Newly diagnosed

[maddisonsquare]

Good morning to you all. I have recently been diagnosed with Type 2, controlled by tablets and diet/lifestyle. I have my date for my course with DESMONDS at the end of the month.
I am overweight and at the moment I am confused as to what I should/shouldnt be eating.
I am looking at the website the Nurse recommended and wondering if anyone had any advice and tips, which would be gratefully received.
I live in Suffolk, have one 18 year old son, work full, live with my boyfriend and detest exercise haha. But know I need to do exercise.

Any help would be gratefully received. xxx

 

[Northerner]

Hi maddisonsquare, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. The good news is that diabetes is something that can be controlled well, and often people find that the changes they make to their diet and activity levels results in them feeling much happier and healthier than they have for some time 🙂

I would recommend having a read of Jennifer's Advice and Maggie Davey's letter, and get a copy of Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker. These will provide you with lots of information about how to approach getting your blood sugar levels under control. Regarding diet, what you want to do is eat meals that will have a slow and steady impact on your blood sugar levels, rather than giving you a sharp spike (raising them quickly, and high). One approach that many take is to follow a low GI/GL diet - the GL Diet for Dummies is a good introduction. Basically, you need to be careful about the types and amounts of carbohydrate you consume, so bread, potatoes, rice, pasta as well as sugary items, including fruit juices and smoothies which are not so healthy for people with diabetes. It's worth starting a food diary, noting down the amount of carbs in everything you eat and drink so you can get an idea of what you are consuming. Ideally, you should use a home blood glucose monitor to test your levels before and after eating in order to assess how much the meal raises your levels - Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S is a good guide. GPs are often reluctant to prescribe strips to Type 2s who are not on medication, but it is worth asking. Once you have established what you can and what you shouldn't include in your diet you wouldn't need to test so much.

Pleas feel free to ask any questions you may have and we will do our best to help! 🙂

 

[HERE TINTIN]

Hi maddisinsquare, just wanted to say welcome. I am really sorry but I cannot give advice about dieting as I am particularly useless in that department ! I am sure others will help, I believe there is a weight loss thread on here, if you put dieting into search I bet loads of helpful stuff will appear . Hope you find your course useful and good luck.🙂

 

[maddisonsquare]

Thank you

Thank you both very much for your quick replies. And for the advice. I will definately look into the literature recommended. I need to lose a lot of weight but I honestly feel now is the right time to do it. I am mid 40s and I know I need to lose weight but I also want to lose weight now, if that makes sense.

I have a well known exercise system gathering dust on one of my shelves and I used to enjoy doing that so I will be dusting that down.

I feel too self conscious to go walking or exercising so this will be perfect.

I am so glad I found this site xxx

 

[Mark T]

welcome to the forum maddisonsquare 🙂