Hello everyone, diagnosed with diabetes last week. Waiting on my doctor to get back in contact with me. Only have spoken with the nurse, she gave me some helpful tips to get started on the right track. A1C is currently at 6.5, I was wondering the number of carbs I should not exceed? Glad I came to this site and its really helpful. Help started a walking and cut my calories. Need a little direction until the doctor contact me. Thanks

These are my two favorite websites. You can find anything you need on either. Good luck to all.

http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/recently-diagnosed/

WebMD.com

Hello. Cynthia here, 29 yoa, originally from Northern Cali, now residing in Reno, NV. I'm in college, engaged but waiting for same-sex marriage to be legalized, no kids, 1 dog, a chihuahua/terrier mix, her name is Duchess I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in april 2010, I had changed my eating habits & lost about 45-50 lbs before I found out. Since then I have continued to eat healthy & exercise because I would like to lose more & hopefully rid of the diabetes. Here & there I go off track but I get right back on. It is not easy as I'm sure some of you know, but all I can do is keep pushing, I know I can do it I've read some of your intro's & they have motivated me. Thank you

I am 57, type 2 for 10-12 years.....lost track. I am finally getting serious about my health. I took my meds all these years and pretty much ignored the fact that I was diabetic. Never lost weight, never ate right, never took care of myself. Stupid. I coulda beat this a long time ago. I finally faced up to what I need to do. I lost 22 pounds and vow every day that this time I will not stop exercising or eating right. I need to lose 60 or 70 more. I quit eating any wheat products except for my Pure Protein bars. I can't give them up....they are my candy. I pretty much gave up red meat (maybe eat it once every few months....love my tacos). I eat chicken dang near every day and I am getting sick of it. Love fish, hate to cook it. Anyone out there vegetarian diabetic? My best friend went vegan and feels great. I need quite a bit of protein to lose weight so I fear going vegetarian, though I would like to. Can't do vegan as I love my yogurt and eggs. And a lot of vegans seem a little silly to me about the whole 'don't kill the animals mentality' that some have. Sorry, don't mean to offend. Some days I actually DO have that feeling about animals.

Thank you for your kind thoughts. So far I thing I'm off to a fairly good start with losing the weight that I have so far. I'm still learn new things every day, but i know that i have along way to go.

Hi I'm Jackie, just turned 33 last April 6 and I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes back in 2009 when I was at my highest weight. I admit that it was merely my fault because all those years I was in denial about being overweight & I ignored my prediabetes stage & continue to eat crap. Having this type of illness really is no joke, there are times wherein my blood sugar would crash & I will be feeling really dizzy, weak & about to faint. Not to mention that I cannot wear those shoes that I used to wear before because my feet are now gets sore easily.

Now that I'm at a healthy weight & body fat percentage, even though I still having those hypoglucemia attacks sometimes but at least its not very frequent unlike before. I'm still on the meds though & I hope I won't get into the stage wherein I will be needing some insulin injections.

Anyway its nice to meet all of you here who is undergoing the same journey. Wish you all the best :flowerforyou:

welcome newbies......
spend some time just searching about the group. you will find lots in information. most common is a healthy diet and exercise are the key. lowering your carb count to what your doctor advises are important. spread your carbs out evenly through out the day. it helps keep sugars level. it takes some work to put a good plan together for you.

welcome.....

Hi...names Ellen, I'm 52, from Tucson, Az. New to this site and dx'd with type 2 on May 11th of this year with an a1c of 6.9. I'm on Metformin 500 twice a day and also have HTN (2 meds) and cholesterol/lipid issues (2 meds) and OA of the knees which thankfully doesn't bother me unless I'm trying to get up off the floor.

My insurance is the pits and only covers 50 strips per month and one meeting with an RD, no DM education classes. She told me to eat 1753 calories and between 140-160 carbs daily. My MD told me to eat between 1200-1500 calories. MD wanted testing 3x daily post prandial but after my one month visit, seemed "ok" with the meter readings and testing once (and cursed all insurance companies). I'm currently testing with AccuChek.

I've been a lifelong yo- yo dieter, WW and it does work IF you stick to it which I never seemed to do after losing the weight. I need to lose over 100 lbs but will be happy to lose the 100 at this point. I've lost 16 lbs since my diagnosis counting calories etc.
BMI says I should be 115-155 and I'd like to see 155 but am trying to not get disillusioned and am setting small goals, one day at a time, one pound at a time. I'm an emotional eater I've discovered so am making conscious decisions daily while working (work from home) to not get up when bored and rummage thru the fridge & pantry.

Not one for exercising (even when I was thinner), it's a struggle to get motivated to move (no desire, no energy). I've got a used treadmill I bought but am waiting till I get under the weight limit on it to use it. I did get a Kettlebell and later today will be off to get a jump rope and dvd workout, I just hope can find the get up & go to use them. I've also got some Leslie Sansone dvds that I haven't done anything with, one has a resistance band.

Never was one for cooking, as I hate leftovers (I live alone so hard to find things to make that I like and are single portion sizes). Portion control was an issue for me as well. I've been using a food scale, measuring/weighing out my portions and spending hours in the grocery reading labels (I always read calories on products but this carb thing is totally new to me). Picked up a copy of the Calorie King book and leave it in the car for when I'm shopping/eating out.

Slowly reading thru the postings in this group and hoping to find some tips, ideas, suggestions to lead me on track to manage (and possibly get rid of) my diabetes. I'm still sort of in shock over the diagnosis but wasn't totally surprised either. I knew I was bordering on it but it took the diagnosis to get me to wake up and start to change my lifestyle.

