Type II Diabetics - Let's Support Each Other

cathyv0409

That is amazing, Katzpawz!!!!

qtpie - one of my biggest challenges is portion control. I have phone "coaching" with a weight management coach through my insurance (well, I have had one call so far) and as a part of the "deal" she sent me a portion plate. According to the plate that shows how we should be portioning out our food you are right on track. The first surprise that she warned me about is that the plate isn't the size of a dinner plate but more like the Dora or Elmo plate we bought for our young foster kids. I do try to eat 5-6 small meals or snacks a day but this is a fairly new thing for me. I also shoot for 10 - 8 oz glasses or water a day. I also aim for 1200 calories since I have a lot to lose but I don't get in as much exercise as you do either. If you have been on the boards long you have seen the arguments for and against eating your exercise calories.

Thanks for the positive affirmation!!
Cathy

katzpawz

As for eating exercise calories: the nutritionist who taught the diabetes education class I attended (in the UK), recommends NOT eating exercise calories unless the net calories for the day goes below 1200. So, I do eat some of mine, but not all of them and not everyday. I try to let my body tell me what it needs. If, after a long walk, I feel particularly hungry, I may have a little larger snack than normal. If I don't do that, more often than not, I will get overly hungry and end up going way overboard.

Just "food for thought!"

katzpawz

monkeygirl6

Just got in from my walk!! Two days in a row, just under two miles in 45 minutes. My target is 3 miles in about an hour or so. Ultimately I would like to be able to do a 20 minute mile, but I'm not there yet
katzpawz

Great job! I love walking!

monkeygirl6

That is amazing, Katzpawz!!!!

qtpie - one of my biggest challenges is portion control. I have phone "coaching" with a weight management coach through my insurance (well, I have had one call so far) and as a part of the "deal" she sent me a portion plate. According to the plate that shows how we should be portioning out our food you are right on track. The first surprise that she warned me about is that the plate isn't the size of a dinner plate but more like the Dora or Elmo plate we bought for our young foster kids. I do try to eat 5-6 small meals or snacks a day but this is a fairly new thing for me. I also shoot for 10 - 8 oz glasses or water a day. I also aim for 1200 calories since I have a lot to lose but I don't get in as much exercise as you do either. If you have been on the boards long you have seen the arguments for and against eating your exercise calories.

Thanks for the positive affirmation!!
Cathy

I struggled with carb portion control cuz I thought I new what the size of a tennis ball was but I was dishing out a softball serving instead.

monkeygirl6

On another thread someone commented about keeping carbs to 40% of the total calories coming in... Is this something diabetics should be using to control carbs??

qtpiesmom

For me I read nutritional values and keep everything under the 30-35 mark with Carbs and try to never have sugars over 8, if that helps any. When it comes to rice, pasta, potatoes ifs no more than 1/2 cup and I balance that with veggies and proteins.

monkeygirl6

qtpie- for carbs I also eat about 1/2 a cup though I'm not very good at eating vegetables. Its not that I don't like eating my veggies I do but I'm a little lazy about preparing them with my meals for some reason.

Cathy- I eat around five meals a day. I always eat breakfast with a carb (usually instant oatmeal) and some kind of protein. I'm off dairy right now because I'm trying to figure out if I'm lactose intolerant. I eat a snack around 10 which is my break time that includes almonds (usually 7-14 depending on my hunger level) and a small fruit of some kind. Then lunch around 12:30 which is always a leftover from the night before, unless they are feeding us teachers for free that day. At the end of school I have another snack of almonds and a fruit and by 6 o'clock I am ready for dinner which includes some kind of meal under 400 calories. I used to workout at the gym around 4:30 but because its softball season I'm not getting over there until around 6 which has pushed my dinner to 7:30, which is a little late for me but when I work out my appetite decreases so a light dinner works great. I'm still working on my carb intake and I notice when I eat more carbs in the morning my hunger is better throughout the day. On weekends I wake up later so I usually take out one of the snacks.

