Hi lost newbie here

[Hels1905]

Hello Everyone, I hope you are all okay?
I have just been blown away by the diagnosis of Type II diabetes.... Okay, I am overweight, I love chocolate and all things sweet so probably should have seen it coming.
I saw my GP last week who confirmed the diagnosis, but I do not see the nurse until the 7th March so am totally at a loss. I have downloaded loads of information to read etc, but has anyone else been diagnosed but been drawn to chocolate even more than before, because you know you cannot really have it?
Please can you let me know I am not out of the norm.
Thanks

 

[Northerner]

Hello Everyone, I hope you are all okay?
I have just been blown away by the diagnosis of Type II diabetes.... Okay, I am overweight, I love chocolate and all things sweet so probably should have seen it coming.
I saw my GP last week who confirmed the diagnosis, but I do not see the nurse until the 7th March so am totally at a loss. I have downloaded loads of information to read etc, but has anyone else been diagnosed but been drawn to chocolate even more than before, because you know you cannot really have it?
Please can you let me know I am not out of the norm.
Thanks

Hi Hels1905, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, please don't beat yourself up over it though! One of the cruel things about diabetes is that, when your blood sugar levels are on the high side, it can make you crave sweet things more Because your brain doesn't 'know' that you are having difficulty using the glucose in your blood from the food you eat, it assumes that you need to eat more, so this may be what is driving your craving (as well as the psychological aspect of feeling as though it's something you may have to give up). So, you are perfectly normal 🙂 Well, in this regard at least, I don't know you well enough to comment on anything else! 😱 😉

My recommendation would be to get some plain chocolate with a high cocoa content - 70% or greater, 85% if possible, you do adapt to the taste remarkably quickly. This has a lower carbohydrate/sugar content than milk chocolate (although some 'plain' chocolate is still quite high sugar, so do check and compare), so it has less impact on your blood sugar levels. Keep it in the freezer and break off one or two squares when your craving is driving you to distraction, and let it melt slowly in your mouth. This is often enough to dissipate the craving and let you get on with other things, like reading the excellent Maggie Davey's letter or your copy of Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker, which I am encouraging you to buy now 🙂 Or go for a brisk walk, which is also very beneficial in helping to manage your blood sugar levels, especially after eating 🙂

Don't despair, although diabetes is a serious condition it can be managed well, and in making the adjustments to your diet and activity levels it's more than likely you will become happier and healthier than you have felt in a long while, with renewed energy and zest for life! Well, that is what I am hoping will be the case - it is the experience of many of our members who once found themselves in the same place you are now 🙂

Let us know if you have any questions or concerns and we will be more than happy to help out 🙂

 

[Hels1905]

Hi Hels1905, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, please don't beat yourself up over it though! One of the cruel things about diabetes is that, when your blood sugar levels are on the high side, it can make you crave sweet things more Because your brain doesn't 'know' that you are having difficulty using the glucose in your blood from the food you eat, it assumes that you need to eat more, so this may be what is driving your craving (as well as the psychological aspect of feeling as though it's something you may have to give up). So, you are perfectly normal 🙂 Well, in this regard at least, I don't know you well enough to comment on anything else! 😱 😉

My recommendation would be to get some plain chocolate with a high cocoa content - 70% or greater, 85% if possible, you do adapt to the taste remarkably quickly. This has a lower carbohydrate/sugar content than milk chocolate (although some 'plain' chocolate is still quite high sugar, so do check and compare), so it has less impact on your blood sugar levels. Keep it in the freezer and break off one or two squares when your craving is driving you to distraction, and let it melt slowly in your mouth. This is often enough to dissipate the craving and let you get on with other things, like reading the excellent Maggie Davey's letter or your copy of Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker, which I am encouraging you to buy now 🙂 Or go for a brisk walk, which is also very beneficial in helping to manage your blood sugar levels, especially after eating 🙂

Don't despair, although diabetes is a serious condition it can be managed well, and in making the adjustments to your diet and activity levels it's more than likely you will become happier and healthier than you have felt in a long while, with renewed energy and zest for life! Well, that is what I am hoping will be the case - it is the experience of many of our members who once found themselves in the same place you are now 🙂

Let us know if you have any questions or concerns and we will be more than happy to help out 🙂

 

[Hels1905]

Thank you so much for your response, and you have made me feel a little better about things..... It is good to know that I am not as mad as I thought with regards to my cravings for chocolate (others things in life well.... 😉) but hey....

I have printed off Maggie Davey's letter and purchased Type 2 Diabetes to read...... I just feel lost at the moment, and totally shattered which my husband cannot understand - here is hoping to feel "good" again not have the constant feeling of not feeling well but not knowing what is wrong with you....... I have started slimming world as my GP has told me to get at least 3 stone off.... and have started power walking too to try and shift the weight plus make me healthier......

