I thought I ate well?

[Humza]

Today I had Chicken and vegetables in Dil Sauce and a low sugar protein shake

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6 ounces each)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Vegetable casserole mix
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon snipped fresh dill
• 1 cup 2% milk

The nutrition value was

1 serving: 274 calories, 9g fat (2g saturated fat), 100mg cholesterol, 620mg sodium, 8g carbohydrate (4g sugars, 2g fiber), 39g protein.

I did a BG test about 2 hours after eating ( i think) , and it wa 9.5....

I am not on any medicine.
6 months ago my AC1 test was 17
3 months ago my AC1 was 8.9
The last one was AC1 9.1 ( i has started eating white bread and white rice again)

I have another one in Feb 22- if its still around 8-9 then I will start taking meds...but will do all i can to get it down naturally

Thoughts?

 

[Lucyr]

What was your blood glucose before eating it?

 

[Lily123]

As @Lucyr asked what what you blood glucose before eating?

 

[Humza]

I didn't take it....is that what you are supposed to do?

I am not sure how I am supposed to check my BG ie, when, how often etc....

 

[Lily123]

Your supposed to check your BG before eating and 2 hours after eating and looking for no more than a 2-3mmol/l rise in numbers

 

[Humza]

Ahh..I see

Say if I have eaten at 4pm, then eat again at 7 pm...I take my BG at lets say 6.55 and then at 9pm...Yes?

 

[Lily123]

You would need to try and take your BG closer to 2 hours rather than 2 and a half hours because there are many factors that affect BG

 

[Humza]

Your supposed to check your BG before eating and 2 hours after eating and looking for no more than a 2-3mmol/l rise in numbers

Thank you for that @Lily123 .

When i get up should I take it then too?

I was told to take it upon waking and 2 hours after eatng only. Also, in the morning, should it normally be higher than normal?

This morning mine was 9.3...

Thanks for that

 

[rebrascora]

As others have said, you need to test immediately before eating and then 2 hours afterwards. The reason for this is because Blood Glucose levels are affected by many things and rise and fall throughout the day so testing just before eating and then 2 hours after, sort of isolates the effects of that meal as much as is possible. If you don't know what your reading was just before eating it then you don't know how much higher that food spiked you.

Yes, morning readings are usually higher and the last to come down. Keeping the "meal rise" to less than 3mmols will gradually cause your premeal readings to come down but the morning one is usually the most stubborn.

Can I also ask, are you in the UK or the USA or somewhere else in the world. The reason I ask is that you mention fiber which is the American spelling of the English fibre. This is much more than a spelling difference though as if you are in the USA Fiber is included in the Carbohydrate content and needs to be deducted because it is indigestible, whereas in the UK the Fibre content is not included in the total Carbs so doesn't need to be deducted.

I think your carb content may be slightly out because of this but depends where in the world you are.

 

[Humza]

As others have said, you need to test immediately before eating and then 2 hours afterwards. The reason for this is because Blood Glucose levels are affected by many things and rise and fall throughout the day so testing just before eating and then 2 hours after, sort of isolates the effects of that meal as much as is possible. If you don't know what your reading was just before eating it then you don't know how much higher that food spiked you.

Yes, morning readings are usually higher and the last to come down. Keeping the "meal rise" to less than 3mmols will gradually cause your premeal readings to come down but the morning one is usually the most stubborn.

Can I also ask, are you in the UK or the USA or somewhere else in the world. The reason I ask is that you mention fiber which is the American spelling of the English fibre. This is much more than a spelling difference though as if you are in the USA Fiber is included in the Carbohydrate content and needs to be deducted because it is indigestible, whereas in the UK the Fibre content is not included in the total Carbs so doesn't need to be deducted.

I think your carb content may be slightly out because of this but depends where in the world you are.

