Another question

[Margarettt]

My husband and I go out for lunch every Saturday (its our old fuddy duddy equivalent of date night) This will be my first low carb weekend and I'm a bit unsure with the best choice
There is a pub we go to when I am dieting that does grilled chicken on a big plate of salad but the salad is full of tomatoes and peppers and onion and such.
We could go to the local carvery and I could just have the meat and green veg.
Or ,the most tempting we could go to the big build your own fried breakfast place . I could have bacon ,egg, square sausage and link sausage. How much do I have to worry about how meaty the sausages are or what everything was fried in? Could I just go and if I only eat meat and egg assume its less than 7 or 8 carbs?
Any other suggestions?
Thank you

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi @Margarette
Even for a fairly regular meal (once a week lunch) out, any of those options will probably be fine. Yes there may be carbs in the filler in the sausages, but if they are good quality ones they will probably be high meat content and so fine.
There are also carbs in Tomatoes, peppers and Onions, but most people wouldn't serve or eat enough for it to matter that much when you are having grilled chicken.
Frying doesn't add any carbohydrates to food, though you may prefer to minimize the amount of seed oil you eat (nothing to do with T2 Diabetes as such).
You could even go out for an Indian curry if you choose a meaty one without too much sauce and have a dish of Saag or Saag Paneer instead of rice.
Similarly you could have Chinese food and have PakChoi instead of rice.

 

[Margarettt]

Even for a fairly regular meal (once a week lunch) out, any of those options will probably be fine. Yes there may be carbs in the filler in the sausages, but if they are good quality ones they will probably be high meat content and so fine.
There are also carbs in Tomatoes, peppers and Onions, but most people wouldn't serve or eat enough for it to matter that much when you are having grilled chicken.
Frying doesn't add any carbohydrates to food, though you may prefer to minimize the amount of seed oil you eat (nothing to do with T2 Diabetes as such).
You could even go out for an Indian curry if you choose a meaty one without too much sauce and have a dish of Saag or Saag Paneer instead of rice.
Similarly you could have Chinese food and have PakChoi instead of rice.

Breathing sighs of relief ! Thank you

 

[JoKalsbeek]

My husband and I go out for lunch every Saturday (its our old fuddy duddy equivalent of date night) This will be my first low carb weekend and I'm a bit unsure with the best choice
There is a pub we go to when I am dieting that does grilled chicken on a big plate of salad but the salad is full of tomatoes and peppers and onion and such.
We could go to the local carvery and I could just have the meat and green veg.
Or ,the most tempting we could go to the big build your own fried breakfast place . I could have bacon ,egg, square sausage and link sausage. How much do I have to worry about how meaty the sausages are or what everything was fried in? Could I just go and if I only eat meat and egg assume its less than 7 or 8 carbs?
Any other suggestions?
Thank you

You know what, all of that sounds pretty good...! Tomatoes, peppers and onion can be a bit carby, but I think you'd be good even if you had 15 grams of carbs or so. The carvery and the build your own brekkie sound lovely as well.

So, how's this... If this is your usual Saturday thing, any and all of those'd be fine. High meat content sausages preferred, of course, but if they're not, they're not. I don't think with so much else on your plate, you're going to be eating ten of them. And hey, no worries about what is used to fry anything in... Fats are a-okay and slow down any carb-uptake you do end up eating, so you won't spike much, if at all. It's win-win and you've done an excellent job selecting the options. Mind you though, beware salad dressings. Some contain sugars or honey and those can add up fast, but if you ask for olive oil, mayo or something instead, you should be fine...!

 

[Margarettt]

It's win-win and you've done an excellent job selecting the options.

You are such a cheerleader Jo . Thank you.

 

[MrsA2]

If you find the sausages are full of fillers (your meter will tell you) next time take more bacon , more eggs, more mushroom s etc
I had a lovely posh breakfast out in the week, poached eggs, smoked salmon, mushrooms, spinach , tomatoes, big pot of Hollandaise sauce

 

[Margarettt]

poached eggs, smoked salmon, mushrooms, spinach , tomatoes, big pot of Hollandaise sauce

Yum!

