a1c is good? I was thinking of doing around 50 carbs a day.

 

[Jinx]

Yet to be seen.
GP refused to have me down as Diabetic at 51, going about it as ‘pre-diabetes’ until the results of next test.
Imagine under 42 he will just have me down as normal as I’d have dodged both Diabetic and pre-diabetic numbers (hopefully!)

I think 2 tests is the standard for a full diagnosis so I’d just go hard to get the numbers down and see about getting that second test from your GP for confirmation.

Goodluck friend, I hope my GP doesn't say I have it without doing another one or allowing me time to fix things. This is a wake up call for me. I don't wanna wait x amount of years and then be at a stage where it's done irreversible damage to inside my body knowing I could have prevented this.

The doctor said to me "you're borderline but I am gonna put you as diabetic" huh..

I got nurse at GP appointment in 4 weeks, a week before that I will get a home a1c test and check the number myself. Keep me updated with what happens with you, would be nice to know.

 

[Jinx]

Good lu k with the diet app but just bear in mind that low calories doesn't mean low carbs and a lower blood sugar.
You can have a coke but it will spike your blood sugar and take longer to come down and thus affect your blood test result.

I get it, mostly. Is that why fizzy drinks are bad cause they will spike your levels and it takes longer to come down? And the more you drink the higher it stays to a point you're not producing enough insulin to get it down?

 

[Jinx]

I think you need to get a better understanding about Type 2 as some of the comment you have made suggest you haven't quite grasped how the condition works and the role of carbohydrates.
For example diet coke is zero carbs therefore it is a drink that you can still have but not full sugar coke.
There is good explanation in the Learning zone, on the main site which explains the HbA1C test and how it works and in the link to the Freshwell Program I posted earlier in the thread.

I'm starting to understand it, just takes a bit of reading and been busy with work and all this is coming in fast. Gonna get told off when I tell the family but what can I do, nobody to blame but myself and only I can fix things. I get it, the more carbs is the higher your blood will go and then more you have the longer it will stay that high.

I've read in places diet coke and diet fizzy drinks don't do any effect on BG levels and some say avoid as it has sucralose etc. Is this actually true?

Other then water what's the best thing for me to drink? Air up is scented water, would that work? No sugar flavoured water? Cordial?

 

[Jinx]

Oh dear - I'm afraid you have the wrong end of the stick when it comes to food choices and glucose levels are nothing to do with fried food or weight.
Yes the sugar water drinks are a big part of it, but aren't fries potato? Sandwiches - bread, batter is made with wheat flour, wraps, flour again.
You might not need to alter what you eat all that much if you switch to sugar free drinks, but carbs are the starches as well as the sugars, and you need to keep a count of those.
Low fat can be unhealthy - any Biology text book on the subject of lipids will wax lyrical about the raw materials of hormones, repairs to nerves and brain tissue, the cell wall structures and their properties - all down to the natural fats we need. We cannot live without them, so I am often concerned about the vitriol heaped upon what hominids have been eating for maybe 3 million years.
My HbA1c was 91 at diagnosis, but 6 months low carb and I'd lost weight without even thinking about it, but the best bit was I was no longer in the diabetes range, not even prediabetic, and feeling so much better, plus strong enough to go back to work servicing knitting machines.

Fried food would be higher in carbs therefore impact BG level more? As opposed to it air fryed?

Congrats on your levels now in the normal range. Wish I get back down.

 

[Jinx]

While at work I was thinking what my carb intake could look like, was thinking -

Morning exercise

Breakfast have a wrap and mince meat (15carbs for wrap (low carb tortilla pack in asda), 0carbs for meat)

Afternoon salad with or without a tablespoon of greek yogurt/feta cheese. 5-10 carbs

Dinner wrap with grilled chicken (15carbs for wrap, 0carbs for meat)

Half the week won't have a wrap, will just have the morning/dinner as grilled meat on it's own

Plus either water, no added sugar flavoured water, air up or maybe a diet fizzy drink??

So that's around 50 carbs a day. Is the above bad?

 

[silver minion]

Thanks for advice. That's crazy once a diabetic always a diabetic. I don't really eat sweets and chocs once or twice a month. don't like cakes much maybe once every other month. Don't eat pasta. Rice once a month. Bread not much but burger buns I guess a few times a week. Don't eat baked goods...

Burger buns, wraps and breadcrumb coatings all count as bread, which is fairly high carb. I am not saying don't eat them it is your decision about what you eat. Maybe consider reducing the frequency and portion size.
Losing weight is not the only consideration to achieving remission. Reducing your blood sugars is a key goal. I didn't need to lose weight, the opposite in fact. I still reduced my carb intake and getting my blood sugars down to an acceptable level is still work in progress.

 

[Jinx]

Burger buns, wraps and breadcrumb coatings all count as bread, which is fairly high carb. I am not saying don't eat them it is your decision about what you eat. Maybe consider reducing the frequency and portion size.
Losing weight is not the only consideration to achieving remission. Reducing your blood sugars is a key goal. I didn't need to lose weight, the opposite in fact. I still reduced my carb intake and getting my blood sugars down to an acceptable level is still work in progress.

