Just Diagnosed

[Georgiesgirl]

Hi, today I have been diagnosed and I realise that I have a lot to learn etc. I feel a bit daunted and have much to read and understand about how this disease will affect me. Amongst many things I'm trying to make sense of the foods I can eat ( I buy from the supermarket). I look forward to being a part of this forum . I would greatly appreciate any supermarket food buying tips/recommendations of suitable products.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome

Can you give us an idea of how you came to be diagnosed, what your HbA1c reading is (usually a number of 48 or more which is used to diagnose you) and what if any medication you have been given to help manage your diabetes?

Building up a new shopping list of lower carb foods was one of the key steps to getting to grips with my Blood Glucose management. Which supermarkets do you use? People will be able to recommend products based on where you shop.

In general though you are looking to reduce your carbohydrate intake, so that is foods which contain sugar like the obvious sweets cakes and biscuits but also the natural sugars from fruit in all it's forms ie dried, fresh and juiced as well as starchy carbs from grain products like bread, pasta, rice, couscous, breakfast cereals and root veg like potatoes. Not saying you need to cut all these foods out but reduce portion sizes and make wise choices based on carbohydrate content, health benefits and personal preferences. Many people find using a BG meter to test before and 2 hours after eating helps them to find which foods cause them the most problems and are probably best avoided and which they really want to keep on the menu but in a smaller portion size and how much that portion is. Some things like mashed potato can be replaced with mashed cauliflower or rice/couscous with cauli rice (grated cauliflower). Some people use celeriac to make chips instead of using potatoes etc. Bare Naked Noodles instead of normal noodles and spiralised courgette instead of spaghetti. There are lower carb breads in most supermarkets and seeded loaves tend to be lower carb in general. The odd square of Dark 70+% chocolate is OK as a sweet treat if you are a chocoholic and I find a spoon of peanut butter with it makes it more satisfying and takes some of the bitterness off it.

 

[Georgiesgirl]

hi, my reading is 50 and I have high cholesterol too. I'm due a chemist delivery of Metformin tablets. I shop online at Tesco. My heads reeling from all I have to learn ! But, one step at a time and I'm sure I'll learn lots on this site. What is a BG meter and where would I purchase one? Thanks for the tips

 

[rebrascora]

We all know how overwhelming it is at first, so take your time and make small sustainable changes. An HbA1c reading of 50 is only just over the diabetes threshold of 48 so with a bit of effort and some small dietary and lifestyle changes you should not only be able to control the condition well but possibly push it into remission and perhaps come off medication and maybe find yourself feeling happier and healthier than you have for a long while. I know my diagnosis was the kick up the bum I needed to improve my diet and get more exercise (nothing overly exertive is necessary... a brisk daily walk is ideal) and I feel slimmer, fitter and mentally better for it, even if diabetes can be frustrating at times.

A BG (Blood Glucose) meter is a little home test kit for pricking your finger and testing a spot of blood. They can be relatively inexpensive to buy at approx. £15 but because you test a lot in the first few months, the test strips and lancets can soon tot up the finances. The 2 meters most recommended on this forum are the Spirit Healthcare Tee2 or the SD Gluco Navii as they are reliable and have some of the cheapest test strips on the market @ £8 for a pot of 50. Both are available to buy online from Amazon I believe. The test kit comes with the meter, finger pricker, and 10 test strips and 10 lancets, so it is a good idea to buy a box of additional lancets and 2 or 3 extra pots of 50 test strips if you decide to buy a kit.
Most health care professionals will tell you that you don't need to test but most people here on the forum who are living with diabetes and serious about managing their diabetes through diet would not be without their BG meter. Don't feel obliged to get one but have a read around the forum and get a feel for how people use them and see if you think it is something which you might find helpful.

 

[Vonny]

Hi @Georgiesgirl and welcome from a fellow type 2 🙂

I see you are due to start on metformin. I hope you are ok with this medication. I was fine after a couple of weeks of just a slightly dicky tum, and I've had no problems since then. However, some people have an intolerance to it, so just keep an eye on yourself. There is a slow-release version if it turns out to be bad for you.

I can't better @rebrascora's posts, which are very comprehensive and helpful. I can certainly say that getting my BG monitor has been life changing for me. I don't necessarily use it all the time now because I've kept a food diary over the last few months and I know what I can and cannot eat, but I do random checks 2 hours after some meals to make sure I'm on an even keel, and I always test after any new recipes to make sure my sugars haven't spiked.

You're in a better place starting out at 50 than I was at 76, and some people here started out in the 100s. I'm now down to 37 thanks to the metformin and by cutting out carbs. I hope to come off the metformin at some stage and just maintain a healthy hba1c through diet and exercise, but that's for the future! In the meantime I'm just glad to be healthier.

