Type 2 at 37 and feeling an idiot

[Angel83]

I’ve recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and am feeling so stupid. Everyone on my dads side of the family had diabetes, and my sister was recently diagnosed as borderline diabetic which prompted me to get tested. But the truth is, this diagnosis is all my fault.

At my heaviest two years ago, I weighed 20st4 (284lbs, 129kg). I’d had lost a stone, and weight was slowly dropping due to eating healthier breakfasts and lunches on weekdays thanks to working from home. But I do zero exercise and was still enjoying an average of two evening takeaways and a McDonald’s breakfast every week, plus I’m a massive binge drinker. I would drink up to 7 bottles of white Zinfandel rose wine a week to myself. On a night with friends, it’s not unheard of for me to have 4 bottles of wine/Prosecco to myself in one evening. When I had my initial conversation with the nurse about my diagnosis, I told her this and she immediately responded “well we know what’s caused all this then”, and she’s right. I feel so stupid. I should have known better and now it’s too late. I’ve given myself a serious life long illness.

The nurse said that two years ago, I was at 38, I’m now at 84 (assuming this is an hba1c reading?). I have a home tester kit which has given me readings of 12-19.5mmol/l over the past month since I started testing when my sister was diagnosed. My family are frightened, which in turn has terrified me. Made worse by the nurse telling me I need to increase the medication more quickly than the doctor suggested.

I was put on Metformin 500mg, told to take one a day for a week, then two a day for a week, then get to three a day. The nurse feels I need to get on three ASAP.

In one month I have lost 9lbs and am almost 2 stone down from my heaviest (18st7). I’ve changed my diet and we’ve agreed to have one takeaway a month. I managed to get through a Friday with just one bottle of Prosecco and ten cigarettes which felt like a huge achievement, yet I know it’s still not good enough.

I want to believe I can put this into remission, but I don’t know if I’m too far gone. Would love to hear from others who are/were morbidly obese and bingers. Any success stories to spur me on? Or tips?

Sorry for the essay, feels good to blurt out how I’m feeling though!

 

[goodybags]

Hi @Angel83 please don't feel stupid,
feel good because your already on the road to getting your Hba1c down and shedding quite a few stones
with the attitude you want to ultimately put diabetes into remissio.

when my blood sugar levels we’re running at similar levels your showing now
I was eating all the wrong things, Dr‘s just kept giving me more and more medication
my HbA1c just kept getting higher it was over 100

your on this already on it and started to loose weight and you say you have a home testing kit
was that issued through your GP or did you need to self fund it?

my BMI was off the scale at 40+ I guess yours is similar I’ve now lost lost 27 KG (4.25 stones)
it’s taken me about 8 months but I’m now 93KG (14.6 stone)

I’ve got both my HbA1c and my weight down, I’ve found this form a great help to understand what I need to eat, and what I don’t

i haven’t the time to post my full story (especially today)
but someone will be along in a min and post great advice and help
main thing I’d say is testing is vital to understand how you must change your diet
and you will need to cut out foods containing the high high carbohydrates.

to succeed you will need to test before and again 2-3 hrs after your main meals
and stop the snacking (assuming u do) as I was

now I eat 1 snack a day either apple or chopped nuts usually.
Instill eat breakfast lunch & dinner just different things to when the diabetes was controlling me

ask loads of questions on this forum (remember none are considered to be silly question)
theres people who had Hba1c as high if not higher than yours who will help.

 

[Lucyr]

If several people in your family have diabetes then the likelihood is you were going to get it at some point. The only difference now is that you know about it, the sooner you know about it the better as now you can do something about it.

I was diagnosed T2 age 20. I was made to feel terrible about it by the nurse too, but I don’t think that was right of her. Her job is to support you and not to make you feel guilty. Not everyone your height and weight and age has diabetes so there’s a bit of bad luck and genetics involved as well as lifestyle. Focus on moving forwards and set some realistic goals to focus on changing to start with.

