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Tim, ney diagnosed 121 sugar count.

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T

Tim1

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi, thank you for the opportunity to join. Bloods gave me a sugar count of 121. I am determined to reduce it! Gave up alcohol 4 years ago so adding sugar and high gi food to the list. Missing the gym in lock down so doing lots of walking. Weight stabilised after nearly stone and a half fall. I sense a lot of porridge in my future.
 
Welcome @Tim1 🙂

121 will be your HbA1C and yes, that’s high but others have had similarly high ones and improved them. Are you on any medication for your diabetes?
 
Hi @Tim1 and welcome to the forum. That is quite a high reading, I'm assuming that is your HbA1c result. As it is that high perhaps if might not be a good idea to go too mad to begin with as your body will need some adjusting as your bg (blood glucose) falls. A lot of us on here reduce our carbs, as that turns to sugar in the body. However I would advise that you do this gradually, perhaps have 2 potatoes instead of 4 etc just until your levels get a bit lower. I am certainly no expert but my level was 90 on diagnosis and I'm now down in the 40's, certainly not as good as some others but I'm ok with that. Exercise is always good and there is a great recipe section on the forum as well to give you some ideas. Others will be along to give their advice/opinions but please ask any questions at all, we have all been where you are now so absolutely no question is deemed 'daft'.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum @Tim1 🙂

You made me laugh re the porridge. You should be so lucky! I can't have it, shoots my bg thru the roof. YMMV
 
Ditto said:
Hello and welcome to the forum @Tim1 🙂

You made me laugh re the porridge. You should be so lucky! I can't have it, shoots my bg thru the roof. YMMV
Click to expand...
I feel my diet will mainly be brown in future. Shades of beige. Very much early days. Doing lots of reading, hairy bikers cook book offers some hope of variety.
 
I could send you some books, probably got them all! Let me know if you want any in particular. What about Breakfast Is A Dangerous Meal? I'm fed-up of it hanging about the porch waiting to take it to Wilko book stall. Books everywhere!

I like the Hairy Bikers, one of them is type 2 isn't he?

edit/
I googled, I didn't know they did a book, I'll have to get that from the library then. 🙂
 
SueEK said:
Hi @Tim1 and welcome to the forum. That is quite a high reading, I'm assuming that is your HbA1c result. As it is that high perhaps if might not be a good idea to go too mad to begin with as your body will need some adjusting as your bg (blood glucose) falls. A lot of us on here reduce our carbs, as that turns to sugar in the body. However I would advise that you do this gradually, perhaps have 2 potatoes instead of 4 etc just until your levels get a bit lower. I am certainly no expert but my level was 90 on diagnosis and I'm now down in the 40's, certainly not as good as some others but I'm ok with that. Exercise is always good and there is a great recipe section on the forum as well to give you some ideas. Others will be along to give their advice/opinions but please ask any questions at all, we have all been where you are now so absolutely no question is deemed 'daft'.
Click to expand...
Many thanks for the advice, at present I am a steep learning curve. Breakfast is a bit new to me I have done white coffee sugar and run for 30 years. So porridge nuts and a slice of very brown bread with dijon mustard and ham! My weight dropped due to ketosis by a couple of stone. I am no longer drinking 4 or 5 litres of fluids a day. The mistake i made was drinking fruit juice. I now know how much sugar that involved. So sticking to tea.
Any advice gratefully received.
Tim
 
Tim1 said:
I feel my diet will mainly be brown in future. Shades of beige. Very much early days. Doing lots of reading, hairy bikers cook book offers some hope of variety.
Click to expand...
There are plenty of coloured things you can have, broccilli, peppers of all colours, courgettes, aubergine, tomatoes and carrots in moderation, red cabbage as well as eggs, fish, meat and cheese.
Another good book for recipes is The diabetes weight loss cookbook by Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi and the Keto kitchen. I bought Tom Kerrigde's Dopamine Diet but find a lot of the recipes seem quite high carb for my chosen carbs per day regime (60g per day), but may suit some.
 
Ditto said:
I could send you some books, probably got them all! Let me know if you want any in particular. What about Breakfast Is A Dangerous Meal? I'm fed-up of it hanging about the porch waiting to take it to Wilko book stall. Books everywhere!

I like the Hairy Bikers, one of them is type 2 isn't he?

edit/
I googled, I didn't know they did a book, I'll have to get that from the library then. 🙂
Click to expand...
Anthony Worrell Thompson also did a book as he was type 2, GI Diet
 
Leadinglights said:
There are plenty of coloured things you can have, broccilli, peppers of all colours, courgettes, aubergine, tomatoes and carrots in moderation, red cabbage as well as eggs, fish, meat and cheese.
Another good book for recipes is The diabetes weight loss cookbook by Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi and the Keto kitchen. I bought Tom Kerrigde's Dopamine Diet but find a lot of the recipes seem quite high carb for my chosen carbs per day regime (60g per day), but may suit some.
Click to expand...
Thank you I will order the diabeties weight loss book. I would like to drop more weight but I need to get the new normal diet right first.
 