Best wishes

 

[Georgiesgirl]

We all know how overwhelming it is at first, so take your time and make small sustainable changes. An HbA1c reading of 50 is only just over the diabetes threshold of 48 so with a bit of effort and some small dietary and lifestyle changes you should not only be able to control the condition well but possibly push it into remission and perhaps come off medication and maybe find yourself feeling happier and healthier than you have for a long while. I know my diagnosis was the kick up the bum I needed to improve my diet and get more exercise (nothing overly exertive is necessary... a brisk daily walk is ideal) and I feel slimmer, fitter and mentally better for it, even if diabetes can be frustrating at times.

A BG (Blood Glucose) meter is a little home test kit for pricking your finger and testing a spot of blood. They can be relatively inexpensive to buy at approx. £15 but because you test a lot in the first few months, the test strips and lancets can soon tot up the finances. The 2 meters most recommended on this forum are the Spirit Healthcare Tee2 or the SD Gluco Navii as they are reliable and have some of the cheapest test strips on the market @ £8 for a pot of 50. Both are available to buy online from Amazon I believe. The test kit comes with the meter, finger pricker, and 10 test strips and 10 lancets, so it is a good idea to buy a box of additional lancets and 2 or 3 extra pots of 50 test strips if you decide to buy a kit.
Most health care professionals will tell you that you don't need to test but most people here on the forum who are living with diabetes and serious about managing their diabetes through diet would not be without their BG meter. Don't feel obliged to get one but have a read around the forum and get a feel for how people use them and see if you think it is something which you might find helpful.

 

[Georgiesgirl]

thank you, you have been very helpful 🙂

 

[rebrascora]

Good point @Vonny. Keeping a food diary particularly along with BG readings if you get a meter is very good practice. Even if you don't get a meter, keeping a food diary and working out how many grams of carbs you are eating in a day is really helpful as you can then have a starting point to start reducing from. Weighing and measuring carbohydrate rich foods will help you to understand where your carbs are coming from. Nutritional information, usually in very small print on the back or side of packets will tell you the carbohydrate content. Ignore the "of which sugars" part and the traffic light labelling system on the front of packaging, just the total carbs from the Nutritional info. It will be expressed as so many grams per 100g and may also be given as the number of grams for the recommended portion size.... So porridge oats might be 63g/100g and the recommended portion size of 50g contains 31.5g carbs. I purchased some cheap digital scales for £5 to weigh carb rich foods like porridge oats and low carb granola. I know Tesco do the Eat Natural range of Breakfast cereals and their Protein or Low sugar granolas both have about half the carbs of other granolas at 34g carbs per 100g. I have 40g with 2 good dessert spoon dollops of whole milk Natural Greek Yoghurt, some mixed seeds and a few raspberries, either fresh or frozen for breakfast.... or an omelette with salad and cheese coleslaw which is really low carb and very filling. I usually have a combination of mushrooms, onion, peppers, courgette, ham and cheese in my omelette.
Be aware that most low fat products are higher in carbs so full fat versions are usually a better option for is diabetics and the fat will help to keep you feeling full and provide slow release energy to replace the carbs that you are not eating. I know you say that your cholesterol is high but many of us find that reducing the carbs and eating more fat actually reduces our cholesterol (without medication). Unfortunately a lot of the low fat advice we have been given over the course of our lifetime may in fact have lead to our current obesity and diabetes epidemic because we have been eating more carbs instead and once you start eating too many carbs it becomes almost addictive. Now that I have cut right back on carbs and eat more fat, I eat much less food in general but I don't feel hungry and the cravings have pretty much stopped. I find it amazingly easy to stick to a low carb higher fat diet and I was a sugar addict pre diagnosis. It still blows my mind how my tastes and attitude to food has changed and for once I feel in control and fitter and healthier than I have for 20+ years. My partner often eats cakes and biscuits and sweets in front of me and it doesn't even bother/tempt me, other than worrying that he will likely be next to get diabetes!

