# New on Forum T2 for a few years.



## Seaboots (Jan 13, 2020)

Hello everyone,
I was diagnosed T2 diabetic several years ago and put on Gliclazide and which was changed to 2 X 500 Yaltformin a few months ago.
Had my bloods done this month and was told it was 73 and that I needed to reduce it, and was put onto 2 X 1000 Yaltformin. 
I have wrongly assumed that because of my medication it would allow me to eat what I want within reason so long as I didn't go stupid.
Now I am going to have to change my diet, at 72  (11st 7lb) that's a bit of a shock but have accepted things have to change.
If anyone can point me to what fruits,cereals,vegetables to eat would be a good start, or a book to help with weight loss and recipes for easy meals.
Sorry it's a long post
Many thanks for reading.


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## SueEK (Jan 13, 2020)

Hi Seaboots and welcome. A lot of us T2s go low carb as we find that not only does it reduce our bg levels but also works for losing weight. Therefore bread, pasta, rice and potatoes should be severely reduced, depending on how much you eat in the first place. I believe most cereals are a no go but some people have Oats (not sure which type) with natural yoghurt and berries. Any fruit with berry in the name seems to be ok but fruit, especially things like pineapple, mangos etc are full of natural sugars and bananas are high carb as well. Having said that things that are ok are meat, fish including shellfish, eggs, green leafy veg, though I think most are fine and certainly better than a plateful of potatoes.
These are just the basics so have a look at the recipe section and others will be along to help you as well.  I have a booked called Carbs and cals which showed loads of foods on differing plate sizes which shows the carbs in them, don’t bother looking at the calories just the carbs, same as labels in the shops, just the total carbohydrates.
A glucose meter is a good thing to have as that way if you test before eating and again two hours later you will find out what foods do and do not spike you. I have found I can have more potatoes than I originally thought I could but shouldn’t touch pasta (shame).
Ask any questions you may have, we are all happy to help.  Sue


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## Toucan (Jan 13, 2020)

Hello Seaboots, and welcome to the forum.
It can be difficult to change eating habits later in life, but it can be done!
Something that may help is to take a read of Maggie Davey's letter - that gives some ideas of how Maggie coped with the problem, and some ideas of what to eat,
There is no ' one size fits all' with eating plans, so you will need to work out what suites you, but I'll give you an outline of what I eat.

The 'can eats'
Chicken, fish, red meats and cheese (but not too often), eggs, milk, yoghurt, red meats and cheese.
Most green vegetables, some root vegetables.
Fruit - maximum of one portion a day, and best if this is berries.
Very limited amount of low-carb bread or crispbread.

Things to restrict
Sugary things - cakes, chocolates, sweets, sweet drinks, except for very occassional treats
White things - rice, pasta, potatoes, anything made with white flour.

If you look in the Food/carb queries + recipes there are many ideas here for cooking and recipes.
Hope this helps, and we'd be interested to know how it goes.


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## Ralph-YK (Jan 13, 2020)

Welcome to the forum Seaboots from a fellow T2.
73  is that a HbA1c result?


Seaboots said:


> 2 X 500 Yaltformin


Would that be metformin?


Seaboots said:


> If anyone can point me to what fruits,cereals,vegetables to eat would be a good start,


Personally I dumped all cereals.
I'd advise getting a meter and self testing. The Code free has the best price. This will show what affect food has on your blood glucose (BG) levels. And any changes you make. Test before and 1-2 hours after eating.
Keep a food diary along with a record of your levels. After a couple of weeks you should start to see a pattern.


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## Drummer (Jan 13, 2020)

For some reason there seems to have been a whole raft of people arriving in recent days all without the basic information that the problem is carbs, the starches and sugars - many are told to exercise and lose weight, but the problem is the carbohydrates they cannot deal with.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Jan 13, 2020)

Welcome to the forum @Seaboots 

There are lots of experienced, friendly folks here to share their experiences and offer a few pointers.

