fail story

[olala]

I just ate a whole McDonalds set (a hamburger and fries) and ice cream. At least the coke was "zero".
For more than a year, since the diagnosis with T1 I was eating all healthy, possibly less carbs, limiting my sugar intake, fighting my sweet tooth. Recently I have troubles with motivation for exercises and today I failed completely. I feel miserable and I disappointed myself.
I don't know if it's winter or if I generally have bad period of my life now or if the vision of the worst possible consequences doesn't scare me enough anymore, but something is not as it was for the last year.
I thought you Guys and Gals will understand.

 

[urbanracer]

Not everyone can maintain 100% discipline with eating healthily. I myself have days when I let my blood glucose get a little higher than they should be and don't want to go out for a walk because it's too cold etc.

And the odd day like this can be a reward for maintaining tight control for the other 99% of the time. If you let it become a habit (or even worse, normal) then you are going to suffer the consequences one way or another.

Sounds like you know full well what the risks are, only you can decide how far you want push the limits.

 

[himtoo]

i would call that a total success story if you have managed to eat healthily for over a year.
we are all human after all and temptation is there every single day of the year.

so I say well done to you for great effort.
and don't beat yourself up about a one off !!

 

[noblehead]

Agree with @urbanracer & @himtoo, your no failure and you sound as if your doing great, if having a fast-food meal is a sign of failure then I would include myself as I had a KFC 2 weeks ago whilst out on my travels.

Don't beat yourself up.

 

[Mrs Vimes]

If you are within target the majority of the time then the rest ? Don't beat yourself up. Non-diabetics can have a large spike after a carby meal. I would say the successful part of the story is that you went for the Coke Zero.
Fail story - definitely not!!!!!!!!!

 

[olala]

Thank you Everybody for your support and changing my harsh perspective a bit. Especially thank you @noblehead for mentioning KFC! That makes me feel better a bit

 

[Natalie1974]

What everyone has said is completely right...we too are only human...it's a one off...not worth beating yourself up...tomorrow is another day.
Quite jealous actually...I want one now

 

[steve_p6]

You might be surprised, that meal may not be as bad for you as you think. I had two McD cheeseburgers midweek, no pre-bolus and the spike was only 3mmol an hour later. Fatty food can be great ;-). KFC is much tougher I always get a big protein induced rise about 6 hours later.

 

[Mrs Vimes]

After reading about your maccie d we had home made burgers (Aldis best mince) with cheesy courgettes.

 

[smilesandsmiles]

You might be surprised, that meal may not be as bad for you as you think. I had two McD cheeseburgers midweek, no pre-bolus and the spike was only 3mmol an hour later. Fatty food can be great ;-). KFC is much tougher I always get a big protein induced rise about 6 hours later.

I was interested in what you said about protein affecting your blood sugar. I attended a DAFNE course last week and they advised that non-carb meals have no affect on blood sugar?

 

[Mrs Vimes]

I eat lchf and find that I have to bolus for protein. Different sources need different amounts. Beef or red meat hits my system about 6 hours later. Chicken and mozarella about an hour after. (Less fat hits faster). I used to split my dose.
It's different for different people. I work out the amount of protein, so 100g of chicken roughly 30g of protein. Then I divide by 3 and work out the dose as if it was carbs. So 30g if protein is roughly equivalent to 10g if carbs.
The complication is injecting after you eat as protein is a lot slower than carbs. On mdi I used to split it. I'm on a pump now so can bolus over a period of time.
Hope that helps @smilesandsmiles

 

[Samblease73]

With regard to bolusing for protein. The way I understand it is, your body needs glucose for energy. It's preferred source is carbs as these are easier to break down into glucose. However, if your diet is very low carb and you do not eat enough of them to fuel your body then your body will naturally break down protein & fat for energy. It's important to remember that your body can only use glucose as energy so if it is using protein & fat it will still need to convert it to glucose first. It just takes longer and the spike will be much less. It's also important to remember that a side effect of the breakdown of protein & fat is the production of ketones. Too many ketones in your blood is very dangerous!

 

[steve_p6]

I was interested in what you said about protein affecting your blood sugar. I attended a DAFNE course last week and they advised that non-carb meals have no affect on blood sugar?

Unfortuneately the NHS mantra is wrong. General advice here is bolus 50% for the protein grams as carb and 10% for the FAT (I normally ignore the fat bit). The more FAT/Protein then the longer you can expect the Protein BG rise to kick in. Yhe reference here explains the principles (page 10 onwards). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2901033/

 

[Mrs Vimes]

Too many ketones with high blood sugars is ketoacidosis caused by a l ack of insulin. That's dangerous.
Ketones caused by a lack of carbs with normal blood sugars is ketosis. This is not dangerous.

 

[steve_p6]

With regard to bolusing for protein. The way I understand it is, your body needs glucose for energy. It's preferred source is carbs as these are easier to break down into glucose. However, if your diet is very low carb and you do not eat enough of them to fuel your body then your body will naturally break down protein & fat for energy. It's important to remember that your body can only use glucose as energy so if it is using protein & fat it will still need to convert it to glucose first. It just takes longer and the spike will be much less. It's also important to remember that a side effect of the breakdown of protein & fat is the production of ketones. Too many ketones in your blood is very dangerous!

Good article here from @tim2000s explains fully, ketones from low carb/protein is v different from DKA.

 

[steve_p6]

Might help with the link .

http://www.crick-tech-munch.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/deconstructing-myths-surrounding-low.html?m=1

 

[Samblease73]

My current thinking is I'd rather not find out if they are dangerous... I know how **** I feel on a low carb diet & I'd rather take a little more insulin & eat a well balanced diet. This may change if I have trouble controlling my BG in future... What suits one is not good for all ☺

 

[Mrs Vimes]

True. Your mileage may vary when it comes to diabetes. Me - lchf til I die!!!

 

[steve_p6]

@Samblease73 we are getting a little off the OP, but yes we all need to go with what works for us.

 

[Garr]

I just ate a whole McDonalds set (a hamburger and fries) and ice cream. At least the coke was "zero".
For more than a year, since the diagnosis with T1 I was eating all healthy, possibly less carbs, limiting my sugar intake, fighting my sweet tooth. Recently I have troubles with motivation for exercises and today I failed completely. I feel miserable and I disappointed myself.
I don't know if it's winter or if I generally have bad period of my life now or if the vision of the worst possible consequences doesn't scare me enough anymore, but something is not as it was for the last year.
I thought you Guys and Gals will understand.

Nothing wrong with a McDs now and then, I usually find the carb info spot on. I had a bowl of ice cream with a flake crushed on top tonight. Life's too long without a treat from time to time.....