Any Non low carbers here ?

[suzie_girl]

I would say I'm not making a big effort to be very low carbs. I am making an effort to be very low in simple carbs. I wouldn't touch sugary drinks with a barge pole, white bread I have hugely rarely and with thought.

Personally I don't feel an atkins style diet is healthy long term, this is opinion, but I know factually its not good for me, we're all different. I do feel if you cut out virtually all carbs then when you cave and eat it your levels will ROCKET. I am happier to stabilize with the moderate level of complex carbs I eat. I hope I have 60 years in me yet, and I am confident you can't go 60 years on something strict without falling off the wagon. To me its vital a diet is sustainable.

I've found a bunch of rough rules help me:
- Breakfast sets me up to success or fail every day. Toast or cereal aren't that great to be worth your levels rocketing. I have Greek yogart with fruit and spices and a little honey, and so right up to lunch my sugar is low.
- Food combination is king. If I'm offered a choccy in the office I want I take it...... And eat it after my lunch. When its all mixed up with other foods in my tummy it has less affect then on an empty tummy.
- Balance and checks in my mind. I skipped the choccy I was offered at lunch, now I can have a naughty little desert. I had the choccy, now I can't. Mild mental maths that becomes second nature.
- I don't drink sugary drinks, ever ever ever
- I too keep some 90% choccy (im making it sound like I eat a lot of choccy and I dont!)
- Don't eat processed foods- they are total **** full of sugar which taste bad. Luckily my bloke is an epic cook, but Asda say is good for things like prechoped veg for the busy bees amongst us
- make lunch sandwiches the exception, not the rule. Bread throws your sugar up, toast takes mine up 2 points. It doesn't taste good! We buy pastry and make all kinds of simple work lunches, they don't seem to affect my bs. Today I had a spiniach, feta and pine nut filo pie slice, mmmmmm
- gi index, some unexpected foods poke up my bs, the gi index is super handy with predicting these, it does work.
-exercise. I heart body pump! I hope to bring in more aerobic this year. It forgives a lot of sins and knocks your blood sugar down
-share! I have a sticky desert after a restaurant meal, but I give half to a friend. Everyone likes a sharer!
-lots of laughing and bedroom fun. Stress is bad for your blood sugar, and there are fun ways to um exercise ;-)

There's probably other stuff I do without thinking, but that's about the size of what I do. It's fundamentally a game of balance and reading my own body. This allows me to have the odd burger king or Chinese or choccy or cake slice without my sugar going high, I like to stay below 8 at all times, even 2 hours after eating, and before meals I am usually around 5. I am type 2 on 500mg metformin morning and night. Random life rules and hardly scientific! I'm a busy person and its a challenge to even remember to eat never mind count things so counting carbs is not something I will ever be able to achieve.

I feel like this is working well for me and I feel super healthy, but we're all different

 

[SueR]

It's carbs and only carbs that kick start my day. 2 weetabix and some exotic musli - from Alidi - seem to do the trick. Cooked breakfasts are a waste of time - the other half is the opposite and is always hungry after cereals. I have been told that cutting out carbs can be dangerous and it is better to reduce the amount I eat, to help me lose weight.

If we are out and about it's chips or sandwiches, because there is time to work those off. I aim to cook our evening meals and go for the more healthy carbs. Brown rice and pasta replaces white and it's always wholemeal bread. Sweeteners and diet drinks came in the day we were both diagnosed and if it's cake we want, I make them with reduced sugar and sunflower spread. I am a fussy meat eater, so it's always lean meat. We are also low salt too and this does help with blood pressure.

We both had a check up with the consultant on Saturday and he was pleased that neither of us had any hypos. I think this is down to reading the signs and checking blood sugars. Eating little and often seems to help, especially in the summer when we are more active.

Relaxation for me is a good book and I love riding my bike - so roll on the good weather when I can get out more. I am more active in the summer - with a small garden to keep me busy. We also caravan a lot, so that's another home to clean and pack during the summer months.

 

[Pneu]

I am not sure what counts as 'low' carbohydrate or not these days! I eat on average around 150 - 180g a day at the moment, more on days where I am doing more exercise. I would say around 50% of my carbohydrates come from fruits and non - root vegetables.. 25% from bread (Burgen) and the other 25% from pasta / rice / potatoes etc...

Insulin wise I currently inject around 0.28 units / KG so that's a pretty sensitive ratio and the majority of my insulin is background... most of my carbohydrate intake is used if possible in exercise or post exercise replenishment of muscle glucose store.

Low carbohydrate is a good way for newly diagnosed individuals be they type I or II to get a handle of their condition and then slow re-introduce carbohydrates to see what they can and can't handle and what additional life changes they may need to make (i.e. exercise!)... We aren't all the same and what works for one doesn't work for all...