Im in the UK.. that was taken from the recipe on the internet 🙂

Thanks for that @rebrascora

 

[janw]

Yes, you take it upon waking and then 2 hours after breakfast, just before lunch and 2 hours after that first mouthful, same for your evening meal....not everyone has more than 2 meals, others have more, go by your usual meals. This way you can see your BG reaction to whatever you recently ate and know if you need to take action to reduce a spike or if it is okay - no more than a 2 - 3 rise. It can be confusing to start with, so do ask whenever you don't feel sure. As was mentioned before it also depends on where you live or which recipe you might follow, UK or USA, as to how you work out your carbs.

 

[Humza]

Yes, you take it upon waking and then 2 hours after breakfast, just before lunch and 2 hours after that first mouthful, same for your evening meal....not everyone has more than 2 meals, others have more, go by your usual meals. This way you can see your BG reaction to whatever you recently ate and know if you need to take action to reduce a spike or if it is okay - no more than a 2 - 3 rise. It can be confusing to start with, so do ask whenever you don't feel sure. As was mentioned before it also depends on where you live or which recipe you might follow, UK or USA, as to how you work out your carbs.

@janw as i am an avid gym goer, I often 4-6 times a day....

I will do as you all have said and lets see.

I am very positive that I can do all I can before taking any meds but at the same time understand the need to take meds.
I was 87 KG and now am 83, I'm trying to get to 78KG.

What can often be misleading is that I feel the best i have ever felt. I have absolutely no symptoms and honestly feel more energetic and healthier than I have done.

I will keep you posted ...I am determined to get my levels down to what I can naturally and all I can do is try my best

Thanks

 

[Lily123]

Thank you for that @Lily123 .

When i get up should I take it then too?

I was told to take it upon waking and 2 hours after eatng only. Also, in the morning, should it normally be higher than normal?

This morning mine was 9.3...

Thanks for that

Yes tesing your BG on waking is a good idea as this is your fasting BG. If you only tested 2 hours after you wouldn’t get a good idea of how certain foods affected your BG

 

[rebrascora]

Yes, you take it upon waking and then 2 hours after breakfast,

Actually this bit is slightly incorrect because it very much depends upon if you have breakfast straight away or half an hour or more after waking up.
Morning is a time when our levels are likely to rise quite significantly in the absence of food as soon as we set foot out of bed... and sometimes even before that .... due to Dawn Phenomenon or Foot on the Floor Syndrome. This is where the liver starts releasing extra glucose into our blood stream to give us energy to start our day. My BG levels can rise by 6 whole mmols due to that alone in the space of an hour and I usually eat breakfast about 45 mins after I get up, so that would result in pretty much any food I ate being unsuitable. Testing right before eating breakfast is therefore probably more important at breakfast time than any other time of day. Testing on waking can be useful to track your overall progress but in my opinion is less helpful than immediately before and thn 2 hours after a meal.
Of course once you have a few breakfast menus sorted out and you know they don't cause you too much BG upheaval, then testing around breakfast is no longer necessary unless you are eating something different to normal and then doing the waking test may be helpful because it is a useful means of tracking your longer term progress, because it often is the last reading to come down.

Of course there is nothing to stop you testing on waking and then again before breakfast and 2 hours after, but it very much depends how you feel about an extra finger prick and test strip usage a day.

 

[Humza]

Actually this bit is slightly incorrect because it very much depends upon if you have breakfast straight away or half an hour or more after waking up.
Morning is a time when our levels are likely to rise quite significantly in the absence of food as soon as we set foot out of bed... and sometimes even before that .... due to Dawn Phenomenon or Foot on the Floor Syndrome. This is where the liver starts releasing extra glucose into our blood stream to give us energy to start our day. My BG levels can rise by 6 whole mmols due to that alone in the space of an hour and I usually eat breakfast about 45 mins after I get up, so that would result in pretty much any food I ate being unsuitable. Testing right before eating breakfast is therefore probably more important at breakfast time than any other time of day. Testing on waking can be useful to track your overall progress but in my opinion is less helpful than immediately before and thn 2 hours after a meal.
Of course once you have a few breakfast menus sorted out and you know they don't cause you too much BG upheaval, then testing around breakfast is no longer necessary unless you are eating something different to normal and then doing the waking test may be helpful because it is a useful means of tracking your longer term progress, because it often is the last reading to come down.

