A Bar Meal... Oh dear!

[Malc.]

Hi again,
I'm still trying to control my type 2 by diet only, however the readings (fasting) have been 7.1 (last Saturday)and 7.4 (Wednesday).

On Friday evening we went out to a pub that we go to occasionally and I had:
'Broccoli cream cheese bake' with chips, peas & salad garnish...We don't usually have a 'sweet' but on this occasion I did have,( as a special treat), 'Sticky toffee Pudding' with a small amount of ice cream. All I had to drink was 3x halves of Coke.

When we returned home, I thought that I'd just check my blood. I hadn't originally planned on doing a test at that time and it was only just about 2 hours after the meal...
The result - 14.8, double the previous reading, just two days earlier. :shock:

I did another fasting test early today, (Sunday) and it was 7.4

I wondered if the higher reading was 'to be expected' considering what I had consumed? All my previous checks were fasting ones and it would appear that I'm not getting the numbers low enough just yet, although it's only been a couple of weeks... :?

Is it now time to 'bite the bullet' and start taking the Metformin that I've so far avoided, or should I stick to my 'reduced sugar' intake for a little longer?
I'm still trying to work out a low carb diet that I'll be happy with...So there's room for improvement there, I suppose.
Thanks, Malc.

 

[squishychickfi]

Still finding my way round here - but have to say if I ate that mine would have been up high too! The chips and pud would have done that to me!
I personally would give it a little longer with a low carb/sugar diet - but I am not a GP and maybe you should contact your nurse or GP to ask their advice?

 

[the_anticarb]

Sounds par for the course I'm afraid. Mine would shoot up like that too, but I'm on insulin and can bolus to accomodate a fair amount of carbs. Sounds like that may be an option for you in the future if the metformin alone does not prevent your spikes.

 

[JUSTFOCUS]

MMMMMMMMMMMMMM bar meal doh :!:
step away from the pub :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[jaykay]

Please tell me that at least it was diet coke?!

 

[Malc.]

Please tell me that at least it was diet coke?!

Errr, That's where I went wrong!

I'll know in future...
Anyway, I'm pleased that the 'Sticky toffee pudding' wasn't to blame. :roll:

My favourite meal at home is : 2x fried eggs, Baked beans & Chips + 2 slices of bread.

I'm hoping that my 'favourite meal' won't affect my bg levels too much? I'd hate to have to give that one a miss...( I don't mind having brown bread instead, if that helps). :?

Malc.

 

[jaykay]

Come on now Malc! If you have read round this forum or read anything about diabetes at all, you know that there is no way you can continue eating the way you are and talk about controlling your diabetes by diet! Sorry to be brutally honest but there you go. Carbohydrates are just sugar with a fancy coat on. Diabetics can not process them the same way non-diabetics can. You cannot eat carbs the way you are doing and not push your blood glucose up and I'm sure you know that. ( and yes I am wagging my finger at you! )

 

[janeislay]

Chips are my downfall too, when eating out with friends who all have chips - even though I KNOW chips are a total NO-NO. Not only because they are carbs, but because they're high glycemic index carbs, which I don't normally touch with a barge pole.

But I recently started a new determination and when I went out for a meal with three others, having roast port, chips and beans, I asked for "a lot of roast pork, ten beans and six chips".

Took my bg when I got home, after three glasses of red wine, and it was 7.9 which I thought was brilliant. So with me, it's QUANTITY - or rather lack of quantity - that's important if I'm going to sin !!

Jane

 

[daisy1]

I wholeheartedly agree with you Jane. I always allow myself a VERY small portion of things like chips so I don't feel deprived and eat a lot more later. And red wine is very good for lowering levels too.

 

[viviennem]

I think you've just shown yourself exactly why newly-diagnosed Type 2s should test as recommended on this site. You know what you ate and, by testing, what it did to you. And I'm afraid you can't absolve the sticky toffee pudding! It seems to be at least half carbohydrate - one of the branded ones is 58g of carb per 100g, according to the 'Calorie, Carb & Fat Bible 2011' (available from Amazon). Coca-cola has about 11g per can, Diet Coke nil (same source).

Have you ever tested 2 hours after your 'favourite' eggs, beans, chips and bread? I think you'll get quite a shock!

I went out for a meal on Saturday, and quite deliberately chose steak and mushroom pie (a favourite, and a rare treat even pre-diabetes because of the calories) to see what it did to me. I had a very few of the shared chips, and two glasses of red wine. 2 hours after eating my BG was 7.1, which I was quite pleased with, considering. But I should have been in the mid-5s; I now know that pastry is for very rare occasions.

My normal diet is very low carb (posted on the 'Low Carb Diet' forum under 'Viv's Diet' the very first post on that thread, if you want to have a look at it). It's partly for weight loss, partly to give my poor abused pancreas a rest in the hope that it will recover and not go down-hill from here. It's a basic diet that doesn't require much thinking about; only if you want to increase your carb intake do you need to do any math!

The metformin helps by reducing the insulin resistance of your muscle cells, so that the glucose processed out of carbohydrate gets pushed into the cells for energy by your insulin instead of sloshing around doing damage and making your pancreas produce more and more insulin in an effort to get rid of it. Sadly, the fat cells have no resistance to having glucose stored as fat by the insulin, which is very unfair!

I'm presently working on the theory that the less carb I eat, the less glucose I produce, the more rest my pancreas will get. I hope this is right! So I test regularly to find out which foods raise my bg too much, so that I can avoid them. Once I've done the research, I should be able to test much less frequently, maybe one or two days a week plus after any unusual (for me) foods.