Great that you have decided to make some positive changes to your diet - I’m sure with the support of folks here you will see your BGs falling in no time


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## Eddy Edson (Jan 13, 2020)

Usually I'm dubious about cure-yr-diabetes books, but I do recommend the one just published by Prof Roy Taylor, "Life Without Diabetes": https://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Without-Diabetes-definitive-understanding/dp/1780724098

The basic message: lose a bunch of weight, and secondarily manage carbs = good chance of putting T2 diabetes into remission. The book has a really clear explanation of glucose metabolism, and why the weight loss etc can help, plus a bunch of suggested recipes (which I've only skimmed).

It's based on research funded by Diabetes UK, and now being rolled out by the NHS in England and Scotland. 

Taylor is donating his proceeds from the book to Diabetes UK.

Anyway, the weight-loss-plus-moderate-carb approach has worked excellently for me and it's well worth looking into. More info at https://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/reversal/#publicinformation


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## Seaboots (Jan 13, 2020)

Thank you everyone for your welcome and suggestions and information.
(It's Yaltormin not Yaltformin that I take.) I also have to start in a week Sitagliptin 1 X 100mg.
There is quite a lot of reading I need to do about what food to eat. My Grandchildren keep offering me Maltesers, normally it would be just a few without even thinking.
I do eat low sugar biscuits and have sweeteners in my hot drinks along with sugar free fizzy drinks, looks like Muffins and Donuts are out of the window .
Will keep you all informed on my food choices and blood reading .
Thanks again everyone.


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## Docb (Jan 13, 2020)

Hi Seaboots.  Just looked up Yaltormin and it is in fact metformin under another name and so it is the same as many of the rest of us are taking.


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## Drummer (Jan 13, 2020)

Low sugar biscuits? Did you check the carb content?


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## Neens (Jan 13, 2020)

Hi @Seaboots and welcome, I see lots of people have posted sound advice on which foods are best. The links to the recipe pages are useful. The other useful advice (which will be in the links) is vegetables from below the ground are higher in carbs (so I avoid or have infrequently). 
The thing I have found hard is that there is no one size fits all/ diet plan you can follow. I am recently diagnosed and they say Diabetics can eat any food/nothing is banned... but obviously you and I have to give the donuts up! 

If you have already had 2 years of diabetes without this forum, then you are in the right place. There are so many helpful and knowledgeable people here. 

Good luck.


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## Neens (Jan 13, 2020)

@Drummer/ @Seaboots I haven't done extensively biscuits research because it would set my sweet tooth off... I already have a cake container full of nuts under the desk, which I am delighted I stocked on diagnosis (early Dec.) and have only 1 packet was emptied and a couple of snack pots. I have to get my head around nuts (which I appreciate aren't low fat) but are low carb and a very useful/satisfying snack. As I have only done Low Fat diets (Slimming World) before diabetes this is a whole new playing field. 

I have been keeping a food diary and the lowest biscuits I ate by accident (I was out and they were free with coffee and then the refill was free and came with another one) was Lotus biscuits. 5.7 carbs. Malted milk and NICE biscuits are 5g carbs.
@Seaboots maybe swap a sweet one for savoury? Some crackers come in under 5 carbs.


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## Drummer (Jan 13, 2020)

I have a proper meal for my breakfast which would be equal to two of those biscuits or crackers -  in terms of the carbs, but is way more nutritious. I would advise against such high carb foods


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## Neens (Jan 13, 2020)

Drummer said:


> I have a proper meal for my breakfast which would be equal to two of those biscuits or crackers -  in terms of the carbs, but is way more nutritious. I would advise against such high carb foods


^ I would listen to @Drummer.
I didn't mean to lead anyone astray - just if someone needs to have a biscuit a 5 carb is better than 9g-13g+ options.   
I am weaning off and actually lost weight once I stopped adding these 'wasted' carbs. I often make a low carb dinner and am full and then another day, think wow - that whole meal was equal in carbs to this breakfast! 

Eggs are good too.


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## Seaboots (Jan 13, 2020)

Drummer said:


> Low sugar biscuits? Did you check the carb content?