This last week my morning blood sugar has been around 125, but tonight I ate a Jumbo Jack and I'll let you guys know how that affects my blood sugar in the morning. I'm thinking its going to be in the 30s, but I didn't plan well for dinner tonight and was starving.

katzpawz

Morning all! So this morning I'm off to a good start. Breakfast followed by a little quiet time. I've had a pretty busy week, so I may take it a little easier today. I'll just see what I feel like doing based on my energy level. Although...I WILL GO FOR MY WALK TODAY!!

I hope everyone is having a great week!

katzpawz

tabbychiro

I remembered to check my blood sugar this morning. 131. On the high side. Probably eating ice cream last night wasn't the smartest thing to do.

I also struggle with portion control.

Carbwise, I am trying to stay away from the refined stuff, easier said than done though. Ideally I would keep the carbs to 30g per meal/snack but that is hard.

Cathy, I used to have a weight management phone coach provided by my insurance. But then they stopped it. I never investigated why. And then we switched insurance companies anyway. But I thought it was a great thing to have.

We are going to an Asian buffet restaurant tonight. So frustrating because there is not nutritional info and probably 95% of the stuff isn't healthy anyway. And I'm starving right now. I hope I don't go all crazy tonight.

monkeygirl6

So my blood sugar was 118 this morning go figure? And I forgot to take my meds last night, go figure I thought it would be way higher with the greasy fast food!

Tonight i was bad and helped myself to a snowcone, but I'm going to be up real late so i don't think it will affect my numbers that much...

No workout til sat. And that making me feel lazy

cathyv0409

Good morning friends!!
We had a late meeting at work last night and my boss ordered in pizza. Wow! 380 calories for one piece of pizza! The good news is I stopped at one piece - the bad news is my food choices weren't too good yesterday. I was so busy yesterday I was still under calories. No exercise for me yesterday I went to my first job at 7:30 then straight to my second job and didn't get home until 10 pm (I know I said no excuses!!) I did do about 5 minutes on the recumbent bike, does that count? Hubby bought one and put it together while I was working so I tested it out when I got home. In theory, that will leave me more time for the elliptical at the gym. Now let's just see if my body agrees with me. Oh, my sugar was 139 this morning which is the first time it has been higher than it should be in a very long time. Pizza.....bad!!

Everyone have a great day!
Cathy

tabbychiro

Wow, Cathy, you are a busy woman! Good job sticking to just one slice. i have heard that pizza can spike blood sugar hours later.

Patty, what is a Jumbo Jack? Evening snacks can help the fasting next morning I think.

I was at 131 again this morning. I think I am going to adjust my settings here to a lower carb goal.

qtpiesmom

When you eat tonight take more veggies than anything else. watch the deep fried things and if you eat deep fried things NO RICE.
Small amounts no bigger than your palm for everything except the steamed veggies eat a good amount of those.
Drink water while your eating. Having a treat and eating something you enjoy is ok.

qtpiesmom

The trick to pizza is this, try and eat thin crust you can have more pieces that way, also eat it with a salad that help balance your sugars with the carbs. Also eat it with meat toppings even if you have to take some toppings off one slice and make it for another. If you just eat pizza your body only has carbs to work with so you need to balance it out with veggies. Keeps your numbers down

qtpiesmom

Tabby what are you eating before bed? you may not be eating enough or the wrong things? Do you wake up with headaches in the morning your body maybe dumping sugars and it could be a false reading

qtpiesmom

Depends on what you ate without your meds

tabbychiro

Tabby what are you eating before bed? you may not be eating enough or the wrong things? Do you wake up with headaches in the morning your body maybe dumping sugars and it could be a false reading

No headache when I wake up. Before bed I either have no snack or the wrong kind of snack.
I'm not on any meds at the moment.

qtpiesmom

That could be the problem you need to eat before bed at least an hour or so before. If your gonna eat the wrong thing try to make the portions smaller. You said you ate ice cream how much? you can get no sugar added ice cream which will help, I dont know if you know this but dairy queen ice cream a small one is safe for sugars to eat, eat some nuts with it

katzpawz

I got my walk in this afternoon! I've managed to walk everyday this week. Yesterday and today I was able to go for 2.6 miles each day.

