Help me get started...please!!
Pammy820
Posts: 117 Member
I was diagnosed about two years ago as a diabetic. I have been doing ok with maintaining my blood sugar. I have never had a reading over 200 ( that I am aware of) and my last A1C was 6 . I want to get serious about coming off the medication and losing some weight also. I currently weigh 268 and I have to work really hard to get the scale to move.I eat way too many carbs and sweets and some advice on carb counting would be so helpful....
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We count the grams in carbs. You should see a dietitian to go over the amount of carbs you should take in a day. My daughter is short (very short) and she is on an average of 40 grams of carbs per meal which isn't much if you look at something like pizza so when I am grocery shopping I read labels all the way through the store. There are a lot of low carb options out there. Buy a good book with the carbohydrate counter and highlight the foods you eat all the time. Also concentrate on the whole grains and high fiber foods. I care for my daughter and after we started keeping her carbs around 40 grams per meal her weight dropped from a 16 to a 10 and she has kept it there.
Good luck and congratulations on keeping your A1C so good!
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Hi Pam, your post does not indicate what your daily targets are. Your comment about eating sweets sets off alarm bells because of the sugar content in all confectionary. It's important to realise that the MFP programme is based on a change of lifestyle and is not a diet as such. We all learn bad habits during our lives and we need to re-educate our palates accordingly. As diabetics we have to realise that because we cannot process the glucose in our blood efficiently we become fat storage machines and need a total lifestyle change if we are to manage our condition. If you have not been on a Diabetes education course I suggest that you tgry to get a place as soon as possible. Many people have found these courses to be very helpful.
You also need to realise that the Carbs target set by MFP are a little too high for diabetics and are really geared to non diabetics. Our targets therefore need to be adjusted downwards. The beauty of MFP is that there is no counting required. We simply have to stay within allocated targets. There is a consensus view that a good general target would be to try for about 45 net carbs per main meal with about 20 net carbs allowed for snacks if required. A reasonable ratio for your micronutrients would be to aim for a ratio of 40:30:30 for Carbs, Fat, Protein. One of the best pieces of advice I was given in this group was to try to pre-plan each meal to ensure that it was within target. Take your time to read over the various boards in this group and when you're ready to ask questions you will find lots of helpful and supportive people on here who are willing to share their knowledge and experience. I wish you well in your efforts and will certainly help in any way I can.0 -
Thank you so much for all the info.....it can be very overwhelming but I gotta do it!0
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i did
45 carbs per meal
15 morning & afternoon snack
30 evening snack. (must include a protein)
but, do see dietitian. everyone is so different. i had always heard this was the basics and to adjust from here.0 -
I've just recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes but I've been on MFP for a year. I've lost 30lbs and it's the most I've ever lost and kept off. I haven't stuck to it religiously. As usual I have my spurts of many weeks on and then about 3 weeks of 'binging', which I might add I haven't done for a long time.
My first advise is, GET A DIGITAL SCALE!!! Make sure you get your portion sizes right. You'll be amazed at the proper portion sizes of some foods, it'll seem like it's not enough to feed a bird, but do it. MFP is good in that it helps you to keep track of the carbs etc. Eventually the weight will come off with what seems like no effort on your part. I've got a friend who's doing MFP without owning a scale and she's finding it very difficult.
I've tackled the weight loss and diabetes one step at a time which doesn't make it too overwhelming. The advise from friends on MFP is so valuable to me and so helpful. I don't take any of it as medical advise, and use all of the information as an informative guide from fellow sufferers. I posted a blog on here last week because I was so overwhelmed with different information from different websites and i think I've learned more in the reply posts and understood it so much better than the diabetes seminar my Nurse sent me on, but that's my personal experience.
It's a long road, but well worth the trip!
Kim xx0 -
Good advice here ^^^. Breaking it down into smaller steps is the best approach IMHO. The process can be very overwhelming.I've tackled the weight loss and diabetes one step at a time which doesn't make it too overwhelming.
Reading through the forums on MFP for the first time is enough to make your head explode.
Eat this.
Nooo don't eat that!
Paleo is for everyone
Milk is good.
Milk is bad.
You should try Raspberry Ketones.
Eggs are bad.
Eggs are good.
When I began my journey I stepped back from the fire hose of information coming at me and started with small simple steps. Replaced white potatoes with sweet potatoes. Just one simple thing. Later I switched my rice to whole grain rice and became more mindful of portion sizes. I slowly added in more vegetables to my diet replacing the high carb foods. Over the course of a year my wife and I have changed our whole lifesyle with regards to the food we eat.
For exercise, I started out with a short walk every day (probably no more tha half a mile). Over the course of several months I slowly added to the distance. Over a year later I now utilize a combination of strength training and light cardio to meet my exercise needs.
In hindsight, if I had tried to make all of these changes at once I would have failed miserably. It would have been too much to change all at once.
Yes, it is overwhelming. Just keep in mind that big progress starts with small steps.0