No I just read "no sugar" bought them and binned the box at home, looks like a dip in my recycle bin in the morning to check . I've only ever looked at sugar content never carb contents before on anything I've bought.


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## rebrascora (Jan 14, 2020)

As others have said, sugars are just a part of the total carbs and your body will break down all carbs into glucose, so please get used to looking at the (usually tiny) label with nutritional info on the back of the packet where you will find Total Carbohydrates listed, usually about half way down the list and make sure you take your reading glasses with you when you go shopping so that you can check before you buy.


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## Ralph-YK (Jan 14, 2020)

The total carbs listed on the label includes the sugar, so you're still taking that into account when looking at the carbs listed


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## Seaboots (Jan 15, 2020)

Supermarket day today,
Been reading the labels as we've been shopping some of labels are pretty small to read, so it took a bit longer to get around. Mostly fresh vegetables and fruit.
I have also been testing my blood before and after meals and also keeping a diary so I know if anything spikes
my readings.
All my usual sweet stuff has been binned,but,I have treated myself to a bar of  chocolate (85% cocoa-Carbs 4.6g/ sugar 3.5g per 25g) Does this sound ok if I just a piece or two ? 
I am sure won't taste like my usual Milk Chocolate with nuts and raisins . 
Thanks


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## Drummer (Jan 15, 2020)

Chocolate is the only thing I buy which has over 10 percent carbs, but I eat it one square at a time, and not every day.
I buy packs of frozen mixed veges, checking for those without sweetcorn, and the lowest carbs, also frozen types with few enough carbs. I roast a lot of the veges, in olive oil, or do stir fry. I quite like roasted celeriac, swede or turnip but some don't like the strong flavour, though that can be reduced by baking and mashing with butter or cream...
I have been known to use a magnifying sheet on packaging when trying to see the information - it is a piece of ridged plastic which somehow acts as a magnifier. Very handy


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## SueEK (Jan 15, 2020)

I take a photo on my phone of the label and then enlarge the photo, it’s the only way to see them sometimes!


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## Seaboots (Jan 15, 2020)

Had shepherds pie tonight with 5% mince and onion, and green beans on the side.
Made swede and carrot mash, but I don't think that will be on my menu again .


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## Ralph-YK (Jan 16, 2020)

That's not much mince


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## grovesy (Jan 16, 2020)

Ralph-YK said:


> That's not much mince


I suspect that 5% refers to the percentage of fat in the mince.


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## rebrascora (Jan 16, 2020)

I always buy at least 10% fat beef mince but usually 15 or 20% fat. It has much more flavour than the lean minced steak and I can use the leftover fat for cooking veg in so that they get the flavour of the meat too. Cauli mash with a good dollop of cream cheese tastes great and is a much better substitute for potato than carrot and swede although they are nice with a good knob of butter mashed into them. I bought a celeriac tonight to try that mashed. Not had it before.
Don't be frightened to add a bit of extra fat to your diet if you are eating low carb.... it provides an alternative source of energy (calories) takes longer to digest and therefore keeps you fuller for longer, doesn't spike your BG like carbs and makes food taste good, which means that you enjoy your food and don't end up yoyo dieting


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## Seaboots (Jan 16, 2020)

Yes it was 5% fat content, but weighed 500g between the two of us using a well know recipe apart from the swede and mash. I willl give the cauliflower mash ago next time I do a shepherds pie, when I should be eating mashed potatoes.
Tonight is beef stew with carrots/onion cooking in slow cooker, and maybe a Yorkshire pudding to put it in.
I also have some sprouts which I might use as well. Bought several bags of frozen veg including one of my favourites "cauliflower with cheese " I find bags of frozen veg handy but prefer fresh carrots not sure why .
Time now to prick my finger for my before dinner meal .
Bye for now.


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## Ralph-YK (Jan 16, 2020)

Seaboots said:


> Tonight is beef stew with carrots/onion cooking in slow cooker, and maybe a Yorkshire pudding to put it in.


*{visits Seaboots}* 


Seaboots said:


> I also have some sprouts which I might use as well.


 On second thought! *{leaves}*


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