How do you manage your diabetes WITHOUT following lchf?

[Alisonjane10]

Hi folks,

Many forum members are passionate about following a lchf eating plan to manage their bg effectively. I appreciate this way of eating has become a way of life & has helped people regain control of their diabetes. Hence the popularity of lchf. Some members, because of their dedication & passion to this way of eating, can be quite critical of others who have decided lchf isn't for them. I'm not talking about being ignorant of lchf, but actually making an informed decision for themselves not to follow it. I'd be interested in hearing views from members who DON'T lchf. If you've decided not to LCHF, what dietary principles do you follow?
I'm well aware of the science behind lchf, & respect the fact that for many, it's the best way to go. Certainly, when I was first diagnosed early this year, I strictly followed lchf which allowed me to regain some control over my high blood glucose. Personally, I found this way of eating didn't work long term for me. It was making me miserable, & consequently I found lchf unsustainable. I now eat to my meter. I eat a healthy diet, with a variety from all food groups. I rule out no food completely...I just make sure that what I do eat is the appropriate portion size for me & it doesn't send my bg into orbit. I aim for no more than a 2 point rise, & to be well on the way back to my before eating level after 2 hours. It's been successful for me. BUT, I had to get my blood glucose to a "normal" level before I relaxed my way of eating. I continue to lose weight, which has allowed me this leeway with my diet too. The less I weigh has led to lower BG. I do take medication, which I am gradually reducing, hoping to be medication free at some point in the future.
So, if you follow an eating plan outside of lchf, I'd be most interested to hear about what works for you.

I need to add that I am not criticising lchf. It works. It allowed me to regain control of my bg & be able to modify my diet accordingly. It's purely a personal decision & I would always encourage members to follow the diet/lifestyle strategy that works for them. Let's face it, we're all after the same thing at the end of the day...effective management of our diabetes!
Best wishes to all.

Alison. X

 

[AndBreathe]

Hi folks,

Many forum members are passionate about following a lchf eating plan to manage their bg effectively. I appreciate this way of eating has become a way of life & has helped people regain control of their diabetes. Hence the popularity of lchf. Some members, because of their dedication & passion to this way of eating, can be quite critical of others who have decided lchf isn't for them. I'm not talking about being ignorant of lchf, but actually making an informed decision for themselves not to follow it. I'd be interested in hearing views from members who DON'T lchf. If you've decided not to LCHF, what dietary principles do you follow?
I'm well aware of the science behind lchf, & respect the fact that for many, it's the best way to go. Certainly, when I was first diagnosed early this year, I strictly followed lchf which allowed me to regain some control over my high blood glucose. Personally, I found this way of eating didn't work long term for me. It was making me miserable, & consequently I found lchf unsustainable. I now eat to my meter. I eat a healthy diet, with a variety from all food groups. I rule out no food completely...I just make sure that what I do eat is the appropriate portion size for me & it doesn't send my bg into orbit. I aim for no more than a 2 point rise, & to be well on the way back to my before eating level after 2 hours. It's been successful for me. BUT, I had to get my blood glucose to a "normal" level before I relaxed my way of eating. I continue to lose weight, which has allowed me this leeway with my diet too. The less I weigh has led to lower BG. I do take medication, which I am gradually reducing, hoping to be medication free at some point in the future.
So, if you follow an eating plan outside of lchf, I'd be most interested to hear about what works for you.

I need to add that I am not criticising lchf. It works. It allowed me to regain control of my bg & be able to modify my diet accordingly. It's purely a personal decision & I would always encourage members to follow the diet/lifestyle strategy that works for them. Let's face it, we're all after the same thing at the end of the day...effective management of our diabetes!
Best wishes to all.

Alison. X

Alison, I'm probably not unusual in that I eat to my meter, which drove me to reduce my cards. Initially, I didn't increase my fat consumption at all, which led to the bit of weight I had spare dropping off me. It then took me a little while to nudge up the fat. I ended up upping the fat as the most benign way of eating more without my bloods being overly adversely affected, and I'm continuing to eat that way.

