I found out a week or so ago that I have Diabetes 2. It came as a complete shock though I have since found out that my Aunt also had it. She had to have her foot amputated and died aged 74. I didn't know she was diabetic nor that she was only 74 when she died. My cousin said she wasn't good at keeping to the foods that she was told not to eat. I will be 70 this year and don't want to follow in her footsteps..........or should I say footstep!
I found it very confusing when first diagnosed as I was getting conflicting information on what to eat. I am not on medication for it nor do I have to inject myself with insulin. Mine has to be controlled by diet alone. I had a consultation with my GP and she said that a meter was not necessary. However, experienced people on the Diabetes Support Forum that I joined queried how I would know whether a food was affecting me or not when I couldn't test my blood sugar levels. I went to see the nurse at the practice yesterday and she answered a lot of queries that I had and had no hesitation in giving me a meter.
Breakfast has been difficult as I don't want to raise my cholesterol levels by having bacon and eggs too often. The nurse said yesterday that I could have porridge as long as I didn't put sugar or syrup on it. I don't sweeten mine anyway.
I wondered if there were other diabetics on here who also have diabetes 2 and are managing it by diet alone? How have you got on with it and did you also find it a little confusing to start with?
My neighbour (80) was diagnosed last year, like you he doesn't need medication. He was a big sugar eater but swapped for the fake stuff which was good. His partner was a carer ,with a diabetic daughter so they get lots of advice. He's doing well just watching what he eats, apart from late December when he was shocked to read the monitor which said he was 17. something , they panicked ringing the dr. and contemplating A&E when another neighbour (also diabetic) realised he'd read the digital date instead of his blood reading :toothy10: :toothy10: :toothy10: Good luck Pauline xx
Hi Pauline. I have diabetes type 2 and have had it for 8 years. i control it by diet alone with no medication at all. It was not easy at first but the main thing is to cut down on the sugar. I find if I eat a healthy diet. Porridge or toast for breakfast, I make veg soup with a roll or a sandwich lunchtime and fish or meat with veg for dinner. I like yoghurts and fresh fruit so thats usually pudding sorted. I have managed to keep it under control by sticking to this. I do wander off the eating regime particularly high days and holidays but I get back on it as soon as I can. I do have a meter to check my blood glucose levels although my GP says it isn't necessary - it makes me feel in control. Good luck with it I'm sure you'll soon get it sussed out.
I've got it too, but no drugs yet! I've tried to lose weight, eat less carbohydrate and move about a bit more. My last HbA1c was 5.4%, it's come down from a much higher number by doing all this but it is very hard to maintain. I agree you need a meter, at least in the beginning, or you don't know what is going on. I buy the AccuChek mobile unit from Amazon and I would have appreciated help as it took me a lot of goes to get the hang of using it. My GP is useless but they do give me the flu jab free every year now. I'm 53.
Hi I was diagnosed 3 years ago with the same diabetics 2 yes it came as a shock as I am not over weight but good news now I have it under control eating correct food and cutting out the rubbish I cut out sugar and use Truvia as it's replacement also I drink one benecol drink a day and use Benecol spread and I have it under control
I'm also type 2 but do take meds whilst trying to diet,but being a healthy eater and a kitchen cookery fan I akin myself more to a wild horse that tries his best to reign himself with portion size and I'm not of the Skool that says you can't eat normally any more,as I prefer to have a little of what does you good in acceptable titbits size......it's not easy ......but as I have worked as a volunteer
In a Diabetic ward and see the effects of the disease in all it's forms I often give myself a good verbal seeing too when I walk out of the ward door,....but hey I don't say that to frighten anybody but just to be realistic that any bodily Ill can bite you if not controlled.
I used my tester to accustom myself to different foods and my 2 pence worth would be to try it over the first six months and monitor and log your bloods 2 hours before and 2 hours after your meals......I've found 5 small meals during the day is the best for me to balance my blood count
So it doesn't spike too high......things to avoid are spikes to high or too low....but all that info will come in time.
