Type2 Newbie, Managing hb1ac levels without medication advice please

[Moortt]

Evening All,

I was diagnosed T2 in July, hb1ac level of 51.

I had my 3 month results back this week and it's come down to 41.

The doctor and I have agreed to trial the next 3 months metformin and statin free and I really want to keep things under control.

I'm new to diabetes and an still trying to understand exactly how insulin resistance works and what exactly Metformin was doing for me. The reason for my post is to ask for tips and advice to keep things under control without it.

I will start my food dairy up again to keep a track of calories and carbs, any recommendations for apps??. I was using myFitnessPal but my free trial expired so it will only do calories now, not carbs.

Exercise I feel I've got a good program going on. I've been jogging 5k 3 times a week for the past month or so. I've added swimming 1k on my running off days (so twice a week). I was hiking on Sundays too but that's dropped off but I should reintroduce it.

Food is my concern, how much was the Metformin compensating for spikey foods?
I was aiming for keep my carb intake under 150g a day, that was a number I came to as one that was relatively easily achievable but I fear that may be a bit high.

This is a good sample of what I've been eating:

Breakfasts would usually be one of the following
- Plain 0% fat Greek yoghurt, flax seed, berries and maybe some almonds.
- 1 slice of wholewheat toast, avacado, poached egg or sardines in tomatoe sauce
- 1 slice of wholewheat bread with crunchy peanut butter

Lunch
- Typically some sort of home made salad, Greek, Nicoise, Med. Vegetable, Med. Salmon etc. Usually a olive oil and lemon dressing
- Salmon with Avacado Salsa
- Chicken Salad Wholewheat Wrap and a piece of fruit (apple, orange, plums)

Dinner
- Turkey Bolognese, small portion of whole wheat pasta or corgetti
- Low carb chicken Balti
- Chicken Casserole
- Seabream with 1/2 portion of gnocci
- Chicken / Pork Stir fry
.

Snacks
- Berries, Grapes, Apples
- Whole wheat cracker bread with Peanut butter and sliced apple
- 30-40g of mixed nuts
- 2 squares or equic of 85% dark chocolate.

I try to not have more one slice of bread in a day, and if I do I try not to have a wrap for lunch or pasta for dinner. Though this past week I've sometimes had a second as a snack

. Pasta I should cut out a bit more, one of the issues with that is it's an easy meal for the wife to prepare for the kids. I do try and have half the suggested portion sizes but that can leave me hungry.

I will typically sub rice with cauliflower or sweet potatoe rice, I don't touch potatoes

Sometimes the mixed nuts I buy come from Morrison's and they do one with a few chocolate covered ones included in the pack (like 10% of the portion). I should cut those out I know but they are my little treat

.

Is there anything else I should be cutting out / including in my diet ?? Any other recommendations ?

Thanks

 

[janw]

I use the free myfitnesspal app and it does give you carbs - I just add what I've eaten to log it, if you then click on it, it shows you carbs and calories. As type 2 we don't need to worry too much about the calories, concentrate on lowering your carbs. I was diagnosed around the same time as you, no meds as I wanted to try diet and exercise first, so far it is working. My BMI is almost as it should be now and I'm aiming to get back to prediabetes ASAP.
Your diet isn't too bad, but watch the bread and pasta, even wholewheat can spike your sugars, they are still heavy carbs. I use Nimble as my choice of bread, smaller slices and lower carbs. Wraps aren't too different from bread, so watch out there. You could look up recipes for cloud bread which is meant to be good - I keep meaning to make some, or other "keto" bread, maybe soon - or they say to use lettuce leaves in place of buns and wraps. I can't eat lettuce, so not sure what that is like.
Grapes are too sweet, so just have a few as an occasional treat and try and stick to berries. We can have the odd treat as long as it doesn't creep into every day eating (my bad there lol) and add every little thing to your food diary.
If you have a BG meter, check how your sugar is 2 hours after your first bite, see if it spikes or not. I would be lost without mine, best investment I made.
Carbs and Cals is good to check out, I think there is a PDF download of portion sizes, though I have bought the book.
Just ask any questions that pop into your head, we are learning and sharing, there are great people on here with a wealth of experience and knowledge.

 

[janw]

This is the link for the free download PDFs from Carbs and Cals HERE