Stupid new person

[baldtyke]

Hi All

My name is Tony, a Yorkshire guy living with my gorgeous girl in Glasgow Scotland. I have been T2 DB for too many years now and have been stupid enough to think I can deal with it. The docs keep trying to push me onto metformin but I have always been against pills yet even with my best efforts I still cant get my sugar under control. Before anybody states the obvious I know I am a fool thinking I can beat this alone and without medical help. I have had 2 foot ulcers that both took months to clear and the last one poisend my system to such a level that I had to have surgery to clear the wound and fortunately I got away with it. Now I am getting secondary problems with the DB which I belive are periferal nueropahy that is affecting my legs to the point where my mobility is getting worse and I need a stick when outside of the house.

A couple of years ago I went cold turkey low carb and the results were amazing but I only stuck with it for just over a month and have found it impossible to get back on track. I need to get this all back under control and I know I need to get my focus on it as the DB is dragging me down bit by bit, I am 52 and feel 82.

It is my own fault and I accept that but now is the time with the new year upon me to draw a line in the sand on what has gone before and change my life for the better. I dont know if I can reverse some of the problems like the nueropathy but I am determined to give it all I have from now.

I need some advice to get me going about how to start with a LC diet, should I maybe restrict my eating for a day or two to give my body a bit of detox time or should I just change to the new diet right away.

Can anybody suggest a menu for say a couple of weeks to include breakfast, lunch and dinner plus any snacks. I work in a call centre and am there 11 hours a day so my food during work days has been from the staff canteen which only sells crap so if I can break that cycle too it would help. Are tinned fish ok to eat like mackeral

I have my girlfriends support but I guess this is a bit like an alcoholic needing a group for support of people who have been there and done it.

What kinds of problems should I look for side effect wise if I go cold turkey, I recall mega leg pains with the low carb for a couple of days.

This is a plea from the heart of a very silly person who has seen the light and wants his life back

Can you help

Cheers

Tony

[cnmLisa]

Tony...WELCOME!

You may have been silly in the past, but it sounds like you hve realized the error of your ways.

There is an awesome diabetes subforum on this site.

Also let me suggest this to get you started with the down and dirty.


http://www.bloodsugar101.com/





How to Lower Your Blood Sugar


The following advice, adapted from a page posted at http://alt-support-diabetes.org/newlydiagnosed.htm has

helped thousands of people with Type 2 diabetes achieve normal blood sugars, no matter how high their blood

sugars were when they started out.



Step 1: Eat whatever you've been eating and write it all down



Eat normally, but use your blood sugar meter to test yourself at the following times. Write down what you ate and

what your blood sugar results were:



Upon waking (fasting)

1 hour after each meal

2 hours after each meal



What you will discover by this is how long after a meal your highest reading comes... and how fast you return to

"normal." Also, you may see that a meal that included bread, fruit or other starches and sugars (carbohydrates)

gives you a higher reading.



Step 2: For the next few days cut back on your carbohydrates



Eliminate breads, cereals, rice, beans, any wheat products, potato, corn, and fruit. Get all of your carbohydrates

from veggies. Test your modified meals using the same schedule above. See what impact you can make on your

blood sugar by eliminating various high carbohydrate foods.

The closer we get to non-diabetic readings, the greater chance we have of avoiding horrible complications.



Here are what doctors currently believe to be non-diabetic readings:

Fasting blood sugar under 100 mg/dl

One hour after meals under 140 mg/dl

Two hours after meals under 120 mg/dl



If you can do better than this, go for it. At a minimum, The American College of Clinical Endocrinologists

recommends that people with diabetes keep their blood sugars under 140 mg/dl two hours after eating.

When you achieve normal blood sugar targets, you can start cautiously adding back carbohydrates, making sure

to test after each meal. Stop adding carbohydrates as soon as you get near your blood sugar targets.

Recent studies have indicated that your "after meal" numbers are those most indicative of future complications,

especially heart problems.


Step 3: Test Test Test!



Remember, we're not in a race or a competition with anyone but ourselves. Play around with your food plan. Test,

test, test! Learn what foods cause blood sugar spikes and what foods cause cravings. Learn which foods give

you healthy blood sugars.

No matter what anyone tells you, if a food raises your blood sugar over the targets you are aiming for, that food

should not be part of your diabetes food plan. Your blood sugar meter will tell you what the best "diabetes diet" is

for your body. Use it and regain your health!




For more information visit: http://www.bloodsugar101.com





I hope this helps you get started. Please do check out this website. It has awesome information that will be beneficial to you.

Progress not perfection and renewed health in 2012.

Lisa

[ICDogg]

What kind of blood sugars are you getting now? fasting, and an hour after eating?

I think you probably should read Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution to start with, but that's more of an outline than a specific plan.

[baldtyke]

I have just don a conversion and my normal range would be 180-216 but I have hit 326 recently. I know these are totally unacceptable.

When I did LC before I reached as low as 90 so I know it can be done and done quickly.

Would it help to give food a miss for a day just to allow my system to bottom out ??

[ICDogg]

OK... well, one thing I can tell you is just because you were able to reach those blood sugars before in the past does not mean you will be able to now. It does tend to get tougher with age and progression of diabetes.

I don't really know if it would help to fast for a day, though when I started I did fast for 2 days. My feeling is that you could do just as well though just starting off, either with an Atkins induction, or maybe just go close to no-carb to start with.

[ICDogg]

I think the canned mackerel would be OK, but check the label

[ICDogg]

Best bet is to have a very large low carb meal before going to work. That should keep you from getting too hungry during the day. I like to make 6 scrambled eggs, but my wife winds up eating about a third of it if she's home. I'll sometimes make some bacon also.

[aj_cohn]

Tony,

Welcome! I'd give my standard intro (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?p=8479257#post8479257), but Lisa's given you plenty to read and think about for now; save my info. until you feel ready.

I second ICDogg's suggestion of a large brekkie, and I'll add that you need to learn to cook more from scratch. Commercially-prepared meals are of poor quality to begin with, and they're nearly poisonous for low-carbers. You can start with some recipes for LC snacks (meatballs, oopsie rolls, crustless egg-cheese-spinach muffins), and move on to major recipes.

You're welcome to view my journal (click on the "journal" button below my post) to see what I eat. If you have questions, make a post in my journal.