As I've moved near you now me dear on payment of a nice cuppa I can pay you and the ol fella
A visit and we can talk fishing and diabetic issues.....oh the joys of life huh.
I wish you well with it .
Any questions ,please ask.
Gazza
Type 2 here, diagnosed back in 2002 and was controlling it with diet for several years before moving onto meds.
We should change this forum to 'Diabetes 4all'.. :tongue3:
Another 'official' type 2....but really I'm 1 1/2..or so the nurses keep telling me.
I was in my early 20's when it was found out....and started with diet only, within a year I had to go to medication as it was some other health issues that influenced/caused the diabetes. So now I'm treated like type 1
I soon learned what foods were the 'baddies' causing the blood sugars to go UP and what food combinations would keep the levels steady. There is not that much that I don't eat or need to restrict myself from eating..just being moderate with everything and careful with pasta, bread and rice....particularly shop's bread as home baked don't seem to have same effects.
I'm quite active with dog walking and gardening being at it everyday...so it will allow some amount of sins :angel11:
Alcohol didn't agree with my diabetes so I left it and only enjoy occasional sniff or taste with little bit whiskey or rum. :drunken_smilie:
I had few years trouble with my health...all being caused by statins...but now I'm getting back to my old self...being able to do more and finding I'm loosing some of my 'girly curves'...oh no..nothing drastic..just 'shaping up'... :tongue3: It never 'go' from where you wanted it to go from anyway... :BangHead:
Oh sodd it the threads far too real...lest talk more about (Girlie Curves)...... :tongue3:
My husband was diagnosed 3 years ago, but with change of diet and exercise he is fine now, not even the need for medication. good luck :sunny:
I just read a little bit of good news about diabetes.... yes, Gazza, I know you rather talk about something else.. :tongue3:...but here is the news...
Scientist have found in Group of people in Finland, Sweden and Norway, who have some DNA mutation that would normally cause them to get type 2 diabetes in early on in their adulthood, but they didn't get it! That's because they carry other DNA mutation that protect them from this early onset...and now there is strong believe, that because scientist have been able to recognize these genes..it will help them to create specific medication for type 2's that would mimic more of natures own way of protecting the body from the diabetes and with less side effect than conventional medication that is offered at the moment.
:icon_cheers:
It might not be any help for us but it might prevent lot of misery in future for others.
My 80 yr old husband was diagnosed with type 2 about 10 years ago and takes medication. He was very surprised to find that all the cereals he tried out for breakfast pushed his sugar level up at once, and like goodlife found that homemade bread was the answer. I push quantities of veg and salads into him, too. For the last 4 years he has given up breakfast (against all advice) to rid himself of his 'girly curves', or as he would put it, to aid "mass reduction", and seems to thrive on it.
I can't say we have changed our food much at all, as we have never been cake and pudding and sweet eaters, and we both cook plain healthy (delicious) food as a matter of course. I notice he is avoiding cheese, but slaps butter onto bread as if plastering a wall....he also loves shop pizzas (cheese or not). His blood sugar is well under control and all health checks bring him back boasting about his low cholesterol and blood pressure. Maybe he is just constitutionally lucky (seldom takes much exercise but annoyingly remains strong and fit).
His diagnosis came about after a blood check, and coincided with a big change in his eyesight needing new glasses - the optician apparently never considered diabetes as the reason for the change, which was negligent.
Make sure when away from home that you always carry some food in case of famine....long periods without food have caused two frightening episodes. He is very stubborn and will not accept that anything went wrong, but I can assure you it did.....
The more people that get it the more funding will be pumped into treatments/studies for ways to improve or even cure eventually. SO there's hope going forward in future although not for us possibly!
I actually decided to get an allotment as a direct result of being diagnosed with type 2 as wanted an outdoor hobby that would keep me active regularly. Although took 4 years on a waiting list til we got a plot.
Thank you all for your replies. It is interesting to read how many of you have diabetes and how you have managed to control it by diet alone.
