Hello, I was diagnosed with T2 a couple of weeks ago following a routine medical check. I hadn't had any symptoms but it wasn't a huge surprise as I knew quite a few of the risk factors were there. HBA1C was 62. I'd already made a few lifestyle changes (not because of diabetes) such as stopping drinking and doing more exercise, but I really need to sort my diet out. I'm not sure of the best approach to this so am taking things one step at a time and hope to find some useful advice & support here.
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T2 newbie
- Thread starter Luna
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- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
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Welcome to the forum @Luna
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but great that you have found us and that you had already begun to make some positive changes.
An HbA1c of 62 is comfortably in the diabetes range, but many forum members had a loftier starting point, some into 3 figures.
You may find that some relatively modest changes to your menu, along with the increased exercise could be enough to get your levels back in range.
One of the biggest questions when trying to get to grips with your diabetes is often ‘what can I eat’ and while there are obvious things like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sugary drinks that you will want to cut out straight away, you might be surprised how much *all* carbohydrate affects your BG levels, including rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, pastry, grains, cereals and many fruits.
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 process might also suggest some likely candidates for swaps, portion reductions, or using lower carb alternatives (eg celeriac or swede mash, or cauli ‘rice’).
Good luck, and let us know how you get on 🙂
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but great that you have found us and that you had already begun to make some positive changes.
An HbA1c of 62 is comfortably in the diabetes range, but many forum members had a loftier starting point, some into 3 figures.
You may find that some relatively modest changes to your menu, along with the increased exercise could be enough to get your levels back in range.
One of the biggest questions when trying to get to grips with your diabetes is often ‘what can I eat’ and while there are obvious things like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sugary drinks that you will want to cut out straight away, you might be surprised how much *all* carbohydrate affects your BG levels, including rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, pastry, grains, cereals and many fruits.
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 process might also suggest some likely candidates for swaps, portion reductions, or using lower carb alternatives (eg celeriac or swede mash, or cauli ‘rice’).
Good luck, and let us know how you get on 🙂
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