I rarely experience real hunger unless I have maybe smoked some of the Recreational Legal Cannabis that is available across Canada 😁

But I also have a method

I eat 4 Low Carb/High Fat "meals" and NO SNACKS every day

Each meal is (somewhat) planned to be close to 500 calories and 25-35 carbs so that my daily intake is 2000 calories and no more than 130 carbs total - Fat makes up 60% of total calories (fat is slow to digest leaving you feeling full longer and does Nothing to your blood sugar)

Eat Breakfast within an hour of waking up

Eat Lunch 4'ish hours after Breakfast

Eat an Early (Supper) 4-5 hours after lunch

Eat a final meal between 8 and 10 pm

That keeps you feeling full and just when you start to think "I could eat something" it's time for (my) next meal

And, because I eat at roughly the same time each and every day all the time, my metabolism really likes that - it can get into a biorythm routine which really helps manage the various hormones that effect our sugar levels

Routine and consistency with food intake is the most you can do (regarding meals) along with eating Low Carb is about as much as (We) can do to help ourselves manage this crappy condition...

Of course, there is drugs to do that as well if you need the help...

I am prescribed psychotropics of which a side effect is the desire to eat. I believe it's more of an oral thing because while I have these desires I am not in the least bit hungry. My shrink told me when this happens I should try if I can to eat healthier foods.

Hey there.
I've trained myself to ignore hunger. And just keep sipping water. Water doesn't satisfy hunger. But and can begin to sate thirst masquerading as hunger.

I tend to stay adequately hydrated. That's so important now that I am doing Jardiance.

So I do get that insatiable hunger when I am having a hypo. I eat only enough to raise my numbers into the safe range. Then I continue to sip water.

That's my take on this.

Totally agree re: snacks Graham. For many/most. people snacks can adversely affect blood glucose and/or cause weight gain. No snacks not even low calorie or low carb ones. Or put another way only have a snack very occasionally as a treat and test for blood glucose to check how it affects you 90mins - 120mins later.

Eg I had a large slice of carrot cake when walking in an arboretum yesterday. It looked so tempting with its siren call "eat me, eat me" that I made a decision to have this occasional treat.

Testing 90 mins later brought reality crashing in - 11.8 (212)!

Fortunately it went down to 6.1 (110) 6hrs 44mins later. I'm not wearing cgm at the moment (yet to work out this Apple update and Dexcom is most unhelpful) so not sure how my bgs behaved in that intervening period. So, yes, have that occasional treat but be aware that you will probably get a high reading that may or may not cause problems.

Today my blood glucose is more respectable but I must remember that treats must be rare and decided on carefully rather than impulsively.

I also eat four meals a day with carbs consumed of usually 1g - 4g per meal with a few outliers. I'm planning to drop meals down to three a day in order to get my bgs down further to around 6.0 or less per meal. The reason I eat so low carb is that I'm very insulin resistant and I don't want to increase my meds unless I have to.

My meds are 40g Gliclazide a day (been taking since 1997) and 1000mg metformin a day (been taking for around 10 years although sometimes I drop it down to 500mg as I sometimes get nausea.)

My weight is around 11st 00lbs give or take a couple of pounds and my BMI is 22.7 which is in the healthy range although it's best to use this metric as a sort of guide rather than an accurate refection of your current health.

I'm 75 years old and go to the gym once a week most times, use my exercise bike at least twice a week and do long walks 16-22 miles at least twice a month or max once a week.

Long term complication is neuropathy of my thighs (probably due to having diabetes undiagnosed for at least 7 years). I occasionally get peripheral neuropathy of the feet if I'm being naughty with food.

I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes in 1997.

I need to get a c peptide test and also a test for the levels of insulin in my blood so I can get some idea of what I'm up against. Also I need to start the CGM but not sure when because of this wretched change in Apple's operating system which seems quite complicated to deal with.

My strategy is to reduce insulin resistance in oder to get my bgs down to around 6.0 (108) or less.

There are some that say that I should be enjoying myself at the age of 75 as there's not much I can do now.

I don't agree - how can I enjoy myself if the quality of my life could be affected by complications due to not managing blood glucose properly?

@A DiabetesTeam Member
I'm not unique as you. I get so hungry on this new medication, it feels like my back bone is cussing the cook out, lol. That's an Ole southern saying. But I do actually get quite hungry no matter how much water I sip, or sugar free gum I chew. It's a very uncomfortable feeling. I know I'm not having a hypo. A hypo is a whole different ball game for me.

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