low carb foods

[mickyjf]

hello everyone, I wondered if anyone eats the atkins low carb food? I was looking at the nut bars and also the flour for making bread. Is it any good to buy them (they are expensive) so just wondering while I am trying to get my head round low carb food!
Also does everyone test ther sugar levels or shall I just wait till my three months is up and I have to go back to see diabetic nurse. It would be good to know if I am doing things right before I do. I have stopped eating sweets, chocolate and cakes micky x

 

[4ratbags]

You dont need to buy Atkins products, there arw many LC flours out there, I usually use almond flour. If you search on Pinterest you will.find lots of yummy LC recipes you can make. I will tag @ewelina for you are she has some delicious recipes. Have you also started to cut down or cut out bread, rice, pasta, potatoes ect as they are all high carb. Also start testing, it is essential otherwise you dont know if you are improving or going backwards.

 

[mickyjf]

You dont need to buy Atkins products, there arw many LC flours out there, I usually use almond flour. If you search on Pinterest you will.find lots of yummy LC recipes you can make. I will tag @ewelina for you are she has some delicious recipes. Have you also started to cut down or cut out bread, rice, pasta, potatoes ect as they are all high carb. Also start testing, it is essential otherwise you dont know if you are improving or going backwards.

thank you ratbags, im sorry if my reply is in the wrong place, im finding quite hard to understand the site and all the different things, anyway I will try almond flour, yes I have cut down on bread, maybe 3 slices, at m ost a week of seed brown, I don't really eat rice or pasta anyay but I think im probably eating too much meat, potatos I have cut down on as well. there is so much to learn and I still don't know how many carbs I can eat. did you buy a testing kit, is it easy to use? does it explain what to do because I can be a bit thick! also I panic a bit especially about going into a coma (that is a hypo is it) Crikey so much to get into my head. thank you very much for your help, probably I sound a bit stupid but there is so much I am reading. I have type 2 by the way, 60mmol. micky x

You dont need to buy Atkins products, there arw many LC flours out there, I usually use almond flour. If you search on Pinterest you will.find lots of yummy LC recipes you can make. I will tag @ewelina for you are she has some delicious recipes. Have you also started to cut down or cut out bread, rice, pasta, potatoes ect as they are all high carb. Also start testing, it is essential otherwise you dont know if you are improving or going backwards.

 

[4ratbags]

The meters are really easy to use, it takes a few goes to get the hang of it. You dont have to worry about going into a coma unless your BS goes way too high. I had 3 incidents where I went to sleep for 4 hours at a time and no one could wake me but it was due to really high BS. Being a T2 you dont really need to worry about hypos, dont get me wrong you can have a hypo but at worst you will feel really horrible and it is corrected easily but this is exactly why you do need a meter as technically a hypo is when your BS drops below 3.6 but when your BS has been high for a long time and then you take control and your BS starts to go down you can get false hypos as your body isnt used to the lower levels. Also it takes time to manoever the site, you are doing fine

 

[mickyjf]

The meters are really easy to use, it takes a few goes to get the hang of it. You dont have to worry about going into a coma unless your BS goes way too high. I had 3 incidents where I went to sleep for 4 hours at a time and no one could wake me but it was due to really high BS. Being a T2 you dont really need to worry about hypos, dont get me wrong you can have a hypo but at worst you will feel really horrible and it is corrected easily but this is exactly why you do need a meter as technically a hypo is when your BS drops below 3.6 but when your BS has been high for a long time and then you take control and your BS starts to go down you can get false hypos as your body isnt used to the lower levels. Also it takes time to manoever the site, you are doing fine

Thank you for the information ratbags, I will look into buying a test kit. I m grateful for your help and may I ask just one more little question, do you drink tea with ordinary skimmed milk, I wonder if I need to change that too, sorry to keep bothering you x

 

[Brunneria]

Hi and welcome @mickyjf

I second @4ratbags suggestion to steer clear of Atkins products. When you read the ingredients they sound like science projects!

One of the easiest ways to go low carb is to dramatically cut down on processed foods, since almost all the carby stuff and frankenfoods are the ones that take processing to make them edible.

