Newly diagnosed with diabetes and need help with diabetic exchange diet

rheddmobile

KnitterNotAQuitter wrote: »

OP here. Thank you, everyone, for the great advice. I feel better now. I talked with my mom, and we’ve worked out *some* Thanksgiving stuff. (Most ridiculous moment: I suggested a tossed salad, and her exact words were “You don’t have tossed salad on Thanksgiving!” Seriously. I asked if that was an unwritten rule in the Thanksgiving Bible and apparently, it is! But we’re having a salad.) I’m going to look into testing, but I have to travel cross-country for Thanksgiving, and flying gives me anxiety attacks (it was keeping me up at night before I got the diagnoses, so I haven’t been sleeping a lot at all for the past couple weeks) so not until I return home.

A couple people asked about my weight loss goals. I am obese at 349 pounds. My goal is to lose 15-17 pounds before my follow-up appointment in four weeks. I know that’s a lot, but that’s how much I *should* lose mathematically, given my size, current activity level (zero), the number of calories I burn being alive, the number of calories I’m eating, plus the exercise (30 minutes 3x a week) I’ve been prescribed — if I stick to it.

There was another thread going in another area about a study showing doctors/medical professionals treating obese patients differently, and after reading that, I kinda feel like that’s at play here. Granted, I didn’t get this way overnight; I’ve had plenty of time/opportunity to do something about my weight, and over the years I’ve made efforts, some more serious than others. But now I’m ready to play ball, and I feel like I only got half the rules to the game because they already think I’ll want to stick to the bench. It is a fair assessment, given my history. So I’m just going to take this four weeks, and prove I’m worth their time.

Thanks again everyone!

Sounds good! When I was obese (I was 272 at max) I found I could lose about 10 lbs a week consistently if I worked out at least 15 min / day. The recommended maximum is 1% of your bodyweight per week, which for you is 3.5 lbs, so in four weeks you might be able to do 14 lbs, plus possibly a little extra from beginner water weight loss.

Just watching your carbs will probably make you feel a lot better in short order, and you'll be able to do more activity. Good luck, you got this!

dsboohead

KnitterNotAQuitter wrote: »

OP here. Thank you, everyone, for the great advice. I feel better now. I talked with my mom, and we’ve worked out *some* Thanksgiving stuff. (Most ridiculous moment: I suggested a tossed salad, and her exact words were “You don’t have tossed salad on Thanksgiving!” Seriously. I asked if that was an unwritten rule in the Thanksgiving Bible and apparently, it is! But we’re having a salad.) I’m going to look into testing, but I have to travel cross-country for Thanksgiving, and flying gives me anxiety attacks (it was keeping me up at night before I got the diagnoses, so I haven’t been sleeping a lot at all for the past couple weeks) so not until I return home.

A couple people asked about my weight loss goals. I am obese at 349 pounds. My goal is to lose 15-17 pounds before my follow-up appointment in four weeks. I know that’s a lot, but that’s how much I *should* lose mathematically, given my size, current activity level (zero), the number of calories I burn being alive, the number of calories I’m eating, plus the exercise (30 minutes 3x a week) I’ve been prescribed — if I stick to it.

There was another thread going in another area about a study showing doctors/medical professionals treating obese patients differently, and after reading that, I kinda feel like that’s at play here. Granted, I didn’t get this way overnight; I’ve had plenty of time/opportunity to do something about my weight, and over the years I’ve made efforts, some more serious than others. But now I’m ready to play ball, and I feel like I only got half the rules to the game because they already think I’ll want to stick to the bench. It is a fair assessment, given my history. So I’m just going to take this four weeks, and prove I’m worth their time.

Thanks again everyone!

.......and you read like an intelligent woman....walk in the park for you!

2snakeswoman

I almost always have tossed salad on Tgiving. It's a great thing to help you fill up so you aren't as hungry for the high calorie desserts.

ptrcmcc6

2snakeswoman wrote: »

I almost always have tossed salad on Tgiving. It's a great thing to help you fill up so you aren't as hungry for the high calorie desserts.

We always have a salad with our Thanksgiving meal, also. Growing up, my Mom actually would make a salad with dinner every night.

HeidiCooksSupper

1. Don't panic.
2. Like many, your doctor is a dolt when it comes to this sort of thing. Note, he handed you something a drug rep gave him. Geez. How about something from the NIH or the American Diabetes Association or something.
3. Thanksgiving is one meal.

Now that you are past the panic, it's time to learn and cope.

What @150poundsofme said. This is not a severe, oh-my-god-you're-gonna-die situation. It's time to sit up and take notice but not to panic. Your numbers and mine are similar.

The exchange method has been around for years and works well for some people but not for others as a way to control their diet. It's only a kind of scoring system that has you eat a balanced diet. It's a variation of what some folks do with controlling macros. I first ran into the exchange system in the early 1970s at Weight Watchers. We had bread exchanges, meat exchanges, etc. and just filled in the blanks to determine what to eat.

For most of us, the best way to control -- even to get rid of -- type II diabetes is to lose weight. Many of us do this as we are also keeping our numbers under control with metformin.

You can -- and should -- lose weight sensibly. That means no crash diets, silly restrictions, etc. Eat a well-balanced diet at a reasonable calorie deficit. I do 500/day deficit which is a 1-pound/week pace. The flat recommendation is 1200 calories from your physician is unrealistic for most people. It's considered the minimum an average female can consume and have all the necessary nutrients. It is completely ridiculous for a 349 pound woman. At 250, I eat 1550/day and have lost 33 pounds.

Start to learn about sugar spikes and glycemic index of foods. Here's an article to get you started: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/use-glycemic-index-to-help-control-blood-sugar-201208135154

I have no intention of eating a tossed salad for Thanksgiving. I don't like tossed salad. There's nothing magic about tossed salad. I will make sure to limit my consumption of mashed potatoes -- note I said limit not eliminate -- because they are more likely to result in a blood sugar spike than an extra helping of that nice, juicy turkey. And, yes, I will overeat on Thanksgiving but get back to normal healthy eating right afterwards.