Welcome John.

You can lose the weight and in some cases it is possible to manage diabetes without the medication. You need to be disciplined with logging everything you eat. This will teach you which foods are dense in calories and carbs. It will also give you feedback on the total carb intake for the day.

One of the things that worked well for me was eliminating white foods (simple carbs); white rice, white bread and white potatoes. These types of foods can spike you blood sugar and cause problems for diabetics. Using moderation you can substitute whole grain rice, whole grain bread or sweet potatoes. These choices still contain carb however they digest more slowly which reduces the blood sugar spikes.

When you set up your goals in myfitnesspal the system automatically determines the daily macro ratios (carbs, fats, proteins). Unfortunately the ratios the system sets aren't appropriate for diabetics. If you click on settings and then click on goals you can change your goals. Select "custom" to manually set your goals. I think the default settings have the carbs at 40% (over 200g/say). You want to dial that number back to something between 15% - 25%. I try to keep my numbers under 150g/day. Others keep their carbs under 100g/day. You have to find an amount that is sustainable. An amount that helps you lose the weight & control your blood sugar. To make the macro ratios balance out, raise the protein amount (MFP sets this to low).

Regarding exercise, if you can walk a half mile then walk a half mile every day. Over time increase it to a mile. When you're ready start adding in some resistance training (body weight exercises). The idea is to incrementally add to your exercise routine. If you try to do too much at one time you'll burn out. Take small steps and before you know it exercise will become a habit.

Note - Please seek the advice of your doctor or nutritionist for your specific needs.

Set your goals. Stay focused and disciplined.

Welcome to the group John. Not more I can add to what BigGuy has said.

I have found logging everything I eat to be the most useful thing. I limit my carbs to 50%, higher than most, but I still seem to be managing my blood sugars, however my total calories intake is less than 1400.

As for exercise, do what you can. Eventually your stamina and fitness will increase and also helps lower your blood sugar level.

@ Veronica and John, I would add just a few suggestions; tracking fibre will enable you to monitor your net carbs which are total carbs less fibre. The consensus view is that a reasonable target to aim for would be 45 net carbs per main meal with about say 20-3- net carbs for snacks if required. It would be important to differentiate between complex carbs and simple carbs. Complex carbs are to be preferred. It would be beneficial to pre-plan your meals so that they conform to the targets. Once the food is eaten it's too late and the damage is done. If you haven't been on a diabetic educations course, try to get a place on one as soon as possible. Honest recording, persistence and patience are essential. Read around the boards and get a feel for the site. Information is key to success. I wish you both well in your journey to a healthy and active life.

Absolutely eat to your meter. You will then find what food items you can eat and what you can't. I've learned that I must eat very low carb to feel good, to keep my bg under control and to lose weight. Actually, losing weight is the big bonus payoff of keeping my bg under control. There are many foods that other diabetics can eat that I cannot because it raises my bg. The choice I have is either eat them and take medication or don't eat them and not take medication. I choose not to eat them.

Johnhend,

Welcome to MFP, but I’m sorry you had to do it this way. You are on the right track by reducing your carbs to control your weight and diabetes. I fluctuated between 332 and 228 several times over the last 40 years, by trying every diet and program in the book. About a year and a half ago, noticing that pasta, bread, pizza and chinese sent my BG up, I stopped eating processed carbs (sugar, wheat byproducts, rice, corn syrup, legumes and manufactured oils) and replaced them with fresh fruit and vegetables. I kept my carbs around +- 50 grams of carbs per day and was successful in losing weight on a consistent basis, 50 pounds in 18 months, an average of 2.7 pounds a month. I have recently stopped eating fruit as studies have shown that fructose stimulates the liver to produce triglycerides, which transport LDL into the blood stream. To lose weight, reduce your carbs to between 50 and 100 grams per day. The closer to 50, the more weight you will lose. I try to keep my carbs to between 25 and 45 grams per day in the hopes that, one day, I’ll get off the diabetes meds. I was originally on Glucophage with several other diabetes meds but got down to just Glucophage until I landed in the hospital with AFib and was put on prednisone and was placed on insulin. I take a long acting insulin morning and evening and a short acting according to my BG level before meals. I usually go a week at a time without using any of the short term insulin since by BG is almost always below 120, which is the point that I have to inject.

Hope this helps.
Chuck

Hi i'm a new diabetic not even a week. I'm watching what I eat. I'm only on metformin. And right now only 1\2 pill for a week. Then one morning and night. I don't understand the bg readings you folks use. Mine says i'm at 7.5 which I think isn't so bad. Being that the normal is under 6. So I need to work to get it under that then keep it under for at least 3 months. Don't lose the weight and insulin is next.
So by what your saying keeping your carbs under 50 is the key. So have to aim for that.

Good luck to all.

Are you in the USA? In the USA we use mg/dl. I think the UK uses mmol/L. Here is a site that can help translate the difference: http://healthy-ojas.com/diabetes/a1c-glucose-chart.html A mmol/L of 7.5 would equal a mg/dl of approx. 135 mg/dl.

I'm in Canada So probably a little different. As long as I know mine that will do.

Went to my diabetic counsellor today and she advises not to go to low on carbs. She claims you need the carbs to keep the brain functioning properly. I don't want to lose nothing in that area lol.

Only difference I found with all this is you need to take time to cook. Time to exercise some. And take time to take care of you.

Thank you all.

I am a huge fan of the Weston A Price Foundation and Thomas Cowan. Here's an article of his on Treating Diabetes that talks about limiting carbs. http://www.westonaprice.org/diabetes/treating-diabetes Dr. Diana Schwarzbein's books are also amazing on teaching about how critical diet is in treating diabetes. I find that I do better with increased knowledge AND MFP! Log, log, log!

For the most part I agree with BigGuy47. If it hard for you to walking you could try some aquatic workout or swimming. Swimming is very good for you & it is very low impact so it should be work well for you.

Hi all for all the great imput. Is it possible that i've been a non diagnosed diabetic for a long time like 30 years or more. Because I have as far as I can remember have these funny feelings were your eyes flutter and you eat a little something and it goes away. I brought that up to my diabetic counselor nurse. And she doesn't think that could be. I talked to other diabetics and they think It is very possible. I will have to ask my doctor. see with me being on a diet off a diet for the last 40 years. Maybe when i'd have my yearly blood work done was when I was on a diet. Never paid no attention.

But I will go and fix my food tracking. As John said or someone here the carbs are to high. Bring up my protein. I do like meat. And vegetables. Fruit some are high in carbs. Banana's sure spike me anyhow. Apples I love but again high in carbs.

Laura
I think you are on the mend. Wish i could say the same blood reading this morning 8.1.What can i do to bring down my morning readings during the day i'm hitting six sometimes 5 and i'm ok with that. But don't like the morning reading. I take metformin 500x2 a day.

Linda

Unfortunately the only way to get those numbers down further without adding more medication is to decrease the amount of carbs you eat more and increase your good fats intake. You have to be consistent with it and as you keep your readings low throughout the day, the morning ones will start to come down.

Also, don't forget the power of exercise to help lower morning numbers. Despite drastically lowering my carbs and having an A1c of 5.5, I was unable to lower my fasting numbers below 100 until I increased Metformin to 1500 mg AND added in 10-20 minutes of light exercise in addition to my regular workout.