Yeah I get you, it could be portion size. I generally only eat one meal a day. Even if I think about it, may carb count without fizzy drinks would be around 300-450 a day? But then including fizy drinks you're talking 500-600+ cause of energy drinks, luzcozade sometimes, coke etc.

Goodluck with your journey. My cal intake currently has to be around 2000-3500 daily with no exercise.

 

[pjgtech]

Hi @Jinx, remember that everyone copes with diabetes differently, and they react to different foods/drinks differently, some are tolerant of some carbs, some are not. Some can eat bread, some can't, some can eat potatoes, some can't, etc, etc.
So there is no one right way to go about things, you need to figure out what works for you. Some go low cal diet, some do Keto, some do the Canivore diet, some do the 5-2 diet, some do a mixture of diets, but most do low carb as it seems to be the most successful way and has (some) science and trials behind it now.

Just remember, a carb is a carb, does not really matter that much if its raw, cooked, fried, or boiled, its still a carb, so you have to watch how much of it you eat.

Finger prick testing at home is a good option to give you an idea of how a meal affects your BG level. Eg: testing immediately before eating, then testing again 2 hours after starting the meal, (not 2 hrs after ending the meal, as a long meal could take an hour). You would like to see no more than a rise of 3, but ideally 2. So if your BG with finger prick test pre meal was 5, after 2 hrs it should be no more than 8, and ideally 7. If you are getting higher rises than that, then try to analyse that meal and work out what you could leave out or reduce next time.

Hope that helps. Cheers

 

[Leadinglights]

While at work I was thinking what my carb intake could look like, was thinking -

Morning exercise

Breakfast have a wrap and mince meat (15carbs for wrap (low carb tortilla pack in asda), 0carbs for meat)

Afternoon salad with or without a tablespoon of greek yogurt/feta cheese. 5-10 carbs

Dinner wrap with grilled chicken (15carbs for wrap, 0carbs for meat)

Half the week won't have a wrap, will just have the morning/dinner as grilled meat on it's own

Plus either water, no added sugar flavoured water, air up or maybe a diet fizzy drink??

So that's around 50 carbs a day. Is the above bad?

You may not need to go as low as 50g carbs per day and that would give you more leeway to have a greater variety of meals, I see no mention of vegetables, eggs, cheese which are generally low in carbs.
Tea, coffee, flavoured still or sparkling water or diet coke or other diet drinks are fine.
I think you will get pretty bored with the above so more likely to give up.
Do have a look at the menu plans in the Freshwell link and you will see there is much more you can eat. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/

 

[Drummer]

Fried food would be higher in carbs therefore impact BG level more? As opposed to it air fryed?

Congrats on your levels now in the normal range. Wish I get back down.

No - the fried food might be better for you than the air cooked. We need fats in our diet to stay healthy, and the more natural ones are better - a million years of Hominid evolution can't be wrong - in my opinion.
For me, normal is normal - it was only the bad advice on how to eat which made me ill and hugely overweight.

 

[Jinx]

Hi @Jinx, remember that everyone copes with diabetes differently, and they react to different foods/drinks differently, some are tolerant of some carbs, some are not. Some can eat bread, some can't, some can eat potatoes, some can't, etc, etc.
So there is no one right way to go about things, you need to figure out what works for you. Some go low cal diet, some do Keto, some do the Canivore diet, some do the 5-2 diet, some do a mixture of diets, but most do low carb as it seems to be the most successful way and has (some) science and trials behind it now.

Just remember, a carb is a carb, does not really matter that much if its raw, cooked, fried, or boiled, its still a carb, so you have to watch how much of it you eat.

Finger prick testing at home is a good option to give you an idea of how a meal affects your BG level. Eg: testing immediately before eating, then testing again 2 hours after starting the meal, (not 2 hrs after ending the meal, as a long meal could take an hour). You would like to see no more than a rise of 3, but ideally 2. So if your BG with finger prick test pre meal was 5, after 2 hrs it should be no more than 8, and ideally 7. If you are getting higher rises than that, then try to analyse that meal and work out what you could leave out or reduce next time.

Hope that helps. Cheers

Hi and thanks for the idea. Will use it thanks.

 

[Jinx]

You may not need to go as low as 50g carbs per day and that would give you more leeway to have a greater variety of meals, I see no mention of vegetables, eggs, cheese which are generally low in carbs.
Tea, coffee, flavoured still or sparkling water or diet coke or other diet drinks are fine.
I think you will get pretty bored with the above so more likely to give up.
Do have a look at the menu plans in the Freshwell link and you will see there is much more you can eat. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/

Yeah I will incorporate eggs once a week somewhere along with fish instead of chicken or meat, veggies will be added to salad mix for afternoon meal like tomatoes, cabbage etc along with feta cheese sometimes.

Um, not really I am pretty picky in what I eat anyway generally been eating the same grilled food for last few years and still love it.

