LOW CARB NOT WORKING?

[Annb]

Many people have quoted 50 gm of carbs as a good level - I was eating exactly that amount and getting Hba1c of 42 - I decided to go lower, and now eat no more than 40 gm per day, and still have a Hba1c of 42.

At one stage, I did manage to get my Hba1c down to 55, but not for long and not in the last 18 months. After these last months and what has finally been acknowledged by my doctor to have been covid 19, it must be away up. At present it isn't being tested, so I have to rely on my meter. I have to keep an eye on it, but I'm beginning to hope now, that I might be able to get by on 50 g and keep my BG at a reasonable level.

 

[Annb]

This is what I do. Based on P.E. Diet principles. It makes reaching satiety a given. The first meal is chicken fajitas with pickles and coconut flatbreads (extra chicken)

The second meal is salmon prawns, buttered leeks, cavelenaro greens, cherry tomatoes and butternut squash baked fries (extra salmon)

The third meal is lean bacon and salmon coconut flatbread sandwiches with mushrooms (lots of bacon)
View attachment 47684

By prioritising protein the results are phenomenal - full satiety, no room for rubbish and flatter belly. I started doing this at the beginning of the month and look forward to the results as I have replaced fattening things with protein. But to your point I can't see how it is possible to be hungry on this protocol.

I still feel a bit guilty eating to satiety and even when I do - the feeling doesn't last. But then, even when I do eat carbs, the full feeling doesn't last. Probably a problem with my stomach. I'm afraid I just have to get used to being hungry for much of the day.

What kind of flatbread and fajitas do you use? Is there a good, and reasonably priced, bread recipe/fajita recipe which is low enough in carb?

 

[mansingh01]

These days I believe I had gestational diabetes, which never went away, over 50 years ago. Despite going to doctors over these years with symptoms I now recognise as being diabetes related, I was usually sent away as being neurotic and wasting doctors' time. Finally, in 2008, took a sample of urine to a locum doctor and asked if I was diabetic. He tested it and said I was. Prescribed Metformin, (2000 mg daily) and eventually put onto insulin (basal and bolus). Fairly standard process, I'd imagine.

I have been trying to improve matters over the last 2 years by low carbing but ended up feeling very ill so have finally, today, decided that the experiment is over. It seems that low carbing is not for overweight, insulin resistant and insulin dependent diabetics, from what I have read. So where do I go from here?

I'm still not eating all that much carbohydrate but am taking high doses of insulin but my Metformin is down to 1000 daily (innards can't take any more than that). It requires no carbohydrate at all to put my BG up more than 2 points even with a large dose of insulin. This morning, I did have a roll with a slice of sausage and a fried egg after a FBG reading of 12.5. 2 hours later BG was 15.5. The 60 units of insulin and 500 mg Metformin had no effect, it seems. Or maybe it would have been worse without the medication.

Has anyone else had this kind of experience? If so, what did you do?

Try to avoid rolls and bread all carbs

 

[Mbaker]

I still feel a bit guilty eating to satiety and even when I do - the feeling doesn't last. But then, even when I do eat carbs, the full feeling doesn't last. Probably a problem with my stomach. I'm afraid I just have to get used to being hungry for much of the day.

What kind of flatbread and fajitas do you use? Is there a good, and reasonably priced, bread recipe/fajita recipe which is low enough in carb?

I feel confident to suggest that you wouldn't be hungry eating like this. I have had to go from 3 course sittings to 2. I am excited as I know I will see body composition changes even if it takes a while to kick in, whilst my overall consumption is lower.

These are the ingredients I use for the flat breads (almost full cup of warm to hot water, third of regular tub of cream cheese, 2 x third of a cup coconut flour, half of a third of a cup of psyllium husk, three quarters of a teaspoon of baking powder):


Method:
Put a flat no stick pan on a mid heat on the stove, granite is perfect as no butter is required, or smear a little

1. Put Flour, Psyllium and baking powder into a bowl and mix.
2. Put cream cheese into the mix.
3. Add water to the mix and mix
4. At first it might be quite loose, but keep working until it forms a dough
5. I cut the dough in half and roll between 2 baking sheets
6. Use any shape to divide the dough
7. Use a spatula or similar to help pickup the shapes and cook on both sides like pancakes

I didn't set out to replace bread, but the macros tick several boxes, being protein, fat and fibre carbs, whilst the end result works for currys, roll-ups, peanut butter, burger and left over meat delivery mechanism, marmite or just on their own (great when just cooked). The dough keeps for a couple of days in the fridge.

I know my wife dices chicken, places in a wok with green peppers, onions and fajita seasoning and hot water. The lid goes on and all cooks together. The taste is unbelievable. We add sour cream and guacamole from Waitrose, nothing is left.

 

[MrsA2]

@Annb
Might I suggest only changing one variable at a time? A new insulin, a new insulin taking regime and a change of diet all at once could make any results or problems difficult to pin down.

(Still quite a newbie so apologies if way off the mark)

 

[Annb]

@Annb
Might I suggest only changing one variable at a time? A new insulin, a new insulin taking regime and a change of diet all at once could make any results or problems difficult to pin down.

(Still quite a newbie so apologies if way off the mark)

It's only been a couple of days since I finally gave up on the low carb way of eating, and, at the moment, I'm still on my previous insulins. So all I am actually changing right now, is the timing of the basal dose. It seemed to work well yesterday but after a bad night, I slept in a bit so took the basal dose just after 7 am. FBG was 9.8. Breakfast was at 8.30 am, by which time my BG had risen to 10.0. So that's not quite as good as yesterday. For breakfast I had the remaining half of yesterday's frittata with a couple of fried eggs. Haven't checked BG again yet but it should be OK - no carbs to speak of in the breakfast. We'll see how it goes.

 

[KK123]

It's only been a couple of days since I finally gave up on the low carb way of eating, and, at the moment, I'm still on my previous insulins. So all I am actually changing right now, is the timing of the basal dose. It seemed to work well yesterday but after a bad night, I slept in a bit so took the basal dose just after 7 am. FBG was 9.8. Breakfast was at 8.30 am, by which time my BG had risen to 10.0. So that's not quite as good as yesterday. For breakfast I had the remaining half of yesterday's frittata with a couple of fried eggs. Haven't checked BG again yet but it should be OK - no carbs to speak of in the breakfast. We'll see how it goes.

Hi there, just remember that when you are changing the timing or dose of the basal dose it can take a good few days or even a week before any results of those changes show up. I was told the reason why is that your body gets used to whatever regime it is under and so needs time to adjust to any changes you are making to it. Think of it as the same as getting into keto or waiting for your muscles to stop aching after a new exercise although it doesn't take that long, obviously! Also BG can rise without having eaten any carbs or because of eating protein for some, etc so maybe still worth checking. x

 

[Annb]

Hi there, just remember that when you are changing the timing or dose of the basal dose it can take a good few days or even a week before any results of those changes show up. I was told the reason why is that your body gets used to whatever regime it is under and so needs time to adjust to any changes you are making to it. Think of it as the same as getting into keto or waiting for your muscles to stop aching after a new exercise although it doesn't take that long, obviously! Also BG can rise without having eaten any carbs or because of eating protein for some, etc so maybe still worth checking. x

I didn't know that, so thanks for letting me know. I'll keep an eye on what happens. I don't suppose this one change can do any harm anyway.