Was diagnosed with T2D week before last, have tried to reduce carbs already, but need to get serious.

Day 1 is tomorrow…

My most nervous concern is pangs of hunger during the first week, so any practical experiences that worked for others to get into the new groove, so to speak would be most welcome…

Also anyone using a Blood sugar monitor, when is the best time to take readings, other than around meals? E g before or after exercise…

many thanks,
Steve

Hi,
Take it in stages, cut out the main carbs first, the bread, pasta, pizza, rice, chocolate, fruit, pastry. Then use an app on your mobile phone to log everything you eat and tweek what you eat to bring carbs down to your target level. I found fatsecret the best.

Increase your salt intake, when you go low carb your body releases the water it has stored to help it process the sugar, so you are loosing electrolytes and need to replace them.

When you get cravings for carbs, remember that your gut bacteria do have the facility to send triggers to the brain. When you change your diet to reduce the levels of carbs the bacteria that depend on you eating carbs for them to survive are going signal desperately for you to eat more carbs. – But knowing this helps you understand that the nagging feeling that you should eat carbs is being driven by your gut bacteria and makes it easier to say no

There are three regular threads that you may find helpful. The weekly thread starts each tuesday, on that thread you will find a wide range of people from newcomers to those who have successfully stayed at target for some time and stay on the forum to pass on the helping hand that they received at the start.

The positives thread, where people share their daily positives.

The take a look at this thread, where people put up links to useful articles and podcasts that provide helpful information, including those from experts who describe how our bodies are designed to process food.

Welcome Steve …. sorry to read about your diagnosis, but congrats on choosing BSD to make a wonderful change on your life.

As I was never tackling pre or T2 myself, I can’t comment on the testing issue, but happy to weigh in on the hunger pangs ☺. My top tips would be to ensure you include good fats, to help you feel full for longer …. avocado, olive oil, full fat yogurt, cheese, nuts, seeds etc. And be sure to keep hydration up and if in doubt, drink another glass of water. Actually, if hunger does strike, having a drink is a good first option.

You may or may not have noticed thete is a weekly thread and this is a great one to join. It has posters at all stages of the BSD process, so there is lots of experience based knowledge to draw on. You will find lots of encouragement, support and advice there and we love to celebrate the wins too.

Here’s to a good first day on full on BSD for you!

Thanks, that is helpful

Thanks, useful tip about the website.

Hi Stevie, good luck on day 1. Do come and join us on the weekly thread.
Just one thing to add (Sunny and JGwen are far more knowledgeable than me) but dont be nervous or afraid of hunger. Dont worry about it in advance. Deal with it when you get there, one pang, one day at a time. As Sunny says, have a drink, and wait 20 minutes, do something to occupy your mind and chances are its gone without you realising.
There are times that you will be hungry, thats ok, it wont hurt you or kill you and your next meal isnt really that far away. You will start to be comfortable with a little hunger feeling in your belly. Its no big deal…… honest.

Hi Stevie – welcome and best of luck on your journey. As you get into this your blood glucose will start to come down and then stabalise. With regards to testing it really does depend on what you are trying to find out – my GP said that testing is just to check on hypos and that is unlikely to happen with T2. Home testing is really just for your own curiosity – but please don’t get hung up on the numbers – it is just an indication at one moment in time – hba1c blood test that the GP does will give you a true indication of where you’re at.

If you’re curious to see how you bg reacts to food and exercise then as you suggest test before and after – just before eating/exercise and then about 1.5 to 2 hours afterwards. I find exercise affects my bg the day after exercise rather than the same day. You can keep it simple and just test 3 times a day – fasting bg first thing in the morning, then before your evening meal and before you go to bed – this will give you a snapshot across the day.

But home testing really is only for your own curiosity and it will fluctuate across the day and over several days – you’ll only start to see a trend after a couple of weeks following this way of eating and you may then decide it’s not necessary to test every day.
I now test once a week just to keep a check on where it’s at – I know that if I stick to the plan then my bg will be lower and stable.

Diabetes UK and http://www.diabetes.co.uk are both useful sites for information, particularly when newly diagnosed.

Be kind to yourself – this is a marathon not a sprint so you don’t need to do everything in one go, small changes until it becomes natural to you. And please don’t get hung up on testing – the numbers can be addictive – I’ve been there. You didn’t develop T2 in a week so you’re not going to cure it in a week, but over time this will make a difference.
Best of luck and I look forward to your updates.

Hi Steviep, testing might be for your own curiosity but for me it is a lifeline to how my body is reacting. First of all, I am on insulin so may be in a different situation to others. I do a blood test first thing in the morning before breakfast. I used to test more often when I started the diet as I did have a couple of hypos, especially in the later afternoon. Know the difference between feeling a bit hungry and feeling ill. Know the symptoms of hypo, blurred vision, numb lips and hands, shaking, etc. Whenever I feel those symptoms I do a blood test and if I am below a certain level I will have a small snack. The level changes as you get used to the diet. First I used to panic when I went below 4.5 (or 80) but now only worry if I am under 3 (55 on the mmol/1 score) Just keep yourself safe.
Home testing is not as accurate of the Hb1Ac but you can see if your readings are going down just dont expect the full blood test results to be the same.

Thanks- I have now survived 2 days your comments a gratefully received