 

[Thebearcametoo]

Be kind to yourself. Your family obviously has a predisposition to type 2 so it may be that even if you’d done everything ‘right’ you’d still get it. The good news is that some changes to your diet will see a huge improvement in your blood glucose and help you to lose weight at the same time. Find some tasty alternatives to the wine you like. Keep the meaty bits of your take away but drop any carbs sides. You can still eat things that are tasty, easy and fun just watch the carbs.

 

[Ditto]

Hello and welcome. 🙂 I could curl up with embarrassment because of type 2 and other ailments so I can sympathise, but never mind, it's chronic not acute so you can just get on and put your health to rights if you've a mind to.

 

[Angel83]

I’ve recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and am feeling so stupid. Everyone on my dads side of the family had diabetes, and my sister was recently diagnosed as borderline diabetic which prompted me to get tested. But the truth is, this diagnosis is all my fault.

At my heaviest two years ago, I weighed 20st4 (284lbs, 129kg). I’d had lost a stone, and weight was slowly dropping due to eating healthier breakfasts and lunches on weekdays thanks to working from home. But I do zero exercise and was still enjoying an average of two evening takeaways and a McDonald’s breakfast every week, plus I’m a massive binge drinker. I would drink up to 7 bottles of white Zinfandel rose wine a week to myself. On a night with friends, it’s not unheard of for me to have 4 bottles of wine/Prosecco to myself in one evening. When I had my initial conversation with the nurse about my diagnosis, I told her this and she immediately responded “well we know what’s caused all this then”, and she’s right. I feel so stupid. I should have known better and now it’s too late. I’ve given myself a serious life long illness.

The nurse said that two years ago, I was at 38, I’m now at 84 (assuming this is an hba1c reading?). I have a home tester kit which has given me readings of 12-19.5mmol/l over the past month since I started testing when my sister was diagnosed. My family are frightened, which in turn has terrified me. Made worse by the nurse telling me I need to increase the medication more quickly than the doctor suggested.

I was put on Metformin 500mg, told to take one a day for a week, then two a day for a week, then get to three a day. The nurse feels I need to get on three ASAP.

In one month I have lost 9lbs and am almost 2 stone down from my heaviest (18st7). I’ve changed my diet and we’ve agreed to have one takeaway a month. I managed to get through a Friday with just one bottle of Prosecco and ten cigarettes which felt like a huge achievement, yet I know it’s still not good enough.

I want to believe I can put this into remission, but I don’t know if I’m too far gone. Would love to hear from others who are/were morbidly obese and bingers. Any success stories to spur me on? Or tips?

Sorry for the essay, feels good to blurt out how I’m feeling though!

Hi @Angel83 please don't feel stupid,
feel good because your already on the road to getting your Hba1c down and shedding quite a few stones
with the attitude you want to ultimately put diabetes into remissio.

when my blood sugar levels we’re running at similar levels your showing now
I was eating all the wrong things, Dr‘s just kept giving me more and more medication
my HbA1c just kept getting higher it was over 100

your on this already on it and started to loose weight and you say you have a home testing kit
was that issued through your GP or did you need to self fund it?

my BMI was off the scale at 40+ I guess yours is similar I’ve now lost lost 27 KG (4.25 stones)
it’s taken me about 8 months but I’m now 93KG (14.6 stone)

I’ve got both my HbA1c and my weight down, I’ve found this form a great help to understand what I need to eat, and what I don’t

i haven’t the time to post my full story (especially today)
but someone will be along in a min and post great advice and help
main thing I’d say is testing is vital to understand how you must change your diet
and you will need to cut out foods containing the high high carbohydrates.

to succeed you will need to test before and again 2-3 hrs after your main meals
and stop the snacking (assuming u do) as I was

now I eat 1 snack a day either apple or chopped nuts usually.
Instill eat breakfast lunch & dinner just different things to when the diabetes was controlling me

ask loads of questions on this forum (remember none are considered to be silly question)
theres people who had Hba1c as high if not higher than yours who will help.

