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Hello everyone, newly diagnosed T2

S

Snikta63

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I’ve just recently been diagnosed T2 and currently on the pathway to remission using the low carb Freshwell sheets the diabetes nurse gave me. Must admit I’m finding it hard to find foods I can eat, it’s virtually impossible to find foods that contain no carbs at all. At this stage is it important to have as few as possible rather than non at all and does anyone allow themselves sourdough bread?
 
Snikta63 said:
I’ve just recently been diagnosed T2 and currently on the pathway to remission using the low carb Freshwell sheets the diabetes nurse gave me. Must admit I’m finding it hard to find foods I can eat, it’s virtually impossible to find foods that contain no carbs at all. At this stage is it important to have as few as possible rather than non at all and does anyone allow themselves sourdough bread?
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The Freshwell program isn't NO carbs, a starting point is suggested as 130g per day, better divided between meals, snacks and drinks.
There are very few foods that would be zero carbs even lettuce has some carbs. Freshwell is low carb but not keto which would be approx 20g carbs per day.
There are plenty foods you can eat, just not lots of high carb ones, portion size is also important.
My bible is the book Carbs and Cals which gives carb values of different portions of lots of different foods, there is also an app.
Perhaps you would like to post what foods you are trying to find to have. What would have been typical meals.
 
As above, you still need to eat some carbs, your body needs some. Just eat less of them.
So try to reduce potato, rice, pasta, bread, baked goods, cakes, sweets, crisps, chocolate, etc.
I also like the carbs and cals book, as it has photos to show you actual portion sizes, which is very easy to use and see how much you should be eating.
Bear in mind some things that you might not be aware of are also high carb, eg, bananas, and most exotic fruits, pineapple etc and most below ground starchy root veg, eg: carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, etc..
Most above ground veg and leafy greens are ok as are most berry type fruits, as are most nuts.
Most dairy is ok, eggs, cheese, etc as is most protein, eg: fish, meat, poultry, seafood, etc and fibre, assuming you have no allergies, etc.
Lots of good info on here, check out the learning zone.
Also checkout the eatfreshwell website and also check out the sugar free londoner website, all have lots of free healthy recipes. Cheers
 
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More info could be useful, eg: are you on any medication? do you need to lose weight? what was your last HbA1c level? and what sorts of things are you eating now? Cheers
 
And, yes you can a treat yourself, every now and again, but its about being sensible and trying to reduce as much as possible all high carb stuff, not just sugary stuff. Everyone is different, so some can still eat some carbs without spiking blood glucose, but some can't. Do you have a blood glucose monitor? (cheaply available on amazon, etc). Lots of peeps test themselves to see what foods are ok to eat and what foods are not ok (eg: do they spike your BG or not).
With a monitor you test before you eat (finger prick) then test about 2 hrs afterwards to see if your BG has risen and by how much. Might be worth looking into?
 
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Welcome to the forum @Snikta63

Hope you can find a level of carb intake that suits your particular diabetes and metabolism. As others have said it’s not about trying to avoid carbs entirely (which would be hugely limiting, as all vegetables have some carbs in them), it’s more about reducing portion sizes, finding some swaps and alternatives for ‘standard’ stodge (eg celery or swede in place of potato, or cauli ‘rice’), and aiming for a daily intake of total carbohydrates that your system can cope with and that meets your weight loss and BG management goals.

DUK have a low carb meal planner here, which you might find interesting:

Low-carb diet and meal plan

Eating a low-carb diet means cutting down on the amount of carbohydrates (carbs) you eat to less than 130g a day. But low-carb eating shouldn’t be no-carb eating. Some carbohydrate foods contain essential vitamins, minerals and fibre, which form an important part of a healthy diet.
www.diabetes.org.uk www.diabetes.org.uk
 
I eat loads of veg: onions, peppers, leeks, garlic, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. I don't really measure it or restrict it.
I also do occasionally have a small amount of potato.

I generally < 50g of carbs a day, mainly from veg and fruit.