 

[Grazer]

Hi MISTER Pneu - won't make that mistake again!
You eat exactly the same range of carbs as me (check my signature line). That's got me down to,and kept me at, an HbA1C of 5.9 with exercise on diet only. Probably ok, but trying to get to 5.5. That level of carbs for a man is considered "moderate", not low.
Definitions vary, but one I've seen suggests that low carb is below 40%, so for a man, below 120 grams a day, and very low is below 25%, so for a man below 75 grams a day.
Moderate carbs was defined as 50% or below, so 150 grams a day. How that places me on 60% (180 grams) I'm not sure! Assume it's still moderate carbing.

 

[noblehead]

I am not sure what counts as 'low' carbohydrate or not these days!

That's a question not easily answered, when I first came to the forum I was under the impression that a VLC diet (or ketogenic) was 30g or under, LC was 90g or under and a moderate carb diet was above this up to 180g.

Really it doesn't matter what you call it as long as your bg stays within your own personal limits and you remain healthy..........a high-carb diet is anything that takes you outside of what I have just said!

 

[Pneu]

Surely it also depends on what calorific intake you require as well? As 90g a day for someone that weighs 90Kg is vastly different to someone who weighs 60kg..

I would agree with the last statement noblehead! A lot of fuss is made sometimes on these forums at the end of the day if you have good, sustainable control that your happy with then that's what matters.

 

[xyzzy]

Agree with noblehead and pneu, everyone is different with different limits and capabilities depending on lifestyle, exercise etc. Eat carbs at a level that is safe for you, if you fixate on low carb or high carb then pretty soon the diet starts to control you rather than the other way round.

 

[Skweek1]

I've never heard of low carbs as beneficial - when I was first diagnosed (Type 2), my dietician told me to eat what I liked, within reason, but follow normal healthy eating rules, e.g. try to eat wholefoods, lots of fruit and veg etc. Since I love bread, potatoes, pasta etc, I don't think I could live happily on low carbs - nor am I overweight; I exercise regularly (start the day with a paper round!, dance weekly and don't have a car, so walk all over the place!). Use your common sense, guys and eat what you like, but in moderation. Good luck.

 

[xyzzy]

I've never heard of low carbs as beneficial - when I was first diagnosed (Type 2), my dietician told me to eat what I liked, within reason, but follow normal healthy eating rules, e.g. try to eat wholefoods, lots of fruit and veg etc. Since I love bread, potatoes, pasta etc, I don't think I could live happily on low carbs - nor am I overweight; I exercise regularly (start the day with a paper round!, dance weekly and don't have a car, so walk all over the place!). Use your common sense, guys and eat what you like, but in moderation. Good luck.

Fine but do you test to make sure you are hitting safe levels with the diet you are on? That is 8.5 two hours after every meal as the NICE guidelines state or better 7.8 as that's what the IDF states. If you are eating carbs and are safely under those values great. If you're not hitting those targets you are putting yourself at risk with your eyes, amputations etc. regardless of what weight you are and how much exercise you do. That's the major reason people reduce carbs it's not some diet fad it's to make sure you really minimise those health risks down the line. Don't underestimate them they do happen. You can get away with a higher carb diet if you are an insulin user as you can inject to cover the carbs but most T2's aren't on insulin and most of the meds, while they help, will not necessarily keep you in safe ranges without a change of diet. btw if you lived in Sweden (which has probably the worlds leading health care system) or Germany or other countries you would have heard of low carb as it would be the treatment recommended for you at diagnosis. So it might be better for you to read up about it rather than making snap decisions. Take care.

 

[ladybird64]

I've never heard of low carbs as beneficial - when I was first diagnosed (Type 2), my dietician told me to eat what I liked, within reason, but follow normal healthy eating rules, e.g. try to eat wholefoods, lots of fruit and veg etc. Since I love bread, potatoes, pasta etc, I don't think I could live happily on low carbs - nor am I overweight; I exercise regularly (start the day with a paper round!, dance weekly and don't have a car, so walk all over the place!). Use your common sense, guys and eat what you like, but in moderation. Good luck.

And with no disrespect, I see by your profile you are a type 2 on insulin and as such, have a little more manoeuverability with what you eat.

I am not against insulin if it is necessary (my daughter is type 2 on insulin) but there is often a progression through meds before one is placed on insulin. (open to correction on this but I believe that is the usual practice?) If that is the case, one can only assume that a continuation of eating the same amounts of carbohydrate as pre-diagnosis is not going to be successful at controlling bg's and will lead to higher numbers.

So I am using my common sense and reducing the number of carbs I eat without eliminating them completely from my diet, thus reducing my bg's and lowering my chances of having to go on insulin.

That makes sense to me. :wink: