# Newbie Type 2



## big_daddy (Mar 15, 2015)

Hello guys, I've been type 2 since October 2012, due to passing out during freshers week.

I am currently on metformin (slow-release) 1000mg twice a day, gliclazide 80mg twice a day, ramipril 10mg once daily, lixisenatide 10/20mg injection everyday (alternating between 10mg and 20mg fortnightly).

I am also a diet coke addict, have a binge eating disorder and weigh 23 stone 4 pounds (148kg). My eating patterns are awful and rarely test my blood sugar levels.


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## Northerner (Mar 15, 2015)

Hi big_daddy, welcome to the forum  Are you getting any help to tackle your eating disorder?


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## big_daddy (Mar 15, 2015)

Northerner said:


> Hi big_daddy, welcome to the forum  Are you getting any help to tackle your eating disorder?



Hello Northerner, I've had help with my binge eating, but it has not helped. My friends are supporting me, also I forgot to mention that I go the gym, but i've not been in 3 weeks.


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## Northerner (Mar 15, 2015)

big_daddy said:


> Hello Northerner, I've had help with my binge eating, but it has not helped. My friends are supporting me, also I forgot to mention that I go the gym, but i've not been in 3 weeks.



Sorry to hear that, but good that you have support from your friends. Have you considered joining a slimming club to give you a bit more motivation? Things can be much easier when you're not having to deal with them on your own.

What's putting you off going to the gym? If you could get some regular exercise going, even just a half hour's walk a day, it would probably help a lot with your blood sugar control, and maybe help you to feel better in yourself - I know I always get a boost to my spirits and energy when I have been out for a run


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## stephknits (Mar 15, 2015)

Welcome to the forum, big daddy.  You've come to a great place for help and support.


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## Lindarose (Mar 15, 2015)

Hi big_daddy and welcome If you read through this forum you can't fail to be inspired by the way some members have turned their lives around often reducing medication and improving life quality. It can feel like mission impossible but if you can start with slow steps and get into the right mind set sure you'll feel so much better. It's good to share the good and not so good days with people on here who know just how it feels Good luck


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## big_daddy (Mar 15, 2015)

Northerner said:


> Sorry to hear that, but good that you have support from your friends. Have you considered joining a slimming club to give you a bit more motivation? Things can be much easier when you're not having to deal with them on your own.
> 
> What's putting you off going to the gym? If you could get some regular exercise going, even just a half hour's walk a day, it would probably help a lot with your blood sugar control, and maybe help you to feel better in yourself - I know I always get a boost to my spirits and energy when I have been out for a run



I haven't considered slimming clubs as the ones that i've seen requires payment. Stress of uni work has put me off the gym, but i'm determined to go tomorrow.

I've decided to quit diet fizzy drinks and drink mainly water with a lemon or lime wedge or iced green tea with mint. I've been reccommended so many diets that I've totally got no clue what to do and i've tried LCHF, 5:2, vegan, vegitarian, gluten free and DASH.

I don't know what to do now and on top of that i've got a nutribullet yet to open and try out.


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## big_daddy (Mar 16, 2015)

My first morning without diet coke has been hard and my blood sugar levels are reducing down from 24.8 at 9am to 19.4 at 11am. Any suggestions on how to reduce them further?


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## Northerner (Mar 16, 2015)

big_daddy said:


> My first morning without diet coke has been hard and my blood sugar levels are reducing down from 24.8 at 9am to 19.4 at 11am. Any suggestions on how to reduce them further?



What are you eating for breakfast? It's a good idea to do some tests before and a couple of hours after eating so that you can fnd out how well (or otherwise) you are able to tolerate what you eat and drink - this can help you to decide how you might need to modify your diet in order to get better control. It does require a bit more testing than normal, but once you have established a good diet that suits you, then you will be able to reduce the tests. Have a read of Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S  for a good, practical and efficient guide to testing 

Diet Coke really shouldn't have any impact on your levels as it doesn't contain sugar. However, the caffeine content might be affecting things as it will increase your stress hormones, which can raise blood sugar levels.

Well done on going without, take it one day at a time and you will get there!


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## Copepod (Mar 16, 2015)

big_daddy said:


> I haven't considered slimming clubs as the ones that i've seen requires payment. Stress of uni work has put me off the gym, but i'm determined to go tomorrow.
> 
> I've decided to quit diet fizzy drinks and drink mainly water with a lemon or lime wedge or iced green tea with mint. I've been reccommended so many diets that I've totally got no clue what to do and i've tried LCHF, 5:2, vegan, vegitarian, gluten free and DASH.
> 
> I don't know what to do now and on top of that i've got a nutribullet yet to open and try out.



I'm not sure, but slimming clubs might have reduced rates for students? While that still costs, you may find it easier to stick with guidance you have paid for? The value of slimming clubs is leadership and encouragement from fellow members. There are online versions, so, so worth looking at those and ask about student discount. I think that might be a better investment than a nutribullet gadget, but you've already bought that and haven't opened yet.

You'll get caffeine withdrawl headaches if you give up diet coke cold turkey, so it might be better to cut down gradually.


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## Northerner (Mar 16, 2015)

It's possible also that your GP might offer weight loss classes fr free - worth inquiring  Also, just think of all that money you will save on the Coke - you won't know what to do with it all!  Slimmers World has been very popular and successful for a lot of our members, worth having a browse of the weight loss section of the forum to read people's experiences.


