Attempting low carb again..

[lcarter]

Hi all. It's been a while since I've posted... had so much going on at home! So anyway I find myself back here. Hello to those of you who may remember me! I've lost weight with slimming world and calorie counting in the past year. All was going well until I noticed I haven't paid much attention to my sugar levels. I've got cracks in my feet that won't heal no matter what I do. Retinopathy results are ok but for how long? My levels are always between 10-20. I know. I do. I've also been diagnosed with chronic fatigue. I'm sleeping on average 16 hours out of 24 nearly every day. I'm constantly tired.

I'll be honest, I can't stand low carb. I'm a massive eater and have turned to food all my life for various emotional states- always happiest with white bread, potatoes, rice, pasta and of course, chocolate. I take tonnes of insulin and sometimes it works. So I'm sure I could tolerate SOME. But I think, the NHS recommended way of life doesn't work for me. I overeat, get carb high and love munching on all kinds of ****. I'm not sure what it is that's made me download a sample of Dr Bernsteins book, but I did. Now I'm thinking- if when I was diagnosed someone would have sat me down and said hey, you no longer can have carbs the way you do or you're going to die or suffer bad complications from this disease. I would have been so scared I would've changed everything. Instead I was told to crack on- just inject. Now here I am reading all of the topics and absorbing the wealth of info on here. You're all legends. I admire you all. I don't know if I can do it- I'll be honest I'm depressed and anxious and I'm treated with Prozac. I'm terrified of death and this is probably contributing to my presence here today. I can't go LOW carb- I don't want to really- but I'm quite happy to cut out certain bad carbs and see what I can tolerate. My food budget is really tight and I have 3 children. So I can't live off steak, as nice as that would be. I also love sweetener- is that possible to keep having? I've already stopped having skimmed milk in my coffee and I have coconut milk instead. Would I be better having cream? If so, what kind? Pouring cream? Sorry to sound clueless. So far today I've had a soya latte from Costa, spinach and three eggs cooked in a tablespoon of butter with 30g cheese and a tin of sweetcorn. Then I had ten Nairn crackers with Philadelphia cheese light spread and smoked ham. I log everything on myfitnesspal and it says I've had 75g of carbs already.

Should I have a certain percentage of fat/protein/carbs?

Do I have to do the ketosis thing to get any results?

Do I monitor calories? The last time I tried this I wrecked myself by eating so much fat I gained half a stone!

I'm also wondering whether to take my basal down?

I'm aware there's a jovial tone to this- it's how I am. Truly though I'm terrified, I haven't got the dedication many of you seem to have and yet this really is a matter of life and death isn't it?

Thank you for reading this x

 

[Jaylee]

Hi,

Personally? I would start with the "base line", basal test. Get the foundation sorted. Then work the rest from there...!

 

[noblehead]

Hi again @lcarter

Just replying to wish you luck, I don't and have never given dietary advice on the forum as I know diet is an individual choice, but all I would say is maybe aim for the middle ground (if you can't go low-carb as in the Berstein approach) and start by reducing your carbs to say 150g a day and see how you get on, many of us type 1's eat carbs in moderation and don't go down the very low-carb route.

Just be aware that you'll need to make some insulin adjustments so if your unsure about anything speak with your diabetes team. but again good luck and keep us updated on your progress

 

[azure]

@lcarter We're all individuals. You need to find what works for you.

I have Dr B's book and he's very knowledgable about diabetes and insulin use, but I don't follow his dietary advice. I eat moderate carbs and concentrate on controlling my bloodvsugar tightly. I've made a lot of improvements over the years, one being controlling spikes after meals (by bolusing more in advance). You should be able to control your BS on a diet that suits you (unless you eat excessive carbs). It's not a choice of Dr B's very low carb diet or the NHS recommended 250g or whatever it is. You need to find a good level for you

.

 

[Peppergirl]

Hi all. It's been a while since I've posted... had so much going on at home! So anyway I find myself back here. Hello to those of you who may remember me! I've lost weight with slimming world and calorie counting in the past year. All was going well until I noticed I haven't paid much attention to my sugar levels. I've got cracks in my feet that won't heal no matter what I do. Retinopathy results are ok but for how long? My levels are always between 10-20. I know. I do. I've also been diagnosed with chronic fatigue. I'm sleeping on average 16 hours out of 24 nearly every day. I'm constantly tired.

