Diabetic Things

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lauransackett18
lauransackett18 Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've was diagnosed type 2 about 3 years ago. I started taking medication, but never really made any effort to make diet/ exercise changes. I started seeing a new NP a few months ago and my A1C hadn't changed since my diagnosis. So she sent me to a dietician and I just had my first appointment last week. She suggested a lower calorie diet, and wants me to start with 500 less a day than my usual intake. So that puts me around 1730 for now. However, she didn't seem too worried about my carb intake.

Even with medication, my sugar runs high. So I definitely want to watch my carbs as well.

So my question for everyone is... How many carbs do you eat in a day or per meal to help keep your sugars low?

Replies

  • michaelhardie13
    michaelhardie13 Posts: 17 Member
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    Naturally, you should consult medical professionals who know you.
    I have a pharmacist who is part of my primary care team and she is an expert on diabetic meds. She told me to eat a balanced diet (at each meal, no skipping carbs all day to have a giant bowl of ice cream), and they could control my sugar level with meds. She recommended 40% carbs, 25% protein and 35% fat for me.

    I am also trying to lose weight, because I have always been obese. MFP helps me track diet and exercise, and get support from others in the “Community” section.

    Tracking everything carefully really helps me, and so does exercise, which I can also track. (I don’ “eat back” the exercise calories, and I have to keep my food calories under my budget).

    Good luck!
  • yweight2020
    yweight2020 Posts: 591 Member
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    michaelhardie13 wrote: »
    Naturally, you should consult medical professionals who know you.
    I have a pharmacist who is part of my primary care team and she is an expert on diabetic meds. She told me to eat a balanced diet (at each meal, no skipping carbs all day to have a giant bowl of ice cream), and they could control my sugar level with meds. She recommended 40% carbs, 25% protein and 35% fat for me.

    I am also trying to lose weight, because I have always been obese. MFP helps me track diet and exercise, and get support from others in the “Community” section.

    Tracking everything carefully really helps me, and so does exercise, which I can also track. (I don’ “eat back” the exercise calories, and I have to keep my food calories under my budget).

    Good luck!

    Exactly what Michael said a pharmacist is part of my team as well and watches my numbers and has added and taken away meds and before he was doing that, I cut my processed carbs because even the healthy carbs while taking meds had my sugar numbers in the high 200/low 300, now that I've been put on another med and lost almost 50 lbs these numbers are more normal, and eventually I may be back to 1 med, it was three meda now its just 2. But again its individual for everyone.


    But I only ate veggies and protein meals because my numbers were so. Crazy. Until finally I could add 1 peocessed carb at one meal and now i have a processed carb and or fruit as part of lunch and breakfast, play around with what works for you, by checking your blood sugars up to 2 hours after meals if the numbers were more than 175 for me it wasn't a good meal.

    You really should talk with your team, get a pharmacist on board also, you may need more meds, your numbers shouldn't be allowed to be out of control while you work on your diet, because this effects your kidneys and could cause damage and other issues. Please reconsult with your doctor. Best of care🤗♥️🥦🥑🥗🤸‍♀️🏋️‍♀️🏃🏿‍♂️🚶‍♀️🧘‍♂️🏌️‍♀️🏂🥬🍤🧀🌶
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
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    What you need to do is buy a testing kit and test your sugar after meals until you learn how many carbs you can tolerate. Aim to keep your sugar under 140 at its peak, about 45 minutes after eating, and back to normal by two hours. Test after every new meal until you have an idea of how you react to different foods. Then eat only enough carbs to stay in range.

    You can see dieticians and read books until the cows come home, but every diabetic is different and no one can tell you anything about your own body and your own progression of diabetes but you. Test and find out.

    By using this method, called “eating to the meter,” I lowered my a1c from 11 at diagnosis to consistently under 5 for the past four years, controlled by diet and exercise only.
  • zebasschick
    zebasschick Posts: 909 Member
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    i don't don't usually eat more than 21 grams of carbs per meal, and i eat 6 small meals per day, sometimes 7. i don't eat much sugar - often less than 30 grams per day, always under 60.

    exercising (walking or exercise bike) helped get my sugar down, losing a little weight helped get it down. eating small meals helps keep it from rising so much, and 2 hours is when my blood sugar would drop back down. at its highest, my blood sugar was 310. it's now 116 without meds, and when i was a little lighter - 145 at 5' 3" - my sugar was normal.
  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,350 Member
    edited June 2021
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    rheddmobile wrote: »
    By using this method, called “eating to the meter,” I lowered my a1c from 11 at diagnosis to consistently under 5 for the past four years, controlled by diet and exercise only.

    Agreed. Eating to the meter is a very good tool. I do it for any new food. It’s how I learned that for me white rice needs to be under half a cup. Over that and my BS remains high too long.
  • jogman
    jogman Posts: 16 Member
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    I try to limit my total carbs to <125g and my net carbs (carbs - fiber -sugar alcohols) to <50 per day. This corrected my blood sugar (and high blood pressure) very quickly. No diabetic meds and off BP meds in under 2 weeks just through change in diet. Then I focused on losing weight over the next several years which only continued to improve things. My doctor originally suggested diabetic meds but through research it seemed to me that the meds hid the problem vs correcting it. I would definitely take the advice of using a meter to determine how it affects your blood sugar. Good luck on your journey.
  • lexcoulstring
    lexcoulstring Posts: 386 Member
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    I wish someday dietitian's would catch up with science and research. The advise I got from a dietitian when I was diagnose with T2D was wrong but I didn't know better until I had an "honest" doctor who helped educate me about carbs and what that does to your body.

    But you will get resistance from members here because they solely feel the mass media is correct about the correct diet (the Food pyramid) pounded into our brains. All I can say is that I have chosen a Keto based lifestyle and it has helped me live in a normal functioning body and feel amazing. I take in about 1700 calories, 70% fat 20% protein 10% carbs. It works for me. I am doing amazing with my weight. It never was good before as I could pack on pounds just seeing carbs. LOL. Anyway thats my 2 cents. Feel free to see my food diary. And good luck.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    im surprised your dietician didnt give you a number to target.

    i always hesitate to give numbers, just because everyones sugar numbers are different.

    i know for my ex, he was supposed to stay under 100 carbs per day. My grandfather, fewer than that.
  • cmjohnson53
    cmjohnson53 Posts: 61 Member
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    I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes 20 years ago and T2D 12 years ago. I too was given advice each time, that in retrospect did nothing but set me up for a lifetime (shortened) of increasing meds and a pre-determined outcome (not a good one). I got tired of meds that made me ill (no details here, but the side effects were horrible). I am a retired high school biology and A&P teacher and am embarrassed that I did not question the diet I was recommended, in hind sight it was in total opposition to common sense. I now follow a keto lifestyle and IF (18-6 five days a week) and at this point I restrict my net carbs to 25 grams per day. I am losing 1 lb. per week, after a lifetime of gaining and losing, I realized that slow and steady works for me. It took me years to get where I am an I am practicing patience! My glucose levels are great now and I follow the data my glucose monitor provides me. My diet totally satisfies me and my energy levels have gone through the roof! These changes were what I needed and I wish that I had not blindly followed recommended guidelines for so long. By the way, I'm off all the meds now!

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