Breakfast Nightmare!

How about some cold meat or cheese and apple ? Low carb and portable.

Oats are different for many people, the only way to find out how they affect you is to test before and two hours after eating to see how your blood sugars have reacted.

I also have trouble with breakfast, I think it is mostly a problem that we always ate certain things for breakfast.Cereal,toast bacon and eggs etc.By trying to think out of the box :lol: I try cheese but as I am trying to put on weight I also eat strawberries and cream with walnuts and cinnamon,or yoghurt with fruit and nuts You could take a small natural yoghurt and some nuts and seedsto work . CAROL

DEB260173 said:

I'm finding this all very confusing because everyone here seems to be really anti-carbs, but every healthcare professional I've spoken to since being diagnosed says that I need to eat carbs at every meal. There is so much conflicting information out there, that I really don't know what's best for me! :?

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As Lovinglife said, there are some who avoid carbs like the plague......there are those who eat more. Everybody is different in the amount they eat. There are also some who have none at times. That is their choice. It really is what suits you. What benefits you.

Now I eat around 60 - 80g carbs at the moment but I have gone up to 120g as well. It fluctuates. I have to eat some carbs with my two main meals as if I don't my medication, Byetta doesn't work properly and I could end up with hypo's as well.

So carbs are just a fact of life. In the information that both Sue and I post which you have the link to, we say avoid OR reduce the carbs. That is something which will benefit you in your quest to lower Bg levels and if needed reduce any weight. That is borne out by the number of people who have gained control of their Diabetes using that and similar methods to take control. Carbs convert to Glucose 100% so why on earth do we want to eat too many of them. Moderation is all that is needed.

Yes, it is all confusing. Maybe you should ask your HCP/Dietician why some of them tell you to eat more ? Ask them to justify why you need to eat things which will increase your Bg levels......eat healthily by all means, just cut down on the amount of carbs. That's all most of us do. No more.

My reason for cutting back on them is that for around 12 years I followed the 'healthy' diet the HCP's/Dieticians gave me. It nearly killed me. Triple By-Pass Heart Op in 2004 then more of that same 'healthy' diet. My health got worse, my symptoms got worse. Then in January 2009 I came here, read all I could prior to all this about what was a healthy diet for a Diabetic, much conflicting information as you say. One thing stood out to me.......the people who were doing well had all cut back on carbohydrate intake........the one common denominator whether you low carbed, reduced carbed or just were trying to get better control.

I tried real low carbing (less than 50g per day) but couldn't manage the high fat intake for both medical and lifestyle reasons. I therefore went 'reduced carbs' and low GI and low GL. Now that works great for me. As I have posted before that got me great control, health improved tremendously, eyesight improved, vitality, strength, fitness all improved........just because I ignored the HCP's advice. I lost 5 1/2 stone in less than a year as well.

Something, somewhere has to be wrong. I know in my mind what it is.........too many carbs IS bad for you as a Diabetic. Many of the best Dietician's don't tell you to eat plenty of them, they actually say the same as many of us do......reduce or avoid when possible. I listen to those.........not the 'old school' ones.

Just do what YOU think is right......after all it is your choice.......your decision Look around the success stories threads here, that should give you a reason to listen to what the members here are telling you. It does work.

Ken

I am sure that what you plan to do is going to work. One thing is don't just take low GI as the benchmark, use low GL (Glycaemic Load) too. That will mean reducing the portion sizes which will also get Bg numbers down AND reduce weight, sometimes quite dramatically.

To reduce portion sizes instantly, try eating meals from a side plate instead of the usual dinner plate. That cuts the amount of carbs back and it is pshycological.....it looks like you are eating a lot....but you are eating probably half what you would normally. Portion control is VERY important. Changes have to be made.

Keep asking questions and we will do our best to help you.

Ken

First of all you could get yourself the Collins Gem GI and GL pocket books. Small in size but both packed with information. cost about £3.99 from most good book stores or online from Amazon can be cheaper.

As for GI. All foods are given a number which shows how quickly they will get converted into blood glucose. They are then labelled low (below 55), medium (between 55 - 70), and high anything above.
I started by making a list of all my favourite foods and seeing which categoory they fell into, then I either discarded them or reduced them.

