discouraged.... cholesterol help....

I try to eat more whole foods and actually cook only for me. The teenagers like junk and aren't home much anyway. I eat a lot of fish, chicken, veggies and try to watch the grains even though they are whole. I do splurge on chocolate every day. Now here is something to think about. Diabetes often causes cholesterol issues. If they are worried about your A1C which isn't bad for a diabetic the higher cholesterol can happen along with your BG. I have been T2 for about 15 years now and despite being within a normal weight range and exercising and eating well I have had to continue to add more and more drugs to my day. I currently take amaryl because my pancreas is not producing much insulin, max dose of metformin to try to keep my body functioning on the insulin it makes, a statin to keep my cholesterol low because no matter what I do it is a tad high, Lisonipril which is a bp medication despite the fact that my bp is on the low side of normal since this drug also helps your kidneys which are at risk with diabetes. I work out regularly and used to eat about 25 carbs a day until the amaryl because I couldn't get my BG down. Realize that sometimes, even when you do everything right, your BG and cholesterol can suck. It may be time for more drugs and that is ok. Remember that with diabetes the goal is to control BG. If you can get off drugs, great but if you can't don't beat yourself up. Do what you need to do to stop the rot, that is the important thing.

If you are worried about your A1c, then check out the site www.bloodsugar101.com. It is written mostly for diabetics, but it has a tone of other helpful information for those worried about heading in that direction.

As for the sweet tooth.... I'm a recovering sweet FIEND. (Especially snack cakes, or bready sweet stuff). For starters, and it is going to sound weird... STAY AWAY FROM THE LOW SUGAR/NO SUGAR snacks!!!!! They won't do you any favors. If you like chewing gum.. use that instead. There are a few things you can do for healthier sweet tasting snacks, which are a nice way to step down from the "real" sweets.

Take some regular yogurt of your choice, and toss it in the freezer for 10 - 15 minutes, or until firm. If you want, start with plain yogurt, and add your own fruit of choice before chilling. Mix in some truvia/stevia if you want it a little sweeter.

For when you just have to HAVE something sweet RIGHT now, take your choice of soda flavor, and drizzle in some heavy cream. Swirl it together, and you have something that tastes like a real soda float.

For anything you make that you usually add sugar to, add some type of sweet fruit to instead. (Oat meal, like suggested earlier - add a banana, peach, or other sweet fruit to) Most recipes you should be able to substitute apple sauce for your sugar, especially if it is baked.

And, above all else... do not make anything forbidden. Limit quantities, yes. But don't make it forbidden. It will just make you resent the changes you are trying to make, and you will rebel. You will notice that over the next couple of months with the switch in your choice of sweeteners that things you find not sweet enough now will become almost sickly sweet rather quickly. And, as you get the internal meter for what is sweet readjusted, you may even find that you prefer just a hint of sweet instead of the actual knock out punch of sweet you are getting now.

Hope these suggestions help!

The drop in your finger sticks at home are great. The thing you might want to do is test more often. They often tell T2s to test 1x per day. Not enough. I go through bouts where I test 15 times a day for several days so I can gauge what is happening. Anytime I eat a food I'm not sure of I test at 1 hr and 2 hrs post prandial. I test after I exercise. I test before bed. I've even been known to wake up every couple hours and test. This allows you to see a pattern. I know that my fasting is generally my most out of bounds time so I test every morning. I also usually test at least one other time per day randomly choosing when I do that.

A1C shows your average for a 3 month period. So if you are testing every morning and doing good you may think all is well but if you are spiking at other times of the day or night then your overall control still needs help but you aren't aware of it. Also test right after exercise. Some people spike badly at that point and it is something to watch for although I have always believed that the benefit of exercise exceeds the brief spike I used to get. I have found that my exercise spikes have pretty much stopped now that I'm in better condition so I think it was a stress reaction.

And stress will get you. Do your best to destress. Lately for me that means more exercise several times a day since I can't do anything about the stressors right now.

Interesting notes about A1c:

The International Diabetes Federation and American College of Endocrinology recommend HbA1c values below 48 mmol/mol (6.5%), while American Diabetes Association recommends that the HbA1c be below 53 mmol/mol (7.0%) for most patients.[16] Recent results from large trials suggest that a target below 53 mmol/mol (7%) may be excessive: Below 53 mmol/mol (7%) the health benefits of reduced A1C become smaller, and the intensive glycemic control required to reach this level leads to an increased rate of dangerous hypoglycemic episodes.[17]
A retrospective study of 47,970 diabetes patients found that patients with an A1C less than 48 mmol/mol (6.5%) had an increased mortality rate,[18] but a later international study contradicted these findings

So your A1c doesn't sound like anything to worry about, but I still think you need to exert serious effort controlling that sugar intake.

I'm hearing you (and reading ya I just felt like I was doing such a great job. First time I've ever stuck to a "diet" and had it work for me.

First of all thanks for reading my post. I have been working hard to lose weight and thanks to MFP I'm doing it! I went for a checkup at the Dr and my labs came back worse than before I started losing weight! My cholesterol is up, A1c is up, CRP is up.... I'm feeling a bit discouraged and need ideas to try to get my body back to a healty state! Anything.. recipes, foods, drinks, exercise... give me your secrets!!

I too have terrible cholesterol. I changed my macros to 30% protein, 15% fat, 30 grams of fiber, 200 mg cholesterol (the AHA recommended amount for those on a low cholesterol diet). I have noticed that I don't actually consume a lot of cholesterol. I plan on watching these for the next few months and then checking in with my doc to see if my issues are genetic instead of dietary.

Not trying to harp here-- but low fat diets exacerbate bad cholesterol levels (when induced dietarily-- not genetically). Healthy fats improve cholesterol levels. There is absolutely no need to be afraid of natural, healthy fats-- olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil... even high quality butter and cream .

my fat is at 15% because I shoot for lean protein. I did not say no fat. I get plenty of healthy fats. I do not eat processed foods, so any fat I get is real fat.