A huge thank you again for making me feel normal xxxx🙂

 

[merrymunky]

I was diagnosed a month ago and also struggling with the fact I can’t freely eat what I want anymore. The chocolate, cake and biscuit aisles scream at me when I am in the supermarket. I have been good so far and only had a small amount very rarely.

Usually I don’t gorge on it as I follow slimming world but I would have a big bag of maltesters a Monday after weigh in as my treat and sometimes have a curly wurly after tea as part of my Syn allowance. I have good losses usually and I thought I was being sensible.

However since diagnosis all I’ve wanted is a big bag of maltesers and I know it would send my sugars sky high. I won’t eat dark chocolate though. I’d rather have a real treat once in a blue moon and enjoy it than eat something I don’t like.

Don’t forget it is not just sugary foods. Most foods have some impact on your blood sugar. Carbohydrates!! Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, a lot of root veg. Even maintaining a healthy diet does not mean you are controlling diabetes well.

You will learn fast. I’m still learning about it all but the main thing to concentrate on is reducing carb intake considerably. I’m substituting foods such as cauliflower rice instead of actual rice. I am also constantly looking out for lower carb versions of favourites. For breakfast, Fuel wheat biscuits are less carby than weetabix but taste identical.

 

[Hels1905]

Wow - thank you merrymunky - it seems I do have a lot to learn...... I have been living on fruit and veg (ie speed food) for SW and now realise this probably hasn't been good for me....

I am finding it hard that I am given the diagnosis but then told to cope on my own for a month before I see someone.....

It is great to know that you are on SW as well.... Do you have to syn Fuel wheat biscuits?
Now with the diabetes diagnosis - can I ask what you roughly eat for each meal, just so I can sort of picture where I should be going.
x

 

[Hels1905]

Another question guys - am I allowed Pepsi Max????
Some people say yes - others say no.....
Same as with fruit!

 

[merrymunky]

Wow - thank you merrymunky - it seems I do have a lot to learn...... I have been living on fruit and veg (ie speed food) for SW and now realise this probably hasn't been good for me....

I am finding it hard that I am given the diagnosis but then told to cope on my own for a month before I see someone.....

It is great to know that you are on SW as well.... Do you have to syn Fuel wheat biscuits?
Now with the diabetes diagnosis - can I ask what you roughly eat for each meal, just so I can sort of picture where I should be going.
x

Ditto. I used to have a big bowl of fruit salad. Grapes, strawberries, raspberries,melon, mango and passion fruit. I would have it with an activist vanilla yoghurt. Berries are apparently the best fruit for diabetics so I wasn’t all bad. But not exactly good.

That’s the thing I am struggling with the most. Everything you are eating on slimming world goes against advice of many people here. Diabetes professionals just say to lower carbs but eat following the eat well plate system. Which is similar in principle to slimming world. However on SW we rely on a lot of those speed foods and carbs. I’m sure most people here will tell you to ditch slimming world in favour of the low carb high fat diet. I am not ditching it just yet. I am adapting it though and removing unnecessary carbs such as rice.

The fuel wheat biscuits are a healthy extra thankfully. I only eat one a day so I Syn it as 3.5. But two are a HEB choice.

I drink Pepsi max and diet drinks still. Professionals say it is fine.

 

[SueEK]

Hi Hels, if it’s any consolation I have never been that mad about chocolate or anything sweet but I desperately want it now that I can’t have it, I just go around supermarket thinking ‘I can’t have that and I can’t have that’ in fact probably can’t have 90% of what is in there and I want things I’ve never wanted before. My weakness was always bread, croissants etc and I could cry not being able to have them. However like everyone else I am learning to adapt, very early stages for me too (dg 7 wks ago). Good luck to you, sounds like you have good motivation.
Merrymunkey coukd you tell me what fuel wheat biscuits are and where you get them. I’m so fussy with my food and struggle to find good things to eat that I like. Thanks.

 

[merrymunky]

They taste exactly the same as weetabix. Available in supermarkets.

 

[Hels1905]

Thank you all of you and I have the fuel wheat biscuits in my shopping basket.
I have just read an article about cut out the sweet potatoes and parsnips..... I love these.... Hey ho.....
I will find an alternative I am sure.....
I am sure that if I write down what I eat and test my sugars etc, I will notice what my body does not like..... I live on fruit and veg so this is going to be tough...... I will manage it though.... I will get there.... Especially with you guys helping me along the way.

 

[SueEK]

They taste exactly the same as weetabix. Available in supermarkets.

Brill thanks merrymunky, I will look out for them, thanks for the tip

 

[merrymunky]

Brill thanks merrymunky, I will look out for them, thanks for the tip

No problem. I don’t know how ‘good’ they are in the grand scheme of things but they are definitely better in terms of carbs/sugar than standard weetabix. Can’t beat the extra protein either I guess.

