I am now 66 and not yet on diabetic meds, obviously am on blood pressure and statin meds though. I have diabetics in the family and friends too, so I understand a fair bit about diabetes but know that every diabetic is different. I can talk the talk but finding it increasingly difficult to walk the walk. I am due to have blood taken in November and feel that my diet and exercise days may well be over and that is a worry to me.
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Hello I’m a newbie to the group. I was diagnosed type 2 in September 2020.
- Thread starter LouiseM
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Leadinglights
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- Type 2
Welcome to the forum. It is not inevitable that you would need to go on medication as many are able to get and maintain blood glucose levels into acceptable range by making good dietary changes.
The standard NHS advice about diet that has been promoted for years does not work for many people as it is far too high in carbohydrates. People imagine that it is just 'sugar' that is the problem but it is all carbohydrates that convert to glucose and therefore they still have too many carbs for their body to tolerate. One way to find out how YOUR body tolerates the carbs is to test with a home blood glucose monitor, testing before you eat and after 2 hours, an increase of no more than 2-3mmol/l or no more than 8-8.5 mmol/l post meal indicates the meal is OK. The aim is for fasting/ morning and pre meal readings to be in the range 4-7mmol/l.
Finding a way of eating that is enjoyable will mean it is sustainable long term which is essential for good diabetes management.
Have a look at this link for some ideas, good explanation and meal plans to suit different tastes and budgets. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
It is a low carb approach but low carb is suggested as being no more than 130g per day, it is not NO carbs.
It may be that if that strategy does not work then you may need the help form medication but making those dietary changes would be needed anyway so worth giving that a shot first.
Hopefully your next HbA1C will not be so high that it will indicate medication before you have had a go with the dietary changes.
Thank you for this information. I do have blood glucose monitor and will start to record my readings pre and post meals to try to get a picture of what my body tolerates. Having said that, my surgery advised against taking readings as A) I am not on insulin and B) the readings may just cause anxiety. However on the carbs levels, I must admit I do still eat white pasta and white rice but I’m talking once or twice a month. Bread, I am guilty of so that will need a bit more attention. I do eat a lot of fish. My real issue is portion control and I am trying to get to grips with this. I like cooking and follow recipes. People say just cut the recipe measurements down but that isn’t always practical. Perseverance!
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
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- Type 2
I'm sorry but being told not to test is rubbish advice, it is like driving your car without brakes and just hoping the car stops in time when you take your foot off the accelerator.
You may only need to test a few 'danger' meals to establish both what you can tolerate and what you can't. As we keep saying everybody is different and some people can manage bread but not pasta or rice (the colour really makes no difference to the amount of carbs.
Keeping a food diary of everything you eat and drink with an estimate of the carbs will help you see where the big hitters are and by reducing portions of those or cutting out and making some substitutes will help.
Hi and welcome
I will just add my usual tale from when I was diagnosed. I was also told by the GP not to SELF tset. I didn't query this at the time because there was so much info she gave me tbh I was confused . Anyhow a short while after I chose to ignore her and buy a glucose monitor and I began sef-testing. I also kept a food diary to see what foods were ok or not for me Both these strategies were valuable in managing diabetes. I don't need to test so much now only when I eat some new foods or higher carby stuff. 4 years down the road the GP is blissfully unaware that I self-test. So, we are both happy.
Martin.A
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Most say that but it's not their diabetes. I'll tell you what causes anxiety - it's wondering whether what you're doing to bring down your BG is paying off. My DN was more positive and after my diagnosis was confirmed she put me on Metformin but told me to also pick up a test kit from Reception on my way out. I was even given a prescription for lancets and test strips.
I'm still using the same meter but self-funding these days.
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Drummer
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Portion control - well - same old same old - it didn't work for me the first 20 or so times I tried it, but what do I know eh?
I took readings, I altered what I ate, not the amount, and avoided high carb foods, all grain and potatoes for a start.
It worked.
It is possible to bake some nice low carb breads - I had to give up on the bread maker as it was too harsh with the delicate doughs I devised, but it works just as well done by hand. I found that the best way to work it was to make a small amount of ordinary bread dough and allow it to prove the first time, then gently work in the low carb ingredients and let it rise a second time for as long as it took - sometimes overnight was needed. I don't bother with bread these days as I eat so little which is not protein and veges or berries.
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Hope you find the results helpful @LouiseM
I think whether self-monitoring works for you and is encouraging to you really depends on you as an individual. And perhaps on whether you are able to make changes and see your results improving.
You might find the results really useful for tweaking your portion sizes - because you’ll be able to see the effect of different portion sizes on your levels, and which portion sizes give you better results.
You may also get some happy surprises, and discover you have more liberty with some things which you might have expected to need be careful about.
Conversely, you may also discover you have to be careful with supposedly ‘safe’ foods, rather than just eat them on their reputation!
The clinical trials in which people got stressed about self-monitoring results I seem to remember were structured where people had to continue to eat as instructed, and continued to see high numbers but could not alter their menu to improve things.
As you can see, many members here find self monitoring reassuring, informative, and helpful 🙂
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