Type 2, no medication, ever have a fuck it meal?

[BigBoysDontCry]

As above really, I briefly met the conditions for type 2 diagnosis but had probably been type 2 or certainly pre diabetic for years.

With diet I got my last hba1c down to the top end of "normal". That was at the end of November. I've to have another test at the end of May. I intermittently finger prick test, sometimes really good sometimes not so good but never really terrible, mostly in the middle ground. There is never really a clear reason why the fluctuations in terms of food/activity as I try to keep fairly stable.

I'm hoping my hba1c is going to stay in the normal range. I'm not on any medication.

However, I just wondered if anyone ever just decides for the occasional meal just to have something normal/a treat and what the longer term consequences would be?

I'm talking like having a Chinese takeaway every 6 months, or an ice cream on a day out type of thing.

I really don't mind the restriction most of the time but just occasionally I just want to enjoy having what I really fancy to eat rather than what I know I should have.

That infrequency isn’t going to affect your a1c. If the ice cream is good quality it won’t have that many carbs anyway, and just don’t go heavy on rice / noodle with the Chinese.

As above. Just be mindful of the overall proportions of your takeaway. If your order is usually sweet and sour pork balls with rice, noodles and chips then you should rethink that but there is no reason why you can't make the bulk of the meal protein and veg as an occasional treat.

Thanks both. I wasn't so worried about the Hba1c as you say, it would be very infrequent, it was more if it would have any serious negative effect on my health.

I just feel guilty sometimes always having to dictate where we can go and family feel too guilty to suggest going for an ice-cream though I've list my sweet tooth now really.

I'm going to visit my son and just want to be able to treat him if the need arises without him feeling bad about suggesting a takeaway or a walk along the beach for an ice-cream if the weather is nice.

I'm generally pretty strict but I don't think that's always good for my mental health either.

My dietician at the hospital told me off for being too good! He said he didnt expect 100% good just 80% good! Im on insulin , but i tend to treat my self at the weekend, like saturday morning we went for waffles. I did have a wholemeal version. I dont tend to look at carbs, just added sugar and go for wholemeal versions, brown rice etc

Yeah I had that talk initially with the nutrition folk as I was making myself ill and my bmi was below the minimum.

I'm much better now and bmi is normal (just), my appetite is better but I still avoid sugar and have small amounts of wholegrain carbs. I was on my way to a full blown eating disorder though which is why I second guess myself about being careful 99% of the time. And my 1% cheat has been a packet of crisps which I still kept within my overall self imposed carb limit.

I did a blood test with a scheme my employer runs and my hba1c was 35! Go me 😁

My situation is very similar, shaken off potential T2 diagnosis with a radical change of diet. I find it easier to abstain than to moderate my sugar intake. Instead of being seduced by the 'treat' of whatever I might be tempted by, I choose what to eat according to how I'll feel after I have eaten it.

Anything that causes my blood sugar to rise fast, which then causes a slump when I feel lethargic and experience such strong cravings for sugar ... I've never experienced alcohol or drug withdrawal but I imagine it's would be worse than that out of control feeling I get around craving sugar.

The approach suggested by Gillian Riley https://www.eatinglessonline.com really worked for me.

It's great for the people around me because I can genuinely encourage them to go for whatever they choose, no need to feel guilty indulging in front of me. I really love this way of eating, all the meat, especially fatty, crispy meat and crackling, butter, double creme, full fat Greek yoghurt, leafy green and non starchy vegetables. Delicious, satisfying and easy, completely natural to stop eating when I'm full. Easy to eat out too, just skip bread, potatoes and enjoy the absence of cravings.

I'd pay to have that kind of easy relationship with food and here it is, wired into our bodies.

The low carb boot camp threads here on Mumsnet were helpful to really understand what foods were good for this way of eating. I also enjoy the like minded community and the recipes when I lack inspiration.

So much of the rest of the world is so carb heavy. I can see why that works for food manufacturers, with the lower cost of ingredients and longer shelf life than real food.

Hope you find what works for you, too.

Goodness, I wrote all that and forgot the answer to your question about occasional going off the rails

Christmas Day (just 25th, not all the run up and weeks afterwards) and my actual birthday I eat whatever I like and then get right back on eating well and drink masses of water the next day.

Over the years, the treats have changed bit. I used to think in terms of all the trashy chocolates. Now it's more likely to be red lentil Dahl I find myself craving.

Oh yes and I wore a continuous glucose monitor to see in real time how it felt to have blood sugar rise and fall.

I year later I repeated the test after a year of eating 'real food' jmt blood sugars remained stable but had dropped from around 7mmol to around 5mmol