I hate labels, and will avoid them wherever I can, and in fact, when talking to "outsiders" who know how I tackle eating, I talk about reduced carbs, with enough fat. But, that's just weirdo old me!

Alison, you are absolutely right that you have to find a way of eating that suits you. I have always said that if a day comes when I can't manage by modifying my food intake, and doing the amount of exercise I am comfortable with, then I would just have to accept taking medication. My quality of life, and well being are more important to me that whether I follow the trendy way of doing things.

I hope some others will post here. There are people why follow a different way of eating, so I'm wondering if your original post was posted at a busy time for many forum users, then it got lost down the list. I tend to just look at "Recent Posts", so something with no replies can drop down the aggregated page quite quickly.

 

[Hiitsme]

Hi,
I'm probably in a similar position to you. Diagnosed in Feb 2015 with HbA1c of 95 and told by doctor it was impossible to manage by diet, weight loss and exercise and put on Metformin. I reacted violently and taken off and was told I would have to go back on later or Insulin. Fortunately I was given a meter to test. I had to stop eating Weetabix, rice and pasta. I could cope with 50g of potatoes for a meal. I had to initially cut out bread and then I found I could eat one thin small slice. I've now been able to have a very small quantity 30g of pasta. My HbA1c in May was 50 so my GP and nurse are both happy for me to try with diet, weight loss and exercise as this seems to be working. I've lost almost 2 stone in weight and now have a BMI of about 21 so probably don't need to lose much more weight. I'm now trying to put carbs back into my diet but keep testing. A rise of over 2 points means that I'm still not able to eat that meal so I'm learning all the time. I am making mistakes but learning what works for me. As I've mostly been keeping a food diary and measuring quantities I've noticed that the carbs have started to rise. Was about 50g and now I seem to manage to have up to 100g daily. I'm using my meter and experimenting, sometimes making mistakes.

 

[Nicola M]

Let's just put it this way I don't follow lchf mainly because I'm an awfully bad picky eater and always have been. I don't really follow any way of eating I just eat what I want. Besides having dawn phenomenon in the morning I control mine really well. I could stick in the 6-7 range all day without dawn phenomenon. I'd say it is possible to have a good control without following a particular diet as long as you get the insulin right

 

[NoCrbs4Me]

I switched to LCHF from the Canadian equivalent of the NHS diet after I got a blood glucose meter. I lost lots of weight and reversed my type 2 diabetes. However, I had off and on gastrointestinal issues, so now I have been off LCHF for a week. Everything is now good, but we'll see how it goes.

 

[Alisonjane10]

Hello @AndBreathe, @Hiitsme, @Nicola M & @NoCrbs4Me,

Thank you all for replying to my post. You've all given me a grand insight into what eating plan works for yourselves. This disease drives me NUTS at times & managing it effectively will always be a pain in the butt for me if I'm being truthful. Then again, I expect that's true for many forum members. Cest la vie. But, oh how I miss being able to eat a fresh out of the oven fruit scone with my Nana's homemade strawberry jam & thick Cornish clotted cream. My meter allows me to have around a 1/4 of a scone with all the extras described. You've no idea how I savour every bite, keeping it in my mouth, chewing it slowly for as long as I can. (Hold on, I need to wipe the drool off my chin.) I don't (and won't) make a habit of it. It will be a very rare treat & only if I continue to have good glycemic control. I'm human, & it's nice to be "normal" just for a short time. I guess many of us have favourite "before diagnosis" foods that we miss & have had to give up or seriously restrict. That's the nature of the beast I suppose, and I'll learn to embrace wholly the changes having Diabetes brings. Our palates adapt, & we learn to love different foods. For me, it's roast asparagus. Wouldn't have even bought the stuff before I was diagnosed. Go figure! Anyway, I do appreciate you all taking the time to share. Thank you. Good health to you all.