These no sugar, no added sugar in flavoured water is confusing the hell out of me. Everything I see with no sugar or no added sudar flavoured water sugar all have 0 carbs and 0 everything on the label so how I know if ok other then pricking myself =/

 

[Jinx]

No - the fried food might be better for you than the air cooked. We need fats in our diet to stay healthy, and the more natural ones are better - a million years of Hominid evolution can't be wrong - in my opinion.
For me, normal is normal - it was only the bad advice on how to eat which made me ill and hugely overweight.

I get you, but would get enough fat from meat fish and chicken no?

 

[Pollyanna]

Yeah I understand, the higher the carb the more sugar. Thanks for the reply.

The higher the carbs the more starch.
The more starch the higher blood glucose.
Carbs are either sugars or starches
Sugars are simple carbs
Starches are complex carbs

 

[Pollyanna]

The burger bun I usually have is around 25carb per bun and I would only have 2 max, maybe 2 buns once a week? Max twice. Fries also maybe max twice a week.

Thats great 70-100 carbs a day, and now your a1c is good? I was thinking of doing around 50 carbs a day.

When I collapsed at home on a Saturday and was taken to hospital with a BP of 185/ 90....I had no idea I was diabetic. Wasn't overweight, had been used to walking a minimum of around 10+ miles a day, swimming 4 times a week but then I fell ill with another issue and my exercise had dropped whilst I recovered.
My finger prick test in A&E was 21 on admission, went up to 25 after eating. I think my first bloods came back somewhere around 85.
I was told to go to GP on the Monday. I have a fantastic GP.
He did finger prick test, it was 20. The blood test came back around 80.
Took me 6 months...GP was really surprised. I did it by going on a 50gm carb diet and getting my exercise level back up to what it had been. I was put on Metformin; didn't have stomach issues.
I was in my sixties at the time...it shocked me.
I now maintain around 4.8 to 5.7 on 75-100gms of carbs per day ...my doctor happy with that as am I and the blood tests are around 45/48
I was lucky in many ways, fantastic doctor and team though I only briefly met the Diabetic nurse once, she was very pleasant.
But also I detest anything sweet...always have, from being a small child. If I see someone eating a bar of chocolate I move away, the smell alone makes me gag.
My weakness was always carbs. Carbs and cheese
You and sugary drinks ? Mine was tuc biscuits and crisps, even now I have to dash past the crisp's isle in the shops.
My grandchildren and great grandchildren call me in jest ' crispy nicker knickers'
It will take you more than a month and those cravings will affect you for life. I certainly would not waste my money on a HbA1c test kit, not when you can get via NHS.
It's a long haul back to remission and better in long run not to rush just to get a one off blood reading.

 

[pjgtech]

Hi mate, don't think anyone has mentioned ultra high processed foods yet? Eg: ready type meals, etc.
General advice for type 2's is also to try to avoid ultra high processed foods, as they can raise BG levels higher (I think because the more refined a carb is, the faster it gets into the bodies system, so you are more likely to get a BG spike and it may last longer, making it harder for the body to deal with), and they also usually contain lots of other "nasties", eg: additives, chemicals, E numbers, etc. Ultra high processed foods have also been linked to inflammation in the body / organs too.

Theres often talk of eating "real" food in preference to ready meals, take aways, etc, as they will usually contain less additives, chemicals, etc. So better/easier for the body to deal with.

One piece of advice often given, is to read the ingredients list on any food you buy, and avoid anything that has lots of ingredients and/or ingredients that you would NOT find in your average store cupboard.

 

[Pollyanna]

Yeah I will incorporate eggs once a week somewhere along with fish instead of chicken or meat, veggies will be added to salad mix for afternoon meal like tomatoes, cabbage etc along with feta cheese sometimes.

Um, not really I am pretty picky in what I eat anyway generally been eating the same grilled food for last few years and still love it.

These no sugar, no added sugar in flavoured water is confusing the hell out of me. Everything I see with no sugar or no added sudar flavoured water sugar all have 0 carbs and 0 everything on the label so how I know if ok other then pricking myself =/

They use sweeteners instead ...there is no sugar as stated.
But...sweeteners that come with their own issues. But yes...they are sugar free. They tend to be sweeter imho anyway but then I don't like sweet stuff. It's like the sugar free baked beans ...the first time I tried those I dashed off to be sick.
Sainsbury's do a low sugar version as opposed to totally free that are okish....but I bake my own, the grandkids/ggkids prefer mine...so they tell me
You can add your own fruit of choice to sparkling water and use Stevia to sweeten as long as you work out the carbs in the fructose of chosen fruit.

 

[Drummer]

I get you, but would get enough fat from meat fish and chicken no?

Those would be the natural sources - It was just that you seemed to be hoping that using an air fryer would be a better option than standard frying methods for dealing with type 2 diabetes. I suspect that I am consuming less fat these days as I have cut out seed oils. The fats from meat are used when cooking other items in the meal - such as mushrooms or vegetable stirfry - when things are considered healthy, such as seed oils, it is easy to overuse them.