Hi, I have recently been diagnosed with type 2 after having gestational diabetes with 2 of my pregnancies. Struggling to get my head around it. I'm fairly confident I know HOW to control my sugars, its the willpower I am struggling with, and I now feel more obsessed about food than ever as I am constantly thinking about what I'm eating. I'm not classed as overweight but have diabetes in the family. I also have 3 young children so constant food planning and fitting in exercise can be a struggle. I basically need to just give myself a kick up the backside and deal with it, but has anyone got any tips on how to get my head in the right place??
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Recently diagnosed
- Thread starter ellie78
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stephknits
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hello and welcome to the forum. Perhaps you could start with writing a food diary of exactly what you eat and then look to see where you can make any changes/substitutes? I know when my children were young I tended to eat bits of food that they didn't eat without really noticing. If I'd have had to record it, I think I would have been more careful!
To help with the willpower thing, could I suggest you get a blood sugar meter, if you haven't already. That way you can test after eating and see how that effects you blood sugar. I find that if I know something sends my levels high, then I have more willpower to avoid it, or have a smaller portion and stock up on something else.
There are some great links in the sticky at the top for meters, testing etc. good luck 🙂
To help with the willpower thing, could I suggest you get a blood sugar meter, if you haven't already. That way you can test after eating and see how that effects you blood sugar. I find that if I know something sends my levels high, then I have more willpower to avoid it, or have a smaller portion and stock up on something else.
There are some great links in the sticky at the top for meters, testing etc. good luck 🙂
Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi ellie78, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis
It can certainly be a struggle to adapt to eating a diabetes-friendly diet, and having to think about everything you are eating does make you feel a bit obsessed to begin with. Do you have a blood glucose meter so that you can test your tolerances for different things? It can be one of the best tools you can use to retain flexibility in your diet. Unfortunately, some doctors are reluctant to prescribe them, because the test strips can be expensive - worth asking though if you haven't been given one. I'd also recommend reading about the GL diet - this is not a weight loss diet, but a way of choosing and combining food so that it will have a slow and steady impact on your blood sugar levels. The GL Diet for Dummies is a good introduction. It can also be a good idea to start a food diary, noting in particular the amount of carbohydrates in everything you eat and drink. This can then help you to look for areas where you might be able to replace items or reduce portions.
It is difficult, but it does get easier as your tastes adjust, and something to bear in mind is that a diet which is healthy for people with diabetes is healthy for everyone, so there's no reason why the rest of the family can't eat the same meals 🙂 Please let us know if you have any questions and we will do our best to help! 🙂
Thank you for your replies, some really helpful suggestions, I will definitely start both the blood glucose meter and food diary - I am definitely guilty of picking on the children's food especially if I happen to be eating later than them! Thanks for the support, much appreciated
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