Alison X

 

[NoCrbs4Me]

The thought of eating such things now makes me nauseous. I don't miss any of the **** I used to eat.

 

[masonbason63]

I eat 3 times a day like I was taught 40 years ago I hate it I'm so regimented I just can't break it I snack as well but a lot of it is all done by meter readings I did try LCHF but it didn't suit me I lost weight which was brilliant, I just can't deal with complex diet plans I'm stuck in the 70's and Carbs & Cals is my trusty steed at the moment.

I feel pretty healthy and as mentioned all my results ad come back good readings so I'd just like to lose a bit of weight.

I did som more exercise yesterday by chopping up a big bush that my son had cut down but blimey I payed for it yesterday and today at least that wash a bit more exercise than normal

 

[Daphne917]

Whilst I eat full, as opposed to low, fat foods my carb intake is probably high compared to many. Through testing I have discovered what I can eat without affecting my BS and this includes bread, potatoes, re-heated rice and pasta, some cereals and even an occasional cake. I also ensure that I include low carb foods such as eggs, meat, Cheese, salad and vegetables - food that I've always liked and eaten a lot of anyway. The one thing that i have cut down on is fruit and now tend to stick to berries and apples. When I am out for a meal whilst I tend to try to pick the healthy option ie low carb I don't get too concerned if I have to have a higher carb option - I look at it as being a ' one off' particularly as my BS levels now tend to be in the mid-4s to mid-5s anyway. However since cutting down on carbs and changing low to full fat I feel better, have lost, and am still losing, weight and my cholesterol has reduced so I will not go back to eating the same amount of carbs as I did before.

 

[Mike d]

Hi @Alisonjane10

There's one element in your terrific post that might have been overlooked or simply omitted to mention. It is the mental approach to the condition. The exercise (at least for quite a few) is easy, and much the same can be said of the food changes as long as you're tolerant to fish, poultry, meats and (above ground) veg. Yep, I know what it has meant to me to leave behind pasta, potatoes, pies, breads .... the list is endless. Sweet stuff? Miss nothing

Testing gives one confidence they're on the right track, and if they can dump oral meds (e.g. metformin) as a result, so much the better. Pre-diabetic numbers are the goal even though it is hardly remission, for if you relax, you're back to square one. What a self defeating effort that would be

The WORST part is acceptance that it'll be with you for life. That said, it's still worth living in the hope some form of cure (whether it be for T1 or T2 or both) is somewhere down the track ..... when I see the number of "newly diagnosed" members that hit this forum every day and then imagine how many others contract it and don't know this place exists, it borders on the frightening.

The cost of diabetes treatments within the health services system is only going to increase and at a rapid rate. That above all, demands MUCH more money be thrown at it

Mike

 

[RuthW]

I don't do LCHF. I think it would be too restrictive for me both personally and socially. I think I am on a moderate carb regime (120-160g per day) and I eat a lot of oils (nuts, olive oils, oily fish, etc) and have done for donkey's years because I think they are likely to have neurological benefits and diabetics need all the neurological benefits they can get. I have watched with interest all the discussions and reports by people on LCHF and I don't really see that it would improve my control or sense of well-being. I don't see that it reduces your insulin intake very much, which for me is a driver. I see that some of the people on that regime are on a higher TDD than I am while I am on a moderate carb diet. I wouldn't expect that and I am not convinced it's a good thing. For me, I can't see the difference between bolusing for protein and bolusing for carbs, except that I would prefer that the protein I eat is used for building skeletal muscle and not burned as a substitute for carbs - seems unnecessarily hard on my body. One of my aims is to keep my insulin sensitivity as high as I can and keep my TDD as low as I can. I find that easy to do through exercise, and blood sugar control plus exercise is easy to control using carbs as a tool.

