Showing all posts tagged diabetes

In General, Health and Exercise, Healthy Eating

Overnight Oats: Dairy Free & Delicious

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on

overnight oats,

I struggle with breakfast, not least because I’m diabetic and have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (more on what that means for me here). 

A diabetic-friendly breakfast isn’t actually too hard to come up with. When you have major food restrictions due to IBS it narrows your choice. I am dairy free and I don’t do well with cereal or bread (at all). So that’s cereal out, toast out… it’s pretty damn limiting.

I’ve spent years eating things like eggs and vegetables for breakfast and while I’m ok with that, it gets a bit boring at times. I’ve tried porridge with soya milk but didn’t find it at all satisfying and it gave me horrific indigestion, so I’ve never revisited it.

At the end of last year I had the opportunity to speak to a dietician because I was miserable, hungry and needed some help with my diabetes. I have to tell you, she was a wonder. She recommended the Calories and Carbs book which has made a big difference, she helped introduce some new foods to my diet, she  worked to deprogramme me of everything slimming groups have taught me and gave some ideas for breakfast.

One idea was to make up my own breakfast muesli etc, something I am considering. One was to retry oats but with yogurt. Honestly, I wasn’t convinced but ever the optimist I gave it a go and this morning enjoyed a brilliant breakfast of overnight oats with Alpro Coconut Yogurt, raspberries and blueberries. Oh my days, it was delicious and incredibly filling. I ate half of the amount pictured and have saved the rest for tomorrow, assuming it stands up to the test of time in the fridge and is still as nice tomorrow.

What’s more, it was a grab and go breakfast. One of the more annoying things about being diabetic and having to be careful with certain foods for other reasons is that grabbing something quickly may be a little harder. We all know that convenience foods are often packed with rubbish but when a quick sandwich or bowl of cereal is a no-go, it can be frustrating. This breakfast took a minute to prep the night before and was popped in the fridge. This morning I opened it up and ate. As quick and simple as that.

Now I’m an overnight oats convert I’m looking around and seeing numerous other overnight oats related recipes. What’s your favourite oats breakfast?

In Diabetes, General, Health and Exercise

My Latest Diabetes Review

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on 4 Comments

Last year I was diagnosed as Type 2 diabetic. It was a pretty crappy time. I still maintain that my pancreas is an arsehole. Three months ago my Hba1C was 57mmol/ml after a routine diabetes review which is not good and my medication was upped to the max (for Metformin). Today I got the results of my most recent review, and it’s good news.

I’ve had some real struggles managing by blood glucose, despite my health team recognising that I’ve been doing all that they asked, and more. After my last review and another crummy result, I decided to try blood glucose testing. As a type 2 diabetic I am not automatically eligible for this and so I decided to swallow the cost and fund it myself. What a difference it makes.

Over the past few months, I’ve learned a lot about what spikes my blood glucose levels, foods and otherwise. Already on a restrictive diet due to other issues  I eat no junk and prep everything by hand. I was really surprised by how one portion of some foods would be fine where one and a half would not be. Using a blood glucose monitor has helped me understand a lot about myself (because all diabetes are unique) and manage everything more effectively.

This morning I received the results of my most recent review. I have gone, in three months, of having a Hba1c result of 57mmol/ml to 46mmol/ml. This a fabulous result, fabulous!

Dear Mrs Cawood,

Your recent blood test results were all satisfactory, indicating that your Diabetes is currently well controlled…..

To say that I was thrilled when that popped through the letterbox is a great understatement, not least because it means that I don’t need to keep going back every three months as my diabetes review date has been pushed back to six months.

I’ll post another time more about Hba1c, what it means and so on but in simple terms it means my diabetes is very well managed for the first time and I feel like I have a handle on what I’m doing. A very large part of this has been down to self-testing my blood glucose levels.

I’m hoping to convince my diabetes nurse that I would be a worthy candidate for an NHS monitor as opposed to spending a fortune privately buying test strips, lancets and what not myself. We’ll see.

For now, I’m just grateful for a good result. Onwards and upwards (or downwards please, the numbers need to keep coming down)!

 

 

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