Newbie

[susanlloyd]

Hi my name is Susan, I was diagnosed with diabetes type 2 in 2008, and have battled managing food cravings which do not have a good impact on my blood sugars, but now in 2020 I want to make a difference and battle my cravings and improve my blood sugars, let the battle begin.

 

[Ljc]

Hello @susanlloyd . Welcome to the forum. It is good to hear that you want to make a difference and battle your food cravings. We have people on here who have a variety of eating disorders and food cravings so you wont be alone here .

Don’t give up trying ok.
Ask all the questions you need to and if / when you feel able maybe tell us a little about your food cravings in case we can suggest some adjustments and if needed how to get some help.

I look forward to seeing you around here

 

[Ralph-YK]

Welcome to the forum Susan from a fellow T2

 

[Toucan]

Hello Susan, welcome to the forum.
It would be good to know a little more about you if you are happy to tell us.. Do you know what your blood sugar current reading is? Do you take any medication? Are there particular things that you crave?
The 3 main things most of us use to help us are eating plans, increased exercise and whatever medication has been recommended by your doctor.
There are several choices on eating plan and there are descriptions of these on the main diabetes site. Many of us on the forum, including me follow the low-carb diet. For a good overview of how one lady did this have a look at Maggie Davey's letter. It takes a while to adjust to this style of eating, but when in the swing of it cravings can reduce quite a lot.

There are many different cause and possible solutions to dealing with cravings and I'll list a few:
Make sure you drink plenty of water, and keep hydrated. - I find that fizzy water particularly stops hunger pangs sometimes.
Reactions to stress, can sometimes be the cause - so have a think about what can trigger your cravings, and sees if you can find a work around
Tiredness/ poor sleep can lower resolve, so try to ensure that you get a good rest.
Distraction can be a solution. When the craving starts try to do something that will absorb you and re-focus your mind. For me it's gardening, going for a walk, phoning a friend or some long put off thing on my to-do list.
Above all be kind to yourself, and don't beat yourself up when you eat off-plan, the main thing is to move on and get back on plan again. If you are on plan for say 80% of the time, you will be doing extremely well.

Very best wishes, I hope you find the forum helpful, and do ask us about anything you need more help with

 

[SueEK]

Hi and a big welcome to you. This is a great site with a wealth of experience so join in and let us help give you a few pointers that will hopefully help you. First big step already achieved by wanting to change and joining the community. Sue

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hi my name is Susan, I was diagnosed with diabetes type 2 in 2008, and have battled managing food cravings which do not have a good impact on my blood sugars, but now in 2020 I want to make a difference and battle my cravings and improve my blood sugars, let the battle begin.

Welcome to the forum Susan

Congratulations on your new commitment to improving your health. We will be with you all the way. 2020 feels like quite a momentous year doesn’t it? I think it’s just the neatness of the numbers!

There are lots of friendly folks here who are facing the same battles every day and will be alongside you to offer encouragement, an understanding ear, and their own tips and experiences every step of the way.

 

[susanlloyd]

Welcome to the forum Susan

Congratulations on your new commitment to improving your health. We will be with you all the way. 2020 feels like quite a momentous year doesn’t it? I think it’s just the neatness of the numbers!

There are lots of friendly folks here who are facing the same battles every day and will be alongside you to offer encouragement, an understanding ear, and their own tips and experiences every step of the way.

Thankyou Mike I appreciate the support.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Susan and welcome from me too.
I used to have real problems with cravings (particularly for chocolate and sweet stuff but also starchy carbs like nice bread and butter or cheese scones). I would go so far as to say I was a sugar addict with quite a heavy habit. Since learning to eat low carb, higher fat (LCHF) I rarely get cravings and to tide me over the odd time it does happen, I ensure that I have plenty of low carb treats that I can hit, rather than the stuff which will make my BG soar and potentially set me off on a roller coaster of highs and lows and then wanting highs again. Cheese and nuts (not together) are things I always have on hand and I often treat myself to a pot of olives or open a jar of them although I know they are not to everyone's taste. Boiled eggs are really good for filling you up when you get the need to munch and pickled onions, because it is very difficult to eat too many of them without pickling your taste buds! I also have the odd packet of pork scratchings for when I need to be really naughty. They are carb free and as with cheese, the fat will help to make you feel satisfied and eating something naughty maybe even fulfils a need to rebel and of course the glorious crunchiness of them! These things may not be to your taste, so you will need to experiment as to what works for you but I have found that learning to eat low carb has been about developing new tastes and re-educating my palette and "extracting" my sweet tooth..... not nearly as difficult and painful as I expected. I have not used added sugar since diagnosis last year and I very rarely use sweetener. I don't eat sweets other than the occasional square of dark (70%) chocolate (usually accompanied by a spoonful of peanut butter to bulk it out, slow the release of sugar and just because they are satisfying) and the odd handful of jelly beans (which I now almost view as medication) for the rare occasions when I use too much insulin and have a hypo (I am a Type 1 diabetic). It wasn't even difficult over the festive season to refuse when chocolates were being passed around, which is pretty mind blowing for someone who was an addict!! The key is to slowly cut back on the carbs both sweet stuff and starchy carbs like bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, couscous, breakfast cereals and possibly even that healthy porridge and replace them with low carb options. We have lots of tips and tricks for how to eat low carb and if you give us an idea of what you currently eat for breakfast lunch and tea, we could perhaps make suggestions for simple things you could change..... some of them might really surprise you.
As other have said it would also help to know you latest HbA1c reading and what medication you are on for your diabetes as that can impact the suggestions we make.
Also can't stress enough the importance of increasing your activity levels as this can really help to drive your BG levels down.... I became lax on this a few weeks ago and my insulin requirements have really increased, so I am making a real effort to do more and in just a few days there has been a huge improvement in my readings and my insulin requirements have decreased. It doesn't have to be overly strenuous (if you are not a keen athlete) and in fact a good brisk daily walk is as good as anything.

 

[CathyB]

Hi and welcome from me too