I am already feeling less tired but don't know if my new lease of life is due to the changes in my diet or the fact that the sun has shone a lot more and we are now into Spring. Maybe a combination of both :icon_cheers:
Gazza, you, Jude and your Mum are most welcome to come for a cuppa especially after Easter when, hopefully, it will be a bit warmer and we can show you around our garden. I may even attempt to make some diabetic cake for you to try! I will be in touch when we get back from our hols in April.
Try diabetes.co.uk
Fantastic & friendly forum where all sorts of issues, not just food, are discussed with many friendly and sometimes scientific answers. Plus lots of discussions on whether low carb diets are the thing or low calorie diets etc.
I don't actually have diabetes but as someone really interested in food I find the discussions really insightful and useful for general dietry advice.
Quote from: pg on March 22, 2014, 09:34:55
Try diabetes.co.uk
Fantastic & friendly forum where all sorts of issues, not just food, are discussed with many friendly and sometimes scientific answers. Plus lots of discussions on whether low carb diets are the thing or low calorie diets etc.
I don't actually have diabetes but as someone really interested in food I find the discussions really insightful and useful for general dietry advice.
I joined the Diabetes Support Forum last Monday and I can confirm it really is fantastic and friendly. I have learnt so much through there.
another type 2 here
see if you can get hold of a book called carbs & cals
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Carbs-Cals-Count-Calories-Photos/dp/1908261064/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396438471&sr=1-1&keywords=cals+and+carbs
will give you most of the info on what to eat, what size portions etc to do diet controlled very well
Quote from: timf on April 02, 2014, 12:37:28
another type 2 here
see if you can get hold of a book called carbs & cals
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Carbs-Cals-Count-Calories-Photos/dp/1908261064/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396438471&sr=1-1&keywords=cals+and+carbs
will give you most of the info on what to eat, what size portions etc to do diet controlled very well
I bought that book along with six other books on GL, diets, menus etc. I was disappointed with the book you mention as it does not compare weight for weight. For example, if I want to compare the carbohydrate value of mashed potato with sweet mashed potato, I have to work it all out mathematically. If only it would give 100g totals it would be far easier.
For example, mashed potato is shown in weights of 120g, 235g, 355g, 470g, 590g and 705g. Sweet potato is shown in weights of 55g, 160g and 270g. Actually, this example is not too difficult because 120g of potato = 18g carbs, so by dividing by 6 and multiplying by 5, I know that 100g = 15g carbs. I then have to work out the sweet potato. For this I used the weight 160g which is 33g carbs, so I divide 33g by 160 and multiply by 100 to give me a figure of 20.6g carbs per100g. I can now compare the two and see that 100g of mashed potato has less carbs than the sweet potato.
Simples !!!
I'm pleased to read your finding your way around the eating minefield Pauline,just try not to get too sucked into calory /carb counting as if it's not hard enough to come to terms with a life changing
Health issue,too many books on the subject are so anal about weigh this weigh that you lose sight of what were here for which is living a normal life and by tempering and adjusting our eating patterns you can live with Diabetes (type 2).
