My Big Plan to lose some weight with Type 2 Diabetes

JoJoB

Is there a Boots near to where you live/work? They have great electronic scales that give you your weight, BMI and bodyfat percentage. I've started doing my weekly weigh-in on those instead of going to weightwatchers. The bodyfat % is really useful as sometimes you don't lose in pounds but see your bodyfat has gone down so keeps you from being demoralised.

Silver-Cat

will go and have a look in my boots on my lunch break. a good excuse to go out and have a walk too!

*Robin*

Silvercat, your thread caught my eye as I think I'm a step behind you, as it were (another poster called it 'pre-diabetic' I think).
So I am looking for tips to control weight and sugar as well..

One thing about your current diet I must comment on - those commercial big soups you love. They tend to be very high in salt. One of my kids loved those too - he's got health problems - they sent his blood results all over the place and the consultant told me not to buy the tins but to make similar chunky soups for him from fresh ingredients (with much less salt obviously). I made huge cauldrons of the stuff and divided it into portions, freezing some of it - so after a week or so he always had a choice of flavours to choose from for his lunch at college (he heated them up in the canteen microwave).
About three months in, I went away for a bit and my lad succumbed to temptation and bought some more tins - later he told me they tasted awful after my home-cooked version - so the tinned soups ended up in the dog's bowl!

My big problem is exercise. I'm an apple-shaped size 16/18. I've got ME/CFS so a gym membership would be wasted. I walk every day with my dogs (they pull me which probably doubles the distance I can walk). But I'd love to hear any tips for increasing exercise without prompting a crash from other posters with similar health problems. Oh and swimming is out because I'm allergic to chlorine.

Good Luck Silvercat, I shall be following your thread with interest.

kazwookie

If you look at the NHS web site, it has a BMI, enter in your height andweight and it will give you the result, mine has gone from 32.2, to 27.4 last time I checked.

Sc~~ the cheese melt thing you had, what sort of cheese was in it, my biggest thing was cheese, but it is loaded with fat, now I only have 'light' cheese and one pack (250g) now lasts at least 3 to 4 weeks, instead of 2 days if I was lucky.!! I have a very small amount grated over my salad.

margaretclare

I agree about 'big soups'. Most commercially-produced soups in fact, although I believe that Baxter's soup is better than some.

Soup is very very easy to make. I'm just about to make a pan which will contain: 2 chicken stock cubes, water, a large onion, fresh carrots and dried red lentils. Simmer and pulverise with a hand-held Magimix or similar. Or, chop the veg very small before cooking. You can put almost anything into home-made soup and it is very filling and nourishing. Tinned soups are full of additives including salt, sugar and preservatives.

Pre-diabetes has only been recognised in the last couple of years - look at the DiabetesUK's site for further information.

If you can walk dogs then you are already taking exercise. I am learning to swim because that is just about the only exercise possible for me - walking is out. I joined a gym some while ago but it was wasted too because I found it impossible to climb on to most of the machines because either they were too high and I couldn't step on to them, or I couldn't get down to them e.g. the rowing machine. It became boring after a while. I go to the little swimming pool because I enjoy it and, that I think, is the key. Find something you enjoy doing and do that.

We've recently come back from a lovely holiday in Shetland. We're both conscious that we could have seen a lot more wildlife if we'd been able to walk.

MrsWoolfe

I have to agree, finding something you acutally enjoy doing is key, then it's not so much like hard work!

I also think that stopping to think about ways you can be more active day to day rather than thinking about doing a whole new activity can help too. Might sound silly but I started by walking around at work more often- I'm on the third floor of our office and instead of e-mailing or calling round I pop downstairs quite a lot - most of the others are on the ground floor as is the water cooler I drink a lot of water through the day so go up and down to refil the jugs quite a lot.

Although I'm guilty of vegging out on the sofa- I now never sit through the ad breaks if I'm watching something on TV- I get up and water the plants, load the washing machine, get out something from the frrezer etc- it's surpising how much you can get done during the Ad breaks lol! I also try to do stuff whilst watching TV - dusting,tidying etc if there is anything in the living room that needs doing.

