New to Low Carb

Tonkafsr1

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Insects, cold weather,
Hi all, I have been type 2 for about 10 years now and my levels have been fairly stable, although on the higher side of what my GP would like (8-8.6 usually) . Have recently moved and changed doctors and have been advised to try a low carb diet which i have been doing for the last 2-3 weeks. I have noticed however that my night-time reading is now up to between 9-10 has even been up to 11 on one day. Mainly eating porridge for breakfast with a chopped banana in, omelette with spinach, carrot & corgette for lunch or scrambled eggs and ham, dinner is either a stir-fry with lots of veg, chicken and courgette noodles or meat (chicken mainly) or fish with roasted veg or homemade coleslaw with mayo & greek yoghurt. No potatoes, bread, rice or pasta for the past 3 weeks. Walk regularly each day, but have an office job so sat a lot of the time, started swimming again & will be doing a class in low impact exercised as i have bad knees and ankles at local gym after my initiation next week

Anyone know why my levels would be going higher rather than lowering as they should be? Feel like i am making a major mistake somewhere but don't know where and googling it is just making my mind spin.....!!
 

malcs90

Well-Known Member
Messages
87
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi all, I have been type 2 for about 10 years now and my levels have been fairly stable, although on the higher side of what my GP would like (8-8.6 usually) . Have recently moved and changed doctors and have been advised to try a low carb diet which i have been doing for the last 2-3 weeks. I have noticed however that my night-time reading is now up to between 9-10 has even been up to 11 on one day. Mainly eating porridge for breakfast with a chopped banana in, omelette with spinach, carrot & corgette for lunch or scrambled eggs and ham, dinner is either a stir-fry with lots of veg, chicken and courgette noodles or meat (chicken mainly) or fish with roasted veg or homemade coleslaw with mayo & greek yoghurt. No potatoes, bread, rice or pasta for the past 3 weeks. Walk regularly each day, but have an office job so sat a lot of the time, started swimming again & will be doing a class in low impact exercised as i have bad knees and ankles at local gym after my initiation next week

Anyone know why my levels would be going higher rather than lowering as they should be? Feel like i am making a major mistake somewhere but don't know where and googling it is just making my mind spin.....!!
I was told bread, rice and pasta was a no no by my nurse.
 

dawnmc

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,431
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Non-insulin injectable medication (incretin mimetics)
I would suggest you get a meter and strips, the porridge and banana are definitely not low carb. Switch it to bacon and eggs or high fat yogurt, test as you eat and 2 hours after.
 
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Tonkafsr1

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Insects, cold weather,
I would suggest you get a meter and strips, the porridge and banana are definitely not low carb. Switch it to bacon and eggs or high fat yogurt, test as you eat and 2 hours after.
Thank you dawnmc, the doctor advised the porridge and banana for breakfast, will try swapping that - i do test regularly during the day but may have to up the testing as well as you suggest.
 

Tonkafsr1

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Insects, cold weather,
I was told bread, rice and pasta was a no no by my nurse.
Yes I have totally cut out potatoes, rice pasta and bread - sorry think my post read slightly wrong.
 

Bluetit1802

Legend
Messages
25,216
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
@Tonkafsr1

Hi and welcome,

May I suggest you complete your profile settings to include type of diabetes, your treatment, and your medication. This may avoid inappropriate replies to your questions. If you use the app you will have to log in to the website on your browser.

Your breakfast is the opposite of low carb. It is high carb and will not be doing you any good at all. If you use your meter to test before you eat and again an hour and 2 hours after your first bite, you will see what I mean.

More information once we know which meds you are taking for your diabetes.
 

Tonkafsr1

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Insects, cold weather,
@Tonkafsr1

Hi and welcome,

May I suggest you complete your profile settings to include type of diabetes, your treatment, and your medication. This may avoid inappropriate replies to your questions. If you use the app you will have to log in to the website on your browser.

Your breakfast is the opposite of low carb. It is high carb and will not be doing you any good at all. If you use your meter to test before you eat and again an hour and 2 hours after your first bite, you will see what I mean.

More information once we know which meds you are taking for your diabetes.


Thank you, will do that - not very good on computers so only just found this forum etc.
 
