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Back to Despair and Confusion

lucylocket61

Expert
Messages
6,394
Location
Wrexham
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
After 12 weeks of testing my blood levels after meals, and lots of tweaking, I am back to being confused, frightened and despairing.

According to my results, I cannot eat ANY pasta or rice, only maybe 1/2 a slice of bread A DAY and maybe half a small roast potato a day, not cooked any other way.Otherwise I get spikes of around 9-10

MY calorie consumption is under 1000 cals now, which is great for my weightloss, but not my health. I am trying to eat more protein, but I feel full a lot of the time. Myfitnesspal keeps telling me I am in starvation mode and will stop losing weight and to eat more. But all the cals seem to be found in carbs.

How am I going to make meals without all these foods? How am I going to eat out and on holiday? My work involves a lot of travelling. I cant continue to live off salad, ham, chicken, cheese and a few green veg!!!

Help!!!!

I feel as though I am back to square 1 :(

PS There are a ton of Atkins book out there. Is there a recommended one for my situation?
 
Hi Lucy,

It is tough, isn't it. I'm currently stuck in a one horse town in mainland Europe. It's Sunday, nowhere is open and food choices are strictly limited. I seem to be able to tolerate pears so I brought some with me, but I'm starting to get very hungry!

I can't really offer any assistance, other than I find travelling in the UK easier courtesy of the M&S on motorways where I buy cooked meats and cheese.

good luck!
 
You probably don't want to hear this, but if you went onto some meds then you probably could eat more carbs. I find it very difficult eating out.
 
Denise is right -- even most of the high-achievers on the forum are at least on Metformin. Taking some meds is not a sign of defeat. You have done great things with diet alone, but don't make your life miserable. If you can only get low BGs by cutting out everything then you need to be realistic. Cut yourself some slack! If you can cope with Metformin it does actually have some health benefits..
 
Hi Lucy

Please don't despair! We all have down days, and it can be awful - particularly when you think if someone offers you more chicken you'll probably wring their neck - the person, not the chicken!

Have a look at Viv's Modified Atkins Diet again, if you haven't before, and have a good look at the list of allowed foods on a very low carb diet. There really a lot of options there, even if they all end up being 'meat and 2 veg'!

Last night I had broccoli and cauliflower with butter and mayonnaise, with a good portion of roast turkey leg (my freezer's full of them - I buy them from our local butcher at Christmas, when everyone else just wants a turkey crown). The cold left-overs will be a lunch-time salad, with a little pate as well.

I had bacon and egg for brunch today. I shall be having strawberries and cream, sweetened with Splenda, a bit later on. Tonight is a pork stir-fry with garlic, ginger, leek, red and orange pepper, mushrooms and a few cashew nuts.

Lunch is usually salad - lettuce, cherry toms, strips of pepper, radishes, a few olives - with cold meat or cheese or fish, or an avocado.

If I'm out during the day - and remember that, though I'm officially retired, I do site work with a bit of digging and I'm outdoors, on my feet, nearly all day - I take a plastic box full of cherry toms, strips of pepper, cold meats incl. those individual peperamis, chunks of cold sausage, chunks of cheese or those little Babybels - and so on. Sometimes I'll make up a little box of tuna mixed with mayonnaise, and take the box of salad too. I don't eat it all at once - I graze throughout the day.

Sometimes, if there's nothing else for it, I'll have a wholemeal salad sandwich. I find buffet lunches are the worst - but you can always take the top off a sandwich and just eat the filling. And usually there's cold meat and chees, and I always eat the salad they use for decoration. I don't do puds much, never have, which is lucky for me.

My calorie intake is usually around 1500 per day, sometimes over, sometimes as low as 1200. My guess in your case is that you may not be eating enough fat. Fat is the highest in calories - a knob of butter on your veg, a tablespoon of full-fat mayonnaise on your veg (yes, with the butter :shock: ) and on your salad, will bring your calories up a bit. Eat a few nuts, too - unless you have an allergy?

I eat a 2-egg omelette cooked in butter every morning, which starts me off on less than 2g carb but about 200 cals. I eat avocados occasionally - sometimes I have one halved, remove the stone, fill the hole with a low-carb dressing, eat with teaspoon. mmmm!

Avocados are full of nutrients and very good fat. I usually eat salad for lunch, and meat, sausage or a casserole with veg for supper.

When I was first diagnosed I was a bit like you - I could eat nothing in the way of conventional carby foods - bread, potatoes etc. I'm finding now, 5 stone later, that I can take a bit more - the occasional sandwich made with whole-grain bread; sometimes a small portion of Lizi's Granola - the original one; more fruit. As you get to eat more carbs, so you bring down the fat quantities.

The Atkins book I recommend now is Atkins Diabetes Revolution by Dr M C Vernon & J A Eberstein RN. I would also recommend the Low-carb recipes section on here. When you're at home, and you really can't stand it any longer, look at WhitbyJet's low-carb recipes and cook yourself up something really delicious!