Thank you so much for your response and advice.

I have a home test kit I bought on Amazon about 5 years ago. SD Codefree. I keep forgetting to test consistently but will start setting reminders as it’s a good idea to learn how different foods affect things.

amazing work on losing all that’s weight!! You must be so proud of yourself. One day when you have time, I’d love to hear your story, how your weight loss has impacted your results, and whether you’ve experienced any of the dreaded complications.

 

[Angel83]

Be kind to yourself. Your family obviously has a predisposition to type 2 so it may be that even if you’d done everything ‘right’ you’d still get it. The good news is that some changes to your diet will see a huge improvement in your blood glucose and help you to lose weight at the same time. Find some tasty alternatives to the wine you like. Keep the meaty bits of your take away but drop any carbs sides. You can still eat things that are tasty, easy and fun just watch the carbs.

Yeah, the carb thing is devastating for me! I would happily give up chocolate, cake and ice cream, even alcohol, if it meant I could continue to eat my favourite foods without limits - pizza and any kind of potato (baked, chips, wedges, hash browns, roasties, crisps etc).

ive told myself I can have my favourite takeaway - stuffed crust pizza with wedges - but only if I stick to the rule of one takeaway a month, and eat well for breakfast and lunch that day.

I’m occasionally still having a snack of a bag of quavers or a two finger kit Kat, but other than that, snacks are fruit - banana, satsumas, black grapes, strawberries. Also have fruit with 0% Greek yoghurt for some breakfasts.

I’ve replaced white bread with small loaf loaf wholemeal and don’t have more than about 4-6 slices per week. Most lunches are salads. Have started doing more home cooked dinners - chicken tray bake with lots of veg, a drizzle of olive oil and herbs; stir fry vegetables with chicken and noodles with a little soy sauce, chilli con carne with extra kidney beans and rice. Still have pasta but try to control my portions.

Stopped buying frozen pizzas, cereal, sausages and ready meals.

So I feel like I’ve made some positive changes. But I’m just not sure it’s enough to go into remission, or whether remission is ever even possible. I have no idea how at risk i am of complications and how worried I need to be. I have no idea whether I should be seeing this as a 20yr death sentence so start living life as best I can, or whether it’s just something I need to manage but don’t panic etc. My brain keeps going up and down with it. Sometimes I shrug and think oh well, at least I will finally get slim now; other times I just want to cry about how life will never be the same and what if I go blind, lose a foot etc.

Did everyone else feel a bit crazy with thoughts after diagnosis?

 

[Docb]

Agree with the others... don't beat yourself up.

I'd turn my anger onto those very clever and totally unscrupulous marketing people who got you and millions of others to believe that there were no downsides to over eating and over drinking the stuff they peddle. One thing you can be sure of, they don't touch it. Have you ever seen an overweight marketing person?

When they put me in charge I will introduce a law which demands that whenever an upside claim is made in an advert, equal prominence should be given to a downside. Same would go for political statements.

For some reason I needed a bit of a rant today, and, @Angel83 thanks for providing the opportunity. Reality is that now you have got the problem in your sights, you have got a real chance of putting things right, you have just got to work on it. As we keep on saying, its a marathon, not a sprint.

 

[goodybags]

Thank you so much for your response and advice.

