T2 - Diagnosed last week

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Astroboy

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Type 2
Morning All,

I trust you're all doing well; It's been a while since using a forum but looking forward to gaining a wealth of information for educating myself in the hope to push the T2 into remission somehow.

A bit of background history.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the doctor to check on knee pain but they did a health check up at the same time since I have high blood pressure.

Went through the process, and was told to have a blood test. The result came back the following day and the Doctor shared my information that I was T2 and i had a sugar level of 69. I believe it was in regards to my mmol/mo reading? I was told that my reading should be in the 40's to be deemed normal?...

I have a stressful job and to be honest, haven't taken care of my health. Working lates, getting up early, eating whatever I wanted and not drinking enough water when i should of done. I don't drink or smoke but i did have an addiction to fizzy drinks. Unfortunately getting exercise was never part of the routine and I know it should of been. I'm no spring chicken and in my early 40's.

I can start the exercise again (swimming, cycling and martial arts) with the goal of shedding weight but where i think i will struggle is the diet aspect. Having a different approach to food is going to be the tough part.

Have ordered the book: The Diabetes Code by Jason Fung. Hopefully I can learn a lot from this too.
Saying hello and thanks in advance!
 
Astroboy said:
Morning All,

I trust you're all doing well; It's been a while since using a forum but looking forward to gaining a wealth of information for educating myself in the hope to push the T2 into remission somehow.

A bit of background history.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the doctor to check on knee pain but they did a health check up at the same time since I have high blood pressure.

Went through the process, and was told to have a blood test. The result came back the following day and the Doctor shared my information that I was T2 and i had a sugar level of 69. I believe it was in regards to my mmol/mo reading? I was told that my reading should be in the 40's to be deemed normal?...

I have a stressful job and to be honest, haven't taken care of my health. Working lates, getting up early, eating whatever I wanted and not drinking enough water when i should of done. I don't drink or smoke but i did have an addiction to fizzy drinks. Unfortunately getting exercise was never part of the routine and I know it should of been. I'm no spring chicken and in my early 40's.

I can start the exercise again (swimming, cycling and martial arts) with the goal of shedding weight but where i think i will struggle is the diet aspect. Having a different approach to food is going to be the tough part.

Have ordered the book: The Diabetes Code by Jason Fung. Hopefully I can learn a lot from this too.
Saying hello and thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum, at 40 you are very much a spring chicken compared to many here.
Although high your HbA1C is not so high that by making some dietary and lifestyle changes you can't get it down to normal range which would be below 42mmol/mol.
I found Jason Fung's book very logical though some do not agree with his view of things.
Fizzy drinks are not good if they are the full sugar version but diet drinks are fine for most people or sparkling water which you can get in many flavours.
Dietary changes are going to be most powerful and many find a low carb approach is successful. It is suggested that a good starting amount is no more than 130g carbs per day. All carbs convert to glucose not just sugar. This link may help you with some ideas for changing your dietary regime. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/product/freshwell-low-carb-manual/

There are other ways that people opt for and there are some meal ideas on the main DUK site but whatever you choose has to be enjoyable otherwise it will not be sustainable. It has to become a new way of eating not a quick fix otherwise people find they are back to square one.
 
Astroboy said:
Morning All,

I trust you're all doing well; It's been a while since using a forum but looking forward to gaining a wealth of information for educating myself in the hope to push the T2 into remission somehow.

A bit of background history.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the doctor to check on knee pain but they did a health check up at the same time since I have high blood pressure.

Went through the process, and was told to have a blood test. The result came back the following day and the Doctor shared my information that I was T2 and i had a sugar level of 69. I believe it was in regards to my mmol/mo reading? I was told that my reading should be in the 40's to be deemed normal?...

I can start the exercise again (swimming, cycling and martial arts) with the goal of shedding weight but where i think i will struggle is the diet aspect. Having a different approach to food is going to be the tough part.
Click to expand...
Many of us on here started off higher than you, sometimes in 3 figures, but through a combination of adopting a low carb diet, exercising more and losing some weight have managed to bring it right down and in many cases come off medication and into remission. It's tough at first but it gets easier but as @Leadinglights says, it has to become a way of life.
 
Hi @Astroboy and welcome to the forum! We're sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis, but are glad that you've reached out for some support from us.

As Leadinglights mentioned, we do have a recipe finder on our website if you are into cooking: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/recipes. Meal plans are also listed on our site, but as said it does depend on what best suits your schedule, cooking habits and tastes!

There is also another section on the forum 'Food/carb queries + recipes', which might be a good place to look also 🙂

Please feel free to reach out with any further Q's at any time!
 
Dr Fung's approach tend to centre around Fasting because his patients tend to be morbidly obese and so could live on their fat for weeks if not months.
For less obese people, the ultra Low Calorie 'Newcastle Diet' based on the DIRECT study may be of use.

However for those, or even people of normal weight the Low Carb 'Way of Eating' approach of both Dr David Unwin and Freshwell GP surgery (both in the UK) and VIRTA in the USA, works just as well if not better.
 
There are some easy substitutions you can make to reduce carbs. Switching to no sugar fizzy drinks is a great first step. Grated cauliflower is a v good substitute for rice, one of your five a day,and quicker to cook! Sliced or grated courgettes are an ok in place of pasta. Bread is trickier, but you can buy hi-low bread from sainsburys that tastes like proper bread but has half the carbs...to be honest, have tried all the bread alternatives made out of nut flours etc and they are a bit meh. I really missed bread when was liw carb...but you can also half carbs by having an open sandwich rather than a closed sarny.
 
Welcome to the forum @Astroboy

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. But try not to feel too disheartened about your diagnosis, many people on the forum later reflect that their diagnosis became a catalyst which prompted them to make positive changes towards a healthier and more active life. Perhaps changes that they had been intending to make for years.

Sounds like you are pretty well placed with restarting your exercise and activity. And hopefully you’ll find a way of eating that suits you, meets your goals, and which helps steer your BG levels gently back towards a more healthy range 🙂
 
Quick update,

Had another blood test before Xmas and I felt like I was slipping into bad habits again.

I am now at 42 and they diagnosed me as pre. So that's a win in for me.

I just worked on my intake and watched what I ate.
Bloody difficult tho lol but so worth it.

You can do it guys!
 
Many congratulations on an excellent result! So pleased that your hard work has paid off and hope that you have found a sustainable lifestyle to keep your levels that low. You have every right to be extremely proud of yourself.
 
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