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Daphne917

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,320
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
I was told bread, rice and pasta was a no no by my nurse.
Some people can eat bread and pasta - I have Tesco High Protein Bread which is 10g carbs per slice but does not affect my BS. I also occasionally have reheated pasta and my BS does not rise too much. I have tried it with rice and, although the rise in my BS is not too high it’s higher than I like so only have it very occasionally. Because every one reacts differently the key is testing to see what effect foods have.
 

Pinkorchid

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,927
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Some can eat porridge and some can't test to see if you can the rest of you food sounds really good no need for any changes there. If you do want bread sometimes then a low carb one like Bergen Linseed and Soya is popular or the Tesco one mentioned above and there other low carb ones in the supermarkets some here say twice cooked pasta is ok for them. At the end of the day it is whatever works for us personally as we are all different as to what we can or can't eat
 

kitedoc

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,783
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
black jelly beans
With the greatest of respect from what you say your doctor may need a referesher course on low carb !
 
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JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,937
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi all, I have been type 2 for about 10 years now and my levels have been fairly stable, although on the higher side of what my GP would like (8-8.6 usually) . Have recently moved and changed doctors and have been advised to try a low carb diet which i have been doing for the last 2-3 weeks. I have noticed however that my night-time reading is now up to between 9-10 has even been up to 11 on one day. Mainly eating porridge for breakfast with a chopped banana in, omelette with spinach, carrot & corgette for lunch or scrambled eggs and ham, dinner is either a stir-fry with lots of veg, chicken and courgette noodles or meat (chicken mainly) or fish with roasted veg or homemade coleslaw with mayo & greek yoghurt. No potatoes, bread, rice or pasta for the past 3 weeks. Walk regularly each day, but have an office job so sat a lot of the time, started swimming again & will be doing a class in low impact exercised as i have bad knees and ankles at local gym after my initiation next week

Anyone know why my levels would be going higher rather than lowering as they should be? Feel like i am making a major mistake somewhere but don't know where and googling it is just making my mind spin.....!!
Does sound like breakfast is the main problem. Porridge and banana... Not a great combo for a diabetic! You could look for alternatives on this forum's website or over on dietdoctor.com for ideas. Eggs with bacon and/or cheese, high meat content sausages, cold cuts, full fat greek yoghurt with some berries or nuts... Or skip breakfast entirely and just have tea or coffee. Any of those shouldn't spike you.

Good luck!
Jo
 

chrestomanci

Well-Known Member
Messages
121
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Hunger
Agree... 'Mainly eating porridge for breakfast with a chopped banana in' is probably the problem, everything else sounds like you're going great guns!
 

nomoredonuts

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,848
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Current American Presidents.
See @Tonkafsr1 ! You don't need doctors - you've got us ! :happy: ;)
 

Benchie

Member
Messages
14
Hi. I've also had conflicting advices from doctors and nurses. Originally I was told to include 'healthy' carbs in every meal e.g. porridge. When I was good this advice did initially work and my glucose levels were good. So it seems that a healthy diet, with carbs, and exercise definitely works. However over the last couple of years I put the weight I lost back on and allowed my glucose levels to rise way too much. When I decided to be good again I found that this method no longer worked and my glucose levels were still too high. My nurse and doctor then said I need to work on cutting out carbs but didn't give any advice I could take away as to how to that.

As I was just trying to be better in general I ended up buying a book called The Diabetes Weight Loss Cookbook just for some new recipes. I didn't have any intention of a very low carb diet at the time as I had tried Atkins and South Beach, pre-diabetes, and found it too restrictive to maintain. When I read the book it really opened up my eyes to what I had being doing wrong and what I needed to change. So I'm glad I bought this almost by accident. I have now changed my eating habits and my blood glucose levels are where they should be. For someone like me, who really enjoys their good it is perfect. It has taken some trial and error and I did fall off the wagon for a couple of weeks. Now, after around 3 months, I have adapted to it and am really happy with this lifestyle change.

I have lost weight as well, which I am happy with. I found that I focused a little too much on this and then fell of the wagon when I only lost a couple of hundred grams one week. Now I have realised that my glucose levels are more important and my waist size. And this is what I try to focus on. I don't have to lose the weight all at once and need to be more patient with myself and honest. I got a little carried away with adding fats to my food and am now more realistic with that. Also I feel much better than before and I don't get the energy crashes in the day that I used to. Now I can even get up for my toddler when he wakes up early in the morning.