My reasoning is simple,when first diagnosed my head was in a spiral,my weight was in free fall I read and digested umpteen books on immediate solutions to a chronic illness that I thought needed 24/7 attention,,,,,,I then went along to a few Diabetic UK members meetings and found the vast majority
Of folks there were 5 or. 10 year sufferers,now,me being a newby assumed my life was over and I was marking time till the enevitable .....but......after sitting down in small groups and discussing
Simple small meal plans containing good healthy food that was balanced to the way it affects my bodies unique new way of coping with sugar( learning curve) I found I relaxed and the self management became easier .......for me a food log .....with testing before and post meals over 6 months created a fantastic template and I showed this to my Diabetic nurse so she could see I was being proactive in learning what foods my body could cope with,without having to resort to drastic portion control,after all any combinations that work some days ,don't work others it's all about learning about your bodies new challenge.....for example if I'm stressed about my health,my bloods sky rocket so I know now to keep to a simple fruit free day,but if I'm depressed those same fruits can perk me up without a serious sugar spike,,,,,it's all about learning and for me those women at those meetings simplified it my stating that acceptance is the key word and they just continued to live a normal life but ate in moderation,drank in moderation but still had a little bit of what does you good as a reward for those days when you've done well,you'll get to know those days Pauline when you're bloods have been well controlled through good food management without the need for scales
And endless counting of every morsal that passes your lips.......sorry,,,,,,life's short enough already,and I don't want to spend my last part of it shuffling through pages of regimented charts designed to frighten the S@@@ out of me,ok,this all may sound a very free and easy way to deal with a life changing illness but I found the more I worried about my food intake and how it was constructed on my plate my bloods wood rise through stress alone,so now I'm more calm in my approach and eat little and oftain but abstain from those foods that spike my bloods ,but more importantly try and enjoy life again .....anyway,once you've been through the myriad of advise books
The best way is to sit and talk with old hands and glean titbits of information to help you along.
My Diabetic nurse at the time put me in touch with local support groups and I thank her for it today.
Gazza
Well, I'm convinced that giving up drinking has made the biggest difference for me (though it depends how much you drink!) - my theory being that your liver becomes less fatty with abstinence and your insulin resistance goes in to reverse (or at least neutral). There, I've said it. The elephant in the room.
I had also lost all sense of portion control. I remember hearing this on TV: the correct portion size for potatoes is 2 hens egg sized spuds. WHAT?!?!? Still wrestling with that one :tongue3:
It's early days yet Pauline, I guess you go back 3 months later and they will remeasure your HbA1C and see if it has improved. For me, that wasn't really long enough to make the changes and see an effect so I put it off for.... er, quite a bit LOL until I thought I'd given the lifestyle changes a fair test. It's a hard road but you are not alone and you do find your habits change. I find cakes too much now and oven chips are revolting but I still can't resist an almond Magnum. Good luck.
QuoteHealth issue,too many books on the subject are so anal about weigh this weigh that you lose sight of what were here for which is living a normal life and by tempering and adjusting our eating patterns you can live with Diabetes (type 2).
I wish it would be only books that are so anal about it all...I find doctors trying to push you to far. They only see what the computer says on screen and what the bloody guidelines are...all about numbers.. :BangHead:
Even the diabetic nurses in our hospital admit that one cannot live everyday life for how doctors would want the numbers to show in tests.
Pauline....don't try to live to 'fit' for you diabetes...adjust you life to suit YOU and your needs. I find most it comes down just little adjustments...you can have sweet treats etc. but knowing not to eat it any of it into empty tummy or have something else first that will slow the sugar effect. I eat potatoes with their skins (other than mash of course)...try to have non-carb rich veg and meat more on plate. Alcohol wasn't issue for me as I found out early on that it didn't suit me anymore when on medication so now I only have occasional little sniff and sip. Most of the time I choose 'whole wheat' or 'brown' option with pasta and rice rather than white.
Little things like that can make big difference but often comes down just learning new habit to choose them in first place.
Oh yes...portion sizes...that is my problem...usual scenario; I'm on the allotment...loads of fruit dangling from trees...yum, soooo tasty..I should limit myself just few...but there is soooo many to eat...so then I end up having to make a choice..do I skip the 'proper meal' and eat more fruit (both options would be too much) or being a good girl and stick to just few..NOPE..the 'belly full of fruit' sounds much nicer option...but then I need to take more medicine and do a bit of more physical work out to combat the sugar load... :angel11:
It is all about managing it...not perfecting it...there is life to live too...
Thank you for your replies. To begin with I found the whole thing a minefield and was very confused. However, since getting a meter, things are finally falling into place.
I found that everyone says something different, whether the information is from a GP, a nurse, a member of the public, in books or on a forum. For example, I have been told by my GP to eat all fruits with the exception of grapes. My GP and nurse said to eat brown rice. I tried it once and my GL shot up to 29.0!! Evidently food affects everyone in a different way, so I test before eating and an hour or so afterwards.
