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Newbie - seeking advice

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gerryod

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi All,
New to this site and appreciate any advice on getting on top of my Type2 diabetes.
Due to work commitments over the last 30 years, long hours lots of travel, eating on the run etc
I developed HBP and Diabetes. I was warned, but too busy to make the changes ( so self inflicted).
So recently, having left work I am looking to focus on undoing as much of the damage as possible.
Have HBP under control with mix of drugs and exercise ( would like to get off these drugs completely)
Have stated walking, averaging 10 km per day.
Started to watch what I am eating closely, never took sugar in tea coffee etc or drank fizzy sugary drinks.
Didn’t realise carbs had such an impact on sugar levels!
So had reading of 18+ a few weeks ago and decided enough is enough so diet and exercise is getting it down to about 10 on average lowest 8.5. I realise this is still not good enough and I want to push on and get it down to 5.
So look forward to learning a lot from this site and from the experience of people who are already managing diabetes.
 
I found that once I got below 8 after meals that my numbers continued to go down even though I was eating the same things. Presumably my metabolism was able to sort itself out on that level of carbs - no more than 50 gm per day for me, but carbs are and always have been a problem for me.
I think that most people need to find that tipping point, using a meter is the easiest option, I would think, where you are not overburdening your ability to cope.
 
Yeah - each has to find out on his own since no two human bodies are the same so One Size never fits anybody properly!
 
Hi and welcome from me too.

It is great that you are now in a situation where you can take control of your health issues and it sounds like you are making great progress already. I have just started introducing arm exercises into my daily brisk walk to up the level of workout and tone arms, shoulders, back and abs as well as my legs. It also encourages social distancing because everyone want to give the mad woman who is waving her arms around as she walks a wide berth! 😉

As regards your diet, would you like to give us an idea of what you are currently eating on an average day for breakfast, lunch and dinner and typical snacks if any and we could perhaps make lower carb suggestions. I was really feeling thwarted from getting into single digit BG readings until I gave up my morning porridge. It was the last carb rich food that I relinquished and it did the trick.
Sometimes you assume that because something is considered healthy like oats or fruit, it must be ok, when it can be just as high in carbs as a couple of spoons of sugar. Learning how to eat low carb is a bit of an art form. Some people are naturally gifted but others have to work at figuring it out. Your BG meter should help you to figure out what your body will tolerate carbs wise and what it won't. Do you understand how to test before each meal and then 2 hours after to assess how you responded to it?
 
Welcome to the forum @gerryod

Congratulations on your renewed efforts to improve your BP and diabetes management. Sounds like you are well in your way and have aspirational targets for yourself.

Lots of friendly wise heads here, with decades of diabetes experience, and lots of knowledge hints and tips to share.

And also we will be here alongside if the going gets tough to commiserate and encourage you to keep going.
 
Thanks Barbara
Single figures consistently is my halfway house I am aiming for initially.
Tending to start mornings with All Bran or Porridge Oats, or Scrambled Eggs /Slice of toast ( Brown)
Rest of the day would be mix of Salmon, Mackerel, Tuna, Chicken, small portion of potatoes or rice
Greens, Broccoli, Asparagus, etc.
Snacks would be Nairn’s oatcakes & hummus or cheese.
Almost given up alcohol apart from the odd slip up but drastically reduced.
So trying to expand the range of diabetic “good stuff” and jettison any dangerous stuff.
Have the occasional blip, but get straight back on it as I am really viewing this as long term now.
Need to sort this long term,starting now.
Cheers for info!
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Welcome to the forum @gerryod

Congratulations on your renewed efforts to improve your BP and diabetes management. Sounds like you are well in your way and have aspirational targets for yourself.

Lots of friendly wise heads here, with decades of diabetes experience, and lots of knowledge hints and tips to share.

And also we will be here alongside if the going gets tough to commiserate and encourage you to keep going.
Click to expand...
Cheers mate, appreciate the warm welcome!
 
So it looks like you are having a portion of carbs with every meal at the moment, plus some carbs as a snack occasionally in the form of oatcakes.
My suggestion would be to try having a low carb breakfast. Many people are more resistant to insulin in the morning or suffer from Dawn Phenomenon which causes their BG levels to rise in the morning. If you add carbs with your breakfast then that piggy backs onto an already rising BG and makes it significantly worse. You might want to test this by checking your BG when you first wake up and then at hourly intervals without having any breakfast... maybe just a cup of tea or coffee (with no sugar obviously) and not too much milk (there are carbs in milk) or cream which has much less carbs than milk) and see what happens. Dawn Phenomenon can cause levels to rise by as much as 6 or 7mmols in some cases even without any food. If that is happening and you normally have carbs for breakfast in the form of a slice of toast or porridge or All Bran on top of that then your levels are likely to rise even further... try testing that the next morning by taking your reading before breakfast and then 2 hours after and see what sort of increase you get. It may be beneficial to have a very low carb breakfast to prevent that increased spike if that is what you find. I often have a 2 egg omelette with mushrooms and onion and peppers and sometimes ham and cheese, with a side salad. I find an omelette is a convenient way of eating eggs without wanting to have bread or toast with them and the side salad, usually with a good dollop of cheese coleslaw makes it that much more tasty and filling. It sets me up for the day and often I don't need any lunch and just have dinner. Or if you fancy a lighter breakfast, some creamy natural Greek yoghurt (not low fat as that is higher in carbs) with a few berries and some mixed seeds and chopped nuts.
Try just changing your breakfast for a week and keeping everything else the same and see what your meter shows you, then perhaps look at doing some swaps with other meals. Logging before and 2 hour after readings in a food diary will help you build up a data base so that you can see what works and what doesn't. There are phone apps which you can download to record this info which can be really useful. My Sugr is one app that many people seem to find helpful but I have another one called Blood Sugar Tracker powered by meL Studio that my sister downloaded from the Google playstore.... I am a technophobe but I would not be without my app for all the tea in China!

Anyway, hopefully that gives you an idea of how to progress. Let us know how you get on.
 
There are quite a few easy changes in your diet - the grain, basically - is surplus to requirements.
The alcohol is not too bad, in moderation, provided it doesn't interfere with medication.
 
If the oatcakes are the Nairn's type, and especially the smaller size, they aren't very many g of carb apiece. (4 or 5 ish from memory) However, if they are the Staffordshire Oatcake type - the carb value each is fairly horrific!

I'd be very interested to see what your BG is immediately before any of those breakfasts coupled with another fingerprick test approx. 2 hours after you first bite. Recommended levels as close as possible to 5 before and no more than 7.8 after 2 hours, ie a maximum rise of no more than 2.8 for the whole meal. Still do the second test whatever the reading is pre-meal.
 
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