Hi everyone, I am a newbie and looking for advice.

[Debs61]

Last year I was told by my Doctor that I was pre diabetic (my HbA1c was then 46), I was advised to lose weight and basically sent packing.
The beginning of this year, I had another blood test and it came back at 48. I had to repeat it in 4 weeks. In the meantime, I cut any sugar I could visibly see out of my diet and was careful to watch what I was eating. After the follow up glucose test, I got it back down to 46. I was recalled for the test in July - it was still 46.
Several weeks ago, I went to the Doctors because despite having B12 injections every 10 weeks and using a CPAP machine (which is supposed to improve your quality of sleep) I was so tired and could fall asleep standing up. I had another blood glucose test and it has come back at 48 for the second time this year. I now have to wait until 17th October for the follow up test. I feel awful, tired, no energy, everything wears me out. I feel quite nauseous at times. I don't know if this is anything to do with my sugar levels at all.
After writing a letter to my Doctors Practice Manager about the lack of help, my doctor has now decided to send me to a diabetic nurse about my diet. Why can't Doctors do this BEFORE people get this far. Nip it in the bud, so to speak. Should I be worried at this point or am I heading towards a diagnosis? Any help or advice would be much appreciated xx

 

[Martin9]

Hiya @Debs61, wow, it’s a frightening diagnosis innit, welcome, as T2 diabetic, we need to cut most Carbohydrates , not only the simple sugars, but the more complex starches, that’s from any wheat, rice products, so that means bread, rice etc..

 

[CathyB]

Hi Debs, as Martin has said, it’s not just the obvious sugars but also rice, pasta, potatoes and bread (Burgen bread is a good low carb substitute).

I hope that the diabetic nurse you see actually understands how best to help you and doesn’t push the low fat healthy eating route! That won’t help you at all 🙄 with the right diet and a good level of activity ( I dog walk most nights), you will lose weight 😉

 

[SB2015]

Welcome Debs. Glad you have found this forum. There is plenty of support and advice on here from people managing Diabetes.

As others have said it is any carbohydrates that will be converted to glucose once inside us. Places to watch for hidden carbs is in any pre-prepared foods or sauces, as well as fruits and veg. For the veg a good tip I was given was that
- veg grown under the ground are very high in carbs (potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips)
- veg grown above the ground are medium loading of carbs (beans, tomatoes, ..)
- veg grown on the ground are low in carbs (kale, spring greens, ...)
This doesn’t put things off limits it is just useful to know the loading.

I was surprised once I started to weigh out foods and calculate the carbs just how many I was eating, and I had what was described as a good diet. You might find it helpful just to work the carbs out in your meals Andrew see if you can reduce them. My target for each meal is 30g, but everyone finds their own way of managing their Diabetes.

 

[Debs61]

Hi Debs, as Martin has said, it’s not just the obvious sugars but also rice, pasta, potatoes and bread (Burgen bread is a good low carb substitute).

I hope that the diabetic nurse you see actually understands how best to help you and doesn’t push the low fat healthy eating route! That won’t help you at all 🙄 with the right diet and a good level of activity ( I dog walk most nights), you will lose weight 😉

Hi Cathy,
I am not very active because I have a spinal problem which effects my legs. I stopped smoking 3 years ago and my weight ballooned even though I don't think my appetite got any different. I do eat bread most days (brown) and love Jacket potatoes and salad. I cook roast dinners a lot to get my family to eat veg more than anything but I can't imagine it without potatoes.
I am struggling to know what to replace potatoes and bread with. I am not a big rice or pasta eater but if I do eat pasta, I like brown and cold in a salad. I know what you are saying about low fat stuff because I have read that they replace the fat with sugar. Problem is, my cholesterol is 7.3 (gone UP since quitting smoking) so I have to watch the saturated fat in things. This is so confusing. Thank you for you advice xx

 

[Debs61]

Hiya @Debs61, wow, it’s a frightening diagnosis innit, welcome, as T2 diabetic, we need to cut most Carbohydrates , not only the simple sugars, but the more complex starches, that’s from any wheat, rice products, so that means bread, rice etc..

Hi Martin,
Thanks for that. I see you got your diabetes under control from 77 to 35. Well done. I am trying but obviously not hard enough x

 

[Debs61]

Welcome Debs. Glad you have found this forum. There is plenty of support and advice on here from people managing Diabetes.

As others have said it is any carbohydrates that will be converted to glucose once inside us. Places to watch for hidden carbs is in any pre-prepared foods or sauces, as well as fruits and veg. For the veg a good tip I was given was that
- veg grown under the ground are very high in carbs (potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips)
- veg grown above the ground are medium loading of carbs (beans, tomatoes, ..)
- veg grown on the ground are low in carbs (kale, spring greens, ...)
This doesn’t put things off limits it is just useful to know the loading.