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## banjo (Mar 18, 2015)

Have you tried to do a food diary? Use a phone/tablet app or simply write down your food and drink consumption i have found i helped me a lot to see what i was actually eating in a day - kinda surprised me lol. Also i think from reading the news links that Northener posts here every day that getting on the scales at the same time every day is also a useful way to help loose weight. I have lost 10 pounds a month for the last 3.5 months like this. Hope its some help to you.


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## Andy HB (Mar 19, 2015)

Hello there. Welcome to the forum. I was diagnosed in October 2009 and to be honest I was not too different from you now with regards to lifestyle and weight (although my max weight was around 20st before I lost some of that prior to diagnosis due to extreme insulin resistance). I was also much older (now being over 50).

Anyway, I just wanted to point out that I sorted myself out without the need of slimming clubs or gyms. I just got good advice from people I trusted, went on a course that the NHS provided (XPert) and went on regular daily walks (starting off slowly but eventually doing on hour a day for around four miles). It took a couple of years and I sorted myself out, now around 15st (in the process of getting that down to 14st again) and off all medication. Incidentally, I feel great too (still better than I was twenty years ago!).

The thing is not to give up and to stay positive. It isn't easy and the body has the habit of throwing in curve-balls! You need to be able to keep going despite those.

Good luck and best wishes, 

Andy 

P.s. Just read banjos comment about daily weighing. I did that too, but you MUST be objective about it if you do that. Weight loss will never be a nice straight line downwards. I often found that one day I go up 2lbs only to lose 3lbs the next day!


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## big_daddy (Mar 19, 2015)

Andy HB said:


> Hello there. Welcome to the forum. I was diagnosed in October 2009 and to be honest I was not too different from you now with regards to lifestyle and weight (although my max weight was around 20st before I lost some of that prior to diagnosis due to extreme insulin resistance). I was also much older (now being over 50).
> 
> Anyway, I just wanted to point out that I sorted myself out without the need of slimming clubs or gyms. I just got good advice from people I trusted, went on a course that the NHS provided (XPert) and went on regular daily walks (starting off slowly but eventually doing on hour a day for around four miles). It took a couple of years and I sorted myself out, now around 15st (in the process of getting that down to 14st again) and off all medication. Incidentally, I feel great too (still better than I was twenty years ago!).
> 
> ...



if you don't mind me asking but what foods did you eat as I am currently struggling on what to buy as i've been told to eat high fat foods by one of my diabetic friends at home and I've  tried it, but is not for me. I want to include more fruit into my diet as I have a nutribullet and love to make smoothies.


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## Andy HB (Mar 19, 2015)

I would be very cautious about fruit smoothies, if I were you. If you can test your blood sugars then it will be a good idea to do so because you may find that they send you sky high. 

Personally, I just ate normally. I didn't follow any particular diet. I just kept an eye on the carbohydrates and tested before and 2hrs after meals (on the basis of one test per day .... slow to get information, but wasn't unworkable for me). Rather than looking at how much my blood sugars went up after meals, I simply to tried to be within certain ranges 

1) Before meals --> 4 - 7 mmol/L
2) 2hrs after meals --> 7 - 9 mmol/L
3) Avoid <4 mmol/L (hypo)
4) Avoid >10 mmol/L (hyper)

Luckily for me, I usually fell into those ranges, but when high, I just went for a walk and it always came down.

Anyway, back to food! I ate regularly (breakfast, midday and evening) spreading the carbohydrate intake. Breakfast consisted of either porage or toast (not always the best for most people, but I was ok with that). I controlled how much I had, of course! Midday, was usually a single slice of toast with something (half a can of baked beans or mackerel in tomato sauce). Evening, was just bog standard meals (meat and three veg), but often included quorn in the form of quorn chilli. Occasionallly I had rice with that but very small quantities. Usually, I had three small new potatoes and various vegetables.

Note that my carb intake was not low by most people's standards, but it worked for me because I could see what sent me high and what didn't. I quickly learned that any form of granola was to be avoided at all costs! Even though it is something I really like!

Finally, I did get a bit 'anal' about things and set up a really comprehensive spreadsheet which calculated calories, carb, protein, fat, salt etc for every meal I cooked (I usually cooked from scratch post-diagnosis ... no ready meals or take-aways ..... much!). Another spreadsheet was used to record my ongoing weight loss (in the form of a downwards roller-coaster) and when my final weight target would be reached (with pretty graphs and everything!). I don't do that any more, it got rather tedious. 

Andy 

p.s. I did eat fruit, but only in the form of an apple, clementine, banana on their own. Maybe one or two a day as snacks or 'puddings'


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## big_daddy (Mar 19, 2015)

Andy HB said:


> I would be very cautious about fruit smoothies, if I were you. If you can test your blood sugars then it will be a good idea to do so because you may find that they send you sky high.
> 
> Personally, I just ate normally. I didn't follow any particular diet. I just kept an eye on the carbohydrates and tested before and 2hrs after meals (on the basis of one test per day .... slow to get information, but wasn't unworkable for me). Rather than looking at how much my blood sugars went up after meals, I simply to tried to be within certain ranges
> 
> ...



Thanks for the info Andy, my blood sugars are all over the place as I was hypo at 2:30am and then, just after going the gym I am now hyper and feeling very hungry as well as very thirsty for diet coke.

I have many test strips and I only test once or twice a day, not 5 or 6 times a day.


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## banjo (Mar 19, 2015)

yeah andy my weight can vary by 3 pounds over 2 days lol. PS daddy cut back on the diet coke dont just cold turkey if u ask me, u may be drink too much but there are no calories in it. I have it as a treat some days. good luck and keep asking questions on here. So many good people who can help


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