I have an appointment next Friday to have blood work done, including A1c. Unfortunately I know that just a couple of weeks isn't going to be long enough for my recent recommitment to diet/exercise to have much of an impact. Prior to a week or two ago, I was not doing the best job staying on my plan.

Anyway, I've been back on track for a bit now and I feel more motivated than I have for a while to stay at it!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

katzpawz

qtpiesmom

Your doing GREAT and well each time you get blood work done you will see a difference and SOOON we all will no longer be diabetic or at least on lower Meds
Have a great weekend

Positive affirmation of the day
YOU HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE ANYTHING YOU WANT!

katzpawz

Good morning all! London is still a bit chilly, but it is beautiful outside! Finally some evidence that Spring is on its way!

I am excited to brag that I have exercised everyday for the past week! I have a walk planned for later (not quite as intense as the past two days, as I'm a bit stiff and sore).

It occurs to me that I haven't said much about myself in this thread, and as I have a few minutes thought I'd share a bit.

I'm originally from Atlanta, GA. Two years ago, my partner and I moved (with our three dogs) to London, England.

I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 1997, and have struggled with that as a well as a life-long problem with weight.

We have a trip planned for October to Disney World, FL. I really want to be up to spending a few days in the parks and hopefully will be down to a size where I can enjoy some of the rides. At the very least, I'd like to be in shape enough not to be a drag for
our friends who going with us.

I really enjoy cooking and creating new recipes. I've been focused recently on creating dishes that are full of flavour and healthy nutrients, but low on fat. I avoid using pre-prepared or processed foods whenever possible, so that I am in control of seasonings and keep the chemicals/additives to a minimum.

My plan for this weekend is to do some Spring cleaning projects around the house, but not the point where I miss out on the sunshine!

Have a great weekend everyone!

katzpawz

cathyv0409

Good morning friends!!

qtpie - thanks for joining our group. You bring a lot of knowledge and experience to us. I appreciate the tips!!

katz - good luck to you on your bloodwork. I agree with qtpie that you are doing the right things and even if you don't see the results you would like to on this test...it will show up on the next one. Wow! Disneyworld sounds like fun! One of the things I look forward to doing is riding amusement park rides. I have avoided them for 25-30 years because of the fear they would tell me I didn't fit. When my grandson comes to visit this summer I hope to take him to Six Flags or Worlds of Fun and ride the rides with him.

tabby - you will figure out what is giving you those high morning numbers. I think tracking is the key so you can see how what you are eating at night might be effecting the morning blood sugars.

You all have a wonderful weekend.
Cathy

katzpawz

To whatever extent that daily blood glucose monitoring is an indicator, the walking is stating to pay off! My numbers the past two days or so have been trending downward. So, as I said in a previous post, it may be too little, too late to show much improvement in my A1c this time, but next time round should be much better.

My long term goals are to drastically reduce (or eliminate) the diabetes meds AND get down to a reasonable weight.

It's interesting, since I moved to the UK. My doctor has been encouraging me to lose weight and being supportive of how difficult it is. He hasn't once criticised me for letting my weight get out of control. Also, even without the extra weight, I'm a big girl. I'm 5'8" with a very muscular build. My doc in the U.S. was adamant about what the weight charts say I should weigh for determining my goals. Even when I was a teenager, I could not get down to the weight on the charts. My doc here cautioned me about trying to get to an unhealthy low weight. We agreed that once I've lost 100 pounds, we'll re-evaluate and decide what my final target should be.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

katzpawz

qtpiesmom

Good day Ladies

For the past few days I have found that my blood sugars are low not super low ( I feel sick when my number are under 5.0)after working out even though I eat before working out because the belief of you put gas in your car to go so your body needs the same, feed it before so you can go. Do any of you have the same issue how do you fix it?
How is everyone doing, remember to eat enough so you blood sugars are balanced too.
Do you drink enough water? I am drinking 10-12 glasses a day but holy moly it makes me a peeing machine lol tmi I know.

Have a great day!
Happy thoughts for Happy Life.

katzpawz

@qtpiesmom: I also drink 10-12 glasses of water a day. My numbers had been running pretty high for a while now (I've had some other health issues which kept from exercising for a while). As I've gotten back on track for the past week or two, my numbers have levelled off and seem to be starting to come down. Again, probably too little too late to make much difference in my upcoming blood work next week, but definitely by the next one in three months time.

