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Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
I'm a newbie
- Thread starter Reenie
- Start date
- Status
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Welcome to the forum @Reenie
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis.
When it comes to managing your diabetes, it’s best to make changes to your menu and activity levels gradually - partly because they need to be sustainable long term, but also because very rapid and sudden changes to blood glucose levels are harder on the fine blood vessels, and changing things more gently will give your body time to adapt.
One of the biggest questions when newly diagnosed is often ‘what can I eat’ and while there are obvious things like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sugary drinks that you will be wanting to cut out straight away, you might be surprised how much *all* carbohydrate affects your BG levels, including rice, pasta, bread, pastry, grains, cereals and many fruits.
The really tricky thing is that blood glucose responses to various foods are highly individual, and it can be impossible to say which types and amounts of carbohydrate will ‘spike’ your BG without checking for yourself.
You can use a BG meter, taking a reading before and again 2hrs after eating, to see what the differences are, to identify any carbs that seem to be spiking BG (initially in a way the numbers themselves matter less than the differences between them). Once you can see how you respond to different meals you can begin experimenting with reducing amounts of carbs and trying different types (sometimes just having things at a different time of day makes a difference). Gradually tweaking and tailoring your menu to find one that suits your tastebuds, your waistline and your BG levels 🙂
If you are interested in this approach you may find test-review-adjust by Alan S a helpful framework.
If you need to self fund your BG meter, the most affordable meters members here have found are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 - which both have test strips at around £8 for 50
Diabetes is a serious condition, but it’s also one that can usually be managed well with a few changes and adaptations - it’s something that you can learn to live well with, and it shouldn’t stop you doing things you enjoy. Try not to be disheartened about your diagnosis, many people on the forum later reflect that their diagnosis became a catalyst which prompted them to make positive changes towards a healthier and more active life.
For a bit more background information, the ‘useful links’ thread is a mine of helpful information - useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes
Members here frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter and Gretchen Becker’s book, as very helpful starting points.
Good luck, and keep asking questions!
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis.
When it comes to managing your diabetes, it’s best to make changes to your menu and activity levels gradually - partly because they need to be sustainable long term, but also because very rapid and sudden changes to blood glucose levels are harder on the fine blood vessels, and changing things more gently will give your body time to adapt.
One of the biggest questions when newly diagnosed is often ‘what can I eat’ and while there are obvious things like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sugary drinks that you will be wanting to cut out straight away, you might be surprised how much *all* carbohydrate affects your BG levels, including rice, pasta, bread, pastry, grains, cereals and many fruits.
The really tricky thing is that blood glucose responses to various foods are highly individual, and it can be impossible to say which types and amounts of carbohydrate will ‘spike’ your BG without checking for yourself.
You can use a BG meter, taking a reading before and again 2hrs after eating, to see what the differences are, to identify any carbs that seem to be spiking BG (initially in a way the numbers themselves matter less than the differences between them). Once you can see how you respond to different meals you can begin experimenting with reducing amounts of carbs and trying different types (sometimes just having things at a different time of day makes a difference). Gradually tweaking and tailoring your menu to find one that suits your tastebuds, your waistline and your BG levels 🙂
If you are interested in this approach you may find test-review-adjust by Alan S a helpful framework.
If you need to self fund your BG meter, the most affordable meters members here have found are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 - which both have test strips at around £8 for 50
Diabetes is a serious condition, but it’s also one that can usually be managed well with a few changes and adaptations - it’s something that you can learn to live well with, and it shouldn’t stop you doing things you enjoy. Try not to be disheartened about your diagnosis, many people on the forum later reflect that their diagnosis became a catalyst which prompted them to make positive changes towards a healthier and more active life.
For a bit more background information, the ‘useful links’ thread is a mine of helpful information - useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes
Members here frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter and Gretchen Becker’s book, as very helpful starting points.
Good luck, and keep asking questions!