I have a home test kit I bought on Amazon about 5 years ago. SD Codefree. I keep forgetting to test consistently but will start setting reminders as it’s a good idea to learn how different foods affect things.

amazing work on losing all that’s weight!! You must be so proud of yourself. One day when you have time, I’d love to hear your story, how your weight loss has impacted your results, and whether you’ve experienced any of the dreaded complications.

thanks I've just weighed myself this morning lost another KG since last weigh in
so my BMI is now spot on 30, just one more KG lost them in no longer Obese
im just overweight ..lol - so still more to go

I’ve not had any complications due to weight loss or bringing down my HbA1c
I’ve still got a problems with my eyes (diabetic retinopathy) and receiving treatment for that
since about 4 yrs ago, whereas I only started to get the diabetes under control last summer
I also have some other diabetic related conditions but they all were present quite a few years ago,

sometimes like you and many of us, Im horrified at what I did to myself,
to think how many years my HbA1c was running near to or above 100,
mostly my fault but I can’t take all the blame
I had terribly bad advise from some healthcare professionals who just weren’t looking after me.

 

[Docb]

@Angel83. Just seen your last post...I'll put my more reasoned hat on. Its all about risk. Allowing diabetes to go on out of control does not mean you will get complications, it means you will increase the risk of it happening. Getting it under control will considerably reduce those risks and in my world that makes getting it under control worthwhile.

Can I suggest that you rethink your one takeaway of Pizza with wedges month idea? No problem with takeaways at all - great to get somebody else to do the work but have a think and see if you can come up with alternatives that don't come with such a heavy carb load and don't tempt you to two a month, then three.......

 

[Leadinglights]

Yeah, the carb thing is devastating for me! I would happily give up chocolate, cake and ice cream, even alcohol, if it meant I could continue to eat my favourite foods without limits - pizza and any kind of potato (baked, chips, wedges, hash browns, roasties, crisps etc).

ive told myself I can have my favourite takeaway - stuffed crust pizza with wedges - but only if I stick to the rule of one takeaway a month, and eat well for breakfast and lunch that day.

I’m occasionally still having a snack of a bag of quavers or a two finger kit Kat, but other than that, snacks are fruit - banana, satsumas, black grapes, strawberries. Also have fruit with 0% Greek yoghurt for some breakfasts.

I’ve replaced white bread with small loaf loaf wholemeal and don’t have more than about 4-6 slices per week. Most lunches are salads. Have started doing more home cooked dinners - chicken tray bake with lots of veg, a drizzle of olive oil and herbs; stir fry vegetables with chicken and noodles with a little soy sauce, chilli con carne with extra kidney beans and rice. Still have pasta but try to control my portions.

Stopped buying frozen pizzas, cereal, sausages and ready meals.

So I feel like I’ve made some positive changes. But I’m just not sure it’s enough to go into remission, or whether remission is ever even possible. I have no idea how at risk i am of complications and how worried I need to be. I have no idea whether I should be seeing this as a 20yr death sentence so start living life as best I can, or whether it’s just something I need to manage but don’t panic etc. My brain keeps going up and down with it. Sometimes I shrug and think oh well, at least I will finally get slim now; other times I just want to cry about how life will never be the same and what if I go blind, lose a foot etc.

Did everyone else feel a bit crazy with thoughts after diagnosis?

Well done on your weight loss so far. Looking at some of the things you are having or not having, it occurs to me that you are still having some high carb foods but not having some things which are no problem. So high meat content sausages are fine as pretty low carb, but the kidney beans and rice are high carb so less in your chilli would be better and replace with more peppers or chopped celery, full fat yoghurt is lower carb than 0% and bananas, grapes are high carb but berries are lower. If you are wanting snacks then nuts and seeds or protein nut bars (like Nature Valley) would be better than the KitKat or crisps, people often have carrot or celery sticks or boiled eggs or a piece of cheese.
You might find the book or app Carbs and Cals useful for giving you the carb content of a whole range of foods so you can see just how much your choices are mounting up.
Your HbA1C is certainly not as high as some people on here have started with so YES you can do this. You have to find a way of eating which you can sustain for life otherwise you will be back to square one. It will be a bit change but slow and steady is the way to go as sudden reduction in blood glucose can give some people vision problems. You blood glucose testing monitor is your friend and gives you the control not your diagnosis.
Sorry I have rambled on. 🙂

 

