Probably a stupid question. Just diagnosed with Type II but given 3 months to get sugar down myself. My doctor seems more concerned with losing weight than what I eat. It seems to me that lower (and better) carbs, more water and exercise should be the ticket without losing weight. (Though I hope to lose weight also.) What do you guys think from your experience?
I will try to respond to your question but remember that my advice comes from a fellow traveler on this journey - not medical advice.
I was diagnosed 15 months ago. My A1c was 13.6 I was encouraged to begin a fairly low carb diet with portion control. I started eating about 75 carbs per day and making healthy low fat choices. I lost about 6 pounds per month for a long stretch.
Exercise is so important to stabilizing blood sugar, in my opinion. My 3 month A1c dropped to 6.5 at the 3 month mark. For the last nine months, it has been in the 5's. My fasting rates are rarely above 85.
With testing, and some experimentation, you will learn what foods cause your bs to raise and those that don't.
Good luck, hang in there! Glad to have you as a part of this group!
Fly-by again. I should not have to fret about sleeping late on a Sunday.
Kris, welcome to our corner of the Forum. Yes, cutting the carbs and drinking water plus exercise will not only help you lose more weight but will lower your BGL. Rie is right. It also worked for me.
181.2 this morning so I am getting close to re-establishing my ticker. BGL was 5.3, probably from a slightly carby supper, not the one I'd planned. I start back at the gym tomorrow morning which always pulls me back on track foodwise.
Hi Kris: welcome to the journey! Your doctor is right, in that losing weight by any means (even high carb, low fat diets) reduces your insulin resistance and therefore your blood sugars. Doing the weight loss with lower carbs and exercise will also help you control your blood sugar and therefore prevent further damage from diabetes. Whichever you do, will only work if you can stick to it, so steadiness is the key. When you do go off plan a bit, (and we all do from time to time) do not beat yourself up, but just get back to normal again and keep plugging away at it.
If you don't have an appointment for diabetic education and sugar testing yet, ask for it. We can also recommend some good reading, from "diabetes for dummies" to the on-line page "bloodsugar101" . You can usually get a free blood sugar metre for the cost of 100 test strips, or you can request a free one from the manufacturer. Check out the prices of the strips, they have a big range in prices and if you are not covered by insurance, its a big cost. As far as we know, there is no disadvantage to having the cheaper strips (walmart relion for instance), as there don't seem to be published studies about the accuracy of one brand over another. By law they have to be accurate to within a certain percentage only.
For my part, the dinner party last night was lovely, but I should have taken a dessert, I succumbed to having a couple of chocolates at the end of the evening, and a few crackers with the cheeses, so a little higher carb than usual. I used a cat allergy as an excuse to leave at 930 pm, so I would stop eating. Well, any way we deal with temptation is ok, right?
I did get out for a trail walk with the dog yesterday too.
Today I am going to see baby Lilia, can you believe she will be 1 year old in 2 weeks? She is just back from her Christmas in Holland, so I can't wait to see her. If this is how I am with my daughters' friends kids, imagine what a doting grandma I will be! Ok, yes, I will be over the top.
happy sunday....
doing ok, just ok. i just got back from the gym with DH. had a nice workout. got in a little running, some walking and weights. feeling pretty good.
i got a part time job. it starts tomorrow. it will be for 9 am to 7 pm. i will answer phones for the trainers at the gym. they are having a biggest loser promotion. so for the week i will be sitting and making appointments. and the pay is $100 a day. i can sit on my behind for that money, and just the week.
need to get a chicken in the oven for some meals for the week and plan the others. crock pot here i come. at least maybe on my breaks i can get on a treadmill or something for a few minutes. LOL. that's a perk.
later
fbs at 81 this morning and my weight is dropping a fraction every day so I feel comfortable with my ticker. My eating has been really good, although I indulged in a glass of wine last night. I still came in way under calorie and carb goals.