Having said all that, I hope you enjoyed your meal - I certainly enjoyed mine!

Viv

 

[jaykay]

I asked for "a lot of roast pork, ten beans and six chips".

Aah, you see, I have a cunning plan! I don't order any of my own but nick some from my husband. Then normally after 3 or 4, he says, 'No, that's it you've had enough'. :lol:

 

[Malc.]

Some interesting replies here, many thanks.
As I stated, I'm having to learn so many things about diabetes in such a short time and getting it wrong, especially about 'carbs'.
I've had little or no help up to now from the Dn who just told me to cut out the sugar completely in my tea/coffee drinks and that fresh cream cakes,etc should be considered an occasional treat and then she handed me a prescription for Metformin. ...'See you in two months'...
I had already mentioned to her that I'm reluctant to take tablets on a long-term basis, yet I wasn't given any advice about the right,or wrong 'carbs' to eat.
I bought myself a meter just over a week ago, intending to test about twice per week, however,it appears from reading many posts on here that testing several times per day would be the 'ideal'.
Although I always have had a 'good appetite' my weight is well under 10 stones...
So I'm sure that I don't need to (or want to) lose any weight at all. This would be a concern for me if I reduce the size of my meals.
Prior to being diagnosed 3 weeks ago,the quantity of 'carbs' intake on an average week never affected my weight, although I can now see that my Bg will be affected and I must learn to 'low carb' (somehow) if I'm to control my type 2 (hopefully) without medication.

Regards, Malc.

 

[viviennem]

Hi Malc

Rest assured, you don't need to reduce the size of your meals. You cut down on the carbs and increase the protein and fat to compensate. Or, if you can't take too much fat, there are plenty of low-carb, low-fat eaters around here (such as Cugila) who will point the way. Read around the Low-carb forum, and have a look at the Recipes section. You can snack on cheese, cold meat, veg and the lower carb fruits, and the protein content of your meals will mean you never feel hungry.

It seems hard at first - I love bread and potatoes, but now they have to be an occasional treat built into my eating style. But you do get used to it, and you'd be surprised how much sheer pleasure you can get out of meat, fish and fresh vegetables. 'Diet' is not the same as 'slimming diet' or 'weight-loss diet'. It's all part of your new diabetic lifestyle, and it doesn't have to be restrictive (apart from carbs) or horrid.

Once you begin to know your way around the carb content of food, picking the right stuff becomes automatic, and quite easy.

Looking back on these posts, it looks as if we all jumped on you a bit, and if you feel 'got at' I'm sorry Didn't mean to! I've found in a short time that everyone on here cares, and is only too willing to help, having been there themselves. There is an awful lot to learn, but it's all on here somewhere.

If you follow the ideas recommended on here, test, and keep a record of what you've eaten and your test results, you'll really see some good results by the time you get back to see the nurse - and won't she be surprised

Unfortunately, not all our doctors and nurses seem to know enough about diabetes; I don't think they get a lot of training in it unless they specialise, and even then they sometimes seem to be a bit behind the times! Also there's the fact that this is definitely not a one-size-fits-all disease - we're all individuals.

If you've any worries, you can always ask on here!

Viv

 

[Malc.]

Thanks Viv,
There's no need for you,or anyone else here, to apologise to me. I realise that you're all here to help and it's much appreciated, believe me...
Sometimes I post on these forums in a light-hearted way, although perhaps I shouldn't do that on here as it's a serious subject...It's just my way...
That 'Sticky Toffee Pudding' was lovely, though...

Unfortunately I can't seem to find the 'Low Carb Forum' that you mentioned...
If someone could provide a link, I would be most grateful.
Thanks...

Malc.

 

[daisy1]

Hi Malc
Here is the link to the Low Carb Forum that Viv mentioned:

viewforum.php?f=18

 

[bmorgen]

I'm guessing it was the chips and the coke, mostly. The pie might have been a contributor if it had a potato "crust". I find ordinary flour crust is okay because it is so high fat it slows down the carb absorption (pie crust is low-med GI). The pudding is also not great since it is very high in sugar even for a dessert. Regular coke? Really?

 

[Malc.]

I'm guessing it was the chips and the coke, mostly. The pie might have been a contributor if it had a potato "crust". I find ordinary flour crust is okay because it is so high fat it slows down the carb absorption (pie crust is low-med GI). The pudding is also not great since it is very high in sugar even for a dessert. Regular coke? Really?

Yes, really...
The truth is that because I was driving, I chose to drink what I would usually drink in that situation. If I hadn't been driving I would have had a couple of glasses of wine or beer...
However, as a 'newly diagnosed' diabetic, it was the wrong choice... I made a mistake!

I'm a 66 year-old man who has never, until recently, needed to read labels or count calories/carbs, or anything else...I know that I've been lucky, but I'm slowly realising that those days are gone :!:

Thanks Daisy for that link...I've printed off 'Vivs low-carb Diet' so that I can refer to it whenever I need to.
How did I miss that section of the Forum? Another senior moment, perhaps?

Regards,
Malc.

 

[viviennem]

Now a 'senior moment' is something I CAN relate to . . .!

Viv :lol:

 

[primmers]

I've been getting senior moments for the past 20 years and I'm only 47. It's not looking good for when I am a senior :wink:

 

[Malc.]

Now a 'senior moment' is something I CAN relate to . . .!

Viv :lol:

:lol: Hi Viv,
Daisy was kind enough to post the link to your 'lo/carb' post.
It certainly made interesting reading and it's now in my 'Diabetes File' for further perusal...

Regards, Malc.