(Please note, I can see lots of people are very happy on LCHF, and also from my obs here, I suspect it is particularly beneficial for Type 2s)

Aside from those observations, I like my current diet. I never eat fast food, I cook at home, eat unprocessed foods and always have. I eat loads of veg, quite a lot of fruit, meat, chicken, lots of fish, and I love beans of all kinds. Since I live in Istanbul, I largely cook Turkish food because it's easy to get the ingredients here. Although in England you get the impression that all Turks eat is kebabs, the home cooking is 80% vegetables, often no meat at all, since it's expensive and a "treat".

Anyway, it is interesting here to find out what everybody is doing and people's detailed reports on their daily activities and diet. It really helps me, whether they are low-carbing or not. I particularly mention ElyDave and Tim, here, whose postings about diet and exercise are extremely useful to me, especially since they take different approaches.

 

[4ratbags]

Hi I know what you mean sometimes I think I should just crawl back into my hole so I don't get my head taken off because I dared to eat some chocolate or something similar. I'm sorry I can't be of much help though as I'm doing LCHF at the moment but in saying that I actually got my Hbs down to pre diabetic levels by eating to the dreaded healthy plate. It is just such a personal journey as everyones likes are different and our bodies all react differently to varying amounts of carbs. Good luck in finding what suits you and please keep us posted.

 

[Alisonjane10]

Hi @zjed, @masonbason63, @Daphne917, @Mike D, @RuthW, @4ratbags, @NoCrbs4Me.

Thank you all for your advice, thoughts, comments & insight into how you choose to manage your diabetes. Yes, it certainly is a personal journey for us all. When I was diagnosed in January, I was feeling very ill with blood glucose levels in the 20's. I was prescribed medication, told I would hear from the surgery DNS for an appointment "some time within the next 4 weeks," then I was basically left to get on with it. Terrifying! Thankfully, I had the wherewithal to search the internet & found this marvellous forum. For the first time I felt less afraid & amongst others who wanted to help. I believe the advice I received saved my life. Following lchf helped me get my BG into single figures within 4-5 days, & my level has continued to reduce to its current pre-diabetic levels. So, I am certainly no critic of lchf. Far from it in fact. I just found it too restrictive for me. However, I DO watch my diet closely, eat healthily overall & eat to my meter. The controversial clotted cream scone I have talked about eating is a very rare treat, & will always be so. I've no intention of undoing all of the hard work it has taken to get the BG numbers I have now. I've no wish to experience those high numbers again, or risk the plethora of diabetic complications. So, please do not judge me for enjoying the occasional treat. I'm not a robot & though it may not be the way to go for yourself, it is all part of the personal journey.

I too use the Carbs & Cals book to guide my food choices. Although I don't lchf, I make wise food choices. I will always watch the amount of carbs I eat, but prefer not to eat ketogenic anymore. My diet now includes small amounts of whole grains, all vegetables, all fruits, natural fruit yoghurt, beans of all kinds & cereals. These foods were slowly introduced back into my diet after being very low carb. I'm lucky in that I can tolerate these additions without any difficulty, as long as I watch the portion size. I do enjoy having the added variety of foods though. As long as I continue to have good glycemic control, steadily lose weight & feel well, I'll carry on as I am. Put simply, it works for me!

This post has been great for gaining an insight into the experiences of others when it comes to managing our diabetes. What a diverse bunch we all are. Hooray to that I say. Once again, thank you all for taking the time to respond to my post. It is very much appreciated. Best wishes & good health to you all.

Alison. X

 

[uart]

Thank you all for your advice, thoughts, comments & insight

Hi Alison. Don't take this the wrong way, but several times I have started to reply to something that you've posted and then decided that whatever comment I'd make to you would very much depend on your type (T2 T2 etc) and what medications you're on. Of course I just get "Database Error: This member limits who may view their profile" and usually don't bother continuing.

I realize that you may have valid reasons for hiding your profile, but perhaps you could add some of the most relevant info to your signature or something. Just a thought, and like I said above, don't take it the wrong way.

 

[uart]

NO
If I don't go LCHF I don't manage my Diabetes !

Exactly. For the T1 an LCHF diet may be optional, but for many T2's it is actually their primary method of glycemic control.