Sometimes I notice that people here mention wine as raising bs? Am I getting that right? For me, a glass or two of wine puts me at risk of a low. For example, last night, at bedtime, I was at 68, despite having a small piece of chocolate cake a party. Anyone else have this experience? I have tested within an hour of drinking wine and my bs is dropping? Weird.
Mad, enjoy the visit with the little one. Yes, it will even be better with your own grand kids. However, I still tend to be grandma to everyone.
Ruth, it is good that you slept in a little. It is Sunday.
Chipper, enjoy the day and your new job this week. It sounds like fun.
Trish, hope your internet gets repaired soon. I know that we will miss you.
Kris, good morning! How are you feeling and are you getting some information on a plan?
Bonnie, I hope you are out there somewhere doing well.
Rie
Last edited by Riemontana; 01-08-2012 at 05:16 PM.
Reason: typo
Rie: I feel fine. I have been doing lower carb with a caloric limit, more water and exercise for several weeks now. I don't test anything so don't know numbers. I go back for blood work in 2.5 months. My BFS has been slowly creeping up over the last few years with "pre-D" numbers, but my A1c was always okay. With a BFS reading of 129 2 weeks ago, I needed to take control.
Before, I ate mostly healthy foods during the day but craved carbs late afternoons and evenings, and ate mega-sugar junk every night. I'm off the junk carbs and do not have the cravings any more! Love it! As long as I stay away from the trigger carbs, I seem to be okay with the quantity of food.
Kris The others have given you some really good advice just as they did me when I came to this thread after I learned I was diabetic. My step-sisters DH was diagnosed diabetic T2 several years ago. He tested himself after everything that he ate and learned what raised his blood sugar, how much and what didn't raise it. He has kept his bs under control ever since without fail. So I did the same thing, but I had a problem finding a plan that I could live with that fits my lifestyle and my personality. So I took a long journey to search for it. And it is beginning to really work for me. My doctor told me that "any" diet would work; I just had to find the one that I could live with. I do lowcarb/lowfat combed with WW Plus Pts. I also use the Intuitive Eating rules with it. I only eat when I'm really hungry and I eat only what I want savoring every bite and I stop when I'm satisfied. I don't allow myself to overeat.
As far the strips, I use Walmart's Relion strip because they are cheaper and I get the same reading as I get with the One Touch meter the doctor's office gave me. I tested with both to be sure. Also Medicare will help pay for only one prescription for me to test once a day because my bs reading wasn't high enough to test more often. I think there may be others out there but I'm not sure.
I read somewhere that those who take control of their own diabetic journey are the one who succeed. My doctor told me he could tell who works at it and who doesn't. So remember this journey is something you do for YOU.
Don't be afraid to ask questions here or of with doctor and of course of those he may send you to in order to educate and help you. Also remember that what works for you may not work for someone else and vice versa. For example... My daughter can eat high carbs and follows the regular diabetic diet without raising her BS. I can't and never could because it raises my FBS reading. Most people can eat a regular serving of oatmeal. I cannot, but I can eat half a serving with no problem.
A quick flyby as I heard the baby calling "Nannie" which means his nap is over.
Just want to say that I am very excited about this way I've learned to do low carb/low carb WW/IE thing I'm doing. It really works for me. Today was my WI day and I've changed the ticker to show that I have lost a total of 15 lbs now. I hope to be in the 2teens next Sunday.
Good morning. Today I'm back to reality - returning to the gym and re-instating my ticker. BGL tested a tad high this morning. I wonder if munching my way through a packet of candied ginger hand something to do with it. A friend and I indulged in a bottle of the leftover bubbly which may have had something to do with it!
fbs at 85 this morning. I lifted weights for the first time in a long time. It is not my favorite exercise routine but I believe that it is good for me. My weight is still ticking down slowly day by day, ounce by ounce. I am eating my mega fiber breakfast as I type this.
Ruth, I hope that you enjoyed the bottle of the bubbly. I guess that wine raises your bs? I think I posted a couple days ago that I am convinced that it lowers mine. Weird.
