Welcome to HealingWell, OA123! I'm glad others have welcomed you with helpful advice. First of all, I believe that your plan to control your blood sugar is rather good and I'm sure if you're consistent that you will lose the weight and find better blood sugar levels.
Please read the two 'stickies' at the top of our Diabetes forum. In one of them, you'll find two lists of meters that the Comsumer Reports organization here rated. It seems that Accu-Chek and FreeStyle have come out near the top. I'm not sure if you can find them in the UK or if they are available there under different names but please check out the lists and see if you can find them where you live. Also, there are several generic meters that are sold in drugstores here bearing their own private names and you might find the same there, too. Home meters may not agree 100% with lab results but the industry that oversees these medical products for personal use allow about
10% variance in accuracy. In any case, a meter is an excellent guide for us to monitor our blood sugar.
Basically, you understand that the more carbs you eat, the higher your blood sugar will rise. Simple carbs like sugar, honey, food made with white flour will raise your blood sugar fast and high. Complex carbs like whole-grain wheat products or potatoes with skins, for example, are supposed to cause a more gradual rise in blood sugar but they will cause a rise nonetheless. This is also true of most root vegetables and corn. Only you will know how your blood sugar reacts to this food, so keeping a journal is important.
A journal should have the times, food, blood sugar before eating and about
two hours after eating, what activities you've done (when and for how long). In this way, you will be able to see what food causes high blood sugar and what doesn't. This journal is important for you and for your doctor so your doctor may see not only what you're eating but also what your blood sugar is.
A low-carb diet is the best for keeping blood sugar levels as normal as you can get them. Sustained activity such as walking, running, cycling, swimming and [even] dancing for at least 15 minutes everyday will also help keep blood sugar lower but also help you lose weight and with this can give you better blood pressure and resting heart rate.
Along with cardio exercise, strength training is also helpful. More muscle uses up more calories and blood sugar just being muscle. With permission from your doctor, you might try using some hand weights to strengthen your arms and certain other exercises like push-ups and squats to strengthen other muscle groups.
A low-carb diet does not mean to eat exclusively meat and fat. Protein is important and you can get this daily from a reasonable piece of beef, pork or lamb (about
the size of your palm) or a piece of chicken as well as eggs. Fill out your meal with vegetables like leafy greens (raw and cooked), green beans, mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini squash, eggplant, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, broccoli, and cauliflower. Eat some non-sweetened or artificially sweetened yogurt, cheese, nuts, or a hard-boiled egg as a snack.
What works for you is what's important. For example, I cannot eat popcorn without a huge spike but maybe others can. I even spike with artificial sweeteners in my morning coffee so I have to find out the best way to deal with this.
If you would like to buy a comprehensive book on diabetes, I would recommend
Diabetes Solution by Richard K. Bernstein, who is a type 1 and a medical doctor. Also, here is a website with a lot of information about
blood sugar:
http://www.bloodsugar101.com/ Good luck with your new lifestyle! If you have any questions, please ask! We're happy to have you here.