I have spoken to people who are diabetic and have been amazed that they eat whatever they want without restriction! Maybe they are just relying on their medications. I aim to get my GL's lowered by diet alone over the next few months. At the end of the day I do not want to lose any limbs. My aunt had to have her foot amputated through diabetes when she was my age. That would really ruin my life and put an end to my gardening.
For those of you who are also diabetic, I have found the Diabetic Support Forum UK really helpful and know far more than any professionals. One of the moderators on there has also found that she cannot eat brown rice. She told me to grate cauliflower and fry it in oil until brown and use as a rice substitute. I have tried frying it with toasted sesame oil and ordinary olive oil. Both were very good. I will soon be trying it with some of the infused oils that are now in the shops.
I thought I would grow some spaghetti squash as an alternative to pasta. There seem to be several different types. Any recommendations please? I am off to Cornwall shortly and as there are plenty of large garden centres where we are going, I will hopefully find some seeds there. Our local GC's haven't any in stock.
I must go now to check the greenhouse. I forgot to fleece my seedlings last night and although I don't think there was a frost, I am keeping my fingers crossed that they haven't suffered.
Hope you are still going strong a year on. Best wishes :wave:
Me too. You may find these pages helpful with regards to low GI foods. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/search/guides-techniques?query=low%20GI
I would also suggest getting a spiralizer. There's a good one available for about £30 on Amazon. You can then make "noodles" out of any suitable vegetable such as carrots, beetroot, daikon, courgettes...... Courgettes are good for replacing pasta and noodles and they make coleslaw with raw beetroot and carrots and so on very easy and fun.
Quote from: galina on March 13, 2015, 08:38:10
Hope you are still going strong a year on. Best wishes :wave:
Quote from: Obbelix on March 13, 2015, 11:12:17
Me too. You may find these pages helpful with regards to low GI foods. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/search/guides-techniques?query=low%20GI
I would also suggest getting a spiralizer. There's a good one available for about £30 on Amazon. You can then make "noodles" out of any suitable vegetable such as carrots, beetroot, daikon, courgettes...... Courgettes are good for replacing pasta and noodles and they make coleslaw with raw beetroot and carrots and so on very easy and fun.
Thank you for asking after me folks! These past 12 months have seen my HbA1c go down from 60 when first diagnosed to 44 in December. I have achieved this without medication so am very pleased. I follow a very low carb diet and test myself whenever I eat anything new. The website below has helped me considerably throughout my journey and I recommend it to anyone who is diabetic, especially those newly diagnosed:
http://diabetes-support.org.uk/diabetes_forum/index.php
Obbelix, I was looking at the BBC Good Food site last week and found a new recipe for cauliflower rice. It is a very good website and I am pleased that they are now recommending a low carb diet for diabetics. There has been a big change concerning healthy living and many experiments have shown that the high carb, low fat diet recommended in the past is responsible for the rise in obesity.
I bought a Julienne peeler a few months back and mainly use it for making courgette noodles. I still can't eat rice or pasta without raising my blood sugar but then they say that a portion of rice contain the equivalent of 20 teaspoons of sugar. Since my HbA1c has dropped, I now find I can eat things that were off the menu 12 months ago. I can have the occasional piece of cake and also found out that Waitrose ice cream has less carbs than any other ice cream I have found. I don't go overboard but can have a couple of scoopfuls without it raising my blood sugar.
I have also lost weight this past year. I was 2 stones lighter in September but 1 stone has been put back on since then. Once I get out into the garden again, I am hoping I will lose it again.
Thank you both for your best wishes.
Well done. Since Possum is now living in student digs during the week I have switched OH and me to wholemeal pasta whose flavour I prefer. Have you tried that? Basmati rice is supposed to have a lower GI index than any other so that may be worth trying too once you've lost your stone again.
