finding a low carb diet regime

[izzy]

Please forgive me if this subject has been posted before, but I need input. I have mentioned to my husbands diabetic nurse about my husband going on a low carb diet but she refuses to discuss such diets and just enforces the "healthy diet/ portion control with everything in moderation diet". Since my husband is a type 2, on insulin and has an appetite that must be satisfied at each meal or the sweet tooth will kick in, this attitude isn't working. His blood sugars sea-saw on a daily basis and we cannot seem to get an even keel. Having 2 diabetic parent myself, I am aware of the long term dangers of this. Some of side effects of diabetic he is experiencing is getting slowly worse and all can be checked with a more balance blood sugar. He and I, are getting more and more depressed about the whole thing and unless something is done, I know he will give up altogether as he is seeing no results from his efforts..
I have tried to find a low carb diet that will give some kind of regiment to his eating patterns as I feel we would both benefit from this type of thing. Weight watchers/slimming world is out of the question. Having gone on the Adkins Diet(many moons ago) my self, I know how effective low carb diets can be both for weight and sugar control.
I feel sure that if I can get him to try a low carb set menu diet for a week or two and he can see the benefits both in weight loss and control, it would change his mind set.
Please, where would I find such a set meal low carb diet menu?

 

[Kallyloo]

It's never too late, my mum changed last year without any help from her doctor or diabetic nurse who were prepared to let her go on with sky high blood sugar and just keep upping her meds until they didn't work anymore or the neuropathy killed her/took her sight or worse.
At 76 she has gone from morning blood sugar of 17-20 odd and now she regularly has readings from 4-6.
Read the recipes on this website and don't tell your partner about the fact it's low carb. Tell him you're trying new recipes, hopefully when his readings come down it will be the incentive to actively participate and try himself to get them lower.

Practically, low carb bread is essential, try to include as much low carb veg in meals to fill him up as you can, even disguise them in sauces and stews. When he's hungry offer ham, cheese and one or two lower carb crackers. There are so many recipes you'll find something to suit, but be really vigilant in the supermarket looking at labels for carbs.
If you have any specific meal problems just ask or do a search and you'll find a wealth of information, good luck and the very best. It will mean changing the way you cook and even look at food for the better.

 

[Patch13]

Dr Bersteins diabetes solution sets out how much protein and carbs to have for each meal, but it is quite a learning curve to begin with and will require weighing food (I'm a type 1 and weigh everything to work out the protein, carbs and fat in each meal and calculate my insulin to go with it). This is also an appropriate diet for type2s.

Bernstein doesn't set out a specific meal plan though, so it might not be what you're after.

This is extremely low carb but I have found this had a huge impact on my BS and has stopped it swinging between high and low. I've also managed to stop eating huge quantities of chocolate and sweet things (in fact the sweetest thing I eat now is sugar free jelly on occasion) so personally I'm very pleased with my new way of eating.

Any questions I would be more than happy to help.

Patch13


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[Andy12345]

Hi, this is a really good idea, the trouble is what he will like is different to what i like so it a difficult one, maybe divide the problem into meals.

breakfast, i eat full fat greek yogurt (fage) with mixed berries and sprinkled with milled flaxseed, if you think he might like this breakfast is sorted otherwise eggs and bacon is good or an omelette

lunch, salads with cold meat and or cheese, there are alot of different ways to make a salad interesting

dinner, i would make a list of seven meals you both like,
monday: home made curry on a bed of lettuce and raw sliced onion (put lemon juice on the lettuce before you add the chicken (yummy))
tuesday: i hate tuesdays so tuesday is steak night lol fried on a hot grill and serve with fried mushrooms and asparagus (again yummy)
wednesday: spaghetti bolognaise minus the spaghetti, i have the mince with a homemade dolmio type sauce with leeks instead of spaghetti
thursday: chicken stirfry, you can add all kind of stuff its very versatile
friday: home made cheese burgers (you could try stuffing with cheese and crispy bacon) wrapped in lettuce
saturday: lamb chops with a teaspoon of apple sauce then grill melted cheese over the top, serve with giant mushrooms stuffed
sunday: roast dinner replacing the spuds with cauliflower mash and extra veg

afters: double cream with sugar free jelly or make some low carb cakes/puddings

snacks: nuts nuts nutssss lol or berries if you havent had them for brekkie or a few squares of 85% dark chocolate, you can combine the chocolate with the nuts in your mouth and its like eating ferrero rochet....*cough* so ive heard

my list is pretty useless as its the kinda list i would like, you have to come up with something you guys like, the trick is in the planning in advance, the problem with avoiding convienience foods is its inconvienient , i used to spend hours looking for different ways to cook my favourite meals and its hard to think of a single thing that i dont prefer to the old high carb meals, i think if your enjoying what your eating who cares what is (or isnt) in it, so mke scrummy meals and its easy to stick to, its a pain in the **** but so worth it

i hope something here makes sense

best of luck



edit: these are just examples they can all be modified with all kind of stuff

 

[Kallyloo]

Andy12345 good suggestions, but if the gentleman likes curry then cauliflower rice is an amazing substitute and looks remarkably like rice so much so my family didn't really notice a difference.
Also ready made poppadoms, pre cooked are only a few carbs each and are a great alternative for anyone refusing cauliflower initially.

 

[Andy12345]

sure why not


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[janewatt]

I think that this website is really helpful. Takes it all easily and isn't fanatical.
You may have to "translate" some things as it's American, but I think it's very good and often use it to look things up.
Good luck!
Jane

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/u/gettingstarted.htm?nl=1

 

[Thommothebear]

I'm moving in with Andy.


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[Andy12345]

lol you can snuggle up between me and the missus ( she has these though)

 

[SamJB]

Some great advice here. I'll second patch's Bernstein book recommendation as well as Karen Barnaby's Low Carb Gourmet. Some very good recipes in there.

 

[RosieDred]

Andy12345 good suggestions, but if the gentleman likes curry then cauliflower rice is an amazing substitute and looks remarkably like rice so much so my family didn't really notice a difference.
Also ready made poppadoms, pre cooked are only a few carbs each and are a great alternative for anyone refusing cauliflower initially.

How do you make cauliflower rice?


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[Andy12345]

Ingredients:

• 1 head cauliflower (or however much you want)

Preparation:
To make this dish the most easily and to have it come out the best, three pieces of equipment are very helpful:

- A food processor
- A microwave
- A covered (or fairly tightly coverable) microwave-safe dish

1) Process fresh cauliflower until it is the size of rice, either using the plain steel blade or the shredder blade. Alternatively, you can shred it with a hand-held grater, or even use a knife, if you have the dexterity to chop it up VERY finely.

2) Microwave it in a covered dish. DO NOT ADD WATER. Cauliflower absorbs water like crazy, and the "granules" will become *****. To keep it fluffy, just let the moisture in the cauliflower do its work.

Carb Count: Each cup contains 5 grams of carbohydrate, about half of which is fiber, for a ECCof 2.5 grams.



this was the first one that popped up on google

 

[DiamondAsh]

How do you make cauliflower rice?

Just what I was thinking... sounds yummy ...

 

[lizdeluz]

It was GREAT to find the cauliflower rice idea on here! If, like me (strange), you don't have a microwave, you can steam the cauliflower over boiling water or the curry or whatever for just 1 minute, still crunchy ...

 

[Kallyloo]

I tend to grate mine as it seems to be a more rice like texture and dry fry in a pan with a little bouillon/stock cube and sometimes a little Turmeric. I also add a table spoon of water towards the end as dry frying doesn't create as much steam as microwaving