Just starting out as Type 2

[pattydiz]

Hello all - Patty here. I was diagnosed mid December with a blood test reading of 60. Bit shocked and scared. Started immediately to address weight issue and read Michael Mosley's and Roy Taylor's books - as recommended by GP. I'm nervously hopeful that I can deal with this - and enjoying a 9lb weight loss so far.

 

[adrian1der]

Welcome @pattydiz Fantastic start - well done!

Gretchen Beker's book "The first year: Type 2 Diabetes" is also well worth a read. Please ask if you have any questions and drop in on the thread 7 day waking average which is very popular

 

[cameron]

Hi @pattydiz, welcome to the forum! 🙂

Well done on the weight loss, you got off to a good start.

 

[zuludog]

Welcome to the Forum, and congratulations on your weight loss

Yes, being diagnosed is a shock, but I'm sure you can manage this
Read through old Threads & Posts, especially in Newcomers, Food, and Weight Loss, and you'll soon see how to deal with things, and that although you will probably have to make changes you can live well enough with diabetes
I fact many people take this as an incentive to improve their diet, get exercise, lose weight, and so on

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @pattydiz

Sounds like you’ve made a great start to your diabetes management, and seen some positive effects already. We will be here to encourage you every step of the way 🙂

Well done on your weight loss - have you followed a particular plan to achieve that?

Hope you have found the books helpful.

Many folks on the forum find reducing the proportion of carbs in their diet helps both with weight loss and with BG management too.

 

[pattydiz]

Thank you all.
I'm very impressed with the Michael Mosley and Roy Taylor books. They are helping. Also the letter from Maggie suggested on this site.
I have been using MyFitnessApp to track my food intake and exercise. I'm trying to: cut down on carbs and sugar; keep my calorie intake around 1000 or less; not eat after seven in the evening or before ten in the morning. Feeling ok about that.
Just starting to use a blood sugar monitor, but have so far only tried it on occasional mornings before eating.
Are there any suggestions for a good (relatively straightforward) app for tracking/monitoring blood sugar results? (Been looking at MySugr and Diabetes:M)

 

[Eddy Edson]

Hi Patty! I zapped my T2D over about 6 months, basically via weight loss in line with Roy Taylor's stuff, though without doing the 800 calorie thing. (As he says, it's not so important how you lose the weight and for some people, for example me, grinding off half a kilo a week over a few months may be the best approach.)

So I'm obviously an enthusiast for the approach. And his book has IMO a really, really good explanation of what's actually going on with glucose metabolism in T2D.

I never used a BG-tracking app but did test a lot and record readings in a spreadsheet. It lets you focus on the trend, rather than the day-to-day noise. Particularly in the early stages, readings can vary a lot, day-to-day, which can be discouraging if you're not tracking the trend.

This is a picture of my path-to-normal, in terms of daily average BG:



Lots of ups and downs, but fairly clear trends, which is what you should focus on. Good luck!

 

[Toucan]

Hello @pattydiz and welcome to the forum.

You look to have made an excellent start, and I'm sure you will soon be enjoying the good effects not only on your weight and blood sugars, but with general mood and energy levels.
It certainly took that initial shock to get me into a much improved lifestyle changes.
I also try to keep that gap between between last food of the day and first eating time the next day, and it has helped improve my blood glucose readings quite a lot. It also tends to keep the total amount I eat down a bit.

Sorry I can't particularly recommend any apps, I never found one that quite did what I wanted, and I ended with a basic Excel spreadsheet plus Carbs & Cals book.

Best wishes and I hope things continue to go well.

 

[pattydiz]

Hi Patty! I zapped my T2D over about 6 months, basically via weight loss in line with Roy Taylor's stuff, though without doing the 800 calorie thing. (As he says, it's not so important how you lose the weight and for some people, for example me, grinding off half a kilo a week over a few months may be the best approach.)

So I'm obviously an enthusiast for the approach. And his book has IMO a really, really good explanation of what's actually going on with glucose metabolism in T2D.

I never used a BG-tracking app but did test a lot and record readings in a spreadsheet. It lets you focus on the trend, rather than the day-to-day noise. Particularly in the early stages, readings can vary a lot, day-to-day, which can be discouraging if you're not tracking the trend.

This is a picture of my path-to-normal, in terms of daily average BG:

View attachment 15933

Lots of ups and downs, but fairly clear trends, which is what you should focus on. Good luck!

Thank you. That's enormously encouraging!

 

[pattydiz]

Hello @pattydiz and welcome to the forum.

You look to have made an excellent start, and I'm sure you will soon be enjoying the good effects not only on your weight and blood sugars, but with general mood and energy levels.
It certainly took that initial shock to get me into a much improved lifestyle changes.
I also try to keep that gap between between last food of the day and first eating time the next day, and it has helped improve my blood glucose readings quite a lot. It also tends to keep the total amount I eat down a bit.

Sorry I can't particularly recommend any apps, I never found one that quite did what I wanted, and I ended with a basic Excel spreadsheet plus Carbs & Cals book.

Best wishes and I hope things continue to go well.

That's great. Thank you. Will set up a spreadsheet now!