ruby said:

Michael V said:

Bubblecar said:

It did sound to me as though Michael was thinking he had to restrict his range of foods more than is normally advised.

I think I am starting to get my head around things a bit. It was quite overwhelming to begin with. And still is at times. I have always treated my diet as “averaged out” rather than “per meal”. And I don’t always have three regular meals. I often miss, or have a very late breakfast.

I have also recently gotten into some bad habits, such as using white rice, and eating the very yummy white bread that is made here, and using way too much butter. I also served my Asian-style meals as 50% rice and 50% stir-fry – mostly veges. That’s easily changed to 25% rice with the same amount of sauce – and the portion is then controlled better, too. Similarly with Mediterranean-style meals. I will cut the pasta back to 25%, and I will use wholemeal pasta, either bought or home-made.

I have never been much of a fruit eater, so I have to work on that. (Most fruit smells awful to me.) I don’t mind citrus, Granny Smith Apples and grapes, so there are some options.

I rarely have dessert, so that doesn’t need any attention.

I make a meal fairly regularly for Mrs V’s low kJ days that is dominated by potato. I’ll need to revise that. I think it is doable, but may not come completely within the guidelines.

I do find some of the recommendations perplexing. eg: “Instead of peeling potatoes, use them washed, but unpeeled”, as though the 1% peel could make a measurable difference. And the completely nonsensical recommendations for coconut cream substitutions – things like low fat milk. These people have clearly not eaten a south Asian curry. The coconut flavour is important.

I’ll get there. Eventually. Sigh.

I rang my brother for some tips for you MV, he was diagnosed with type 2 along with heart problems and thought he was a goner, but he turned things right around.
Some of his advice-
Register with the NDSS, how to do that is on this page or do it through your GP- https://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/living-with-diabetes/just-been-diagnosed/

My brother’s biggest game changer was getting a blood sugar monitor and checking how various meals and foods spike his levels. This gives him a real time reminder of what is going on, rather than just a vague notion.
He said fats give him no spike (so your butter and coconut cream are hopefully safe, but I’ll ask him about them), carbs are the biggest rise as expected, refined carbs are the worst (yay for your wholemeal), protein doesn’t spike his levels. The advice he got was that the bigger and sharper the blood sugar rise, the more damage is being done, so if you can level out the quick increase to a lower and longer one, the less damage to organs etc.

He said eating foods in certain orders helps to regulate blood sugar levels for him. Carbs last is a must. He said eating big green leafy salads first has made a big difference for him.

Registering with the NDSS gives you access to subsidised things…through them he gets cheaper test strips for his monitor. I asked him which brand he uses and he’ll get back to me on that. He is also happy to answer any questions.

A new thread with all this information would be good. Lots of people here seem to need it.