Newbie who needs food advice

[cmarie44]

Hey there, I've been diabetic for a while but I haven't taken care of myself and stopped taking my diabetes meds because my mental health was bad. Well now, I had my recent hba1c results and gp said it was really bad but didn't tell me what it was.

I started taking my diabetes meds around 4-5 weeks ago and at the beginning, my sugars were in the 20s (very ashamed here)

Now I buy the libre sensors and I've been tracking my sugars on there and my sugar has gone to 13 around 3 times but no higher then that. They are normally around 9-10, which is obviously too high but much better then they were.

Now I'm struggling with meals and snacks as it's so expensive. We are a household of 7 and buying food for everyone costs so much.

Sorry for the long background, but what meals can I make and good snacks to have please? I'm living off salmon, brown rice and asparagus at the moment.


I don't have much of an appetite at the moment. I don't like avocado, or olives. I like nuts but which are the best ones

Please help me out

 

[snowball12]

Hi, firstly never be ashamed. We all have our trials in life.

Most find a low carbohydrate diet works for them. You can have meat, fish,eggs, dairy produce, some fruits ( berries are the best and lovely with some Greek yoghurt for breakfast. If you love vegetables then it should be easier for you. The only nuts I can eat are walnuts. Remember though it's low carb not no carb. There is a book called Carbs and Calories, try and get a copy. 130g of carbs per day is fine for me. Good luck and I hope I've helped

 

[Leadinglights]

The meal plans in this link may help you as they are based on real food so are more suitable for fitting in with family cooking. Eating low carb doesn't have to be expensive as you can bulk out meat and fish dishes with lots of veg, frozen is OK as well. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
There is a budget meal plan and recipes as well as good information.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @cmarie44

Sorry to hear about your recent MH struggles, but great to hear you’ve been able to get back on your diabetes meds, and you are seeing some positive progress with your BG levels.

There isn’t any one single menu or approach to eating that’s right for everyone, so it can be really helpful to keep an open mind to a variety of different approaches.

There are a variety of different meal plans here which might gove you some ideas:

Meal plans and diabetes

Eating nutritious, healthy and downright delicious food is that bit easier with our meal planners. We've created multiple different weekly meal plans to suit all types and tastes. They're nutritionally balanced, are calorie and carb counted, and can help if you want to lose weight. They also...

www.diabetes.org.uk

Some are based around reducing energy-intake, which can help with weight loss. Others aim for improved BG management by lowering carbohydrate intake. And there are others that offer budget-friendly, veggie or vegan styles, or popular approaches such as Mediterranean.

There’s no right or wrong way, and it can feel like suggestions are confusing or contradictory at times if you’ve been reading lists of “Eat this! Don’t eat this!” which rarely give a balanced view. There are a wide range of options and alternatives you can try. And the most important thing really is to find a way of eating that is sustainable, enjoyable, affordable, and which gives you the results you are looking for 🙂

 

[Maz2]

Welcome to the Forum. It might be an idea to cut down the brown rice or cut it out. I don't know how you feel about cauliflower rice but you can buy that frozen in packets from supermarkets. You will certainly get lots of good advice from experienced posters here.