I had my first appointment today with the Diabetes Educator. She taught me to check my blood glucose levels and reviewed some of the things I will need to focus on.

Well, my bg levels today were quite good! These are the first tests since I was diagnosed 3 weeks ago. My fasting was 114 and 2 hours after breakfast was 141. I was diagnosed with a fasting of 206 in early Feb so I am quite happy about the improvement. I am on a low dose of Amaryl - 2mg daily with supper. I am on a new "healthy" diet and I now walk 1.5 miles every evening (I was completely sedentary).

I have to test 2x per day and they will see how I do. I ended up getting the Freestyle Flash bg monitor and I love it. I had so much anxiety over the testing (being a newbie), and it turned out to be completely painless and so easy to do.

Tomorrow I meet with the RD and I'll find out what I have been doing right and wrong with my diet!

Hi there, I was diagnosed on January 29th and it was a total surprise. I have my appointment with the RD today but have not yet been to the Diabetes Educator. My doctor just called a script to the pharmacy and told me to check my BG twice a day. You are in much better control than I, hooray for you!!!! so far I have cut cabs and eliminated sugar with not much change in my BG level. I am beginning to get depressed that things aren't changing as quickly as I would like. I am hoping to get some good advice when I go see the RD today..............................

Maryellen, I got a head start by perusing the American Diabetes Association website and reading their diet recommendations. Since my diagnosis I began charting absolutely EVERYTHING I consume... calories, protein, carbs, fat, sodium, and cholesterol. I wasn't necessarily trying to acheive anything specific, but rather more interested in seeing how my diet compared with the recommended amounts of each component. For example its often recommended that of your total calories, fat should not exceed 30%, protein should be about 32%, and carbs about 38%. I set a calorie goal of 2200 started eating 5 meals per day. As I tracked my food on my spreadsheet I learned about my eating habits and started to make adjustments.

Well, today I had my first appointment with the dietitian. I was quite suprised - she said I was off to a good start, but totally changed the breakdown. She wants me to eat 50% of my calories in carbs!!! But I am limited to only so many with each meal and snack. I am to eat 5 meals per day Breakfast, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, Snack. My 3 main meals have a max limit of 60g of carbs and my snacks are limited to 30g of carbs.

She said that what I do with the remaining calories is up to me, but obviously, I should attempt to have more protein than fat. I am going to try doing 40% protein and 20% fat and see how it goes.

Iwanted to share this because I think there is a lot of hype out there about cutting carbs, diebetic or not. But the RD assured me that this is NOT the way to go. She called her recommendation "carb-controlled" which does not mean reduced, but rather rationed (and in my case increased!).

keep me posted on what your RD tells you... we can compare notes :)

Thanks for the good info.............although those numbers are like a new language to me now. I am sure in the near future it will all make sense. I also cut carbs as soon as I was diagnosed, so it will be good to have some back. I LOVE MY CARBS. the sugar part hasn't been that hard at all (except for the hidden sugars).
Will stop by here later and let you know what the RD said.................:)

Hi Jill,

You're doing great. Yay for you!!! I'm also glad you like the Flash. I love mine. Keep up the good work.

Sharon :)