As for GL, that just means that you can have some of those 'taboo' foods because you calculate the actual number of carbs you will be eating using a simple formula. Take the GI number x number of grams of carbs per serving then divide by 100 = Glycaemic Load. Low GL is 10 or less, medium is 11 - 19, high is 20 or more. These are the values according to the effect that a normal portion of that food will have on blood glucose levels.

Here is a link to a useful site about the Glycaemic Index:
http://www.glycaemicindex.com/

That was where I started and then built up from the information there.

Ken

I have a small tomato juice or V8 juice plus I make little veggie muffins. 280g frozen spinach, 90g low fat cheddar grated, 180mls egg substitute (I use powdered egg white from the bakery aisle - 1.5 sachets plus 180mls water), 45g diced pepper (red, green, yellow - colour doesn't matter), 45g finely diced onion, 3 drops of a hot sauce (I use a hot Tabasco).

Pop the spinach in the microwave and cook for 3 mins on high. Drain off the liquid (you can heat in a pot if you don't use microwaves). Prepare a 12 hole muffin tin - either line with muffin cases or spray with an olive oil spray. Reconstitute the egg according to the instructions then put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Divide evenly between the muffin cases/spaces. Bake at 180c/350f/Mark 4 for about 20 mins. Allow to cool. A portion is 2 of these muffins - 2 are 77 cals, 9g protein, 3g carbs, 3 g fat (2g sat), 2 g fibre, 160mg sodium. They freeze well. I make a few then freeze in 2 muffin portions.

Another fav of mine is to make a "wrap" but using a large lettuce leaf as the "wrap". In the "wrap" I vary the content e.g. turkey plus roasted pepper and some chilli or ham, chopped tomato and 1 oz low fat Philadelphia are just a couple of my variations (I make them up then roll them in cling film and pop in the fridge). I also have quite a few recipes for low fat shakes/smoothies most of which involve a base of soya milk (light), 0% Greek yoghurt , ice cubes and a tablespoon of wheatgerm. To the base mix I sometimes add some nuts and whizz or if I want something "sweeter" I add some strawberries, blueberries maybe 1/2 banana (I have to be careful with banana as it does affect my BG). They are quick to make and you can come up with all sorts of interesting combos! If they are not sweet enough use something like Splenda but you do get used to the lack of sweetness.

As someone else mentioned frittatas are great too - again loads of variations. I made a large one for a starter on Sunday for everyone which had loads of veg in it. If you are not happy about using loads of whole eggs use the powdered egg substitute. Hope this is some help to you.

Hi have you tried the Oatabix Flakes, I use them all the time, in fact could eat them 3 times a day, and my blood sugar was 4.6 over the last 6 months. So do give them a try.

If not, what about good old Wheatabix no problem with them either.

The main difference between GI and GL is that GI doesn't take into account how much you eat. They worked it out originally by giving portions of each food containing 50g carbs. So that would be 50g sugar or 1 asda deli panini or approximately a skipful of carrots! It doesn't take into account that you generally wouldn't eat a skipful of carrots. So it's a useful tool but GL is probably more realistic.

Hi Debs

I was told the same regarding the carbs ie bread, pasta, potato, when I first found out i had diabetes type 2, as they say on this sit we are all different, but do listen as these guys know more about diabetes because they live with it. Untill I found this site i felt very alone with no support as if I mentioned my already healthy eating habits (reduced carbs) to the healthcare staff they would tell me the opposite. I personally believe my body can't deal with excessive carbs. good luck, Julie

green smoothie ^_^

I mix coconut yogurt with different seeds and some unsweetened cacao powder at night, then decorate it with more coconut yogurt in top. If you make this in a glass with lid, you can eat in the office, train, etc. Here are some ideas: http://www.ditchthecarbs.com/2014/06/04/low-carb-chia-breakfasts/

lovinglife said:

Hi DEB,

Not everyone here is anti carb - lots of us eat carbs, including myself - but as it says in the great info that Sue posted carbs turn to 100% glucose so all of us are careful with our carbs. I eat between 100 - 130g a day - about 30 at breakfast and lunch and a bit more at dinner.

Testing what foods do to you is the best way forward - different people tolerate different foods.

