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It can be a catch 22. When you get your diabetes under control your body process what you eat unlike before when what you eat just goes right through. Now if you over eat and don’t get enough exercise it turns to fat.
Everything you eat and do has to now be taken into consideration. I know this can sound like a daunting task and that is why so many of us fail at it at times. For me I do a 6/1 program. 6 days a week I maintain a tight control and one day a week I reward myself with something extra or a treat.

Diabetic neuropathy, a common complication of diabetes, is damage to the nerves that allow you to feel sensations such as pain.
The areas of the body most commonly affected by diabetic peripheral neuropathy are the feet and legs. Nerve damage in the feet can result in a loss of foot sensation, increasing your risk of foot problems. Injuries and sores on the feet may go unrecognized due to lack of sensation. Therefore, you should practice proper skin and foot care.
In most cases, early symptoms will become less when blood glucose is under control.
Work with your doctor to keep your blood glucose under tight control and examine your feet and legs daily and wear properly fitting footwear and wear them all the time to prevent foot injury.
Welcome to our little corner of the web.Hang in there it is worth it, and post any time you have any questions or thoughts and here.

Kelpie, (I love your screen name!)
Let me add my welcome to the list. You probably are just going thru an adjustment stage and the weight thing is just as Lanie said. I don't own a scale myself. Weigh myself at the YMCA when I go to swim. It's more about choices for each food I eat... I can't let my happiness be ruled by that darned box on the floor anymore. I just do my best and that's all I can do.

Sounds like you are doing the same. Just KOKO (Keep on keepin' on...) and we will be here to trade ideas for staying on track. Reading back in the posts will really give you a shot in the arm and increase your knowledge base on this disease. We have lots of smart cookies who like to share.

Take care!

kelpie

If I ate 3 meals and 2 snacks a day, I'd weigh 500 pounds. The diabetes dietitian tried to get me to eat like that- and I did try it- and I gained weight.

I generally eat 2-3 times a day, no snacks. I always eat breakfast because I have Dawn Phenomenon and I have to stop it with food. After that, I eat when I'm hungry. It works fine- I am losing weight slowly, my sugar is under control, and I don't have to chronically plan what I'm going to eat next- My doctor is okay with it as long as I don't let myself get overhungry and eat garbage. If I am eating correctly, I don't get hungry naturally for 5-6 hours.

I do eat lower carb, and exercise every day. Usually breakfast is my largest meal of the day, lunch is smaller, and dinner is smallest if at all (a bowl of soup, maybe). I always have food in the fridge for my husband- who prefers to eat at different time intervals than I do- it works out fine. We breakfast together. If he's having dinner and I'm not hungry, I have a cup of tea and talk with him. My kids eat like this too and both of them are normal weighted with little effort even though my whole family carries the obesity gene.

I think success depends on eating smallish meals, when we do eat, rather than eating one or two large meals which would put alot of strain on the body coping with a huge carb/protein insulin rush.

Good luck with your weight loss.

sandy

Hi Lanie

Growing up, the meals my mother put on the table were exactly as you describe- meat, potatoes, green vegetable, yellow vegetable and dessert. There was a lot of pressure about starving kids in Africa too- I never could understand how my eating everything in sight made them less hungry. I was never a 3 meal, after school snack, after dinner snack person- I was too busy playing and running around to think about food- I was always very overweight despite this- as are all of my cousins and 1 of my brothers- the other has the tendency but never lets up in the control.

I was scared into eating the 3 + 2 by the dietitian after my diagnosis. I truly thought I could make my situation worse by not doing so- but it was torture. I know it's recommended so that you don't get overhungry and overeat, or so that you are less susceptible to carb cravings or emotional eating- but I wasn't, and don't.

For me the big thing is taking metformin with food- and I do- I take it with my two largest meals and before bed for my DP control with a glasss of low carb, unsweetneed soymilk-

I think that spacing my meals further apart has helped me continue to lose weight. Some biochemists (the leptin guys) contend that for the first 3-4 hours after you eat, you live off the energy from that meal- then you start to consume your energy reserves (fat) until you eat again. If that's true, then spacing your meals by 5-6 hours makes good sense if you're trying to lose weight. You get to burn a little between meals witout provoking a starvation response, and overnight while you sleep- provided you're not eating midnight snacks which throws off the natural rhythm of the leptin.

This makes so much sense in my case- I've been trying to implement the 5 principles of leptin regulation for the past month and think I am seeing an improvement. The first biggie- is that I was actually AWARE of being TRULY hungry for the first time in years, maybe ever. My mother used to say she could feed me dirt and I wouldn't refuse it because I was always hungry even as a baby-

The second- is that I stop eating as soon as I feel the edge of my hunger leaving- I actually eat less than the prescribed portion sizes of proteins- we'll see if it lasts

sandy

I was raised the same way... Don't dare let food go to waste. It was a very tough habit to break as an adult. My ex used to pack my lunch for work usually leftovers from the night before. Most days it was enough food to feed 2 or 3  people. Now I pay close attention to portion control. Since I have been diagnosed about 2 months ago I have started eating breakfast again. After skipping it for 20 years. I actualy feel better, and I have been loosing weight. Down 15 pounds from 2 months ago, only 40 more to go. I am still working through the diet and have been taking notes on what not to eat to maintain better sugar control. I attribute my problems to not eating proper for so many years. Only eating 1 or 2 meals a day and overeating when I did eat. My body has been living in starvation mode, which wreaks havoc on my metablolism.

I was used to eating one meal a day at about 4pm. With the pred and diabetes, if I don't eat something in the morning when I take the pred, my bg goes up. Just some greek yogurt or egg beaters keep it in check. I have to force it down as I am not hungry then. We'll see how it goes when I am off the pred.

kelpie

If you go to www.chairdancing.com you'll find aerobic, toning, and yoga exercises that can all be done while seated in a chair. There is a demo. I have all three. I use them when I travel and there is no gym in the hotel. I use them at home when I need an eye break from the computer. They have two different levels and you can skip anything that might make your joints hurt too much.

sandy

Thank you for all the suggestions. I did check out the chair dancing site and it would appear that I could do most of the routines. I will give it a try and let you know how it works out.
Thank you again.
Katie

Yes I thought of that except that I live in a small town that does not have a Y and I don't own a car to travel to one.I always liked to swim.