Last edited:
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hi Reenie and welcome
Would you like to tell us a bit more about your diabetes, like....
How your diagnosis came about?
What your HbA1c reading was at diagnosis.... this is the blood test which is sent off to the lab and would give us an idea of where you are on the diabetes scale. It is usually a number above 48.
What, if any, medication you have been prescribed.
The answer to these questions will help us to tailor our advice to your circumstances but in general it helps both your Blood Glucose levels and your weight loss to cut back on carbohydrates and that is not just the sugar and sweet stuff as many people assume, but also otherwise healthy foods like fruit, both fresh and dried and fruit juice but just as importantly the starchy carbs like bread, pasta, rice, couscous, potatoes, breakfast cereals and even possibly porridge. I know that the NHS advice is to eat moderate portions of the wholemeal/wholegrain varieties of these foods but many Type2s here on the forum have to limit their intake of these too. It may seem like that doesn't leave much to fill your plate up with but we can help you with that and it doesn't have to be all boring, tasteless stuff.
It really helps to start keeping a food diary and be very honest about it, both food and drink. Then work out the amount of carbs you are eating in an average day. Then look at ways you can reduce that number. There are apps for your phone that can work out the carbs in food for you or you can look at the nutritional info on the back of packaging to find the total carbohydrate content (not the traffic light system info on the front which just tells you how much sugar there is) The info you need will be expressed as grams of carbohydrate per 100grams and may also have a grams per serving... so a slice of bread will be so many grams per slice as well as g/100g. Getting a set of digital scales can be helpful if you don't have any so that you can find out how many grams of cereal you have been eating.... that can be a bit of an eye opener to see what a portion size is supposed to be and how much you actually eat.
The other really useful bit of kit is a Blood Glucose Meter. Most GPs do not prescribe them for Type 2s anymore and often discourage their use but those people here on the forum who have successfully pushed their diabetes into remission tend to find it an invaluable tool. The meters themselves are relatively inexpensive for a basic model at approx. £15, but it is the test strips for them which can run up the finances because you tend to go through quite a lot in the first couple of months. For that reason most people here get the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Healthcare Tee2 blood glucose meters because these have the cheapest test strips at £8 for a pot of 50 whereas some other meters have test strips which cost double or even treble that. The meter is used before a meal and then 2 hours after so that you can see how much that meal affected your Blood Glucose Level. If it rose more than 3 units then there were too many carbs and you need to cut back on them next time you have that meal. It takes a week or two of these readings to start to see patterns emerging and which foods cause you the most problems and then tailor your diet to how your body responds to foods. The odd thing is that it can be very individual, so whilst you might be able to get away with eating a medium portion of pasta and your BG remain in range, another diabetic might not be able to manage even a small portion of wholemeal pasta without their levels rocketing. They may however be able to eat a couple of slices of low GI bread which might easily put someone else's BG through the roof.
This is why it is so difficult to give people specific dietary advice for diabetes because we all respond differently and why a BG meter is so useful in working out what we can and can't eat, on an individual basis.
Anyway, hope that helps you a little but I am sure as you read a few other posts on the forum, you will start to see how it all works.
Good luck with your journey. Quite a few of us have found that our diagnosis was the kick up the pants we needed to get our diet and lifestyle in order and lose some weight and actually feel better for it, so it is not all doom and gloom.... it can be quite a positive thing. The forum is an invaluable source of knowledge and experience from people who have been there and done it and know all the ups and downs, so feel free to have a good rant when you need to because we all feel like that at times, but we are also very happy to share and celebrate your successes, offer sympathy when, perhaps occasionally kick you up the backside if you need it 😱😉 and provide general support to you on your journey with diabetes.
Would you like to tell us a bit more about your diabetes, like....
How your diagnosis came about?
What your HbA1c reading was at diagnosis.... this is the blood test which is sent off to the lab and would give us an idea of where you are on the diabetes scale. It is usually a number above 48.
