-
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.
Newbie
- Thread starter Duchess22
- Start date
- Status
Felinia
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hello and welcome to the group nobody wanted to join!!! It does come as a shock but it can be that boost you need to follow a healthier lifestyle.
Would you be willing to share some information about yourself so we can tailor our suggestions to your needs? For example my information is in my signature below. What was your HbA1c on diagnosis? How did you come to be diagnosed - out of the blue or you were feeling unwell? What medications are you on? What was your blood sugar reading, and when did you take it (ie first thing, before eating, or how long after eating). Someone will come along and explain to you, I'm sure.
The best thing you can do straight away is look at the Learning Zone (orange tab above). Best to do one module a day so you can absorb the information, starting with food then exercise. Then you need to start a food diary being totally honest, recording carbs and cals. I have an app that does it for me, but there is old fashioned pen and paper, or you can create a spreadsheet. Also keep a record of your blood sugar results and keep a note of questions you want to ask. All this is helpful information when talking to your GP or diabetic nurse.
Please feel free to ask any questions - nothing is silly and we have probably all asked them at the beginning.
Would you be willing to share some information about yourself so we can tailor our suggestions to your needs? For example my information is in my signature below. What was your HbA1c on diagnosis? How did you come to be diagnosed - out of the blue or you were feeling unwell? What medications are you on? What was your blood sugar reading, and when did you take it (ie first thing, before eating, or how long after eating). Someone will come along and explain to you, I'm sure.
The best thing you can do straight away is look at the Learning Zone (orange tab above). Best to do one module a day so you can absorb the information, starting with food then exercise. Then you need to start a food diary being totally honest, recording carbs and cals. I have an app that does it for me, but there is old fashioned pen and paper, or you can create a spreadsheet. Also keep a record of your blood sugar results and keep a note of questions you want to ask. All this is helpful information when talking to your GP or diabetic nurse.
Please feel free to ask any questions - nothing is silly and we have probably all asked them at the beginning.
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Welcome to the forum @Duchess22
Sorry to hear you have been diagnosed with diabetes - but good to hear you have a BG monitor to check your levels 🙂
One of the biggest questions when trying to get to grips with your diabetes is often ‘what can I eat’ and while there are obvious things like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sugary drinks that you will want to cut out straight away, you might be surprised how much *all* carbohydrate affects your BG levels, including rice, pasta, potatoes, 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 your 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). Ideally you would want to see a rise of no more than 2-3mmol/L at the 2hr mark. Once you can see how you respond to different meals you can begin experimenting with reducing portion sizes of the carbs where you see bigger rises. You might find that you are particularly sensitive to carbohydrate from one source (eg bread), but have more liberty with others (eg oats or basmati rice) - It’s all very individual! You might even find that just having things at a different time of day makes a difference - with breakfast time being the trickiest.
Over weeks and months of experimentation you can gradually tweak and tailor your menu to find one that suits your tastebuds, your waistline, your budget and your BG levels - and a way of eating that is flexible enough to be sustainable long-term. 🙂
If your levels have been running high for a while it is kinder on your eyes and nerve endings to make changes to your menu gradually in stages, rather than going ‘all or nothing’. Gradual changes can also be more sustainable, and less of a shock to the system.
Ultimately you will want to be aiming for readings of 4-7mmol/L before meals and to keep below 8.5mmol/L by 2hrs after meals, but diabetes is generally a slow-moving foe, and you can work towards those levels step by step 🙂
Sorry to hear you have been diagnosed with diabetes - but good to hear you have a BG monitor to check your levels 🙂
One of the biggest questions when trying to get to grips with your diabetes is often ‘what can I eat’ and while there are obvious things like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sugary drinks that you will want to cut out straight away, you might be surprised how much *all* carbohydrate affects your BG levels, including rice, pasta, potatoes, 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 your 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). Ideally you would want to see a rise of no more than 2-3mmol/L at the 2hr mark. Once you can see how you respond to different meals you can begin experimenting with reducing portion sizes of the carbs where you see bigger rises. You might find that you are particularly sensitive to carbohydrate from one source (eg bread), but have more liberty with others (eg oats or basmati rice) - It’s all very individual! You might even find that just having things at a different time of day makes a difference - with breakfast time being the trickiest.
Over weeks and months of experimentation you can gradually tweak and tailor your menu to find one that suits your tastebuds, your waistline, your budget and your BG levels - and a way of eating that is flexible enough to be sustainable long-term. 🙂
If your levels have been running high for a while it is kinder on your eyes and nerve endings to make changes to your menu gradually in stages, rather than going ‘all or nothing’. Gradual changes can also be more sustainable, and less of a shock to the system.
Ultimately you will want to be aiming for readings of 4-7mmol/L before meals and to keep below 8.5mmol/L by 2hrs after meals, but diabetes is generally a slow-moving foe, and you can work towards those levels step by step 🙂
I cannot believe the support, I have received, joined less than 24 hrs ago. I have no clue about type 2, just being told it is serious, I have been left scared and to find information via the internet. I am so happy to have found this forum, my stress level has gone down compared to this morning
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- She/Her
As @Felinia mentioned perhaps you would like to share a bit of information about your diagnosis as it will help people tailor any suggestion and make the comments appropriate.
This link may also help you; I found the principals made a lot of sense and it is an approach many find successful at reducing blood glucose and losing weight if you need to.
lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk
This link may also help you; I found the principals made a lot of sense and it is an approach many find successful at reducing blood glucose and losing weight if you need to.
Freshwell Low Carb Project - Home
lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk
Mountain Path
Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi Dutchess,
Welcome to the group, I Joined just a few weeks ago myself and its a great forum with a wide range of advice and experience.
The first few months after a diagnosis can be a bit of a roller-coaster as various things are thrown at you, both the dire warnings and the practical advice.
After that, in my opinion, its all about maintaining routines:-
1. if you are using medication you could get some daily pill boxes (Amazon does them) so you have a visual check that you are following the medication correctly, can see when its running out and reorder.
2. Monitoring your blood sugar levels regularly is also a routine, whether by pin prick devices or CGMs I find it useful to record the levels on an App, Mysugr, works for me and allows me to look back and compare levels with what i was eating or doing. It also is a record of your readings for your doctor and can calculate your overall hba1c which is the main measure without having to wait for a year between reviews.
3. Other routines such as diet and exercise changes may or may not come in time, depending on your outlook on life, and may not be necessary if your blood sugar is well managed.
I may be a ludicrous optimist, but I believe that this condition has contributed to my overall life experience and have a lot of fun playing with toys and researching aspects of it.
That said at the very least it is just another challenge in the great scheme of things and with effective routines not the worst challenge that we can be faced with. You also get free prescriptions which I think is great!
Take care as you get to grips with it
All the best
MP
Thank you so much for your advice very informative, should I see a dietician?
Mountain Path
Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Certainly if a dietician is offered (which they often are) I would, you can never get to much advice and information in this area.
That said in my experience do not put too much reliance on just one source of information, advice and theories have changed over the years and will continue to change. So also research on the web and run any suggestions past this community, they have a wealth of experience.
As in all things it is not just a single solution that will fix it, its an ongoing journey and you will take time to settle on a diet that works for you.
- Status