Anitram said:
Hi, Tim - a welcome from me, too. I was almost as high as you when diagnosed but had managed to get down to below pre-diabetic level after 5 months through a combination of diet, exercise and shedding a couple of stone. As others have said, a slow and steady decline is better for you than nose-diving your levels. Good to have you aboard, and please keep us posted on your progress.

Martin
Click to expand...
Thanks Martin that is very encouraging. My plan so far is diet and exercise. I will take the drugs but hope to be free of them at some point in the future. Next bloods are a month away so early days but relieved in some way, the diagnosis makes sense of the symptoms so I know what the issue is.
 
Leadinglights said:
Anthony Worrell Thompson also did a book as he was type 2, GI Diet
Click to expand...
Many thanks for the generous offer. I have been researching breakfast having never really eaten it other than sweet white coffee! So I am going for porridge, 1 slice of very brown toast with mustard and ham plus the traditional handful of nuts.
 
What actual drugs are you taking though?
Some of them encourage the pancreas to kick out more insulin so if you reduce carbohydrate consumption too much, your blood glucose could drop into 'hypo' territory pdq which isn't recommended nor is it pleasant. Just tell us!
 
Drummer said:
Sorry Tim, but you have got the wrong end of the stick - No to the porridge, it is grain and high carb, no to the bread it is grain and high carb.
You can have the ham, and eggs too, you can have a stir fry of mushrooms, sweet pepper, courgette, tomato, a little onion - anything low carb is fine. I have coffee with cream.
You do need to have a gradual reduction in your blood glucose levels, as your Hba1c indicates high levels so getting a meter that is cheap to use and testing after meals would be a good ploy.
Click to expand...
@Drummer please don’t advise people they can’t have certain foods such as porridge or bread. With a hba1c of 121, and no knowledge of what medication the poster is taking, a sudden switch to cut out certain foods completely can cause retinopathy, or hypos if taking medication.

To Tim, it is best to make small changes to bring your blood sugar down slowly as suddenly improving it all at once can damage your eyes. So switching to things like porridge and whole meal bread and reducing portion sizes sounds a good first step.
 
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Lucyr said:
@Drummer please don’t advise people they can’t have certain foods such as porridge or bread. With a hba1c of 121, and no knowledge of what medication the poster is taking, a sudden switch to cut out certain foods completely can cause retinopathy, or hypos if taking medication.

To Tim, it is best to make small changes to bring your blood sugar down slowly as suddenly improving it all at once can damage your eyes. So switching to things like porridge and whole meal bread and reducing portion sizes sounds a good first step.
Click to expand...
Thank you this is more complex and confusing than I first thought. Looking at my issues not eating breakfast was an issue. I went for porridge and a slice of bread due to the low gi ratings. Sugar is out as are my personal weakness biscuits. Other meals are hairy bikers diabeties book and low blood sugar diet. My symptoms such as drinking vast amounts have rapidly decreased and ketosis has stopped. So i think even in the last week i have had an impact. My next bloods are in 3 weeks so i will know one way or the other then, and adjust accordingly.
Thanks for the advice.
Tim.
 
Lucyr said:
@Drummer please don’t advise people they can’t have certain foods such as porridge or bread. With a hba1c of 121, and no knowledge of what medication the poster is taking, a sudden switch to cut out certain foods completely can cause retinopathy, or hypos if taking medication.

To Tim, it is best to make small changes to bring your blood sugar down slowly as suddenly improving it all at once can damage your eyes. So switching to things like porridge and whole meal bread and reducing portion sizes sounds a good first step.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice, there is a lot and some seems to contradict. So I will stick with low gi, high protein from a variety of sources including plant and animal and no sugar and tea without chocolate Hobbs.
Tim
 
@Tim1 There a number of diets that can potentially help you. It’s a matter of choice and what appeals to you, as well as what you can see yourself sticking to ok. A number of these diets include porridge, and revolve around Low GI.

It sounds like you’ve made a good start 🙂
 
Thanks, bloods will tell and if further change is required so be it. However I can do porridge, protein and low gi. Trying cauliflower rice tonight.
Tim
 
I started with an HbA1C of 50mmol/mol so it never occurred to me that reducing carbs significantly (to 60g per day) immediately would be a problem but in hindsight (no pun intended) perhaps more gradual would have been better as I have some vision issues. Not sure quite what, as yet as I haven't been brave enough to go to the optician but now I have had my 1st Jab I will be more confident to go.
I think maybe the suggestion was not to have the porridge and toast at the same time but one or the other would be Ok as a gradual option.
 
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