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what to eat
- Thread starter Taz
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Copepod
Much missed Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
You don't necessarily need to eat anything before exercising. It's important to keep well hydrated, or course - water, not sugary sports drinks / neat fruit juice etc. The whole point of exercise is to reduce your blood glucose levels - and unless you are on certain blood glucose reducing tablets (NOT metformin) or insulin or doing very extreme exercise over a long period (eg mountain running for hours - I've seen friends who don't have diabetes get blood glucose levels below 4mmol/l after fell running for hours in cold / wet / windy conditions), then you can't become hypoglycaemic.
Hello Taz, welcome to the forum. First of all, stop worrying. By joining this forum you will get lots of help and support to get your blood glucose and therefore your risk of complications down.
As a newly diagnosed T2, have you been put on any drugs yet? Or like the rest of us have you been told to go away and try 'diet and exercise' first? Assuming it's the latter (or you're on metformin only), because that's where most of us T2s start, you don't need to eat anything special before exercise. You don't run the risk of hypos (blood sugar dropping dangerously low) if you're not injecting insulin or certain other glucose-lowering drugs.
As for the rest of your diet, here are some things that work for me to reduce carbs: I only ever buy small (400g) loaves of wholemeal bread, and only a max of 2 slices per day. I only have 1-2 250g jacket potatoes a week, and a max of 50g dry weight of rice/pasta/couscous per day. Mashed cauliflower makes a really nice topping for shepherds pie. I eat lots of veg with my dinners, to replace some of the plate space that would have been taken up with carbs. Snacks are mostly fruit. Breakfasts can be difficult, but I usually have a Mullerlight yogurt with ONE Weetabix or 15g of Grape-Nuts stirred in. Weekend breakfasts are scrambled egg with lean bacon, low fat sausage, tinned toms, mushrooms and a few baked beans (no toast).
If you've been told to lose weight, have a look in the Weight Loss forum and post any questions about what's worked/working for us.
As a newly diagnosed T2, have you been put on any drugs yet? Or like the rest of us have you been told to go away and try 'diet and exercise' first? Assuming it's the latter (or you're on metformin only), because that's where most of us T2s start, you don't need to eat anything special before exercise. You don't run the risk of hypos (blood sugar dropping dangerously low) if you're not injecting insulin or certain other glucose-lowering drugs.
As for the rest of your diet, here are some things that work for me to reduce carbs: I only ever buy small (400g) loaves of wholemeal bread, and only a max of 2 slices per day. I only have 1-2 250g jacket potatoes a week, and a max of 50g dry weight of rice/pasta/couscous per day. Mashed cauliflower makes a really nice topping for shepherds pie. I eat lots of veg with my dinners, to replace some of the plate space that would have been taken up with carbs. Snacks are mostly fruit. Breakfasts can be difficult, but I usually have a Mullerlight yogurt with ONE Weetabix or 15g of Grape-Nuts stirred in. Weekend breakfasts are scrambled egg with lean bacon, low fat sausage, tinned toms, mushrooms and a few baked beans (no toast).
If you've been told to lose weight, have a look in the Weight Loss forum and post any questions about what's worked/working for us.
Dory
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi Taz and welcome! Lots of friedly people here that will try and help whenever they can.
LeeLee is spot on with carb substitutes: I eat a lot of veg now in place of standard 'starchy' carbs. I don't eat pasta at all any more (i have small wheat intolerance anyway and it used to blaor me so no loss there!), have rice once in a blue moon and most potato based stuff is swapped for veg. Some tips that may help/you might consider:
loads of other things you can do so if you want any more tips/menu suggestions PM me - hope this helps 🙂
LeeLee is spot on with carb substitutes: I eat a lot of veg now in place of standard 'starchy' carbs. I don't eat pasta at all any more (i have small wheat intolerance anyway and it used to blaor me so no loss there!), have rice once in a blue moon and most potato based stuff is swapped for veg. Some tips that may help/you might consider:
- pasta - use wholemeal, and stick to small portions, try to have veg as the main bulk of your pasta meal
- rice - again, wholemeal if you don't mind it, small portions, or, if you can live without it, switch to cauliflower rice (it's the BEST THING EVER, I promise you 😉)
- potatoes (mash) - have swede/carrot/turnip, or celeriac (particularly tasty). prepare exactly same way as you would potato. You could even have squash mash (in Autumn when in season)
- potatoes (roast) - swap for roast butternut squash. possibly the tastiest thing i have in a roast meal these days! you can also double up on roast swede and carrot too. be careful with the parsnips, they're a medium/high GI value (meaning they'll spike your blood sugar levels more than other root veg)
- potatoes (boiled) - swap your King Edwards, Maris Pipers etc for new potatoes: much lower in GI value (and therefore lower blood sugar spikes)
- cous cous: great as a meal accompaniment, or use cauli rice
- pearl barley as a risotto rice, or in soups (instead of having a starchy bread roll) and stews (instead of accompanying mash/boiled Maris pipers etc)
- beans: canellini/butter/haricot etc - use these in salads or soups and stews to make the meal more substantial, eg a tomato based sauce with veg and chicken: an easy evening meal without needing your pasta!
loads of other things you can do so if you want any more tips/menu suggestions PM me - hope this helps 🙂
AlisonM
Much missed Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1.5 LADA
Sweet potato is another good option in place of spuds. I use them a lot as mash, or roasted, or as chunky chips. I find I can get away with small portions of wild rice too, as opposed to the highly processed white stuff. Same goes for bread, wholegrain or Bergen seems to work best and only small amounts. I bulk up my meals with veggies these days and find I stay full longer as a result. The wonderful cauli has proved to be a great staple and you can do much more with it than drown it in cheese sauce. We've learned to use it as a replacement for mash and for rice here and it works wonderfully well.
Actually, basmati rice is the 'best' rather than wholemeal (well, that's what I've been told!). However, the quantity really needs to be kept to a minimum (no more chinese take-away portions!!).
But, cauli-rice is undoubtably better (even though I've never tried it ... I think I'd prefer to just eat the cauliflower normally).
Oh, and if you want potatoes, I've found that new potatoes are the best. Mainly because I could really easily control portion size (i.e. two or three small ones were fine for me).
Andy 🙂
Hi Taz,
I'm a newbie too. I'm not on any meds currently. I've been using my blood glucose machine to see what foods work for me. It's quite fascinating. Exercise really helps bring the reading down.
Red wine seems fine!
Strangely I get a spike when I've eaten cooked cherry tomatoes!
Good luck with it all.
J
I'm a newbie too. I'm not on any meds currently. I've been using my blood glucose machine to see what foods work for me. It's quite fascinating. Exercise really helps bring the reading down.
Red wine seems fine!
Strangely I get a spike when I've eaten cooked cherry tomatoes!
Good luck with it all.
J
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