Morning
Again well done on getting a 43 HbA1C result. That is solid progress. the next steps are not that hard to achieve, keep doing what your a doing to stay mentally strong and change a bit of your diet at a time.
I low carb as low as I need to for a days activities, I do avoid wheat in a daily routine, but not a militant HFLC drone (awaits abuse). I know how many calories I will use on a day so I plan my meals to meet the demand, some days I get it spot on, some days not so much, as long as you learn from it, it's all good.
My experiences will differ from yours, the only way is to experiment.
You do need carbs, but in the form of veg and salad. lots of them. Tonnes in fact, back to a diet of days gone by. Avocados are excellent for calories, GOOD fat/oil and Fibre which without you will have an interesting time digesting and utilizing protein.
Substitute chickpeas for wheat, falafel are lovely, yes they are fried so have higher cholesterol but a few in a broad diet will do no harm.
Salad dressing is the key to turning a dull lunch into something lush, yes balsamic vinegar is higher in sugar but you are not using a litre at time, be sparing. Add coriander, garlic, chilli paprika and good olive oil. Yes on day 650 it does feel a bit drudgery so add more chilli, lots more and ginger.
Stews, meat, beetroot, beans, tomatoes, spices with a load of steamed veg, all good. filling and no need for rice/spuds. keeps for a few meals. Spice it up, flavour is soo important. change the content comfort to flavour comfort.
Make your own baked beans, you can make them no added sugar and get a load of goodness in your body
Meals do not have to match, my plate often looks like it has been drawn by a 4 year old, a mismatch of the families foods and mine. if it's good for you and yummy do it.
Replace lasagne sheet with leeks. no really
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/skinny_beef_lasagne_87277
In fact I adore these guys, they get food, swap wheat based things with chickpea (may have said this once or twice) chapattis
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chilli_salad_bowls_22404
Eggs, they are good for you, but there are limits, mine is 4 per week.
Breakfast. I use 200grams of Greek yogurt, invest in quality here, it reduces sugar content by more than you would think. Add flax seeds, chia seeds, powdered green veg (not as good as real veg but I do live in the real world) and Coffee.
I do not feel hungry before 12 and I cycle to work.
Snacking. Yes I do snack at times. one of the following only after drinking a pint of water to see if it was thirst........
2 pieces of 85%+ chocolate
Peanuts
Cucumber
Carrots
well, any salad Items I have in the fridge.
Sports.
Yes that is me in the profile pic, if I am off doing sports I will eat a more substantial breakfast, bacon, eggs, perhaps a slice of toast. I know from testing I will burn it off from a whole bunch of testing. Nothing worse than being miles from anywhere useful with no supplies on you in case, I keep small packs of crisps/jellies in case I get it wrong. I have had a few what would be considered hypos, avoidable if I had eaten earlier, it's a learning curve.
Walk when you can, if it's only 5 minutes, it's better than 0 minutes. If you can work 30 minutes in per day you will see a world of difference.
Old School doctors
"a bit of hunger wont kill you, it's not the third world". yep he was right, have another glass of water if you have eaten your calories for the day
Learn to love water
Meat and 5 veg.
Enough unstructured ramblings from me for one day.