What, if any, medication you have been prescribed.
The answer to these questions will help us to tailor our advice to your circumstances but in general it helps both your Blood Glucose levels and your weight loss to cut back on carbohydrates and that is not just the sugar and sweet stuff as many people assume, but also otherwise healthy foods like fruit, both fresh and dried and fruit juice but just as importantly the starchy carbs like bread, pasta, rice, couscous, potatoes, breakfast cereals and even possibly porridge. I know that the NHS advice is to eat moderate portions of the wholemeal/wholegrain varieties of these foods but many Type2s here on the forum have to limit their intake of these too. It may seem like that doesn't leave much to fill your plate up with but we can help you with that and it doesn't have to be all boring, tasteless stuff.
It really helps to start keeping a food diary and be very honest about it, both food and drink. Then work out the amount of carbs you are eating in an average day. Then look at ways you can reduce that number. There are apps for your phone that can work out the carbs in food for you or you can look at the nutritional info on the back of packaging to find the total carbohydrate content (not the traffic light system info on the front which just tells you how much sugar there is) The info you need will be expressed as grams of carbohydrate per 100grams and may also have a grams per serving... so a slice of bread will be so many grams per slice as well as g/100g. Getting a set of digital scales can be helpful if you don't have any so that you can find out how many grams of cereal you have been eating.... that can be a bit of an eye opener to see what a portion size is supposed to be and how much you actually eat.
The other really useful bit of kit is a Blood Glucose Meter. Most GPs do not prescribe them for Type 2s anymore and often discourage their use but those people here on the forum who have successfully pushed their diabetes into remission tend to find it an invaluable tool. The meters themselves are relatively inexpensive for a basic model at approx. £15, but it is the test strips for them which can run up the finances because you tend to go through quite a lot in the first couple of months. For that reason most people here get the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Healthcare Tee2 blood glucose meters because these have the cheapest test strips at £8 for a pot of 50 whereas some other meters have test strips which cost double or even treble that. The meter is used before a meal and then 2 hours after so that you can see how much that meal affected your Blood Glucose Level. If it rose more than 3 units then there were too many carbs and you need to cut back on them next time you have that meal. It takes a week or two of these readings to start to see patterns emerging and which foods cause you the most problems and then tailor your diet to how your body responds to foods. The odd thing is that it can be very individual, so whilst you might be able to get away with eating a medium portion of pasta and your BG remain in range, another diabetic might not be able to manage even a small portion of wholemeal pasta without their levels rocketing. They may however be able to eat a couple of slices of low GI bread which might easily put someone else's BG through the roof.
This is why it is so difficult to give people specific dietary advice for diabetes because we all respond differently and why a BG meter is so useful in working out what we can and can't eat, on an individual basis.
Anyway, hope that helps you a little but I am sure as you read a few other posts on the forum, you will start to see how it all works.
Good luck with your journey. Quite a few of us have found that our diagnosis was the kick up the pants we needed to get our diet and lifestyle in order and lose some weight and actually feel better for it, so it is not all doom and gloom.... it can be quite a positive thing. The forum is an invaluable source of knowledge and experience from people who have been there and done it and know all the ups and downs, so feel free to have a good rant when you need to because we all feel like that at times, but we are also very happy to share and celebrate your successes, offer sympathy when, perhaps occasionally kick you up the backside if you need it 😱😉 and provide general support to you on your journey with diabetes.
Drummer
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
If you can concentrate on getting normal blood glucose levels after eating, two hours after the first bite then you could well find that your weight has reduced too.
I made no effort to lose weight, then my clothes were falling off me.
I have lost 12 inches off my waist, and now can get down to wash out the bottom of the fridge once a month - which reminds me that it is due to be done on this glorious first of June.
I made no effort to lose weight, then my clothes were falling off me.
I have lost 12 inches off my waist, and now can get down to wash out the bottom of the fridge once a month - which reminds me that it is due to be done on this glorious first of June.
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