I'm not diabetic myself but am a bit overweight and, having had two new feet in 2013, now find my knees creak as my walk has changed so I have gone to a low GI, low carb diet to lose weight. 6 kilos since January 6th and am feeling much better - and I can get into all sorts of dresses I haven't ben able to wear since being stuck on a sofa for 6 months while the new feet healed. It's also worked on OH whose blood pressure was a tad high. Now he's fine and all without meds.
Keep up the good work.
That is such very good news Pauline, especially because you are a little challenged to exercise as you might wish. All your own work. I'm coming up to 4 years now, still the same regime of low carb like you and in the low 40s for 3 years now, 39 the most recent, no medication.
Yes it is amazing what you can have on a low carb regime. Icecream in small portions is no worse than a couple of slices of bread! And Greek yoghurt (or my recent discovery of Turkish yoghurt) mixed with cocoa powder, a drop of vanilla, sweetener and a handful of chopped nuts is good enough (like choc mousse) for a dinner party - especially decorated with strawberries or cherries - the others get a few After Eights for decoration too. Another guilt-free yummie is Atkin's cheesecake (recipe on www).
Reading the labels for carbohydrate content is a must and an eye opener.
So pleased for you :wave:
Obbelix (or should that read Asterix now? :tongue3: ) congratulations! Hope the knees will get better too. Great stuff on your OH's results too. :wave:
Thanks Galina and well done to you too. Impressive results over a sustained period.
My nickname is based on my love of obelisks, not my shape. No asterisks in the garden except when the nettles are stinging badly and my language needs a bleep.
Quote from: Obbelix on March 14, 2015, 16:17:07
Thanks Galina and well done to you too. Impressive results over a sustained period.
My nickname is based on my love of obelisks, not my shape. No asterisks in the garden except when the nettles are stinging badly and my language needs a bleep.
Thank you! Ahh - and I meant the cartoon characters (Asterix is the slim one :toothy10:). Yep there are bleeps here too and for the same reason - or just plain slipping over and landing in the mud :sunny:
I don't know about the cartoon characters but I do live in Belgium where the ancient Belgae had fun with Julius Caesar and many other Roman invaders. There was one in particular called Ambiorix at what is now Tongeren and that's why I have an X instead of an sk.
I hope you have a bleep free day. I'm busy making an orange drizzle cake for the coffee break at a dance class this pm and hoping the weather will improve enough for me to finish my other spring hanging basket and sow some toms and chilies in propagators.
Quote from: Obbelix on March 15, 2015, 08:53:47
I don't know about the cartoon characters but I do live in Belgium where the ancient Belgae had fun with Julius Caesar and many other Roman invaders. There was one in particular called Ambiorix at what is now Tongeren and that's why I have an X instead of an sk.
I hope you have a bleep free day. I'm busy making an orange drizzle cake for the coffee break at a dance class this pm and hoping the weather will improve enough for me to finish my other spring hanging basket and sow some toms and chilies in propagators.
Yes thankyou, but it was sooo cold with an icy blast, that working in the greenhouse was preferrable!
I am showing my age here :BangHead:, but certainly these cartoons were all the rage when I was a teenager and were translated into many languages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix
Exactly as you say, it was all about getting the upper hand over the invading Romans. :wave:
(Sorry this is a bit of a drastic thread drift)
Quote from: Obbelix on March 14, 2015, 12:45:38
Well done. Since Possum is now living in student digs during the week I have switched OH and me to wholemeal pasta whose flavour I prefer. Have you tried that? Basmati rice is supposed to have a lower GI index than any other so that may be worth trying too once you've lost your stone again.
I'm not diabetic myself but am a bit overweight and, having had two new feet in 2013, now find my knees creak as my walk has changed so I have gone to a low GI, low carb diet to lose weight. 6 kilos since January 6th and am feeling much better - and I can get into all sorts of dresses I haven't ben able to wear since being stuck on a sofa for 6 months while the new feet healed. It's also worked on OH whose blood pressure was a tad high. Now he's fine and all without meds.
Keep up the good work.