I was surprised once I started to weigh out foods and calculate the carbs just how many I was eating, and I had what was described as a good diet. You might find it helpful just to work the carbs out in your meals Andrew see if you can reduce them. My target for each meal is 30g, but everyone finds their own way of managing their Diabetes.

Hi There,
Thank you for the info. I did not know that about veg, people just take it for granted that they are ALL healthy but to some, not so much. I love tomatoes and never gave it a thought about carbs. I also love apples and eat 1 sometimes 2 a day. I will have to cut that down too. All the while, I thought my diet was quite healthy, yet I have been overdoing it on the carbs. I honestly could not understand why I was getting overweight. I thought fruit, veg in cooked dinners and chicken brown bread sandwiches were healthy eating. No wonder my cholesterol is going up too. I always use virgin olive oil or rapeseed oil to cook and have recently started using avocado oil on my salads because I don't like advocado's themselves and I thought this might help with my cholesterol. My goodness, how do you enjoy your food when you have to measure and weigh everything? It is a nightmare xxx

 

[SB2015]

Hi There,
Thank you for the info. I did not know that about veg, people just take it for granted that they are ALL healthy but to some, not so much. I love tomatoes and never gave it a thought about carbs. I also love apples and eat 1 sometimes 2 a day. I will have to cut that down too. All the while, I thought my diet was quite healthy, yet I have been overdoing it on the carbs. I honestly could not understand why I was getting overweight. I thought fruit, veg in cooked dinners and chicken brown bread sandwiches were healthy eating. No wonder my cholesterol is going up too. I always use virgin olive oil or rapeseed oil to cook and have recently started using avocado oil on my salads because I don't like advocado's themselves and I thought this might help with my cholesterol. My goodness, how do you enjoy your food when you have to measure and weigh everything? It is a nightmare xxx

Once we have weighed some common ingredients we get to know by sight what the carbs are. That also helps when we are eating out. We always weigh the food in uncooked ingredients, which can be confusing with the labelling on the packets. We don’t think of weighin as any hassle, it is just part of the cooking process.
We thoroughly enjoy or food and have got used to our 30 g per meal now.
We also find that 30g of carbs is plenty in each meal.

 

[Drummer]

Hi Cathy,
I am not very active because I have a spinal problem which effects my legs. I stopped smoking 3 years ago and my weight ballooned even though I don't think my appetite got any different. I do eat bread most days (brown) and love Jacket potatoes and salad. I cook roast dinners a lot to get my family to eat veg more than anything but I can't imagine it without potatoes.
I am struggling to know what to replace potatoes and bread with. I am not a big rice or pasta eater but if I do eat pasta, I like brown and cold in a salad. I know what you are saying about low fat stuff because I have read that they replace the fat with sugar. Problem is, my cholesterol is 7.3 (gone UP since quitting smoking) so I have to watch the saturated fat in things. This is so confusing. Thank you for you advice xx

My cholesterol has reduced since starting to eat a low carb high fat diet - to say that my HCPs are spitting feathers is an understatement. My doctor has not seen me since diagnosis almost two years ago. I was on a 'cholesterol lowering' diet for some time before that - didn't work.

 

[CathyB]

Hi Cathy,
I am not very active because I have a spinal problem which effects my legs. I stopped smoking 3 years ago and my weight ballooned even though I don't think my appetite got any different. I do eat bread most days (brown) and love Jacket potatoes and salad. I cook roast dinners a lot to get my family to eat veg more than anything but I can't imagine it without potatoes.
I am struggling to know what to replace potatoes and bread with. I am not a big rice or pasta eater but if I do eat pasta, I like brown and cold in a salad. I know what you are saying about low fat stuff because I have read that they replace the fat with sugar. Problem is, my cholesterol is 7.3 (gone UP since quitting smoking) so I have to watch the saturated fat in things. This is so confusing. Thank you for you advice xx

Debs, I still eat a roast but rather than potatoes & Yorkshire puds, I load up on veg, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli. Mushrooms are also a good filler. When I started I just couldn’t see how I was ever going to do it, but now I can’t ever imagine going back to eating all those carbs. Interestingly my daughter has also gone low carb and 3 weeks in, no more bloating, no indigestion, sleeping better and more energy. The high good fats are where our energy comes from, as the body uses it for fuel, it shouldn’t raise your cholesterol.
Have a read through some back posts, there is loads of information about how people have changed their diet. Take your time and ask any questions you might have.