Thanks for listening

Hi Jill, the no man's land experience is someting many of us have to deal with. I don't profess to be an expert but the best explanation given to me is that our bodies seem to pause from time to time trying to decide if we are in a famine situation and therfore need to conserve fat stores. Stick to the programme and the gradual loss will resume. I assume that you are entering your new weight and adjusting the targets accordingly. Having experienced several episodes like you describe, I can assure you that, given patience and persistence, your weight loss will resume.

Hello,

My name is Farrah and I'm 31 years old. I currently take both insulin and oral medications for my diabetes. I was diagnosed with diabetes a week before my 22nd birthday. Yeah, what a great birthday present, eh? Alas, I've struggled with denial off and on over the last nine years or so. All four of my grandparents were/are diabetic, as well as my mother, my older sister, two aunts, and two uncles. In fact, both of my paternal grandparents died from complications of diabetes. My grandfather was 42 and my grandmother was 53. As I'm getting older, I'm realizing that diabetes is definitely nothing to mess around with. Actually, I don't think it's the age that was frightened me into almost complete compliance with the doctors. I have a fatty liver (thank you, high triglycerides) and was told that if I couldn't get my triglycerides, cholesterol, and diabetes under control, the fatty liver could turn into cirrhosis of the liver which can then lead to even worse complications like liver failure. I can do without that.

Having been around diabetics pretty much all my life and having been to my fair share of dieticians and nutritionists, I'm well aware of what to eat and what not to eat. I even have a pretty good knowledge of simple forms of exercises. It's just having the motivation to actually do it. That's how I found myfitnesspal. It's been a rather useful tool. I've used it for a couple months (more or less consistently), but now I need some encouragement from other diabetics that are actually doing something about their disease (my family is rather useless for encouragement). I want to be healthy and live a nice, long life with my wonderful husband.

@jahsshh-I'm glad you found us. Getting control of your BG will make your energy level so much better and so will losing weight. I have some suggestions about your fluctuating BG. First off, you've lost a lot of weight and you may need to adjust your insulin levels. Your body may need less meds now than it used to. A good way to figure this out is to test often. Test after you eat (when depends on your body, most people it's 2 hrs after you start your meal), after you exercise, when you get up, before bed, pretty much all the time. You will start seeing patterns emerge. What different foods do to you, what different med doses do to you, what exercise does to you. MFP makes it easy to track your carb intake and you can note your BG in your menu (make a personal item in your foods and put your BG reading in it). It sounds like your problem is that you are chasing lows with sugar then rebounding into a high. You may need to go see your dr. or educator to help you refigure your correct insulin dose. Keeping your carb intake pretty steady can also help this.

@farrolei-Welcome. The thing that often keeps me going is I picture diabetics I've known who have had to have amputations. I don't want to lose my limbs or become so sick that I have no quality of life. I was diagnosed at 34 and know I have a long time to go. I want to see my grandchildren and be able to retire with my husband and do stuff. Sometimes, even when we know what to do it is overwhelming. Try making one small change at a time. That might be paying a lot of attention to reducing offending foods or maybe eating more vegetables, or maybe try to take a walk every day. If your goal is small you will find it easier to get there and then you can move along to the next goal. We are always here to support you so come back often.

Hi Paul, you are off to a great start with the realisation that we are engaged in a change of lifestyle and are not on a diet. You've also got it when you say that the best way to learn is from others. We're all different , have different starting points, and different incentives for wanting to gain control. What unites us is our common desire to achieve and then maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. Like yourself I am Type 2 diagnosed last October and currently controlling through diet and exercise. You make a very valid point that under pinning everything is the need to measure and record everything we eat. MFP has proven a lifeline to so many of us and the diabetic support groups on the site have many members willing to share their experience with those of us recently diagnosed. There are a number of websites dealing with conversion tables for those of us who use imperial/metric measurements rather than the US cup system used by our friends across the pond. I'm glad you find the MFP site helpful and wish you well in your quest for a healthier life.

Hi All,

Thought I'd join in the fun..... Type 2 been diagnosed for approx 3 years now... 37.

Just started injecting Byetta as well as 3*850mg Metformin and 1*100 Sitagliptin, 1* 267mg fenofibrate a day.

Always struggled with my weight and have found for the last year or so that I had Gliclizide instead of the Byetta that loosing weight seemed to be almost impossible. Went from doing a half marathon 2 years ago to getting tired walking to the shops!

Seem to be getting slowly back on track now though.

James

Hi, my name is Laurie and I am a newbie here to this site. I am 53 and live in Wisconsin. Been Type 2 diabetic for just over 10 years. Also have familial high cholesterol and hypothyroidism. I take more pills than I care to think of. Only thing I take for diabetes is Metformin. I was doing pretty well with my numbers but then life took one of its many twists and I fell off the wagon of testing and taking meds. While my numbers when in the tank, I did manage to lose about 10 pounds during that time. Not a clue how I did that.

So I am now back to being a good patient. I met with the dietitian who told me about this site. Taking my meds and watching what I eat. So far numbers have been pretty good. I hope to learn a few things here.

Hi Laurie, welcome to this group where you will find lots of encouragement and really sound information from some really caring people. Take your time to look at the various boards and get a feel for the group. We are all in this together and that is a mark of our strength. It will take time but it will happen if you persist and are honest with yourself.