[Angel83]

Well done on your weight loss so far. Looking at some of the things you are having or not having, it occurs to me that you are still having some high carb foods but not having some things which are no problem. So high meat content sausages are fine as pretty low carb, but the kidney beans and rice are high carb so less in your chilli would be better and replace with more peppers or chopped celery, full fat yoghurt is lower carb than 0% and bananas, grapes are high carb but berries are lower. If you are wanting snacks then nuts and seeds or protein nut bars (like Nature Valley) would be better than the KitKat or crisps, people often have carrot or celery sticks or boiled eggs or a piece of cheese.
You might find the book or app Carbs and Cals useful for giving you the carb content of a whole range of foods so you can see just how much your choices are mounting up.
Your HbA1C is certainly not as high as some people on here have started with so YES you can do this. You have to find a way of eating which you can sustain for life otherwise you will be back to square one. It will be a bit change but slow and steady is the way to go as sudden reduction in blood glucose can give some people vision problems. You blood glucose testing monitor is your friend and gives you the control not your diagnosis.
Sorry I have rambled on. 🙂

Please don’t apologise, I really appreciate every response I’m getting on here!

Your message is really interesting too as it sounds like I’ve not been getting it quite right yet, but that there are some really simple things I can change to improve. So a huge thank you for highlighting all that!

I definitely need to spend more time learning about foods and working out the right balance between low sugar to manage blood glucose and low fat to manage weight.

I had red that dark coloured fruits were good so thought that included red/black grapes. And kept reading that beans and pulses are great, so I’m surprised that the kidney beans are high carb.

Im already finding this forum so helpful. Thanks to everyone who has commented. I’m going to start trawling the threads about food/recipe suggestions.

Im going to manage this!

 

[Felinia]

Yeah, the carb thing is devastating for me! I would happily give up chocolate, cake and ice cream, even alcohol, if it meant I could continue to eat my favourite foods without limits - pizza and any kind of potato (baked, chips, wedges, hash browns, roasties, crisps etc).

ive told myself I can have my favourite takeaway - stuffed crust pizza with wedges - but only if I stick to the rule of one takeaway a month, and eat well for breakfast and lunch that day.

I’m occasionally still having a snack of a bag of quavers or a two finger kit Kat, but other than that, snacks are fruit - banana, satsumas, black grapes, strawberries. Also have fruit with 0% Greek yoghurt for some breakfasts.

I’ve replaced white bread with small loaf loaf wholemeal and don’t have more than about 4-6 slices per week. Most lunches are salads. Have started doing more home cooked dinners - chicken tray bake with lots of veg, a drizzle of olive oil and herbs; stir fry vegetables with chicken and noodles with a little soy sauce, chilli con carne with extra kidney beans and rice. Still have pasta but try to control my portions.

Stopped buying frozen pizzas, cereal, sausages and ready meals.

So I feel like I’ve made some positive changes. But I’m just not sure it’s enough to go into remission, or whether remission is ever even possible. I have no idea how at risk i am of complications and how worried I need to be. I have no idea whether I should be seeing this as a 20yr death sentence so start living life as best I can, or whether it’s just something I need to manage but don’t panic etc. My brain keeps going up and down with it. Sometimes I shrug and think oh well, at least I will finally get slim now; other times I just want to cry about how life will never be the same and what if I go blind, lose a foot etc.

Did everyone else feel a bit crazy with thoughts after diagnosis?

