3 square meals a day?

[Dannyb87]

Is it really necessary to eat 3 square meals a day, and potentially snack in between?
It's now 4.15pm and I haven't eaten today, it wasn't uncommon for me not to eat until dinner before diagnosis and I still often only have 2 meals, am I putting myself at risk of anything or is it ok to skip meals?

 

[azure]

Are you on MDI? It might be helpful to give some more details about your insulin regime and your diet.

 

[Kristin251]

Your meter will answer that for you.
If I go too long before BF I continue to rise all day. I need the insulin in the morning but I could skip lunch. Not sure about dinner, I always need that

 

[Diamattic]

Nope..

I skip breakfast every single day, not eating until around 1230pm- 1pm, both when i was MDI and now on the pump.
On weekends i still tend to sleep in past noon on occasion, and its rare I am out of bed before 11 mostly due to being a night owl and staying up past 2am lol

Eat when you are hungry, adjust you insulin to account for what you eat when you eat it, and your basal should keep you nice and flat all day long with or without food - if it doesnt then you need to do some tweaking to get that flat line.

In theory - you should be able to sit on the couch and binge watch your fav shows/movies for the entire 24 hours with no change in sugars (maybe like up or down 1.5mmol/l) as long as you dont get to physical, or eat any carbs. If you can't complete this challenge then you need some basal work.

 

[noblehead]

@Dannyb87, as your on a basal/bolus insulin regime there's no need to snack between meals if your basal insulin is set at the right dose, so if you can get by on two meals a day and this provides your body with all it's nutritional needs then just continue as you are.

I stick to 3 straight meals and very rarely snack between meals.

 

[Dannyb87]

Yes I'm on mdi1 regime I believe it's called-3 novorapid with meals and 2 levemir per day. I'm a weird eater, some days dinner will do other days I'll have 4/5 meals! My dietician looked at me gone out when I said I'd prefer to do the school run, come home get jobs done then eat just before heading into work, apparently I have to eat as soon as I get up a cuppa and a smoke is my normal breakfast!

 

[noblehead]

Both are the same @Dannyb87

Provided your bg levels are under control just eat when you want to eat, I rarely miss breakfast as when I do my bg levels rocket into double figures within 1-2 hours from waking, but if yours don't or you don't mind taking a bolus injection to counteract a bg rise then it shouldn't be a problem, but perhaps your dietitian is aware of people like myself who do see a big bg rise when breakfast is omitted......hence their advice.

Not picking fault and this is just friendly advice but I'd drop the cigarettes, diabetes and smoking isn't good for your health and increases the risks of complications.

 

[June_C]

Just picking up on the comment made by @noblehead, I was a life long smoker and knew I risked heart disease, but then I was diagnosed as T1, so in effect, my risk doubled. I could either give up smoking or give up diabetes......No choice really..........

I stopped smoking 5 months ago

As an ex-smoker, I would never ever preach to a smoker, it's your choice as it was mine. However, please give some thought to possibly quitting.

It's bl**dy hard, but I feel better for it. Best of luck.

 

[Dannyb87]

Both are the same @Dannyb87

Not picking fault and this is just friendly advice but I'd drop the cigarettes, diabetes and smoking isn't good for your health and increases the risks of complications.

I quit for over two months last October (stoptober), cold turkey, started again just before I got diagnosed-along with energy drinks, glucose tablets and proplus, trying to function as I thought I was really run down-now realise that was probably about the worst combo I could have been doing!
I will be quitting but it was my crutch really while in hospital and through the first few weeks, I have been cutting down. I've been out for a month now, I might give it another month then get the tablets or something.

 

[Diamattic]

Smoking isn't awesome, but i still love energy drinks! haha No real risk with them as long as they are sugar free IMO

You can keep your crazy eating habits as long as you are testing enough, because sometimes you HAVE to eat to avoid lows, but if you are not low then need to eat if you dont want to. Just make sure that you are testing every 2-4 hours to make sure you are still normal, and really learn to 'feel' what is happening with your sugars so you can avoid going super low or high.

 

[June_C]

I understand the 'crutch',Try if you can. It's not easy by any means, but it's worth it

 

[Dannyb87]

I did it once unaided after 10 years of smoking 20+ a day-I don't think I have that in me again right now but a little help I'm sure I'll manage! I'm not overly fussed about energy drinks or any of that, I was just trying to get some energy, I felt awful, at the end before I went into hospital I was falling asleep a lot, hour shopping=4/5 hours sleep, and couldn't hold down water :/ now I know what's going on I'll shape up