 

[Sharron1]

Fuel wheat biscuits, I will give them a try. I usually stick with Fine Milled Oat biscuits - low carb, I dump some peanut butter or avocado and job done. I also have learnt to enjoy dark chocolate - two or three squares a day - the DN suggested Lindt Dark chocolate with Chilli - she was correct, it is lovely. I must admit I do have porridge for breakfast - although it tends to send my sugar a bit too high usually between 8-10ish after two hours. But I was told that most people including non -diabetics have highish sugar in the morning and anyway porridge is low GI. I am sure that you have been told to keep a food diary - so helpful. I am not so rigid about it now as I know what works (I was diagnosed in July 2018), but it helped me to maintain low sugar levels and am now well in the normal range (along with the helping hand of Metformin!). T test once in a while just to see that all is ok The hardest part of all this was to work out how to manage work and eating. I now take salad, hard boiled eggs and some tofu...lucky I was never a foodie!🙄 Sometimes I do wonder what I miss in the way of food and it usually are things like crisps and then i realise that I can have a few if I want and to be honest I haven't.🙄

 

[SB2015]

Welcome @Hels1905 , sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but glad that you have found the forum. There is plenty of help and support from people on here who just ‘get it’.

You understandably feel that there is a lot to find out, and I am glad that you have followed up Northerners suggestions for useful reading. Are you already testing your BG? In preparation for your appointment you could start to get her some information about your diet and levels of exercise. Useful information would be
- how much carbohydrate you eat at each meal
As a T1 I have to calculate this every meal in order to determine the amount of insulin to inject, but I have also used the info to help me make decisions about changes to our meals in order to try to level out the peaks in my BG. We found it helped us to focus on matching a target number of carbs for each meal which was half what we had been eating previously. We also try to eat foods which convert to glucose more slowly (low GI foods) so that we get nice fells rather than steep mountains
- your BG before meals and then two hours after the meal
The insulin that your body makes is needed to balance the glucose that comes from the carbs you eat. In T2 the pancreas is no longer able to make enough insulin, or the insulin that is made does not work as well, due to increased resistance. That is why each of needs to find which foods we can tolerate, and what works best for us.

You mention that you like veg and fruit. A useful indicator of carbs that Inuse when choosing veg is that if it grows
- under the ground it will be high in carbs (potatoes, parsnips, carrots)
- above the group it will be medium carbs (beans, peas)
- on the ground it will be low carbs (lettuce, celery)
With this info you can adjust amounts of higher carb veg, or choose lower carb options.

Having said all that I have just helped myself to a mini bar of choc that was in the fridge!!!
Time for some insulin (or a bit late now but I still need it!!)

 

[Drummer]

Although people seem to want it to be complicated, diabetes, type two and in the early stages is really simple - we can't cope with carbohydrates, starches and sugars.
The GI value is irrelevant for most - though a few seem able to eat porridge oats, for most people grains, potatoes, fruit etc are going to elevate blood glucose levels.
Lucky type twos who stop eating starches and sugars from densely carb foods, and who test to see how much they can eat from low carb foods can right their metabolism, get lower blood glucose and after a while find that they have lost weight.
I can't really advocate losing weight whilst eating high carb foods as it never worked for me and made me feel really ill.
A maximum of 50 gm of carbs a day seems to work for many people, but is seems more likely to succeed long term if high carb foods are avoided, rather than trying to eat small amounts of them. I exceed my 10 percent limit only for very dark chocolate.

 

[Stitch147]

Hi and welcome to the forum. You have come to the right place for help and advice. If there's one thing I miss since diagnosis it's fruit! I used to eat 6-7 portions a day but now have 1-2. And some of my favourite fruits are a complete no no now.

 

[Flower]

Hi @Hels1905 and welcome 🙂

How about trying a hot chocolate drink such as Highlights or Options for a sweet chocolate taste in a choice of flavours. They're lowish carbs approx 5g per serving when made with hot water and take a while to drink and might just work to give you a chocolate taste and break the cravings without causing high blood sugar.

 

[merrymunky]

Yet all the diabetic professionals say that all food groups are fine to eat in moderation. I have massively reduced my fruit intake which was my staple breakfast choice.

 

[Madeline]

Yet all the diabetic professionals say that all food groups are fine to eat in moderation. I have massively reduced my fruit intake which was my staple breakfast choice.

Hah I know! I got a rollicking for skipping my fruit (on that shakes diet, Newcastle one), and tutted at when I said I’d rather have more veg. I’m not eating fruit when a 9g carb shake bungs me up the 2 points on my meter. She also tried to tell me I needed 40g with each meal. I just nod and smile now.

The NHS ‘diet’ plan for diabetics recycles really well.