Hi Jody, sorry to hear you’ve been feeling unwell. I’ve never taken any medication for my diabetes so have limited knowledge about the medication. I know if it’s Metformin you’ve been prescribed some people are OK with it (usually after a few weeks) but there are lots of others who find it makes them unwell. If it is Metformin, there is a slow release version which I understand is better/gentler on the stomach than the ordinary one. It would be worth checking which one you have, and ask to switch to the slow release version if things don’t improve.
You mention about your exercise. If you’re feeling really tired, I wonder if it’s worth pulling back a bit on your exercise for now while you get used to the new way of eating? I know Roy Taylor, who Verano mentions, originally suggested people don’t do any exercise during the weeks they are having 800 calories. I started exercising but not until a good few weeks in. It’s the way of eating that makes the biggest difference to Type II diabetes.
In terms of the ‘diet’ if you’re barely functioning I think you’ve done the right thing by increasing what you eat for now. I’ve read of quite a few people who start by just cutting out the big carbs e.g. potatoes, rice, pasta etc and then gradually lower their carbs over time if and when they need to. If you’re not using one, a tip from me would be to use one of the food trackers (I use fatsecret.co.uk, others use MyFitnessPal, but there may be others more suited for you in Australia). It will help you keep track of exactly how many cals and carbs you are having each day. With Type II the carbs are key. Knowing how many you’re eating daily means when you go back for your next HBa1c blood test if your blood sugars haven’t lowered enough, you can then lower the number of carbs you’re eating. A lot of people on here start at 50g carbs per day. Hope that makes sense.
Your food looks good (I’m assuming your veg is above ground, low-carb veg), the only thing there that I couldn’t have is the hummus but I know others can eat it. Btw, if you haven’t come across it dietdoctor.com is a really good site, I particularly like their visual guides on vegetables etc https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/visual-guides
The only other thing feeling tired could link to is ‘carb flu’ – I didn’t really get it but lots of people do for the first 1 or 2 weeks – if you use the search box you’ll find lots of discussions about it.
After all that, I’ll end on the positive – brilliant news in fact – the BSD definitely works! Verano, myself and many others have put our diabetes into remission. You will too, just stick with it. It’ll get better. Any other questions just shout out. Lots of us here to help.
Jennie xx