As for breakfast try to stop thinking of meals by their name and call them meal 1 2 3 - (I know it sounds daft but it works!) - just because it's 7 am doesn't mean we have to eat "breakfast stuff"

I have berries with 0% greek yogourt, try making a frittata from eggs and mushrooms etc and taking a slice of that - it's great cold, make a dip from anything you like (I make one from wizzed up roasted peppers onions & mushrooms) and take things like celery sticks, carrot sticks etc

If you want to have more carbs than that try the burgen linseed bread - I have 2 slices of that and a hard boiled egg or cold meats - you can get half fat cheese that isn't so bad these days although I just have ordinary cheese - just not great chunks of it

I also have rivitas - I can eat about 3 without it affecting my BS - Like we always say testing is the key - you may be able to eat more than me

Losing weight is never easy and I had loads to lose this time last year (still a fair way to go!)- all I did was reduce my carbs and ate low GI stuff - still eat cheese butter and fry with olive oil - I have lost 61/2 stone in 12 months so you never know - my intention wasn't to lose weight but get my BS down then tackle the weight - but it all happened together - keeping your carbs down a bit may be the way to go - good luck

It is a big learning curve but you will get there

Sorry thought Sue had posted the info for you in this thread - read Sues post in the link below - it great info and is very helpful to both newbies and those who are struggling

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=15298

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Ok, I too am having problems with breakfast and am keen to omit bread - I have that for lunch as a salad and ham or cheese or fish sandwich. BUT. I have a very low boredom threshold - toast for breakfast, bread for lunch, porridge every day - that is SOOOO boring, and I want something savoury, with flavour (is that too much to ask?) fresh and with some crunch, not pap! AND quick to prepare. I have seen recipes for breakfast casseroles but who the heck has the time or patience to cook something for an hour or more? I have brittle diabetes - two slices of toast with marmite, Bovril or peanut butter will send me rocketing to the late 20s even if I do happen to start with a decent number! But, I need carbs, though I have no idea how to count them. There seems to be so many recipes for breakfast which are sweet - granola, muesli, yoghurt with fruit, pancakes with fruit .... the list is endless! Even in DUK online books - I am totally shocked, disgusted and surprised that a diabetes related website seems to be advocate sweet flavoured foods for breakfast, which the majority of the recipes are. I mean, breakfast bars! Laden with dried fruit and sugar, and I do not even like the taste of sweet! I have a very small appetite and lots of preparation and cooking seems a lot of effort and time for one person every single morning.

DEB260173 said:

Thanks for the replies so far, but as I have high cholesterol and am trying desperately to lose weight, cheese is a total no-go!
I'm finding this all very confusing because everyone here seems to be really anti-carbs, but every healthcare professional I've spoken to since being diagnosed says that I need to eat carbs at every meal. There is so much conflicting information out there, that I really don't know what's best for me! :?
I guess I'll have to try some stuff out and see how I get on, but please keep the suggestions coming, I need all the help I can get!

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I was in a similar position 18 months ago and took the view that the most immediate issue I needed to tackle was my blood sugar levels (I had just been diagnosed with fasting level of 17 and an HbA1c of 108)
I pretty much eliminated carbs from my diet for 6 months and started to see huge improvements in my blood sugar (fasting less than 5 and HbA1c in the non-diabetic range). I also lost loads of weight, but my cholesterol went up.

I assumed it was due to the higher fat consumption and it may have been but it could also be due to losing lots of weight: as you lose weight by burning the stored fat, it can temporarily increase the lipid levels in your blood - see here: http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2012/06/i-lost-weight-and-my-cholesterol-went-up/
After those 6 months, I gradually started increasing my carb consumption and noticed I could tolerate more carbs than before as long as they weren't heavily processed and I continued to lose weight.
Fast forward to now and since November 2014 I've lost 8.5 stones, my cholesterol is normal and lower than its been for 20 years and can now eat most things in moderation: I have cereal for breakfast and bread in small amounts.

My blood sugar is below 5 on a morning and rarely rises above 7 after a meal. However, if I eat any white bread or potatoes it will shoot up into the teens (so I don't eat any!)

What worked for me might not work for you so you really need to experiment and test your blood after meals to see what you can and can't tolerate - good luck