Obelix, I have tried basmati rice, brown and white as well as wholemeal pasta and they all raise my blood glucose levels considerably. I can get away with 1 slice of bread and it doesn't make any difference to me whether it is white or wholemeal. I usually have seeded or granary as I prefer the taste. Well done on yor weight loss and having two new feet. That's what I could do with really as my feet are deformed but a consultant at the hospital has said there is nothing that can be done.
Quote from: galina on March 14, 2015, 14:46:16
That is such very good news Pauline, especially because you are a little challenged to exercise as you might wish. All your own work. I'm coming up to 4 years now, still the same regime of low carb like you and in the low 40s for 3 years now, 39 the most recent, no medication.
Yes it is amazing what you can have on a low carb regime. Icecream in small portions is no worse than a couple of slices of bread! And Greek yoghurt (or my recent discovery of Turkish yoghurt) mixed with cocoa powder, a drop of vanilla, sweetener and a handful of chopped nuts is good enough (like choc mousse) for a dinner party - especially decorated with strawberries or cherries - the others get a few After Eights for decoration too. Another guilt-free yummie is Atkin's cheesecake (recipe on www).
Reading the labels for carbohydrate content is a must and an eye opener.
So pleased for you :wave:
Galina, well done on your low HbA1c level.
I buy and eat a lot of Turkish yoghurt after finding it in Lidl; in fact I had some with raspberries and sugar free jelly for breakfast. I must try the recipe you quote above. It sounds yummy! I agree entirely about reading labels. To begin with my supermarket shopping took hours but I more or less know now which products have low or no carbs.
I had a small piece of Sainsbury's New York cheesecake last night and tested 5.8 an hour later, so I was pleased about that. Every two or three weeks I make up a batch of low carb muffins and put them in the freezer. I have adapted the chocolate orange muffin recipe and also make them with lemon or almond flavouring. I will post it in the Recipes section.
Pauline - get another opinion for your feet. A scan to confirm stress fractures or arthritis actually showed my problem was that the cartilage connecting my metatarsals to my 3 middle toes had popped so I had painful crunching when walking. The first "expert" foot consultant told me nothing could be done so I asked if straightening the bunions would at least take the strain off those toes. He said he'd have to do X-rays. Doh!
X-rays showed that the metatarsals are too long and had been taking the brunt for years and had given up but the bunion was fixable. He said he could shorten the metatarsals and reconnect my toes but it would be extremely painful for 6 months and take over a year to heal and I had two feet in the same state so he advised me to spend the rest of my life in flip flops doing no more dancing, dog walking, gardening etc - in Belgium with its long, cold winters.
Took myself off to Brussels to see two real feet experts, chose the quicker of the two and had the right foot done in January 13 and the left in April 13. No extreme pain just 6 months sat on a sofa to let them heal and then 6 months being careful. Now I can garden, walk and dance - except samba and jive which are all on the toes but that will come with time and exercises to strengthen the toes.
Quote from: Obbelix on March 15, 2015, 11:06:25
Pauline - get another opinion for your feet.
It's not something that has recenly happened to my feet. Since I was a young child, my arches have fallen and I have always had difficulty walking any distance. Since 1999 and up to three years ago, the hospital made shoes and surgical boots for me but I was still in a lot of pain when walking. I then found a shop that sold Wider Fit Shoes which do an 8E fitting. I tried a pair of shoes on and they were more comfortable than any others I have ever worn. The style was not suitable though so I ordered some different ones from their on line website. http://www.widerfitshoes.co.uk/ladies . They are VAT free in my fitting and with my disability, so that makes them a little less expensive. I ordered a pair of boots from them as I was told by the consultant that I should be wearing boots to give me support, but they were not suitable so I had to return them.
Over the years my osteoarthritis has made my feet even more painful. I had a bunion op ten years ago but there was so much arthritis in my big toe that it couldn't be straightened. I saw a consultant about my feet 4 years ago and he called a colleague in to look at them. They both agreed that my feet were inoperable. My mother had the same problem too and her consultant said he could not operate.