Hi
I spotted you mentioned having grapes - they are sugar bombs. The best fruit to have ends in berries, with a portion being 80 gm. One of my favourite meals is 80gm frozen defrosted strawberry/blueberry mix, with a 100gm of authentic Greek yogurt. 164 cals and 9.8gm carbs. Funnily enough 10% fat yogurt is lower in carbs than 0% fat, and tastes creamier, so you might want to try it instead.
You also mentioned stopping buying sausages. I switched to chicken sausages, my favourite being Heck Chicken Italia. But Waitrose chicken, onion and lemon chipolatas are fine too. They are low fat and there are a good range of others on the market. Today I dry fried in a non-stick pan 2 chipolatas, 2 turkey rashers, 2 large chestnut mushrooms and heated 2 tinned tomatoes. My Sunday treat for 215 cals and 9.6gm carbs.
You mention pizza - I love pizza - I know some people use a lightly cooked omelette as a base, top with all sorts of veg, and finish under the grill. The Hairy Bikers used a home made buckwheat pancake as a base. Like you I switched to a small wholemeal loaf as I can't stand boiled eggs without soldiers! And I will try your chicken traybake idea.
If you are still having rice, noodles and pasta, they are high in carbs. There are some carb free pasta and noodles on the market now. Pulses like kidney beans, haricot beans and butter beans are also high, but full of protein. I put them in homemade soup rather than thicken with potato and/or flour and blitz or part blitz to thicken. The calorie values are between 95 and 135 per 300gm portion. My golden vegetable soup (onion, celery, yellow peppers, butter beans, sweetcorn, stock, skimmed milk, sage) is 18.9gm carbs. Similarly mushroom and mixed beans 135 cals and 17gm carbs, Curried squash, red pepper, sweet potato and coconut soup just 9.6gm carbs, and Mixed vegetable and tomato soup with haricot beans 11.4gm carbs.
I have switched to frozen cauliflower rice and cut out the noodles and pasta, but I still have a couple of boiled new potatoes occasionally, which my diabetic nurse told me was fine.
Today I'm having an egg, cottage cheese and ham salad with fat free lemon and pepper dressing, for 275cal and 12gm carbs. Tea tonight will be grilled tuna steak, cauliflower rice and mixed vegetables for 358 cals and 9.8gm carbs.
Remission is possible for may diabetics. I got my HbA1c down to 48 when first diagnosed, in 3 months of sensible eating and exercise (water workout classes). With lockdowns I slipped badly, but am working my way back. And it's not a death sentence if you look after yourself. I have a couple of Type 1 friends: one was diagnosed at age 14, represented England in his sport as a young man and is now a happy, slim, well managed father of 2 in his 60's. Another was diagnosed over 40 years ago, still very active and well managed in his late 70's - he even enjoys the occasional slice of cake!
It can be overwhelming at first - I was quite phlegmatic at first, but that was because I had seen my best friend learning to cope a couple of years earlier, and I benefitted from her experience and gained knowledge. This Forum is brilliant for helping you, at every stage of the journey. Bit of a long woffle I'm afraid!! Best wishes

 

[Leadinglights]

As @Felinia says there are plenty of things you can have and sometimes it comes down to portion size of some of the higher carb foods, so something like pulses, have half the amount. If you are reducing carbs then fats and protein are not detrimental to loosing weight. Many people do loose weight partly because the extra fat makes then feel fuller for longer and therefore less likely to snack on high carb things thinking Oh it's just one. People who choose to go the so called Low Carb High Fat route really tend to interpret that as just not Low fat and that works for them. Everybody is different as you will quickly learn by reading the posts and will be tolerant of carbs to a varying extent depending on lots of factors, any meds, how much exercise, their own metabolism, the colour of their hair 🙂, a rainy day.
Take some time to learn about diabetes and have a plan, keeping a food diary is a good plan so you can see where you can make some savings by substitutions.
The thread What did you eat Yesterday gives some goo ideas for the sort of meals people with Type 2 have.
You will feel bombarded with information but read in your own time so you can get your head around it.

 

[NotWorriedAtAll]

Hello.
I want to tell you that your diagnosis while obviously a shock to you is nowhere near as bad as you feel it is - especially if you are someone who is ok with trying new things and turning negatives into positives.

