NON LOW CARB SUCCESS STORIES

[Sarah69]

I'm on insulin so can adjust that to the carbs I eat. I know I could not eat a low carb diet I don't know how people eat the same things every day eg, salad veg and fruit. I'm not a great lover of any of that. I tried it once had salad twice in 1 week and I couldn't eat it again. I like what I like and that's it!

[Maddiemo1]

Yes I hate it. But what can you do when carbs affect you so much. I really don't look forward to eating now, stand at the fridge and think nothing I fancy that I can eat. I used to love food and cooking.
I had coconut pancakes this morning and stewed apples nice but can't eat that every day. Don't like eggs much what else is there. I sound like a right old misery but I used to be a very happy person.

[Sarah69]

I don't know, it's very difficult. I wish I could low carb cos I need to loose weight but the food is so boring!

[Maddiemo1]

What sort of things do you eat?

[Sarah69]

I have cereal for breakfast, sandwich or something on toast for lunch. Tea for this week will be, lasagne and chips, chicken in a sauce new pots runner beans peas carrots, fish fingers chips baked beans. Chicken Kiev mashed pots peas. I try not to snack between meals, but sometimes Im hungry all the time and no matter what I have I'm still hungry after. I'm hoping to go on Orilstat to loose weight.

[phoenix]

Maddiemo1,

I do not low carb, (although that will very much depend on your definition!)
I use the glycemic index to guide my choice of the foods I eat.. Like Sarah, as a type 1 , I use insulin so you must take that into account. I am able to maintain a healthy weight and good glucose control. I would add that I also consider exercise to be very important in my diabetes management.

In contrast to Sarah, I eat lots of salads (at least once, often twice a day) .Personally, my diet includes veg, salads , some fruit and dairy. A significant amount of the carbs I eat come from these types of foods.
Starches include small waxy potatoes, basmati rice, wild rice, quinoa ,pulses, oatmeal and seeded multi grain/nut breads in measured portions. These starches tend to be lower on the glycemic index. I tend to avoid foods that are higher on the index such as mashed potatoes, fluffy white rice and most white bread.
A typical plate for me will be at least half covered with veggies/salad, about a quarter, meat /fish , the rest starches (depends bit on weight ) I would for a main meal also include some fruit/berries, perhaps with a plain yoghurt . Sometimes, especially for lunch, I might have cheese as the dairy/protein combined. Salads /veg are often dressed with olive oil/vinegar. (vinegar helps reduce the GI of a meal)
The GI guides you to foods that will have lesser effects on glucose levels but as you will read on here, using a meter before and after meals will help you to determine what is right for you (and of cause we eat meals not individual foods so the content of the whole meal is important).

Some of the earlier posters on this thread say what they do, it's worth checking back. I know that there are also other T2s that also make use of the Glycemic index .
You will find a wealth of info about the GI here:
http://www.glycemicindex.com/about.php
If you click on GI Newsletter and then 'Success stories' on the sidebar you will find several pages of accounts; click on older posts at the bottom of each page for more as there are a mixture of stories and some will have less relevance. There some great ones from people with T2 .

[Klang180]

Great thread.

I think there are so many LC on this forum i think it is good to have a post that celebrates carbs, the energy food!

Well i have recently been losing some weight and my sinulin sensitivity has gone up massively as a result. Key to this is exercise and avoiding high fat and unhealthy foods.

When i eat veggies and fruit (i only have fruit at lunch time) my insulin sensivitiy is much greater. what is even better is that when i have fruit, do a little exercise and then sit the rest of the afternoon in the office my BS stays very stable. I am convinced that low GI and diet are the most important factors in controlling diabetes.

For example today i took a test before lunch, a nice 5.1 but i knew i was going down slightly. I had a lunch of a banana, orange, kiwi and mango all in about 70 carbs and then went on a 30min walk. it is now two hours after that and i am 6.8. It isn't my best example but it is pretty decent!

Even if you are T2 i reckon if you just change what you're eating to complex healthy carbs with lots and lots of veggies and fruit and a good dose of exercise then you have the best of both worlds!

For my money and based on all the good evidence i see, you can't eat copius amounts of fat and protein and be healthy, my diet is the opposite and i feel great on it.

[lucylocket61]

klang180 said:

Even if you are T2 i reckon if you just change what you're eating to complex healthy carbs with lots and lots of veggies and fruit and a good dose of exercise then you have the best of both worlds!

unfortunately, that hasnt completely worked for me, as a diet only T2.

I can have loads of green veg, and some wholemeal, homemade bread once a day. Very little pasta, rice or potatoes. And virtually no fruit

But I can eat around 150g of carbs a day, spaced out over several meals. So not low carbing, more careful carbing.