My mother is a Type 2 diabetic. Her various doctors have told her to "lose weight" and "exercise more" and "watch what she eats" but she is really struggling. They haven't given her any specifics and her idea of dieting means having popcorn and Diet Coke for every meal. She tends to eat when she feels like it and take her medicine when she remembers.
Can anyone recommend a good, concise, easy to read book for someone with Type 2 diabetes?
Even a website with some bullet points would help.
The best site to begin with, I believe, is Blood Sugar 101. She explains in laymen's terms what's going on with diabetes, what the blood sugar meter shows, what the different medicines do, and how YOU can take control of your own disease. She also has sections that go through various studies, and explains them clearly, because there's SO much info out there it's easy to be overwhelmed. It's not the prettiest site, but it's chock-full of amazing information. It was the first major place I started reading after my diagnosis with pre-D, and I'm SOOOOO glad I found it!
For a book, I've heard "The First Year: Type 2 Diabetes" recommended over and over on the D boards. It is great for new diabetics, because we all deal with fear and denial and anger as we begin to accept that this disease will be with us the rest of our lives.
Another one that is recommended a LOT is "Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution". He works with both T1 and T2 diabetics. He touts very low carb, at least to begin, so you can see how your body reacts to various carbs. Plus, he teaches the "law of small numbers", where if you are taking medicine to counter-act the carbs you eat, it's easier to estimate the meds when you eat small amounts of carbs than when you eat large amounts.
If she's on insulin, she might want "Think Like a Pancreas". It's also recommended on the D boards a lot, especially for those who are beginning to use insulin and need to understand how it all works.
I've not read these three books but these are the ones that get recommended a lot on the three D boards I follow.
possibly something like diabetes for dummies or something like that would help. Many people have trouble understanding that "starchy" foods turn into sugar, and they have a hard time giving up those foods, as they just don't believe it.
Also, a basic book like the "New Atkins Diet" might be straightfoward and simple enough to follow for her.
Thanks so much! She's not on insulin yet but she thinks she's close.
Also, today I had an appointment with my doctor and because of my weight I've had a fasting glucose (which was fine but OMG, I thought I would puke that orange madness right up in the lab. I remember doing this when I was pregnant, but I had forgotten just what a bomb that Super KoolAid is on an empty stomach) and...that other three month reading? Which was just under the cut off for pre-diabetes. Her advice was eat low carb, try to lose weight, and start taking my blood sugar a few times a day to see how it responds. She gave me some general ranges for first thing in the morning, after eating, and several hours after eating. She gave me the ideal range for someone with controlled diabetes, and someone without diabetes, etc. My mom, for whatever reason, seems to have it in her head that 100 is her ideal number. Anything above is dangerously high and anything below is dangerously low. From what my doctor said, that's not true. I think my mom is really just in the dark about the whole situation. For instance, I have one book on pre-diabetes and another called The Blood Sugar Solution. BOTH place emphasis on exercise just as much as food -not just to help weight loss but to help control your blood sugar. This was kind of a revelation to my mom.
Anyway, as I am now inching up there myself, I'm very motivated to check all these things out, take notes, and pass them on to her. Maybe now I can convince her that even if a strawberry short cake is baked with Splenda, that doesn't mean it's a "safe" food.
How old is your mother, and can she generally solve complex problems outside of diabetes? (education and IQ points do not really measure that, and the ability to balance carbs and calories and exercise etc is a complex thinking thing).
If not, then a simple plan makes sense. THis may be why she is stuck on the 100 thing.
She's 60 and she easily picks up complex new things if she's interested in them. She's half decided that THIS IS JUST IMPOSSIBLE and THIS IS STUPID and THIS DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE (shades of helping my brother with his algebra homework, I tell ya). If she would ever stop being so defensive, she could figure this out. She's the kind of person who heard about Atkins in the 70s and eliminated vegetables from our family diet, and then heard about low carb in the 80s and eliminated fat and fed us rice cakes. She is not one for getting the whole picture or digging too deep.
The easiest thing is for me to check a few sources and then write distill everything into a few central points and then add on as we go.
She's smart, just super stubborn and looking for short cuts.
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Originally Posted by TheSecondHalf
My mother is a Type 2 diabetic. Her various doctors have told her to "lose weight" and "exercise more" and "watch what she eats" but she is really struggling. They haven't given her any specifics and her idea of dieting means having popcorn and Diet Coke for every meal. She tends to eat when she feels like it and take her medicine when she remembers.
Can anyone recommend a good, concise, easy to read book for someone with Type 2 diabetes?
Even a website with some bullet points would help.
Thanks!
I am 67 and your mother sounds just like me, except I know exactly what to do. I know what foods spike my glucose and which ones don't, and I know that exercise such as walking is paramount to keeping your glucose readings in mind. But I love carbs so much and I have a very hard time staying away from them and therefore I have a hard time keeping my glucose in line.
I think you have to use "tough love" with your mother. Find a website that talks about what high glucose can do to your body, such as losing your sight, having amputations, kidney failure etc. These are facts, and something she really needs to consider. If she would take a walk after meals it would really help.
She is just so hard headed and she gets her feelings hurt SO easily (does that stop her from being hyper critical of other people? Not it does not). I am going to do my best to read a few books and process the info, recommend some websites, and practice what I preach. You know, peer pressure.
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