Just diagnosed and need to work this out

[Bigpud]

Hi every one, I have just been diagnosed today, my job means travelling and staying in hotels all week, so worried about managing my diet. is there any advice for how to manage this as I feel a bit overwhelmed with everyone in the family having different opinions on what I should do now. Looking through the leaflets but any advice would be welcome too

[Activity2004 Administrator]

First of all, welcome to the group! Please take some time and read through the postings that the other members have done. Create some postings of your own and keep asking any questions you need answered. Have you looked at the DRWF website and their lieaflets? The website is: drwf.org.uk/diabetes-leaflets You can either download the information, or ask to have it mailed to you. There are different topics to look at for the leaflets. You can scroll down the page and see what helps the best for you.

Has your Endocrinologist said you're type 1 or type 2?

[Bigpud in reply to Activity2004]

he did not say, but I think it is type 2

[Activity2004 Administrator in reply to Bigpud]

Did she/he put you on insulin shots? How many times per day?

[HOBIEONE in reply to Bigpud]

Less carbs is very important, good luck

[Bigpud]

no metformin tablets, three times a day, this is why think its type two

[Fruitandnutcase]

If it's any help I was diagnosed with T2 back in November 2015. I was given the usual high carb diet advice. I bought a great book called Reverse Your T2 by Dr David Cavan, a Fitbit and an AccuChek mobile blood sugar monitor. I tested before and two hours after every meal. I stopped snacking and diet drinks - I drink water, decaf tea or decaf coffee.

I was retested in March this year and my HbA1c is now well below the limit. I have also dropped in weight from 11st12lbs to 9st 4lbs effortlessly purely by eliminating foods that increased by blood sugar level. In my case grains of any sort - healthy or not so healthy, jacket potatoes too. I've got a list of everything I've eaten since I started testing. I also eat lots of unsalted nuts and seeds now.

Anyway, it worked I'm T2 free now. I won't ever go back in the sort of foods that don't do me any good though.

Definitely worth buying that book, it is inspirational. Another good one is Dr Michael Moseley's 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[Andyman]

I also had a travelling job that took me away from home for weeks on end. For you, you have to make sure that you eat correctly and not use being away to eat just anything. It's easy to go to any restaurant and ask just for vegetables or fish cooked your way. You only have to say what you want even if it is not on the menu. All places will accommodate you. Exercise can be taken also by walking and exploring your local area. Or book hotels with gyms or go for a run. Being away from home is no excuse and is probably easier to manage your diabetes as there us not a cupboard/larder/fridge full of bad foods to tempt you.

[Bigpud in reply to Andyman]

I never thought of it that way. Thank you I see it more positively now

[Activity2004 Administrator in reply to Bigpud]

Eat MORE PROTEIN with some carbs.. You can't cut carbs. out completely. Carbs. help keep your brain functioning properly.

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to Andyman]

I use unsalted nuts and seeds as my standby food. My other stand by is ready cooked chicken breasts or thighs. It's easy to get both in supermarkets / stores if I'm caught out alhough I have to say I don't really get caught out.

Good advice about exercise and asking for the food you want cooked the way you want it. I find restaurants very flexible these days.

[Peakyblinders]

Hi Bigpud,I'm struggling too! My diet has to change,and I have to wait for a local dietrician to make an appt for me.at the moment everything's brown eg bread ,rice, plenty of green veg and lots of fruit.i miss my chocolate and cream cakes,it's two weeks now since I've been told I'm pre diabetic, lots of changes from now on.

[Bigpud in reply to Peakyblinders]

Yes you feel like it is a punch to the gut. 6 months ago i was tested as part of a full screening test and was clear, no issues,nothing and now i have skipped prediabetes and went to type 2. I adore potato and due to a goiter find meat difficult to eat but I like nuts so will look to incorporate them in to my diet more along with fish. I am going to accept this as the kick up the bum I needed but was worried about the travel I think I will just need to plan better. I feel better after the advice on here

[warwickstag]

The advice from fruitandnutcase is excellent. I did exactly the same by changing my diet and refusing the Metformin. You can do this without the aid of drugs and eat better. Cut right down on the carbs, potato, bread, rice, pasta and the like and substitute with more veg and more fats and protein. The Paleo or caveman diet is very good. Eat like your ancestors before Big Pharma and Big Agri in liaison with the food processors conspired to remove fat from our diets and substitute sugar in its place. Eat meat, fish, chicken, nuts, seeds, lots of green veg and some fruit. Understand that Low fat does not mean healthy, it just means sugar has been added to replace the taste they have removed by lowering the fat content.

Diabetes is a disease of very recent origin and the remedies recommended by the Pharmaceutical Industry and the Medical Profession DO NOT work. It takes a leap of faith to swim against this very powerful tide but the statistical proof is on your side. Their products and potions have failed abjectly to stem the escalation of this avoidable disease. I recommend you read the following books if in doubt

Pure, White & Deadly by John Yudkin

The Great Cholesterol Con by Malcolm Kendrick

The Calorie Myth by Jonathan Bailor.

Good Luck. If I can do it, then so can you.

[Bigpud]

Ready to try anything. Looking in to this diet need to find substitutes for the cravings

[LibreLlama Volunteers]

I just want to add some balance to some other posts on here.

Diabetes is not a one size fits all condition.

Type 2 Diabetes accounts for around 93% of all people with diabetes.

Type 1 Diabetes makes up the rest and is an autoimmune condition. You can't prevent it or do anything to cause it. People with Type 1 Diabetes cannot live without daily injections of insulin. Without it they would die.

Type 2 Diabetes is NOT just caused by diet and weight as the press and media like to perpetuate. While diet and weight is a large contributor, it can also be caused by genetics, pregnancy, polycystic ovarian syndrome and many people just inherit it.

People with Type 2 Diabetes can be on a mixture of different management regimens, from diet control, tablets, insulin or a mixture of all of them.

Some people can reverse their Type 2 Diabetes by losing weight and taking the strain of their pancreas thus making their insulin production and cellular uptake more efficient. The diabetes does not go away and isn't cured. It is still there and they need to manage their weight and diet to prevent this progressive condition from reappearing.

Diabetes is NOT a modern and new disease. It was first documented as long ago as 1550 BC by physicians in Egypt.

The term Diabetes Mellitus originates in first century AD Greece. Diabetes comes from the ancient Greek word that means ‘siphon’. Mellitus comes from the Latin word for ‘honey’. Put together the two words mean ‘Sweet Urine’. We still use the term Diabetes Mellitus to describe the condition today.

Rant over, there are some great books and tools to help manage diabetes.

There are some good books I can recommend to start with. Wiley-Blackwell do a great range of Diabetes for Dummies books. They are great book with lots of information you can delve in and out of without the need to read from cover-to-cover tinyurl.com/nf5ngvo they also do a diabetes cookery book and edition called Hypoglycaemia for Dummies.

This book is awesome and probably one of the best tools you can use to learn how to carb-count, especially if you are on a basal - bolus regimen and dose adjusting. There is also an app version for smart and iPhones. I use both. My colleague Chris is the author. He's a diabetes specialist dietitian at Kings College. He won a Quality in Care (QiC) award for the book and app last year. It's a picture diary of hundreds of foods and drinks broken down into portion sizes and then allocated a carbohydrate and calorie value. This is a link to the website, if you want to order the book the link takes your straight to amazon carbsandcals.com the book itself has just been updated to a new version and a new title has been launched focussing on healthy food and salads.

[Activity2004 Administrator in reply to LibreLlama]

I totally agree with this! Both type 1 and 2 aren't the same. It's like people. Different people, different results.