Hi John, welcome to TuDiabetes!
For starters: Carbohydrates are what cause our blood glucose to rise. Not JUST “sugar”. So, anything white, except cauliflower, you need to limit. So, anything made with flour: Bread, dry cereals [corn flakes, etc] pasta, noodles, cookies, cakes, pies. Of course anything made with sugar. Rice. Veggiesr: potatoes, corn, peas, carrots [and anything made with corn-including corn bread - that one is a double whammy!!] Of the veggies, potatoes and corn are the worst. Sweet potatoes don’t seem to bother MOST people as much though. Fruits: apples, especially oranges and bananas.
Remember anything with an -ose at the end is a sugar: so glucose, sucrose, lactose [yes, milk has “natural sugar” in it!!
Of course, don’t drink “regular” soda, instead, drink diet. If you must have sweetened things,like in your coffee or iced tea, use the artificial sweeteners, sweet and low, Equal [or NutraSweet], splenda, stevia. I personally like Equal the best. You cannot cook with it though. Splenda has a special blend for cooking and baking.
To get you started, limit your meals to 65grams of carbs per meal and 25g per snack. You should be eating at 3 meals and 2 or 3 snacks a day. The snacks aren’t mandatory or anything like that. But, especially in the beginning, they are very helpful, as you are going to feel like you’re starving ALL the time!! You should be seeing an nutritionist/dietician or CDE [Certified Diabetes Educator]. They will tailor your meal carbohydrate and calorie intake to your specific needs. The 65g and 25g are just the most common amount prescribed to most male Diabetics.
You will HAVE to start reading the nutrition lables on foods! Pay strict attention to what the serving size is and how many Carbohydrates per serving there is! This is how you will determine how much of what you can have per meal
Have you started checking your blood glucose yet? You should be checking when you first rise which will be your “fasting BG” [at least 8 hours without eating anything with carbs in them] in the morning, then two hours after the FIRST bite of your breakfast, again just before you eat lunch, then two hours after the first bite, before and after your supper, then again before you go to bed. Hopefully your doctor is up to par on Diabetes and has you testing like this already!
Testing is one of the most important parts of Diabetes! Testing is how you will learn how different foods affect your BG. Each of us is different, and we don’t all react the same way to the same food.
For example, me, my dad and my sister. We’re all T2. I can tolerate about a 1/2 a cup of rice, and do alright with my BG. My dad, he can eat only a couple bites and his BG goes thru the roof! My sis, she can eat just about as much as she likes with little to no rise at all! [BRAT!! LOL]
So, by testing, you will learn how different foods affect your BG, and learn which ones you can have a little more of and those that you will have to cut back on, or possibly pretty much eliminate from your diet. By testing just before your first bite of a meal, and then two hours after your first bite, you will learn how that specific food affected your BG.
Morning BG should be below 120. After meal … well that one differs depending upon who you’re talking to!! Most general/family practitioners and internal meds docs say under 180. But most Endocrinologists go by the AACE guidelines and say under 140.
Where are your BG’s at now? Also, do know that the Glucovance has both Metformin AND Glipizide in them. The metformin part will take about 3 weeks to fully “kick” into full power. So don’t expect to see drastic changes for a few weeks. It’ll be more like a slow change. Frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t start you out on insulin with your BG being so high at diagnosis!!
TRY not to become stressed!! It’s easier said than done, I know. But do your best! Stress alone can raise your BG! Know that frustration is a part of it all! It IS frustrating at first, but, once you learn “your foods” things will become much easier for you.
Any questions? Don’t hesitate to ask!! We’re here to help!! Even if ya just want to vent!! We’re here for ya!!
Good Luck!! YOU CAN DO IT!!! ;0) And you’ve got ALL of us to help ya along the way!!! :0)
