[Jim102938]

Age 53, Male, active (walk average of 1.9 miles a day at work) Type 2 diagnosed 7/7/2011, lost 19 lbs since then, Blood sugars <103 after meals, seem to be doing well as far as the type 2 goes.

Kind of angry at the dietary guidelines and nutritionists I have met. The reccommended carb intake is higher than what I was eating before I was diagnosed. Why on Earth would I want to start consuming MORE carbs than I was before I was diagnosed? Seems to me that a mild case of malnutrition would be better than progressing to Type 1. Any other thoughts?

I was not on a low carb diet before, I just kept track of what I ate and went back and figured out how many carbs a day I was eating and was surprised to find I was already consuming less than what was reccommended. Currently living comfortably on 60 - 75 grams of carbohydrates per day and am unwilling to go much higher.

 

[Patdart]

Hi, Jim! Glad you found us and eagerly await getting to know you better, but you are making a really good point. Tell us more about what you do, what you want to learn, etc.

 

[Jim102938]

Nice to be here and see the divergent people and lives.

I am a military contractor and retired military.

PONG is an acronym: P----- Off New Guy.

I am here to learn more about the following:
1. What to expect in the future.
2. More about working the best possible nutrition into my limited carb diet.
3. Why I get conflicting information about the amount of carbs to consume from people that have successfully dealt with type 2 diabetes for greater than 20 years and the establishment sources such as nutritionists and the American Diabetes Association.
4. Why is seems so easy to modify my diet so far. I feel that since I have made relatively few changes that I must be doing something wrong but my levels are good, I have energy, and the weight loss is slowing down. So I am caught between thinking that I am doing something wrong but what I am doing seems to be working.

I have an excellent support network at both work and home and I am well loved and watched out for by those closest to me. I feel fortunate that type 2 was the diagnosis; I went in expecting to be told that I had the family illness (prostate cancer) and glaucoma. So I was very relieved to have it be "just" type 2.

Being somewhat of a good cook, I was able to make the switch to healthier meals easily. I have started preserving food again and packaging it in single meal configurations so that I only have to decide on package A,B,C,D,E, or F when I walk out the door in the morning. I did my meal planning and the only variable is what kind of greens I want in my side salad every day for lunch. Makes life so simple for me.

As soon as this month’s supply gets low, I will go ahead and switch up the menu a bit to reflect what I learn about nutrition for the next month's meals. Currently I based my menu off the Army's 7-day menu system and exercised portion control to keep the carbs low.

I also downloaded a carb counter for my cell phone and make it a habit of recording what I eat as I eat it. This is nice since it lets me know how many carbs I have left for the day; I can then decide on what kind of fruit I want at the evening meal.

 

[Gizmo]

Kind of angry at the dietary guidelines and nutritionists I have met. The reccommended carb intake is higher than what I was eating before I was diagnosed. Why on Earth would I want to start consuming MORE carbs than I was before I was diagnosed? Seems to me that a mild case of malnutrition would be better than progressing to Type 1. Any other thoughts?

Hi, Jim. There are many of us who are angry about the dietary guidelines our nutritionist sat up for us. Glad you knew better. There are many who don't and who get worse because of it.

There is good news in all of this. You don't have to worry about going from type 2 to type 1. We can get better or worse depending on how we handle our diabetes, but we don't change types.

Glad you found us and welcome to the forum.

 

[Jim102938]

Gizmo,
Thank you so much for the reply; I was so relieved to read your comments about nutritionists that I nearly cried. I have been so worried that I was missing the big picture and doing something that was going to make matters worse in the future.
Looking back, I know I can’t change types but forgot it, thank you for reminding me.
What really clued me in to something being wrong was when I started eating according to the guidelines and realized that the only change I made was to only eat half the baked potato and cut out the every other day candy bar. Then I realized that the carbs I was eating were at the lower limits of what the ADA recommended (nutritionist too) which prompted me to challenge the logic of continuing on in life making virtually no changes and expect something to magically get better.
Again, thank you for the bright spot in my day, I am much more relaxed to know I am not the only one that sees danger in what the nutritionist and the ADA recommend.

Thank you for being here.

Jim

 

[Gizmo]

Most, if not all of your questions can be answered by doing some reading at Blood Sugar 101 Great information there that is easy to understand, and most of it is based on sound research. It will really open your eyes when it comes to Diabetes, the ADA, etc.

 

[moon]

Kind of angry at the dietary guidelines and nutritionists I have met. The reccommended carb intake is higher than what I was eating before I was diagnosed. Why on Earth would I want to start consuming MORE carbs than I was before I was diagnosed?

Why indeed. You quickly came to the same outraged flash point as many of us when we learned how obscene diabetes care can be via ADA guidelines. It's outrageous and I'm still mystified how it's allowed to continue. Yes, I know about drug company funding, etc - but shouldn't the diabetic epidemic and the huge numbers of us bury all that nonsense?

I read your post and thought, "I'd like to be helpful to Jim, but more than that, I'd like to ride on his coattails and let him take care of =me=!" Seriously, your organization around meal planning is inspirational (not that I'd ever get it together to emulate, but ... I'm impressed!)

I'm not a bit worried about you. You've already got the tiger by the tail. All the rest will be minor details

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Jim102938]

Moon,
All of you have been more help than I imagined. Having spent my entire life in an environment that does not encourage challenging the “experts” (not that that stopped me) the ADA and nutrition network “experts” being at odds with my version of common sense was very traumatic for me. Believe it or not, my stress level has dropped to less than ¼ of what it was just by the replies to my post; I will sleep much better tonight.
Instead of expending emotional and mental energy on trying to resolve my divergence from conventional wisdom, I can now bring those reserves to bear on addressing the actual health issues in my life and the processes within my body.
As far as emulating me, be what you need to be and work on growing from there? You will find your own path that will work for you. How about starting by organizing a week’s worth of non perishable snacks for yourself and grabbing one each morning? By doing this you get into the habit of recognizing you have a finite amount for each day and also develop the habit of planning. I was not (and am not) always this organized but I have high aspirations so that even if I miss, I still achieve more than I had before!
Jim

 

[moon]

How about starting by organizing a week’s worth of non perishable snacks for yourself and grabbing one each morning? By doing this you get into the habit of recognizing you have a finite amount for each day and also develop the habit of planning.