 

[KennyA]

My husband and I go out for lunch every Saturday (its our old fuddy duddy equivalent of date night) This will be my first low carb weekend and I'm a bit unsure with the best choice
There is a pub we go to when I am dieting that does grilled chicken on a big plate of salad but the salad is full of tomatoes and peppers and onion and such.
We could go to the local carvery and I could just have the meat and green veg.
Or ,the most tempting we could go to the big build your own fried breakfast place . I could have bacon ,egg, square sausage and link sausage. How much do I have to worry about how meaty the sausages are or what everything was fried in? Could I just go and if I only eat meat and egg assume its less than 7 or 8 carbs?
Any other suggestions?
Thank you

All of those are good.

I don't think there's a lot to worry about with the chicken and salad as long as there isn't a sugary salad dressing.

Carvery likewise, hard to go wrong with meat and green veg.

There will almost certainly be a bit of filler (oatmeal usually) in the sausages. I'd give them a go, test and see what the impact (if any) is. Then you can decide whether they're something you can have. I did the same with black pudding, which has way more oatmeal than a standard sausage, but as long as I limit myself to a reasonable amount it's acceptable. Potato bread is definitely off, however.

With a bit of luck everything will be fried in lard.

Enjoy!

 

[Margarettt]

I did the same with black pudding, which has way more oatmeal than a standard sausage, but as long as I limit myself to a reasonable amount it's acceptable.

Ohhh black pudding.I had thought that would be a definite no(with the fried bread and potato scone). I even put the black pudding in our freezer in the bin when I had my big, mad anti carb clearout.
Now that could be a reason to go two weeks running. Test sausage one week and black pudding the next! Thank you.

 

[Resurgam]

My husband and I go out for lunch every Saturday (its our old fuddy duddy equivalent of date night) This will be my first low carb weekend and I'm a bit unsure with the best choice
There is a pub we go to when I am dieting that does grilled chicken on a big plate of salad but the salad is full of tomatoes and peppers and onion and such.
We could go to the local carvery and I could just have the meat and green veg.
Or ,the most tempting we could go to the big build your own fried breakfast place . I could have bacon ,egg, square sausage and link sausage. How much do I have to worry about how meaty the sausages are or what everything was fried in? Could I just go and if I only eat meat and egg assume its less than 7 or 8 carbs?
Any other suggestions?
Thank you

That salad would be absolutely fine for me and I limit my carbs to 40 gm a day or less.
The only food which could be problematic is the sausage as they might be full off fillers, but even so a couple would not 'break the bank'.
Eating low carb is very powerful in its effect on the metabolism, so these days, over 5 years from diagnosis now, I could eat anything for a day or so - maybe even a week, and be fine - though probably heavier, but I'd be uneasy about consuming seed oils as now they are off the menu I no longer suffer with sunburn and can get a tan in the summer.

 

[Margarettt]

That salad would be absolutely fine for me and I limit my carbs to 40 gm a day or less.
The only food which could be problematic is the sausage as they might be full off fillers, but even so a couple would not 'break the bank'.
Eating low carb is very powerful in its effect on the metabolism, so these days, over 5 years from diagnosis now, I could eat anything for a day or so - maybe even a week, and be fine - though probably heavier, but I'd be uneasy about consuming seed oils as now they are off the menu I no longer suffer with sunburn and can get a tan in the summer.

Thank you for that.Its reassuring.For now I feel almost scared of carbs (32 carbs Tuesday, 10 Wednesday, 21 yesterday and 15 today) I know I could go a bit higher and worry about the whole "five a day" thing but I'm so desparate to get my numbers down that I look at something like an avocado and think "na I'll just have an egg."
I'll get there. The info here helps enormously

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi @Margarettt
I'm concerned that you may be taking Low Carb further than you need to (which could easily make it unsustainable). Don't aim for perfection - we are all human, we are not physically, emotionally or intellectually build for perfection.
What we need is to find something that we find fairly easy yet is 'good enough'. We need this because controlling diabetes is a marathon - we are putting in place something to last us through our lives.

Sorry for forgetting, but are you testing your meals with a Blood Glucose meter? Initially you don't need to aim for anything better than no more than a 2.0 mmol spike at 2hrs post prandial and for those to be no higher than 8.0. That should certainly be good enough for (eventually) low pre-diabetic or even non-diabetic HbA1C levels. Though this may take over 6 months, it did with me, but I'm now over 4yrs since diagnosis and 3yrs in remission !

