Owning Diabetes 2

[romric]

Hi, I am new to DiabetesUK. Have had type 2 diabetes for about 8 years but to be honest have never taken it seriously. Always been a big eater and now paying the consequences! I now realise how foolish I have been and am now looking at ways to control it better.
Looking forward to taking part in the forum.

 

[Leadinglights]

Welcome to the forum
Just a few quick questions as that will help with any comments, are you on any medication, are you adopting any dietary measures to manage your blood glucose and what was your latest HbA1C so we know where you are at and don't make inappropriate suggestions.
There are many ways people try to manage blood glucose but whatever you choose has to be enjoyable otherwise it will not be sustainable, it has to be a new way of eating for life. That may seem daunting at first but there is no reason not to have tasty filling meals with any of the approaches people find successful.
It does need to be taken seriously or as you say you will suffer the consequences and that should focus the mind.
Depending on where you are with meds etc then this approach many give you some ideas for modifying your diet. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/ or the very least give you some pointers.

 

[RichardsUsername]

Welcome. I also did not take it seriously enough looking back. I think a lot don't. However, it's better to look forward. The thing that got me serious was a diagnoses of Diabetic Neuropathy and reading about how serious that is. Fortunately it was a mis-diagnoses but I am now determined to get on top of the diabetes and my health in general. You'll find a lot of helpful people on here. Good luck.

 

[Drummer]

Hi, I am new to DiabetesUK. Have had type 2 diabetes for about 8 years but to be honest have never taken it seriously. Always been a big eater and now paying the consequences! I now realise how foolish I have been and am now looking at ways to control it better.
Looking forward to taking part in the forum.

You have not done anything to give yourself diabetes.
There is so much bad advice about what constitutes a healthy diet that it is amazing that anyone is not suffering some sort of diet induced problem.
I'd imagine that you can eat as much as you like if it is low carb - but low carb foods are very satisfying and nutritious, and I have found that I am never hungry. I am now eating only once a day, so I suspect that the way you eat could alter quite a lot in the near future.
I don't eat any grain on a regular basis - just once in a while I'll not be at home and there will not be any of my usual foods available, but I don't really need to worry as when I check, my blood glucose is normal.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @romric

Many new members find it can be really helpful to keep a brutally honest food diary for a week or two. Note down everything you eat and drink, along with a reasonable estimate of the total carbohydrate content in your meals and snacks - it doesn’t have to be gram-perfect, the nearest 5-10g is fine. It might sound like a bit of a faff, and will involve weighing portions, squinting at the fine print on packaging, and possibly looking up things on the internet, but it will give you a really good idea of which foods are the main sources of carbs in your menu. Once you can see which meals or snacks are your ‘big hitters’, and where carbs might be unexpectedly lurking, the diary might also suggest some likely candidates for swaps, portion reductions, or using lower carb alternatives (eg celeriac or swede mash, or cauli ‘rice’).

Substituting good fats and protein for carb ‘padding’, along with upping your veggies, can make meals more satisfying and make you feel fuller for longer.

Let is know how you get on

 

[romric]

Welcome to the forum
Just a few quick questions as that will help with any comments, are you on any medication, are you adopting any dietary measures to manage your blood glucose and what was your latest HbA1C so we know where you are at and don't make inappropriate suggestions.
There are many ways people try to manage blood glucose but whatever you choose has to be enjoyable otherwise it will not be sustainable, it has to be a new way of eating for life. That may seem daunting at first but there is no reason not to have tasty filling meals with any of the approaches people find successful.
It does need to be taken seriously or as you say you will suffer the consequences and that should focus the mind.
Depending on where you are with meds etc then this approach many give you some ideas for modifying your diet. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/ or the very least give you some pointers.

Yes should have said. Last November I was put on Gliclazide 40mg and for some reason the Linagliptin I was on was stopped. At January this year my HbA1C was at an alarming 104. After some checking and discussions with health practitioners I managed to get put back on the Linagliptin 5 mg in March. Have just had my blood checked this week and am now down to 75 HbAiC. I am semi counting calories now and hope to seriously lower this figure by my next check in October. I monitor my sugar levels 3 times every day which has helped to a large degree but my main concern at the moment is I am struggling with portion size and am always terribly hungry.

 

[Leadinglights]

Yes should have said. Last November I was put on Gliclazide 40mg and for some reason the Linagliptin I was on was stopped. At January this year my HbA1C was at an alarming 104. After some checking and discussions with health practitioners I managed to get put back on the Linagliptin 5 mg in March. Have just had my blood checked this week and am now down to 75 HbAiC. I am semi counting calories now and hope to seriously lower this figure by my next check in October. I monitor my sugar levels 3 times every day which has helped to a large degree but my main concern at the moment is I am struggling with portion size and am always terribly hungry.

This could be because in cutting calories you are not having enough protein and healthy fats as those don't convert to glucose, it is all carbohydrates that do so keeping an eye on the carbs may be more productive in reducing your blood glucose. Obviously you need to be careful about going too low with carbs because of the medication but if you are testing you can be making sure you are not in low blood glucose territory.
It may be worth while to do some strategic testing of your meals to see if your portions of carbs are being tolerated. Test before you eat and after 2 hours and you want to aim at no more than a 2-3mmol/l increase.
What sort of results are you getting when testing, paired readings as suggested are more useful but also enable you to take action in identifying foods that are not good for you. Random readings have limited use. Have a look at the link I posted for some lower carb ideas.

 

[ianf0ster]

There are 2 different dietary approaches to controlling blood glucose. You appear to have chosen the Low Calorie way and the hunger that goes with that approach.
You are also taking some fairly serious medication which also complicates trying to use diet to control your Blood Glucose.

I chose Low Carbohydrate eating so as to avoid hunger, and was successful enough not to need medication.

In my opinion, monitoring BG 3 times per day initially isn't enough to find meals which are satisfying yet don't spike your Blood Glucose.

 

[Drummer]

Yes should have said. Last November I was put on Gliclazide 40mg and for some reason the Linagliptin I was on was stopped. At January this year my HbA1C was at an alarming 104. After some checking and discussions with health practitioners I managed to get put back on the Linagliptin 5 mg in March. Have just had my blood checked this week and am now down to 75 HbAiC. I am semi counting calories now and hope to seriously lower this figure by my next check in October. I monitor my sugar levels 3 times every day which has helped to a large degree but my main concern at the moment is I am struggling with portion size and am always terribly hungry.

If you chose low carb foods then portion size is fairly irrelevant. There is no need to be hungry, on low carb there is always something you can eat. Calories seem to be largely irrelevant when eating low carb.