I have just been diagnosed T2 and I am struggling to get my head around how to approach this. I understand the requirement to change lifestyle, lose weight, etc.. I am keen to do this, but I am finding it difficult to identify what I can eat and what I can't.
I am hoping to work hard on weight lose in conjunction with taking medication. Any advice on how I can tell what is working and what is not?
I am trying to take a positive view on this by thinking that the fact I need to lose weight and eat better etc. might have other health benefits going forward.
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Deacon27
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surprisingly enough, I thought that the gp and or nurse would be my best source of help but they have not given any advice that is in agreement, one says one thing and the other says something else. I came on here and was given some advice about purchasing a book called Reverse your type 2 diabetes by Dr Robert Cavan which i have purchased, and it is like the veils have come from my eyes. I also purchased a meter to check my levels so i can see what sends my levels up and what stabilises them. I was talking to a lady in the chemist yesterday who has also been recently diagnosed and she too is struggling and does not know where to seek help. I have given her this site and hope she joins up too.
We are all in this together (to coin a phrase) and sometimes we are the best people to help each other!
Hello ! I have been T1 for more than 50yrs. I do NOT sit still for more than 5 mins ( my mates take the mick out of me) . Being active is good for anybody. I have two of my very good friends off all meds for there T2 & it is possible. Porridge for breakfast is good, slow release of carbs. Less carbs is good. Good luck
You have to take less carbs and high fats. So try to find out amount of carbs in your food. Take help of google to know that. Add exercise to the diet plan.
One good start is if your medical centre has a programme that you can attend. There are many names for some of the local courses but DESMOND, BERTIE, X-pert are some of the names. If you have a local course run by the nurses, this would be a good start to understand your system and more about foods. Exercise can be anything of action that we like doing, such as walking, jogging, swimming, dancing, gardening - I hope you see the picture. You are up and moving and burning calories. If you like doing it, you could consider it exercise but if you are enjoying it - you want to get it into your living schedule. At least 30 minutes a day for five or six days a week is the recommended least time to get going. Mixing these two together, will benefit your condition. There is a lot more, but it is important to be able to lay a foundation on the means of healthy living and prevention of complications in the future. Enquire where you would be able to sign up for the first course available and don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions. Wishing you success for the future.
Once you have been told what you have, the confusion will set in as normal. Are you good with vegetables? Pulses and beans give you slow release carbs and you need proteins and some fats to help (nuts and butter in the background) or virgin oil for frying at times. Sometimes carrot sticks, celery etc are good for snacking. There is a wonderful book called "Calcs and Carbs" that can be a good guide for consumption of different foods. I highly recommend you getting in touch with your surgery/clinic and ask to go on a course X-Pert, DESMOND (DESMOND-Project.org.uk) [Diabetes Education and Self Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed] and there are other names. I just looked it up and you can take and e-learning course for free. The information value is great and can give you some building blocks. Rome wasn't built in a day, but you can work on bits of knowledge to help you along. There is a map to identify the area that you are in and find out what hospital/surgery or clinic can offer for you. Getting some walking in or cycling, swimming, dancing are some ways to get started. Its not so much exercise but rather staying active in some way and burning calories that helps. Getting the course will give you some tools to work with. I hope this is some helpful areas for you to look further into to get started. Tell us how you are getting on and we will do our best to help you along. One last thing, no dietician will tell you that you can't have some things, but just be aware that you can have anything but in moderation. I'll give you an example. It took me three months to teach myself to have a bite size of a chocolate bar, put it back in the fridge and walk away from it (as I love chocolate). I now have that discipline to do it. I make that bite last a long time and don't look back. Best wishes to you and learn all that you can about your condition and ask questions wherever necessary.
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