Occasionally some potato - which I find doesn't send things sky high, but I tend to be careful with portions.
 
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Fish and meat generally are very low or no carb then add veg, Eggs too. Other items are added for variety eg beans nuts seeds. If you want to gradually do this, when first diagnosed I lost 2Ibs a week. Some veg as already written has more carbs generally below ground eg carrots but you should perhaps have 3 or 4 veg but only one carby. English fruit good tropical fruit yummy but very sweet and at this stage better left alone.


I've decided not to eat pasta I use an alternative. I havent stopped eating bread but generally eat if I go to a cafe. I remember last month having a small portion of cottage pie with added veg and my blood sugar was fine. Ie a small helping of potato was OK.



It depends how strict you want to be. Occasional treats are fine but I have had to fight my greedy gene. I prefer to have a treat in a cafe or at my sisters house because if I buy for example, a packet of biscuits I'm not good at limiting myself. For example I was put on medication that requires me to eat some carbs and I bought a packet of dark chocolate and nut biscuits, just 8 in a pack. 10 carb a biscuit intending to eat one every other day to keep my carbs up. Ultimately I failed and have struck from my diet. Some of this is down to your own attitude to food. I like a slice of rye bread with cream cheese I and smoked salmon eg an open sandwich but have decided at the moment not to buy bread.

If there is something you really want to eat which is high carb make sure it is a small portion. I personally think a blood glucose monitor is useful when you first start. The monitors are reasonably cheap but the strips of some can add up.

You can then find how your body responds to carbs and make informed choices.





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Welcome to the Forum.. You don't have to go "no carb". It probably would not be a good idea anyway as most people a variety of foods. You should get a lot of advice here.
 
Have not tried the Freshwell project yet but pleased to hear you are being told about it. I have read it and given it to a diabetic friend of mine as I think it looks very sensible.

pjtech has said just about everything I would say about eating really. When I was first diagnosed pre-diabetic (got back to normal for 5 years but now it has crept up again - GP thinks might be age related insulin resistance.), I had no idea until I came here that my diet of muesli and toast at breakfast, sandwiches at lunchtime and potatoes with my meal in an evening was a total disaster. Now I have to say I make my own bread like flaxseed bread and almond flour bread with recipes from here and on the internet and do not miss all the starchy carbs or the sweet stuff although I do occasionally have a treat.
 
Hi @Snikta63 and welcome to the forum - you've already had some great suggestions on here with regards to eating - unfortunately is a bit trial and error to start with but as already mentioned, you do need some carbs - I wouldn't cut them out completely - glad you have found us
 
Snikta63 said:
I’ve just recently been diagnosed T2 and currently on the pathway to remission using the low carb Freshwell sheets the diabetes nurse gave me. Must admit I’m finding it hard to find foods I can eat, it’s virtually impossible to find foods that contain no carbs at all. At this stage is it important to have as few as possible rather than non at all and does anyone allow themselves sourdough bread?
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Can you explain why you need foods with zero carbs? It isn't something asked for all that often.
Unless made to be low carb, most breads are high carb foods and need careful portion management to be included in a diet controlled regime. Some people do eat them, if thy can cope with higher carb foods, but personally I eat salad, stir fry, low carb fruit and veges as that seems to be the key to my almost normal numbers.
Even slimming shakes and tiny meals put my HbA1c up higher than for the last 8 years since diagnosis.
As people react differently to different foods having a blood testing device can make it easy to pick the foods which are going to be OK for you.
 
Snikta63 said:
At this stage is it important to have as few as possible rather than non at all and does anyone allow themselves sourdough bread?
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@Snikta63
Have we answered your question?

A low carb diet is generally reckoned to be a total of 50-130 grams per day, as Harbottle and Leadinglights have indicated.

I imagine you could include some sourdough bread within that total. Once you get going youmight prefer to substitute some more veg as listed in the Freshwell Red, Amber, Green planner and food lists.

Freshwell Meal Planner
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Good luck.
 
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