At least we're at the right time for salads and veg. For the winter (or even for now) buy yourself a wide-mouthed Thermos flask and make some delicious low-carb soups - or try some of the lower-carb ready-made ones. Read the labels carerfully for hidden nasties.

I work on the principle that I've over-worked my poor pancreas in the past and now I'm giving it a well-earned rest. It seems to be appreciating it and seems to be a bit better now - or my insulin resistance is less. You too should find that things improve

Do allow yourself the occasional treat. You'll find it's usually pretty easy to eat out on a low-carb diet, and a small treat now-and-again won't hurt. I guzzled garlic bread and tagliatelli carbonara one night when I was in Inverness - didn't dare test! - but I was back in the low 5s as soon as I got home. And if it kills me, further down the line - well, it was worth it! :lol: :wink:

We all get fed up every now and aain - you're not alone, and we're all on your side. Good luck!

Viv 8)

PS I keep having to add bits as others reply! I too wouldn't worry about taking Metformin - I take it myself. Though it doesn't have a large effect on overall BG levels, I'm told it does smooth spikes. It's supposed to be good for weight loss (??), and I also take it for its CHD/stroke protection, 'cos I'm a statin refusenik.
 
My guess in your case is that you may not be eating enough fat. Fat is the highest in calories - a knob of butter on your veg, a tablespoon of full-fat mayonnaise on your veg (yes, with the butter :shock: ) and on your salad, will bring your calories up a bit.

Fats (slaps head as my missing the obvious) Of course!!!

I increased my protein a bit, but not my fats!!! Thanks for that. Off to make some homemade mayonaisse with olive oil right now :D

edited to add: I have just looked and realised I ma only having half the protein I should be having too :oops: I thought I was eating loads of protein.

Off to the cheese box as well. I will try these adjustments for a month, then review my ideas about taking the Metformin based on the results. I am not totally against taking it, but dont want to take it needlessly.
 
Hi Lucy

I'm with you re the myfitnesspal telling me off everyday.

I come to accept this is how it is (chicken salad is the mainstay of my life)- I've still got a couple of stone I'd like to shed (lost 30lbs so far), once I'm there or there abouts I plan to increase the cals via higher value proteins (cheese,nuts) to keep my weight steady.

I am handling eating out and having friends over by not having the carbs (or not many) but still having lovely steaks,curries but with salad etc .

I'm not kidding myself it will always be ok and I will always feel in control, I consider myself very lucky I have discovered a will power I didn't know existed but it's becuase if I can have any say in it I don't want to go on any meds.

Bad days are going to come but they will go too

Mary x
 
Hi Lucy - have you tried my bread/cake based on ground almonds? I make it about 3 times a week, never the same twice. My weight is stable (BMI 26) & I have all the energy I can use.

About 150 g ground almonds/coconut flour/soya flour
1 1/2 teasp baking powder
1 - 2 tsp cinnamon
1 - 2 tabsp mixed seeds
sieved together
about 80 ml olive oil
4-5 eggs beaten with the oil the added to the powder & beaten

transfer to baking tray (I use a 9" sq silicone) smooth & bake for 15-20 minutes.
cut into squares & use as cake/bread/potato & snacks

nuts are a good source of energy from protein & fat.


Variations include non-sugar sweetener, sultanas, cocoa.
 
We ate out on Friday night for the first time since diagnosis - we had steak and salad. It came with mushrooms and a grilled tomato too, but I don't like either of those. Eating out wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be and the restaurant was very helpful when we said we didn't eat chips or potatoes. It might be helpful if you're eating at a booked restaurant to phone earlier in the day and talk to them about special diets.

Ju
 
Lucy
your list of "NO NOs" is pretty much tthe same as mine.
I do eat FAT though. It has the calories I need [perhaps too many] and I usually feel pretty well. I do use minimal Meformin too. My personal BG targets are;fasting below 5 and never over6.5.
I hit those targets nearly all the time. My current meter shows a bg average of 4.7 over the last 2 weeks. That's fastinf each morning and random tests about once every other day.
I CAN eat a little bit of new potato. And a little fruit.
So for lunch today I had roast chicken with green beans, carrots and a small piece of Jersey royal with gravy [ Imake REAL Gravy] followed by strawberries with cream. Delicious and left bg at about 5.6.
I find it pretty easy to find stuff I like to eat.
Hana
 
Some good suggestions on this thread (sorry, I'm not able to add any myself, still trying to get the diet sorted out :( ). IanD, that bread mix sounds really good, thanks for sharing!
 
Thank you for the bread mix recipe IanD, I will add to my collection!

Lucy, I used to love rice and now can only handle about half a cup and I have found another of my favorites pumpkin is now on the outer :cry:
 
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