 

[Margarettt]

Hi @Margarettt
I'm concerned that you may be taking Low Carb further than you need to (which could easily make it unsustainable). Don't aim for perfection - we are all human, we are not physically, emotionally or intellectually build for perfection.
What we need is to find something that we find fairly easy yet is 'good enough'. We need this because controlling diabetes is a marathon - we are putting in place something to last us through our lives.

Sorry for forgetting, but are you testing your meals with a Blood Glucose meter? Initially you don't need to aim for anything better than no more than a 2.0 mmol spike at 2hrs post prandial and for those to be no higher than 8.0. That should certainly be good enough for (eventually) low pre-diabetic or even non-diabetic HbA1C levels. Though this may take over 6 months, it did with me, but I'm now over 4yrs since diagnosis and 3yrs in remission !

You see me.. perfectionist in the worst way. I do test up to a dozen times a day not just before and two hours after and I hate when the numbers go over 8 irrespective of whether its before or after eating. I also know I'm taking the low carbs thing over the top but I feel like its all about quickly getting the numbers down.
I only had to work 1 day this week and I have spent the other four either reading on here or watching low carb videos..... then I remember I'm meant to exercise and I'm off for a walk that exhausts me.
I've only known I was diabetic since last Friday so I'm in "fix it fix it fix it" mode I'm hoping this over the top reaction behaviour will calm down soon and I'll be more realistic about it all. (possibly when the low carb breads and treats I've ordered arrive)
Thank you so much for caring
M

 

[ianf0ster]

HbA1C is the equivalent of a 3 month average of your Blood Glucose levels. I don't want to say that major changes can't be made quite quickly, but Diabetes develops over years and even decades. So although you can be on your way to 'fixing it' it isn't possible to have fixed it in a month.

For people with really high numbers it isn't even advisable to reduce blood glucose too fast - for example vision changes with higher or lower blood glucose, so too rapid a change can leave people needing temporary reading glasses.

To be in remission you need more than just a single HbA1C at lower levels, you have to be able to keep it there over the months. Then you want to stay in 'remission' for years and decades. So calm down and think long term!

T2 Diabetes for many of us was a gift, because we are happier and healthier than we had been for years. In many cases Low Carb 'cured' many illnesses and conditions from obesity, high blood pressure, to joint problems and skin conditions - even depression.

 

[Margarettt]

So calm down and think long term!

Nodding my head. l can but try.
thank you

 

[Outlier]

I sometimes meet a friend for an all-day fryup in a transport caff. Eggs, bacon, 1 sausage, mushrooms - yum! It's amazing how little one misses the toast. Sometimes (nowhere near often enough) I lunch at a more upmarket place where staff are very reasonable about accommodating diabetes, and it's easy to have meat, fish or seafood (my favourite) without dressing (sometimes dressings have sugar in so I prefer to avoid completely or just ask for olive oil) and a green salad ditto. I'm also happy to have (and they are happy to serve) cooked green veg, though in practice this often includes starchy veg. so I tend not to. Once we clear the carbing "mist" from our palates, it's quite stunning how our sense of taste improves and finds subtleties of flavour.

There is no need to be quite as extreme as I am - as others have said, a little amount of carby food now and then won't cause disaster (but be careful of carb creep) I just do this because it suits my personality, and even at my level, you can have a really nice meal without hassle or feeling deprived.

 

[Margarettt]

There is no need to be quite as extreme as I am - as others have said, a little amount of carby food now and then won't cause disaster (but be careful of carb creep) I just do this because it suits my personality, and even at my level, you can have a really nice meal without hassle or feeling deprived.

Extreme suits me for now. I want to be sure I CAN get low numbers. I'm sure when I feel "safe" I'll start trying more and more to work out my limits. Thank you for helping me feel okay about it.

 

[ajbod]

Your mantra should be "improve it, improve it, improve it" and thus you will reach your goal grasshopper.

 

[Margarettt]

Your mantra should be "improve it, improve it, improve it" and thus you will reach your goal grasshopper.

YES !!! Thank you

 

[Margarettt]

So....... We went for breakfast rather than lunch because I couldn't wait to experiment.

2 fried eggs
4 rashers bacon
1 beef flat sausage
2 pork link sausages
1 spoon chopped tomatoes
tea with milk
I think between 6 and 10 carbs but I'm not good at estimating yet. Numbers were 6.6 before and 7.2 two hours later.
I feel happy and relieved that this might actually be doable long term.
Thank you all for your help.