To get the most out of the book it probably helps to enjoy cooking. Most of the recipes are good and it's a great start to changing one's thinking and adapting to a new lifestyle. It is hard in the beginning.

The book has a foreword from Dr. Union who has had a lot of success with his patients in this area.

Hope this helps in some way and good luck!
 
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chrestomanci

Well-Known Member
Messages
121
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Hunger
Hi. I've also had conflicting advices from doctors and nurses. Originally I was told to include 'healthy' carbs in every meal e.g. porridge. When I was good this advice did initially work and my glucose levels were good. So it seems that a healthy diet, with carbs, and exercise definitely works. However over the last couple of years I put the weight I lost back on and allowed my glucose levels to rise way too much. When I decided to be good again I found that this method no longer worked and my glucose levels were still too high. My nurse and doctor then said I need to work on cutting out carbs but didn't give any advice I could take away as to how to that.

As I was just trying to be better in general I ended up buying a book called The Diabetes Weight Loss Cookbook just for some new recipes. I didn't have any intention of a very low carb diet at the time as I had tried Atkins and South Beach, pre-diabetes, and found it too restrictive to maintain. When I read the book it really opened up my eyes to what I had being doing wrong and what I needed to change. So I'm glad I bought this almost by accident. I have now changed my eating habits and my blood glucose levels are where they should be. For someone like me, who really enjoys their good it is perfect. It has taken some trial and error and I did fall off the wagon for a couple of weeks. Now, after around 3 months, I have adapted to it and am really happy with this lifestyle change.

I have lost weight as well, which I am happy with. I found that I focused a little too much on this and then fell of the wagon when I only lost a couple of hundred grams one week. Now I have realised that my glucose levels are more important and my waist size. And this is what I try to focus on. I don't have to lose the weight all at once and need to be more patient with myself and honest. I got a little carried away with adding fats to my food and am now more realistic with that. Also I feel much better than before and I don't get the energy crashes in the day that I used to. Now I can even get up for my toddler when he wakes up early in the morning.

To get the most out of the book it probably helps to enjoy cooking. Most of the recipes are good and it's a great start to changing one's thinking and adapting to a new lifestyle. It is hard in the beginning.

The book has a foreword from Dr. Union who has had a lot of success with his patients in this area.

Hope this helps in some way and good luck!

I've got The Diabetes Weight Loss Cookbook too, great book isn't it? :p
 
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Oldvatr

Expert
Messages
8,470
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi. I've also had conflicting advices from doctors and nurses. Originally I was told to include 'healthy' carbs in every meal e.g. porridge. When I was good this advice did initially work and my glucose levels were good. So it seems that a healthy diet, with carbs, and exercise definitely works. However over the last couple of years I put the weight I lost back on and allowed my glucose levels to rise way too much. When I decided to be good again I found that this method no longer worked and my glucose levels were still too high. My nurse and doctor then said I need to work on cutting out carbs but didn't give any advice I could take away as to how to that.

As I was just trying to be better in general I ended up buying a book called The Diabetes Weight Loss Cookbook just for some new recipes. I didn't have any intention of a very low carb diet at the time as I had tried Atkins and South Beach, pre-diabetes, and found it too restrictive to maintain. When I read the book it really opened up my eyes to what I had being doing wrong and what I needed to change. So I'm glad I bought this almost by accident. I have now changed my eating habits and my blood glucose levels are where they should be. For someone like me, who really enjoys their good it is perfect. It has taken some trial and error and I did fall off the wagon for a couple of weeks. Now, after around 3 months, I have adapted to it and am really happy with this lifestyle change.

I have lost weight as well, which I am happy with. I found that I focused a little too much on this and then fell of the wagon when I only lost a couple of hundred grams one week. Now I have realised that my glucose levels are more important and my waist size. And this is what I try to focus on. I don't have to lose the weight all at once and need to be more patient with myself and honest. I got a little carried away with adding fats to my food and am now more realistic with that. Also I feel much better than before and I don't get the energy crashes in the day that I used to. Now I can even get up for my toddler when he wakes up early in the morning.

To get the most out of the book it probably helps to enjoy cooking. Most of the recipes are good and it's a great start to changing one's thinking and adapting to a new lifestyle. It is hard in the beginning.

The book has a foreword from Dr. Union who has had a lot of success with his patients in this area.

Hope this helps in some way and good luck!
Dr Unwin I presume?