Have a look at this link, and you will see exactly what I mean:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/60-seconds

Regarding your question on milk in tea... The answer is that it depends. If you only drink a couple a day, with a splash of the milk, then it isn't worth making any changes. But if you drink 6 pints of tea a day, each with a 1/4 of a pink of milk in, then you might want to have a rethink...

 

[skal]

I occasionally use Atkins products as they are very portable and don't raise my levels. I also am not keen on 85% chocolate so the atkins chocolate is a good hit.
It is very processed stuff so I wouldn't want to have it all the time and every day but for me, it has it's place.
It also has a long shelf life which means it is easy take with you, especially when the temptation is likely to get too much. As log as you test and find out whether it raises your levels or not.

 

[mickyjf]

Hi and welcome @mickyjf

I second @4ratbags suggestion to steer clear of Atkins products. When you read the ingredients they sound like science projects!
thank you Brunneria, I will stick with milk then as I only hve about 4 cups of tea a day and definitely not very milky, yuk lol x

One of the easiest ways to go low carb is to dramatically cut down on processed foods, since almost all the carby stuff and frankenfoods are the ones that take processing to make them edible.

Have a look at this link, and you will see exactly what I mean:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/60-seconds

Regarding your question on milk in tea... The answer is that it depends. If you only drink a couple a day, with a splash of the milk, then it isn't worth making any changes. But if you drink 6 pints of tea a day, each with a 1/4 of a pink of milk in, then you might want to have a rethink...

 

[mickyjf]

I occasionally use Atkins products as they are very portable and don't raise my levels. I also am not keen on 85% chocolate so the atkins chocolate is a good hit.
It is very processed stuff so I wouldn't want to have it all the time and every day but for me, it has it's place.
It also has a long shelf life which means it is easy take with you, especially when the temptation is likely to get too much. As log as you test and find out whether it raises your levels or not.

Thank you skal, I really only bought them as a standby and like you wont be eating them every day x

 

[skal]

Thank you skal, I really only bought them as a standby and like you wont be eating them every day x

Yeah, as a convenience food they are good. There are a lot of people here who concentrate on whole foods and shin processed food which is great. I work long days in the hospital and sometimes I fancy something apart from nuts or cheese or eggs and the chocolate type bars certainly have saved me from many raiding trips to the vending machine...

 

[Brunneria]

if you want a lc minimally processed snack bar without the nasties, try the lower carb options from the 9Bar range.

Yes, they have some sugars in, but it is heck of a lot less than normal bars or flapjacks, and no grain. Most people find they have minimal bg impact, and are really useful.
I tested the Peanut variety exhaustively and it only used to send my be up by less than 1mmol at around 45 mins, then dropped back to its starting point at at around 75 mins. Yet all the lovely nuts and seeds would keep me going for hours.

OF course, I'm talking about the 9bars without the dried fruit and sweet coatings... but I can get away with the raspberry and choc ones too...

Here's a link.
https://shop.9bar.com/original-lift/9bar-peanut

 

[skal]

if you want a lc minimally processed snack bar without the nasties, try the lower carb options from the 9Bar range.

Yes, they have some sugars in, but it is heck of a lot less than normal bars or flapjacks, and no grain. Most people find they have minimal bg impact, and are really useful.
I tested the Peanut variety exhaustively and it only used to send my be up by less than 1mmol at around 45 mins, then dropped back to its starting point at at around 75 mins. Yet all the lovely nuts and seeds would keep me going for hours.

OF course, I'm talking about the 9bars without the dried fruit and sweet coatings... but I can get away with the raspberry and choc ones too...

Here's a link.
https://shop.9bar.com/original-lift/9bar-peanut

Ooooooo haven't heard of those before! I'm sure to give some of them a go!

 

[mickyjf]

cor me too, I shall have a look. It must be hard with food when you work, I sometimes think I'm eating too many eggs but they are easy to have in lunch box! I don't like nuts very much still lucky I'm not allergic I suppose!

 

[skal]

Yeah one can be over egged eventually, so it is a good thing to have variety!