Of course everyone is different, and some T2's have it worse than others. Some T2's can maintain reasonable glycemic control without LCHF and others cannot. But to be honest when someone says to me that they think LCHF is a bad idea, it is quite literally like me going over to the T1 subforums and telling everyone there that taking their insulin is a bad idea.

 

[Alisonjane10]

Exactly. For the T1 an LCHF diet may be optional, but for many T2's it is actually their primary method of glycemic control.

Of course everyone is different, and some people's T2 diabeties is worse than others. Some T2's can maintain reasonable glycemic control without LCHF and others cannot. But to be honest when someone says to me that they think LCHF is a bad idea, it is quite literally like me going over to the T1 subforums and telling everyone there that taking their insulin is a bad idea.

Hi @uart,

I've added details to my signature. Never even thought to include them before now to be honest.

What I didn't want when I posted this question was to be belittled for deciding lchf was not for me. Nor to get into a war of words with members who do follow lchf. I knew some members would be critical of me because I have made this personal decision. I DO NOT advocate others follow me down the non-lchf route, nor have I said that lchf is a bad idea. Ever!! Quite the contrary. As I've already said...lchf works! And I appreciate that others are dedicated & passionate about this way of eating to manage their diabetes. This is purely a personal choice made purely for myself. Simple as that. My post was to find out how others manage their diabetes if they didn't lchf. And it's been interesting to hear from other members. A great insight. I respect the views & opinions of others. All I ask is that I am offered the same courtesy from others too.

Good health & best wishes.

 

[uart]

Hi @uart,

I've added details to my signature. Never even thought to include them before now to be honest.

What I didn't want when I posted this question was to be belittled for deciding lchf was not for me.

No problems Alison.

If someone can maintain reasonable glycemic control without using LCHF then that's fine in my opinion. Personally though I found it very hard to lose any weight when taking either gliclazide or insulin without using LCHF (which allowed me to reduce the medication accordingly).

 

[Alisonjane10]

No problems Alison.

If someone can maintain reasonable glycemic control without using LCHF then that's fine in my opinion. Personally though I found it very hard to lose any weight when taking either gliclazide or insulin without using LCHF (which allowed me to reduce the medication accordingly).

Hi @ uart,

I must admit...I do worry about losing glycemic control as I attempt to come off medication. I'm aware taking Gliclazide allows me some element of "freedom" (for the want of a better word) when choosing to eat complex carbs, such as wholemeal bread & fruit. I hope that as I continue to lose weight, my body is able to tolerate carbs without medication. It may very well be that I need to eat an LCHF diet again once off medication. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Lchf was unsustainable for me because I absolutely hate eggs, most meat apart from minced beef & chicken, Greek yoghurt & so many other foods that formed the staples of lchf eating. But, I'll never rule anything out, & will do what I need to do to manage my BG levels effectively. May I ask...how did you, & over how long a period, did you reduce & eventually stop your medication? Particularly Gliclazide. I'd appreciate some tips & would welcome your advice. Many thanks.

Alison. X

 

[VinnyJames]

I went seriously lchf to start off with and got non diabetic hba1c's very quickly - since then I've got quite relaxed (but not complacent).
I find it really valuable to know how to extreme low carb tbh.
The reason why is today for example I knew I was going to a restaurant for a 2 or 3 course meal with drinks.

I made sure my blood levels were really low by eating minimal carbs all day so I could have a pudding and a couple of glasses of wine. I had a lovely evening and ate naughty - but still with acceptable readings - to me!!

 

[4ratbags]

Hi Alison. I for one will never judge you. I think its great that you are comfortable with the way you are eating. I know that it is a goal for many, myself included to be at the stage you are now. To be able to tolerate a few little treats here and there is great and it keeps you going in the right direction. I try and do LCHF as best I can abd I do enjoy the food but like you I an starting to add in the odd treat here and there and Im finding my BS is still ok. It has been refreshing reading your posts. All the best.