I'll be honest, I can't stand low carb. I'm a massive eater and have turned to food all my life for various emotional states- always happiest with white bread, potatoes, rice, pasta and of course, chocolate. I take tonnes of insulin and sometimes it works. So I'm sure I could tolerate SOME. But I think, the NHS recommended way of life doesn't work for me. I overeat, get carb high and love munching on all kinds of ****. I'm not sure what it is that's made me download a sample of Dr Bernsteins book, but I did. Now I'm thinking- if when I was diagnosed someone would have sat me down and said hey, you no longer can have carbs the way you do or you're going to die or suffer bad complications from this disease. I would have been so scared I would've changed everything. Instead I was told to crack on- just inject. Now here I am reading all of the topics and absorbing the wealth of info on here. You're all legends. I admire you all. I don't know if I can do it- I'll be honest I'm depressed and anxious and I'm treated with Prozac. I'm terrified of death and this is probably contributing to my presence here today. I can't go LOW carb- I don't want to really- but I'm quite happy to cut out certain bad carbs and see what I can tolerate. My food budget is really tight and I have 3 children. So I can't live off steak, as nice as that would be. I also love sweetener- is that possible to keep having? I've already stopped having skimmed milk in my coffee and I have coconut milk instead. Would I be better having cream? If so, what kind? Pouring cream? Sorry to sound clueless. So far today I've had a soya latte from Costa, spinach and three eggs cooked in a tablespoon of butter with 30g cheese and a tin of sweetcorn. Then I had ten Nairn crackers with Philadelphia cheese light spread and smoked ham. I log everything on myfitnesspal and it says I've had 75g of carbs already.

Should I have a certain percentage of fat/protein/carbs?

Do I have to do the ketosis thing to get any results?

Do I monitor calories? The last time I tried this I wrecked myself by eating so much fat I gained half a stone!

I'm also wondering whether to take my basal down?

I'm aware there's a jovial tone to this- it's how I am. Truly though I'm terrified, I haven't got the dedication many of you seem to have and yet this really is a matter of life and death isn't it?

Thank you for reading this x

Wish you best of luck.

 

[Resurgam]

Low carb isn't all about steak - any meat or fish is fine as a protein source and if it has fat too then it is a double bonus.
Haunt the marked down cabinet - go around the supermarkets to see which ones are constantly over ordering - I got loads of salad stuff for pennies at the big Tesco and bean sprout mixes - I did waste about 6 pence, but the total cost was ridiculously low.
Using a pressure cooker to make quick dinners is great when you have children to feed and not much time. Adding in dumplings or Yorkshire puddings for the family whilst you make a stir fry or low carb casserole or a salad for yourself to add to the same basic meat meal reduces the effort considerably.
I buy chicken thighs, with the skin on and bone in - delicious from the Tefal air fryer but they can be roasted on a rack in the oven with vegetables underneath to cook in the fat. You can then magic away the crunchy skins so they do no damage to anyone.
It isn't fat which makes you fat - insulin is the fat producing hormone and it is released when you eat carbs and elevate your blood glucose, or in your case inject it to keep safe.
If your blood glucose levels are constantly high then (logic dictates) you are outstripping the levels of insulin you are injecting. Lowering your intake of concentrated starches and sugars so that your blood glucose normalises would seem to be a good thing.
Swapping caulirice for the real thing, mashed cauliflower for mashed potato - an occasional Lidl protein roll rather than actual bread - they should all make your intake manageable and you can eat a lot of low carb vegetables - compare the weight of potato and a beansprout stir fry or even celeriac or cauliflower equal to 10 gm of carb and you should be sold on the idea.
I buy bags of frozen veges - as they have the carb count on the pack and can be stored for months. Avoid the ones with sweetcorn as it is a high carb grain, not a vegetable, and you can eat more.
I can get really boring when on about low carb eating - but at my third diabetes education session today they were almost on the point of saying I'd got my type 2 under control - they could not quite bring themselves to admit it, but I grinned all the way home.

 

[coleyd]

wow well hello and i could of written parts of your post myself. I have had chronic fatigue syndrome for 7 years and newly diagnosed diabetic, I had to leave the slimming world plan because it didnt suit me with the carbs and the fat being too high syn. I am now going for a higher fat lower carbs thing as too low carb and i felt terrible and after many years of suffering i am not willing to induce more suffering on my body if i dont need to. I wish you all the best you can do it !

 

[ExD]

You're being a little hard on yourself don't you think? Just relax and take a deep breath and you can then take things slowly, think of that awful advert and tell yourself 'you are worth it'. The mistake I always make is that I want instant results and am willing to commit to stringent diet programmes - for about 2 days - and then I despair.
I agree with what you say about slimming world and calorie counting, and slimming world does not fit into a tight budget, so I think you should give low carbs another try. I must say I'm not keen on meat, especially beef, lamb and pork - and I also have a sweet tooth and need to finish every meal with something sweet - also as a pensioner I am on a tight budget too.
My saviour was Dr David Cavan's book 'Reverse your Diabetes'. Its claim to reverse the diabetes is a bit optimistic in my opinion and I think he should have called it 'control' rather than 'reverse' - but its optimistic message is so encouraging and his recipe suggestions so easy to follow, it spurred me to have another go at low carbing.
First I had to get rid of my fear of fat.
You can get it second hand at amazon, or read it from your local library (I'm sure there are other similar books) and take a look online at Diet Doctor dot com which is am American site but still very useful.
The very best of good luck to you for getting back on track.