Of course there is nothing to stop you testing on waking and then again before breakfast and 2 hours after, but it very much depends how you feel about an extra finger prick and test strip usage a day.

@rebrascora Really appreciate that from you.

I think I have been doing my BG pricking totally wrong.....Well at least I know now 🙂

 

[rebrascora]

It's not so much about doing it wrong as knowing why you are doing it and what you are looking to gain from it.

In your case, it sounds like you need data to help you tailor your diet to what your body can cope with and in doing so, gradually reduce your overall readings. Breakfast is probably the easiest meal to start with because most of us, for convenience sake, have the same or similar breakfast most mornings, so once you get your breakfast figured out, that is one thing you can more or less put out of your mind apart from maybe the odd spot test to make sure nothing has changed. Then move on to testing around lunch and sort out half a dozen or more lunch menus that work well for your body and then you just need to test if you have something new for lunch and so on.

You might want to experiment with when you take your waking reading if you do decide to do that extra test. I always test before I set foot out of bed because my levels will start to rise sharply from that point onwards. If you wait until you have got up and gone to the loo and perhaps sitting drinking your coffee, the chances are it will have increased noticeably from when you woke up.... and you can test that of course by doing both..... That will show you how strong your Dawn Phenomenon response is, so again that is testing with a purpose.... to see how much your levels rise on a morning without eating.
Random tests tell you very little at all so it is best to understand what you want to gain from the testing and work out a strategy which will achieve that as best as possible in an imperfect world. Ie. it is not possible to eliminate all other factors from that 2 hour meal testing period, but it is as narrowed down as you can make it and the food will almost always be the most significant contributor to a rise in BG during that time.

 

[Alan S]

Today I had Chicken and vegetables in Dil Sauce and a low sugar protein shake

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6 ounces each)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Vegetable casserole mix
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon snipped fresh dill
• 1 cup 2% milk

The nutrition value was

1 serving: 274 calories, 9g fat (2g saturated fat), 100mg cholesterol, 620mg sodium, 8g carbohydrate (4g sugars, 2g fiber), 39g protein.

I did a BG test about 2 hours after eating ( i think) , and it wa 9.5....

I am not on any medicine.
6 months ago my AC1 test was 17
3 months ago my AC1 was 8.9
The last one was AC1 9.1 ( i has started eating white bread and white rice again)

I have another one in Feb 22- if its still around 8-9 then I will start taking meds...but will do all i can to get it down naturally

Thoughts?

I think you have severely underestimated the carbs. For example a tablespoon of flour is about 6gm carb, there is an unknown amount of carbs in the casserole mix and the chicken broth and there is about 12 gm carb in the skim milk. There was a minimum of 18gm, not 8gm, possibly much more in that menu.

I presume those A1c numbers are percentages?

 

[helli]

i am an avid gym goer, I often 4-6 times a day.

You may want to test before and after your workout.
Overall, exercise tends to reduce our blood sugars. However, certain exercise (especially stop start work outs such as HIIT and weights) can increase blood sugars.

If you are working out so many times each day (or do you mean 4 to 6 times per week?), you may benefit from a Libre to show the trends. There has been a free trial available from their website which may give you a good 2 week insight. But I recommend you familiarise yourself with the Libre limitations. Otherwise, you will join the large group of people who find it disappointing.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

I think you have severely underestimated the carbs. For example a tablespoon of flour is about 6gm carb, there is an unknown amount of carbs in the casserole mix and the chicken broth and there is about 12 gm carb in the skim milk. There was a minimum of 18gm, not 8gm, possibly much more in that menu.

I presume those A1c numbers are percentages?

Op had worked it out per serving, not per pot, and there are at least two servings there.