Cheers,
katzpawz

monkeygirl6

Patty, what is a Jumbo Jack? Evening snacks can help the fasting next morning I think.

I was at 131 again this morning. I think I am going to adjust my settings here to a lower carb goal.

A Jumbo Jack is a hamburger sold at Jack in the Box similar to a Whopper sold at Burger King.

131 is not super high is it? I try to keep my morning blood sugar under 130 and that to me is a good morning :laugh:
I agree with qtpie on the low carb thing closer to bedtime. I try to eat most of my carbs in the morning though recently I've been all over the place.

monkeygirl6

For the past few days I have found that my blood sugars are low not super low ( I feel sick when my number are under 5.0)after working out even though I eat before working out because the belief of you put gas in your car to go so your body needs the same, feed it before so you can go. Do any of you have the same issue how do you fix it?
How is everyone doing, remember to eat enough so you blood sugars are balanced too.
Do you drink enough water? I am drinking 10-12 glasses a day but holy moly it makes me a peeing machine lol tmi I know.

Depends on the workout, but usually my numbers go drastically down, between the 80s and 90s. My doc said as long as I'm not under 70 then I don't need to worry. If you are feeling hypoglycemic (shaky and weak) then maybe you need to talk to your doc already about changing your meds, which would be awesome right? I try not to take my meds before a workout and will wait until I eat something after the workout to take my meds if they are needed at that time.

I also drink a lot of water and at first I had to pee all the time but my bodies gotten used to it I guess cuz the urge has lessened. And in all honesty before I started taking the meds I had to pee a lot more because my body was not doing what it needed to do.

monkeygirl6

Happy Sunday Ladies!

I've only been taking meds since August of last year. With just the meds and watching what I ate my numbers would fall between 150-165. I purchased a gym membership in October and started going to the gym three times a week for 40 minutes of cardio. My numbers started to drop after a week into the 135-145 range. Then during the holidays I stopped going to the gym and my numbers slowly started to creep up to the 160s again. This january I made my new year's resolution to go to the gym on average 3 times a week for cardio and my numbers have been pretty steady and my doc is happy with where I'm at. So while it may not work for others, exercise is part of my weekly routine in keeping my numbers down which makes me happy. When my numbers are down I know that the glucose is getting into my cells where they belong.

While my weightloss is a struggle for me everyday I am determined to get this diabetes thing under control. Not using meds in the first place would be a ideal dream but my real goal is to not increase the meds in anyway. I don't want to be like my mom on eight different types of meds.

I love seeing everyones comments because it is helping me learn different options to control my diabetes, so thanks everyone!

tabbychiro

Good day Ladies

For the past few days I have found that my blood sugars are low not super low ( I feel sick when my number are under 5.0)after working out even though I eat before working out because the belief of you put gas in your car to go so your body needs the same, feed it before so you can go. Do any of you have the same issue how do you fix it?
How is everyone doing, remember to eat enough so you blood sugars are balanced too.
Do you drink enough water? I am drinking 10-12 glasses a day but holy moly it makes me a peeing machine lol tmi I know.

Have a great day!
Happy thoughts for Happy Life.

what kind of exercise are you doing? Exercise usually brings down blood sugar. Supposedly you should test about 30 minutes before exercise and then again right before you start to make sure your blood sugars are stable and not dropping before you exercise.

When I was on meds, I would just make sure my blood glucose was on the high side (150-160ish/8.xx) before starting. Sometimes my sugar would end up higher when I stopped but then drop 30-60 minutes later.

tabbychiro

A Jumbo Jack is a hamburger sold at Jack in the Box similar to a Whopper sold at Burger King.

131 is not super high is it? I try to keep my morning blood sugar under 130 and that to me is a good morning :laugh:
I agree with qtpie on the low carb thing closer to bedtime. I try to eat most of my carbs in the morning though recently I've been all over the place.

131 is not super high but I think my endo told me that under 120 was my fasting goal.