What's amazing is that I needed to do this BD (before diabetes) but now I have no issues with portion control. Going low-carb has freed me from cravings and crazy grazing. I eat when I'm hungry and (mostly) stop when I'm not. It's such a miracle.

What I really wish to have is a chef who would prepare perfect and varied meals, leaving me out of the loop entirely. As it is, I'm far too whimsical to be successful at your sort of planning. I'd plan, then decide "nah - I don't want to eat that!" and toss it all overboard. Also, I suspect the side of my brain that controls planning anything other than vacations has atrophied

 

[d33na]

Hi and Welcome Jim *waves from Perth* Over here Diabetes Australia is the same as ADA...same guideline and same 'too many" carbs diet recommended...without exception here (i think) we all follow a much lower carb diet than was suggested...some people can tolerate different foods its a matter of checking with your meter to see what food spike you...

Come back soon!

 

[Jim102938]

In the words of my son serving in Iraq; "it is what it is. Deal with it by doing what works". I suspect I will have the same problems at some time and need to recover from them. Just had my first ice cream two nights ago, 1/2 cup @ 20 grams. Made myself take 10 minutes to eat most of it and drink the rest. Never knew I had that much self control! I guess it is the incentive that helps. I guess that my attitude about food helps (food is to keep you alive, if it tastes good, that is a bonus), I am used to eating food to maintain life and energy, only occasionally slowing down to actually evaluate it.

A little more history: I was diagnosed with type 2 on the 7th of this July, the 8th told I have begining cataracts, the 11th I was in the hospital with a blod clot that went from my groin to my ankle, the 14th I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. Back at work and feeling better than I have for years. Only drawback is that I cannot travel long distances to see my wife yet. hoping that changes in the next month.

BUT, as the little beggar says, "it is what it is. Deal with it by doing what works".

So I am!

 

[Jim102938]

Most, if not all of your questions can be answered by doing some reading at Blood Sugar 101 Great information there that is easy to understand, and most of it is based on sound research. It will really open your eyes when it comes to Diabetes, the ADA, etc.

Thanks Gizmo, Now I am too excited to go to sleep and will be a grump at work tomorrow
Great reading. All kidding aside, I am at least five times more prepared and confident than I was this afternoon.

Thank you so much!

 

[Gene]

Welcome

Age 53, Male, active (walk average of 1.9 miles a day at work) Type 2 diagnosed 7/7/2011, lost 19 lbs since then, Blood sugars <103 after meals, seem to be doing well as far as the type 2 goes.

Kind of angry at the dietary guidelines and nutritionists I have met. The reccommended carb intake is higher than what I was eating before I was diagnosed. Why on Earth would I want to start consuming MORE carbs than I was before I was diagnosed? Seems to me that a mild case of malnutrition would be better than progressing to Type 1. Any other thoughts?

I was not on a low carb diet before, I just kept track of what I ate and went back and figured out how many carbs a day I was eating and was surprised to find I was already consuming less than what was reccommended. Currently living comfortably on 60 - 75 grams of carbohydrates per day and am unwilling to go much higher.

Hi Jim,

Glad you found us. You should be able to find some good ideas on different foods to try. Some look pretty darned good to me!


Gene

 

[Shanny]

Hello & welcome, Jim. You have a good grip on this already - you're gonna be fine. As for the cataracts, my doc said they'd take 'em off whenever they started bothering me - interfering with my vision. I had both eyes done last spring & now see better than I have in 60 years.

Sleep apnea visited me too, several years ago; do you have your machine yet? I went on CPAP & now I can hardly even fall asleep unless I'm strapped into the mask & that steady hum lulls me to sleep.

I guess all these things happen for a reason, because we get off dead center & start DOING something about 'em! Yep, you're gonna be just fine.

 

[Strawberry]

In the words of my son serving in Iraq; "it is what it is. Deal with it by doing what works". I suspect I will have the same problems at some time and need to recover from them. Just had my first ice cream two nights ago, 1/2 cup @ 20 grams. Made myself take 10 minutes to eat most of it and drink the rest. Never knew I had that much self control! I guess it is the incentive that helps. I guess that my attitude about food helps (food is to keep you alive, if it tastes good, that is a bonus), I am used to eating food to maintain life and energy, only occasionally slowing down to actually evaluate it.

A little more history: I was diagnosed with type 2 on the 7th of this July, the 8th told I have begining cataracts, the 11th I was in the hospital with a blod clot that went from my groin to my ankle, the 14th I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. Back at work and feeling better than I have for years. Only drawback is that I cannot travel long distances to see my wife yet. hoping that changes in the next month.

BUT, as the little beggar says, "it is what it is. Deal with it by doing what works".

So I am!

Welcome to the forum. I am amazed at how quickly you have figured out the baloney that dietiticians, ADA, etc. have been feeding those of us blessed with Diabetes. I think you came here wanting to learn, but just reading your posts has taught me a lot already.

You have had a lot to deal with in a very short period of time. I have also been visited by the Sleep Apnea fairy and I could not get along very well at all without my CPap machine. Be good to yourself and try not to worry too much.

Please thank the little beggar for me for serving his country. Both my Dad and my brother are 4 year veterans of the Navy.