Hi all

[yoogieverse]

Hi all, im Christina!

I was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in december of last year. I have always been on the larger side but put on a lot of weight and was not looking after myself after being off work with depression and anxiety. My anti depressants caused me to be constantly hungry for the last few years and with little motivation i was not eating the right foods or doing any exercise.

I am now on new medication for my mental health and feel much better plus i am on slow release metformin. I have had several appointments with a dietician over the last 6 weeks and have lost around 6kg so far with a low carb diet.

However i only have one appointment left in 6 weeks and then i’m on my own. As a vegetarian i’m struggling with finding new recipe ideas as everything seems to be catered for the meat eaters of the world.

Here to look for advice and inspiration. Also i wondered if i should be testing myself at all? i’ve only had one blood test so far and do not remember what any of my levels were at.

Thanks 🙂

 

[Leadinglights]

Welcome to the forum. You are doing well to have lost some weight already. It is just that bit harder if vegetarian but there are plenty of people on here who are and manage to find a good low carb way of eating. There are recipes in the Food forum (Forums tab at the top) with some good ideas or you can do an internet search for low carb veggie recipes.
Testing would be a very good idea as it will give you more flexibility with your menu to be able to see what food are going to push your level up too much.
There are substitutions you can make for some of the high carb foods which often form the basis of veggie meals. Butternut squash, celeriac, cauliflower are all good alternatives to potatoes and rice and bean based pasta like edamame or black bean pasta is much lower carb than normal pasta.
I would be a good idea to ask what your HbA1C is that has led to your diagnosis as that will indicate how much work you need to do.
A low carb regime suggests less than 130g carb per day so keeping a food diary with an estimate of the carbs will indicate where you are at.

 

[Inka]

Hi @yoogieverse 🙂 There are lots of veggie and vegan recipes on the DUK website. Just check the carbs per serving when you choose. Here’s a couple:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-t...ine-stuffed-tofu-mushrooms-and-borlotti-beans

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/recipes/tofu-noodle-stir-fry

as an idea of what the recipes are like.

 

[yoogieverse]

Welcome to the forum. You are doing well to have lost some weight already. It is just that bit harder if vegetarian but there are plenty of people on here who are and manage to find a good low carb way of eating. There are recipes in the Food forum (Forums tab at the top) with some good ideas or you can do an internet search for low carb veggie recipes.
Testing would be a very good idea as it will give you more flexibility with your menu to be able to see what food are going to push your level up too much.
There are substitutions you can make for some of the high carb foods which often form the basis of veggie meals. Butternut squash, celeriac, cauliflower are all good alternatives to potatoes and rice and bean based pasta like edamame or black bean pasta is much lower carb than normal pasta.
I would be a good idea to ask what your HbA1C is that has led to your diagnosis as that will indicate how much work you need to do.
A low carb regime suggests less than 130g carb per day so keeping a food diary with an estimate of the carbs will indicate where you are at.

thankyou so much, i’ll definitely ask about testing and what my HbA1C next time i have an appointment with the diabetes nurse.

 

[Leadinglights]

thankyou so much, i’ll definitely ask about testing and what my HbA1C next time i have an appointment with the diabetes nurse.

You may find that unless you are lucky and your surgery supports Type 2 people having a monitor you may have to self fund but it is certainly money well spent. Inexpensive monitors can be had on line the GlucoNavil being the one with the cheapest test strips £10 for the monitor and £13 for 100 for strips on Amazon.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @yoogieverse

Sorry to hear about the difficulties you have been having, but good to hear you have got medications now that are helping you, both with your MH and also with your diabetes management.

The forum has a food and recipes section where you will find suggestions and shared experiences from the folks here.

Diabetes UK also have a whole section of the website dedicated to those who Enjoy Food

Eating with diabetes

If you, or someone in your family, has type 1, type 2 or another type of diabetes, you'll know that it can sometimes be difficult to know what to eat. Start here for the key information you need to make healthy food choices for a balanced diet.

www.diabetes.org.uk

One of the tricky things about living with diabetes is that people’s reactions to foods can be very individual - particularly when it comes to the amount (and types) of carbohydrates their body can cope well with.

While there are obvious things like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sugary drinks that you will want to cut out straight away, you might be surprised how much *all* carbohydrate affects your BG levels, including rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, pastry, grains, cereals and many fruits. That doesn't mean you have to avoid all of those things entirely, but getting the right portion sizes can be really important, plus you may find carbohydrate easier on your system later in the day, and trickier at breakfast time.

It’s a very individual business, and you’ll have to work out what works best for you, your BG levels, your waistline, and your tastebuds, so that you can develop an eating plan you can maintain long-term.

Many T2 members here find a moderate or low carb way of eating very helpful. There’s a meal plan here you could investigate to see if there are vegetarian ideas that appeal.

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

Good luck, and let us know how you get on 🙂