Well, here's to starting a healthy week and enjoying the process of taking care of us. For me, when I try to see it as a pleasant task and have a better attitude, it is easier. Be Back Later.
Nope, wine does lower my BS too, Rie. I think it was the carby dinner followed by the candied ginger. I usually run around 4.3 (77.4) in the a.m. which is supposed to be a non-diabetic FBGL.
Ruthie & Rie I'm not sure wine does anything to my FBS. I've drank it hoping it would lower it, but didn't help significantly.
Ruthie You are so cute. I've never had candied ginger and don't want to as I absolutely love ginger cookies so I'm sure candied ginger would not be safe around me. LOL
Rie I told DH today that I'm going to work out my own exercise routine. I don't really have room to do any of my dvd exercises that I like. But I've done enough exercises over the years to make up my own routine in the little space I have in my bedroom. I can do the stationary bike for a few minutes but not for a long time. I've decided that any exercise is better than none. This is why I go out by myself sometime and just walk around in stores window shopping. My Daddy used to do that, but walked at a much faster pace than I do.
I was so proud of my DH today. I had to go pick up our prescriptions and asked him if he wanted to go. I figured he would just let me go in and put the prescription in and then go back and drop me off to pick it up. He dropped me off so I could turn in the script and then drove to Steak 'n Shake to eat lunch. When we went back to get the meds, I was surprised that he parked the car and wanted to go inside. He would walk around a bit and then sit down, but he even did some shopping. He felt he should do what he could and I know he was pushing himself so I was so very proud of him.
I was off plan a bit at lunch, because I made a wrong choice. I ordered the chili because it said it had onions and cheese in it. It didn't mention that it was mostly beans which are not on Dukan Diet. However, I was right back OP when I got home. Then I read some more on the Dukan Diet thread I had found on a lc site and learned that #1 many of them tweak and modify the diet to fit them. And one lady who has lost loads of weight on this diet said not to think of it as a cheat, but to think of it as just choosing an off plan meal and then get right back on at the next meal. So that is what I did. I still don't like the idea of cutting back so much on the fat and learned that some of them modify that as well and still lose weight. They are looking for healthy weight loss and that is how they modify it to fit their life so they can live with it for life.
So over all, our day has been very good. Hope all is well with everyone.
had dessert yesterday when out to brunch, so sat down and thought out the next two weeks. Decided I want to eat the Indian food at Lilia's birthday extravaganza in 2 weeks, so will stay strictly on plan until then. So today, it was my administrators birthday, I bought her favourite pie, (raspberry custard) and didn't have any. Had a very delicious healthy lunch, and enjoyed the company of co-workers, without the pie. I will consciously not have the sweets, and remind myself of the wonderful indian food coming up at the birthday party.
Went to yoga this evening, and generally had a good day.
Planned all meals today, including snacks for before yoga, and DH followed my meal plan and supper was ready when I got home. Heaven, I think.
Hope everyone else had a good Monday
I was encouraged to begin a fairly low carb diet with portion control. I started eating about 75 carbs per day and making healthy low fat choices. I lost about 6 pounds per month for a long stretch.
I start back at the gym tomorrow morning which always pulls me back on track foodwise. 
The others have given you some really good advice just as they did me when I came to this thread after I learned I was diabetic. My step-sisters DH was diagnosed diabetic T2 several years ago. He tested himself after everything that he ate and learned what raised his blood sugar, how much and what didn't raise it. He has kept his bs under control ever since without fail. So I did the same thing, but I had a problem finding a plan that I could live with that fits my lifestyle and my personality. So I took a long journey to search for it. And it is beginning to really work for me. My doctor told me that "any" diet would work; I just had to find the one that I could live with. I do lowcarb/lowfat combed with WW Plus Pts. I also use the Intuitive Eating rules with it. I only eat when I'm really hungry and I eat only what I want savoring every bite and I stop when I'm satisfied. I don't allow myself to overeat. 