You can make pizzas that taste as nice (maybe even nicer) than the ones you are used to by using different ingredients than those usually used to make pizza bases. I am not talking about cauliflower bases or meat bases but bases that actually taste and feel the same as the ones you are used to. You will for now have to make them yourself instead of having a takeaway but the good news is that you can make the bases and freeze them and then make them with the toppings of your choice when you want them - or you can make the entire pizzas and freeze them so they are ready in your freezer to cook when you would usually have a takeaway.

You can also make celeriac wedges and they are in my opinion nicer than potato ones.

There are various recipes for pizza bases that are pretty much like the ones you are used to - some are quicker and easier than others. My current favourite is made with yeast and risen like a proper pizza base and that takes some time and effort to get from packets of ingredients to pizza in my mouth - other recipes are fairly quick. But they all have minimal impact on blood sugar levels because they are made with high protein and/or fat and high fibre and very very low carb ingredients.

I started off when I was diagnosed planning on a fish and chip meal once a month but eventually gave up on that idea once I realised how yucky I felt the next day afterwards after getting used to feeling so much better with properly controlled blood sugar levels. The happy thing is that most of the foods you love can be created using very low carb ingredients and you will genuinely not miss the original versions that caused so much harm.

Pop along to my Facebook page if you feel like having a browse to see what living with type 2 diabetes is like when blood sugars are entirely controlled by making different food ingredient choices but still enjoying the things that make you happy.

I started out with medications and now I don't take any - i just eat the very low carb versions of things and I have found fun ways to exercise - although the exercise didn't start until a couple of years after I had sorted my eating habits out first.

I even made my own stuffed crust pizza once to see if i could and it worked out really well!!

The picture here is of one of the faster pizza crust versions and the pieces shown did not have any major impact on my blood sugars at all as the barbecue sauce is a very acceptable keto alternative.

My Facebook page about my food adventures with type 2 diabetes

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Angel83

You’ve had lots of helpful hints and tips, so I’ll just say hello and welcome.

Ask away with any questions you have, we have lots of folks here to share experiences with, and while it’s not medical advice, it can be encouraging and really helpful to see the variety of strategies others have tried, and think about which might fit in with the way you want to go.

There’s no ‘one size fits all’ and many people start off in one direction, but eventually gradually shift and settle into a slightly different approach. The important thing is that it needs to work for you long term, and you need to choose options that can be adjusted and adapted to suit your individual experience of diabetes, the things that are important to you, and the results ylu are looking for 🙂

 

[EllsBells]

Hi @Angel83 . I was told of my diagnosis back in January, whilst weighing in at 19st and a rough BMI calculation of 44%. I has a pre-diabetes warning 3yers ago - ate better for a few months and then forgot about it. Ooops. this is now something I have to live with.

Firstly, congratulations on losing the sight you have so far. You're doing really well. It isn't easy to do.

Initially, I cut out all large carbs and went no booze or takeaways at all. Once I could see my numbers coming down and my symptoms easing. I am an emotional eater and some days are just hard. Some days I can ride through it and others not so good. I've lost something over 4 st to date. The saving grace has been exercise. What started as an occasional walk to help use up the glucose has now morphed into doing regular YouTube HIIT workouts when my bg levels creep up above acceptable levels.

Wishing you all the best with your weight loss journey - you've got this!

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

congratulations on losing the sight you have so far

Ummm ‘weight’ I think 😉

 

[Drummer]

You could have cheese waffles or 'fat head' pizza as low carb alternatives, useful for 'wraps' or 'slices' or sausage rolls, even pasties.
I find that I am envied when I take dishes to special occasions with the groups I am with - Christmas parties and other celebrations, and asked for the recipes. I have learned to eat before I go, as by the time I set things out and sort out my gear, the dishes are being washed up and all I get are compliments.
If I drink, I have a sugar free mixer and rum or vodka.

 

[EllsBells]

Ummm ‘weight’ I think 😉

Auto correct- how I loath you sometimes!!! Weight. I meant weight!!!!