 

[Georgiesgirl]

Good point @Vonny. Keeping a food diary particularly along with BG readings if you get a meter is very good practice. Even if you don't get a meter, keeping a food diary and working out how many grams of carbs you are eating in a day is really helpful as you can then have a starting point to start reducing from. Weighing and measuring carbohydrate rich foods will help you to understand where your carbs are coming from. Nutritional information, usually in very small print on the back or side of packets will tell you the carbohydrate content. Ignore the "of which sugars" part and the traffic light labelling system on the front of packaging, just the total carbs from the Nutritional info. It will be expressed as so many grams per 100g and may also be given as the number of grams for the recommended portion size.... So porridge oats might be 63g/100g and the recommended portion size of 50g contains 31.5g carbs. I purchased some cheap digital scales for £5 to weigh carb rich foods like porridge oats and low carb granola. I know Tesco do the Eat Natural range of Breakfast cereals and their Protein or Low sugar granolas both have about half the carbs of other granolas at 34g carbs per 100g. I have 40g with 2 good dessert spoon dollops of whole milk Natural Greek Yoghurt, some mixed seeds and a few raspberries, either fresh or frozen for breakfast.... or an omelette with salad and cheese coleslaw which is really low carb and very filling. I usually have a combination of mushrooms, onion, peppers, courgette, ham and cheese in my omelette.
Be aware that most low fat products are higher in carbs so full fat versions are usually a better option for is diabetics and the fat will help to keep you feeling full and provide slow release energy to replace the carbs that you are not eating. I know you say that your cholesterol is high but many of us find that reducing the carbs and eating more fat actually reduces our cholesterol (without medication). Unfortunately a lot of the low fat advice we have been given over the course of our lifetime may in fact have lead to our current obesity and diabetes epidemic because we have been eating more carbs instead and once you start eating too many carbs it becomes almost addictive. Now that I have cut right back on carbs and eat more fat, I eat much less food in general but I don't feel hungry and the cravings have pretty much stopped. I find it amazingly easy to stick to a low carb higher fat diet and I was a sugar addict pre diagnosis. It still blows my mind how my tastes and attitude to food has changed and for once I feel in control and fitter and healthier than I have for 20+ years. My partner often eats cakes and biscuits and sweets in front of me and it doesn't even bother/tempt me, other than worrying that he will likely be next to get diabetes!

 

[Georgiesgirl]

thanks, great tips. I've a sweet tooth too,so it'll be interesting to witness how my taste buds change ! 🙂

 

[Georgiesgirl]

Hi @Georgiesgirl and welcome from a fellow type 2 🙂

I see you are due to start on metformin. I hope you are ok with this medication. I was fine after a couple of weeks of just a slightly dicky tum, and I've had no problems since then. However, some people have an intolerance to it, so just keep an eye on yourself. There is a slow-release version if it turns out to be bad for you.

I can't better @rebrascora's posts, which are very comprehensive and helpful. I can certainly say that getting my BG monitor has been life changing for me. I don't necessarily use it all the time now because I've kept a food diary over the last few months and I know what I can and cannot eat, but I do random checks 2 hours after some meals to make sure I'm on an even keel, and I always test after any new recipes to make sure my sugars haven't spiked.

You're in a better place starting out at 50 than I was at 76, and some people here started out in the 100s. I'm now down to 37 thanks to the metformin and by cutting out carbs. I hope to come off the metformin at some stage and just maintain a healthy hba1c through diet and exercise, but that's for the future! In the meantime I'm just glad to be healthier.

Best wishes

 

[Georgiesgirl]

thank you, great tips/info 🙂

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Georgiesgirl

For BG meters, the most significant outlay can come from the strips that you need to continue to buy - some of which can be as much as £30 for a pot of 50 strips 😱

Over the years forum members have found that some ‘affordable’ meters give less reliable results than others, but two which are regularly here are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 which both have test strips at around £8 for 50

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 🙂

It is often helpful to make changes to your gradually rather than going all-out for a few weeks and finding it unsustainable in the long term. What you are looking for is more of a long-term change to your ‘way of eating’ than a quick-fox diet, and then back to ‘normal’, so it’s about looking for adaptations and changes that will suit you long-term 🙂

For a methodical and systematic approach to tailoring your diet towards better BG levels, you may find test-review-adjust by Alan S a helpful framework.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on 🙂

 

[Ditto]

Hello and welcome to the forum @Georgiesgirl 🙂

 

[Georgiesgirl]

Hello and welcome to the forum @Georgiesgirl 🙂

🙂 hi

 

[Georgiesgirl]

Welcome to the forum @Georgiesgirl

For BG meters, the most significant outlay can come from the strips that you need to continue to buy - some of which can be as much as £30 for a pot of 50 strips 😱

Over the years forum members have found that some ‘affordable’ meters give less reliable results than others, but two which are regularly here are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 which both have test strips at around £8 for 50

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 🙂

It is often helpful to make changes to your gradually rather than going all-out for a few weeks and finding it unsustainable in the long term. What you are looking for is more of a long-term change to your ‘way of eating’ than a quick-fox diet, and then back to ‘normal’, so it’s about looking for adaptations and changes that will suit you long-term 🙂

For a methodical and systematic approach to tailoring your diet towards better BG levels, you may find test-review-adjust by Alan S a helpful framework.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on 🙂

Thanks for the useful info 🙂