I love to dance and (shhh don't tell anyone:o) if there is no one around I have been known to put my favourite music on and boogie about the room a little- it's silly but it cheers me up!

we are lucky that since we moved in Jan a lot of our friend's are within an easyish distance from our house- so I walk over a fair bit for a natter etc rather than calling/e-mailing or having to drive...

one more silly little thing I do is steps- I watched an episode of the Biggest Loser where the challenge was that they had to race the other team to get up this huge building's stairwell which was 500 steps...i started doing "flights" of stairs to see how many I could do not pushing too hard just taking it and seeing how many flights I could do in one go, to start with seems easy but you really start to feel it after a bit- I'm up to 10 flights at the moment which is about 130 steps...I aim to build up to the 500 eventually as I get fitter- it's a way for me to check my progress...if a little silly:)

just little things, but I think if you keep at it they add up eventually!

MrsWoolfe

pinkclouds

Silver-Cat wrote: »

Just as a question and this might seem a bit wierd, but when I put weight on my bust size also increased and is quite nice and fuller if I may say so myself.:p When the weight falls off does that mean I lose my bust?

I knew a girl, from school, who wanted a smaller bust. (She was very large.) She tried just losing weight (and I seem to recall she dropped two dress sizes). However, she ended up having a reduction because the weight loss just didn't do much for her. So, I'd guess you'll lose a little bit but nowhere as much as you might expect. Basically: don't worry about it.

siaoeh

Hi, sorry can't type much now but didn't want to read and run... I've been diagnosed not long ago too so I know what you're going thru, just wanted to offer another hug :-)

like another poster (or was that 2?) tin soups have salt and probably sugar in them too, so if you like soup, make your own. once you start making, they are really easy, get a good stick blender :-)

another thing I spotted in the list of things you said you eat/drink... is the squash.. how about drinking just water instead? add a good squeeze of lime or lemon juice in and it will help lower your sugar too :-) as will having vinegar with your meals...

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-forum/viewforum.php?f=12 is brilliant, helped me loads when I was first diagnosed. though you do have to learn to take everything with a pinch of salt as with everything else there's some extreme opinions everywhere :-)

x

ailuro2

You're still not eating very much, though.... you don't want to starve yourself.

a low fat yoghurt isn't going to set you up for the day, but the fruit with a yoghurt poured over the top of it would be good. some kind of low GI cereal or a low fat protein would go well with it too.

I agree on the soup thing - there are so many lovely things to have other than soup that can be cooked in the microwave, put in a pot, or taken in a flask. Hugh Feearnley Whittingstall did a great thing that used fine egg noodles and a kettle of hot water to cook them in, lovely fresh ingredients and it got voted as tasting better than a Pot Noodle in a blind taste test by a bunch of builders.

Good Luck with your appointment tomorrow. If it helps, write down all the questions you want to ask tonight, that will mean you can remember them all when you have the chance to ask them

downshifted

I was told I was pre-diabetic a year ago. It was spotted when I moved and went to a new surgery andthey did an MOT with a variety of tests - I would not have known otherwise. It's a genetic thing and I had pregnancy diabetes years ago. I weighed 10 stone 4 then and now weigh 9 stone 4lbs. I have not moved onto medication and my blood sugar is under control because I eat regular meals and avoid the kinds of things that send sugar higher.

The best web site I have found is http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/ It is backed up with the latest scientific research and advice and the way it describes of learning what affects your own sugar levels (buying a monitor and checking 1 and 2 hours after a normal meal and then adjusting the meal as required and testing again until it is a sensible level) worked for me.

The area I fail with most is exercise - and it is very important - I just haven't found anything I really enjoy and also have a dodgy hip.

Good luck to everyone coping with these lifestyle changes - it is so much better to make the changes if you can and avoid the potentially serious long term problems of diabetes