Hello everyone - another newbie

[Annimay]

Hi, I was diagnosed with Type 2 about 5 weeks ago, I feel it's probably my own fault as my eating habits have been dreadful and I'm very overweight. The good news is that I went back to the doc yesterday and I've lost 6kg. I'm being treated with diet & exercise only - finding the exercise really hard though, my legs feel like lead and don't want to move at all.

 

[Northerner]

Hi Annimay, welcome to the forum🙂 Don't blame yourself, there are many more overweight people without diabetes than there are people with it - you didn't bring it on yourself, you had a genetic predisposition. The good news is that it is often the spur for people to take a good look at their diet and lifestyle and start making adjustments to become healthier (and usually happier!). I'm not saying that diabetes is a good thing, only that it can prompt you to make changes that you otherwise might not have done, for the better.

You've already done trmendously well losing so much weight in such a short time - so well done!. As you reduce your weight and become more active, your sensitivity to insulin will increase and you will get much better blood sugar levels. As your levels improve you will feel better generally - high levels can cause big mood swings - and you will have more energy.

Please ask anything that might be worrying you, however basic it might seem - there are no 'silly' questions here, as each question adds to everyone's understanding🙂

 

[am64]

welcome annimay..wow good wieght loss well done!!!

 

[Steff]

hi and welcome annimay , welll done on weight loss thats fab x

 

[karinagal]

Hi, I was diagnosed with Type 2 about 5 weeks ago, I feel it's probably my own fault as my eating habits have been dreadful and I'm very overweight. The good news is that I went back to the doc yesterday and I've lost 6kg. I'm being treated with diet & exercise only - finding the exercise really hard though, my legs feel like lead and don't want to move at all.

Hi Annimay! Your story is almost identical to mine, and I too blamed myself for ending up this way. As North says, you're not to blame. I was surprised and somewhat relieved to find out that you have to have a 'faulty' gene to be likely to develop diabetes. The exercise will get easier with time and your energy levels will improve. For me the best exercise is to get out in the fresh air and walk. I'm lucky that there's a community park near me with good paths and a nice hill to test my lungs! It also helps having a four legged friend who is happy to tag along.

So - give yourself a pat on the back for the impressive weight loss you have already achieved and take this journey one step at a time.

Karina

 

[wallycorker]

Hi, I was diagnosed with Type 2 about 5 weeks ago, I feel it's probably my own fault as my eating habits have been dreadful and I'm very overweight. The good news is that I went back to the doc yesterday and I've lost 6kg. I'm being treated with diet & exercise only - finding the exercise really hard though, my legs feel like lead and don't want to move at all.

Hi Annimay,

I'm a Type 2 myself who was diagnosed just over nine years ago. After deteriorating for eight years by following closeley the advice that I was given - i.e. "do not test" and "eat plenty of starchy carbohydrate". Twelve months ago I started reading about the matter and since then I've normalised my blood glucose levels almost mainly by changing my diet.

The most important thing by far as far as I am concerned is to cut back dramatically on eating starchy carbohydrate - i.e. cereals, bread, potatoes, pasta and rice. That usually leads to a big and quick improvement in blood glucose levels.

I've not changed my exercise regime hardly at all in that time. All I do is a little bit of walking occasionally - usually around one or two miles. I really ought to do more for my general haelth and well being. However, that hasn't prevented my having made a massive improvement in my condition through diet.

I've lost a lot of weight and intend to carry on with that until I reach what they call my ideal weight. Again, I don't think that has been a major factor in the improvement because my blood glucose levels improved as soon as I started to change my diet - i.e. before I had lost any weight.

Best wishes - John

 

[cazscot]

Hi Annimay, welcome to the forum and congrats on your weight loss . As others have said this is NOT your fault. I am very overweight, but have a father and 2 grandparents that were Type 2 so there is definatley a genetic predisposition. My hubby is also Type 2 but on the other hand is a normal weight (and always has been) and his father is Type 2, so while loosing weight will help it is not the only cause.

As for excercise I have lost 3st (still have another 8st to loose) and take it from someone who used to only walk to the car and back it does get easier! Just build it up slowly, I now try to do my 10,000 steps a day and various other excercise classes.

Good luck x

 

[PhilT]

Hi Annimay, welcome to the forum and well done on the weight loss.

 

[HelenP]

Hi Annimay, welcome to the forum, and well done on the weight loss.

As an overweight recently diagnosed diabetic who hates exercise I can truly sympathise with you, but I have to tell you that over the last four months, I've changed to a more healthy diet (although I do still have treats) and do much more walking that I used to (not difficult to increase on nothing, is it!!) and I've never felt healthier than I do just now.

So, in a way, it's thanks to Diabetes that I'm in such a positive place now. Yes, my feet and legs DO still hurt when I do a long walk but nowhere near as horribly as they used to when I wasn't used to walking! Weightloss is sloooooooow, but diet is manageable and not too tough for a foodlover to handle.

If there's anything you ever need to know, just ask on the general forums, there'll always be some clever people around to help you. No question is too daft/small/asked too many times, there's usuallly others wondering the same things you are.

xx

 

[RachelT]

Hi Annimay
I'd just like to agree with the others. Diabetes isn't your fault. I used to think that too, but it's not. I'm no Kate Moss, but there is a world full of "big" people who don't have diabetes and some "thin" people who do, therefore by a fairly easy to understand logic step, you're not diabetic because of what you eat/ate. It's not fair, i know. The way i see it, you and I got handed out an unfortunate batch of genes which makes us more prone to diabetes. I got it along with my inabilty to sing, my vaguely scientific reasoning skills and my blue eyes.
Hope you'll fine this board as useful as i have.

Rachel

 

[Annimay]

Thank you all for the lovely welcome and support. I take the point about it being in the genes, my mum had type 2 and she wasn't overweight at all, although she developed it later in life that me. But I keep seeing articles on TV and in papers saying how obesity causes diabetes & high blood pressure (got that too!) and feel quite guilty at times. I feel the diagnosis has given me the motivation to change my lifestyle.

I think I'm going to just have a month or two getting used to things and eating 'healthier' before thinking too much about 'low carbs', GI. I find all the discussion about it really interesting. The same goes for BG testing, my doc or nurse hasn't mentioned it, so I will ask about it fairly soon.

My doc was quite reassuring about the exercise, he said I'm probably working harder than some of the people who seem to be doing better, and that it will get easier as I go along.

I watched Jamie Oliver last night, he was cooking a turkey that weighed the same as the amount of weight I've lost - so I keep thinking I've lost a whole turkey, and imagining myself with a cooked turkey stuck to my middle.

xx Anita

 

[Northerner]

Anita, that sounds like an excellent idea - take some time to absorb everything that's been going on, making changes one step at a time that you are confident and knowledgeable about is the best way forward. This is a long term commitment, so you need to know where your thoughts lie on all the various issues. Diabetes is a very individual thing, and different things affect people in different ways - there is no one set of rules, except those that you establish for yourself!🙂

A book that other newly diagnosed Type 2's have found useful is Type 2 Diabetes: An Essential Guide to the Newly Diagnosed (First Year) by Gretchen Becker. (amazon link to latest edition)