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Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
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- Thread starter Jily
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Ciara DUK
Supporter Care Advisor
Hi @Jily , and welcome to the forum 🙂
As @ianf0ster has said, if you don't mind sharing a bit more about how you're getting on so far, that would be really great. It's a great starting point for helping us best help you. If you wanted to share how you're feeling you're most welcome to.
Have you come across the 'Learning Zone' orange tab at the top of the forum page? It's got lots of resources you can look over in your own time, as well as talking to forum members too.
Just checking in to say do ask away with any questions you have, we're all here to help 🙂
As @ianf0ster has said, if you don't mind sharing a bit more about how you're getting on so far, that would be really great. It's a great starting point for helping us best help you. If you wanted to share how you're feeling you're most welcome to.
Have you come across the 'Learning Zone' orange tab at the top of the forum page? It's got lots of resources you can look over in your own time, as well as talking to forum members too.
Just checking in to say do ask away with any questions you have, we're all here to help 🙂
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Welcome to the forum @Jily
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but glad you have found us.
It can be so helpful to have the hive mind of the forum to connect with. It’s like suddenly having access to centuries of lived diabetes experience - plus advice and suggestions people have received at dozens of appointments, and how that worked for them in practice 🙂
Do you have any diabetes in your close family? Or has this come out of the blue? Did you have any symptoms that sent you to the Dr? Or was this picked up through some routine screening?
Keep asking away with any questions, and let us know how you get on 🙂
Thanks everyone for your responses. I am finding it tricky to absorb all the information. It is good there is so much available, I having been on the learning Zone and done the course on type that was there. I have chronic fatigue and on my bad days keeping active and planning meals is a real challenge. However on my good days I am enjoying walking and trying new recipes. I need to loose weight so I am trying a low fat diet. So far I am loosing weight. When I am bored or stressed I want to snack or eat something not good.
One question is I noticed on the course I did that people were monitoring their blood glucose and that was not suggested to me. Should I be doing that now? I haven't been given any medication as yet & am seeing what effect diet & exercise will have.
One question is I noticed on the course I did that people were monitoring their blood glucose and that was not suggested to me. Should I be doing that now? I haven't been given any medication as yet & am seeing what effect diet & exercise will have.
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- She/Her
You are unlikely to be prescribed a monitor as a Type 2 not on any medication however many self fund a monitor and strips as it is a valuable tool for them to check what foods and meals their body can tolerate without causing a big increase in blood glucose and that will then allow them to make better food choices either by reducing portions of the high carb foods or cutting them out completely.
It is difficult to be definitive about how many carbs people should have per meal or per day as everybody is different in their tolerance and even the same number of grams of carb can vary in it's effect on blood glucose depending on whether it is bread or rice or pasta for different people. Hence a blood glucose monitor allows you to tailor your diet for you.
It also allows you the monitor your progress day to day, week to week etc.
It also is a good idea to test if you feel unwell to see if that is related to high or low blood glucose.
It may be your fatigue is worse on the days your blood glucose is high which could be related to the food you have eaten.
Inexpensive monitors can be bought on line, the GlucoNavii or Spirit TEE2 are ones with the cheaper strips but still worth shopping around as prices do change, look at the cost of strips as that will be the thing that is consumable.
You are certainly right there is lots of information out there to sift through but the overall message is that carbohydrates convert to glucose so it is those you need to reduce your intake of and base meals on protein and healthy fats which do not convert to glucose with plenty of veg and salads.
On the days you don't feel like cooking then salad, coleslaw and cooked meats or boiled eggs can make a easy meal.
Full fat Greek yoghurt and berries makes a good breakfast or desert, filling and low carb.
It is difficult to be definitive about how many carbs people should have per meal or per day as everybody is different in their tolerance and even the same number of grams of carb can vary in it's effect on blood glucose depending on whether it is bread or rice or pasta for different people. Hence a blood glucose monitor allows you to tailor your diet for you.
It also allows you the monitor your progress day to day, week to week etc.
It also is a good idea to test if you feel unwell to see if that is related to high or low blood glucose.
It may be your fatigue is worse on the days your blood glucose is high which could be related to the food you have eaten.
Inexpensive monitors can be bought on line, the GlucoNavii or Spirit TEE2 are ones with the cheaper strips but still worth shopping around as prices do change, look at the cost of strips as that will be the thing that is consumable.
You are certainly right there is lots of information out there to sift through but the overall message is that carbohydrates convert to glucose so it is those you need to reduce your intake of and base meals on protein and healthy fats which do not convert to glucose with plenty of veg and salads.
On the days you don't feel like cooking then salad, coleslaw and cooked meats or boiled eggs can make a easy meal.
Full fat Greek yoghurt and berries makes a good breakfast or desert, filling and low carb.
A Low Carbohydrate way of eating (eat until satiated, counting carbs rather than calories) works for both weight loss and Blood Glucose control for over 50% of people - many more than 'diet' does in the longer term.
There are 3 macro nutrients but Proteins and Fats are the only essential ones - meaning that in theory we don't need carbs (but its almost impossible to avoid them completely - neither do we need to).
Thanks Ian I followed a Keto diet for a while but found it very difficult to stick to and that has put me off going low carb. However I do try and and limit them.
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Low carb is very different to Keto which many do find hard. Keto is usually as low as 20g carbs per day but low carb is suggested as being no more than 130g per day so much more doable.
Don't let that experience put you off low carb as it can be a very powerful way of managing your blood glucose.
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