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Hi

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Morning @yorkshire gal welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. How are you doing with it? I found mine to be a bit of a shock at first. It's all a bit of a whirl initially, appointments, blood tests, new medication etc.
Let us know if you have any questions you'd like answering,
Sarah
 
Hi @Windy, I've just got Metformin to take and been for a blood test for kidneys today. It's mainly what's best to eat like family meals etc, they didn't really tell me much, thanks Pam
 
Normal meals but you need to limit the carbohydrate in yours - so say it's meat and veg, more veg and a lot less spud. Meals with pasta or rice - we each have to experiment testing before and 2 hours after, to see how much of it our body can reasonably cope with - and note down how much that is, so you can easily limit your portion to that in future. There are swaps that can be made - like caulifloer mash or rice, courgetti instead of spag, and all sorts of things. You won't know until you start testing.
 
Unless you are very lucky you won't be prescribed a blood glucose monitor for home testing but inexpensive ones can be bought on line, The GlucoNavil is one many people use as it has the cheapest test strips. You get just a few strips and lancets in the kit so should buy more at the outset. You might find that GP surgeries discourage testing but it is the most valuable way of determining what foods you can tolerate.
You may find this link helpful for finding a way forward for some dietary changes as it is based on real food and is a low carb approach which many people find successful. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
 
Welcome to the forum @yorkshire gal

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, and that you have been left feeling like you’ve not got much information to go on :(

Members here frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter to the newly diagnosed and Gretchen Becker’s book T2 Diabetes, the first year, which you can work through gradually and will give you a solid starting point. There is also the Diabetes UK Learning Zone where you will find a whole host of bite-sized modules on a range of topics.

One of the biggest questions when trying to get to grips with your diabetes is often ‘what can I eat’ and 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.

Many new members find it can be really helpful to keep a brutally honest food diary for a week or two. Note down everything you eat and drink, along with a reasonable estimate of the total carbohydrate content in yoir meals and snacks - it doesn’t have to be gram-perfect, the nearest 5-10g is fine. It might sound like a bit of a faff, and will involve weighing portions, squinting at the fine print on packaging, and possibly looking up things on the internet, but it will give you a really good idea of which foods are the main sources of carbs in your menu. Once you can see which meals or snacks are your ‘big hitters’, and where carbs might be unexpectedly lurking, the process might also suggest some likely candidates for swaps, portion reductions, or using lower carb alternatives (eg celeriac or swede mash, or cauli ‘rice’).

Let us know how you get in, and keep firing away with any questions as they crop up 🙂
 
Hi and welcome
When I was first diagnosed, the first thing I did was download an app to measure my calories and carbs. There are a few, like MyFitBit which is free, or NutraCheck which starts at £23.99 for a year on your iPhone. You can plan your daily carbs in advance, and it's handy to have when going round the supermarket. It is suggested that Type 2 diabetics who want to cut back on their carbs, aim for less than 130gm a day. Some people are more sensitive to carbs and aim lower. I experimented and settled on 90gm a day - we are all different. The other thing I do is keep digital scales and a clear glass bowl on my kitchen worktop. Measuring food just takes a matter of seconds then. Best wishes
 
Welcome to the forum @yorkshire gal

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, and that you have been left feeling like you’ve not got much information to go on :(

Members here frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter to the newly diagnosed and Gretchen Becker’s book T2 Diabetes, the first year, which you can work through gradually and will give you a solid starting point. There is also the Diabetes UK Learning Zone where you will find a whole host of bite-sized modules on a range of topics.

One of the biggest questions when trying to get to grips with your diabetes is often ‘what can I eat’ and 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.

Many new members find it can be really helpful to keep a brutally honest food diary for a week or two. Note down everything you eat and drink, along with a reasonable estimate of the total carbohydrate content in yoir meals and snacks - it doesn’t have to be gram-perfect, the nearest 5-10g is fine. It might sound like a bit of a faff, and will involve weighing portions, squinting at the fine print on packaging, and possibly looking up things on the internet, but it will give you a really good idea of which foods are the main sources of carbs in your menu. Once you can see which meals or snacks are your ‘big hitters’, and where carbs might be unexpectedly lurking, the process might also suggest some likely candidates for swaps, portion reductions, or using lower carb alternatives (eg celeriac or swede mash, or cauli ‘rice’).

Let us know how you get in, and keep firing away with any questions as they crop up 🙂
Thank you very much
 
Hi and welcome
When I was first diagnosed, the first thing I did was download an app to measure my calories and carbs. There are a few, like MyFitBit which is free, or NutraCheck which starts at £23.99 for a year on your iPhone. You can plan your daily carbs in advance, and it's handy to have when going round the supermarket. It is suggested that Type 2 diabetics who want to cut back on their carbs, aim for less than 130gm a day. Some people are more sensitive to carbs and aim lower. I experimented and settled on 90gm a day - we are all different. The other thing I do is keep digital scales and a clear glass bowl on my kitchen worktop. Measuring food just takes a matter of seconds then. Best wishes
Thank you, I have nutracheck on my phone so I'll use that
 
hey @yorkshire gal welcome to the forum! If there is anything you would like to ask, please feel free to respond! We are happy to help in whatever way we can 🙂
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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