Can t2 have cheat day?

My point of view is that low carbing isn't a diet (in the way the word 'diet' is used nowadays as something to endure for a while and then stop) but it's a way of life that I have chosen to follow to enable me to live a longer more productive life with less pain or complications. So, if I cheat the only person I am hurting is me.

I have had first hand experience of how addictive carbs are. I found that once I said 'only a little won't hurt' it is then so easy to say 'well, I've blown it now so I might as well eat what I want today and start fresh tomorrow ' - but on that tomorrow the carb cravings really kick in and it's then just so easy to give in to them.

As others have said, the best thing is to build low carb treats in to your normal meals or snacks. There are loads of recipes in this forum for low carb cake or other yummy things and, if course, there is always 70% or more chocolate.

If all else fails then I recommend googling images of diabetes complications and then ask yourself if cheating is really worth it.

In the early days of being t2, I would have the odd day where I would say, sod it, but I found to my horror that having the odd day of eating what I wanted then saying I would be good the next day. Those odd days turned to my pre days of diabetes. To be honest the odd treat is fine but please Don t go overboard

Afternoon
A few questions
Now for the horrible question.

I suspect you can make your diet more exciting and rewarding without going mental. I still want to go and stuff pasta carbonnara or a pizza down with the lad, but I have one of the garlic doughballs and that is my treat that day. This is personal choice and my view of the world. I hope it is helpful

Ross

Of course I recognise temptation and that it is hard to banish things that we like forever. But if you cheat, who are you cheating? The choice can only be yours.

I've often found the things I used to love don't taste so good anymore. Sweets are too sweet, bread is BORING, pasta sauce can go on other things, pizza topping can be layered on a plate and heated, candy, yuk. Small piece of dark choco tastes much better.
One small bite of something I don't normally eat isn't plenty. I never need to go crazy and if I do feel the need it eating too much protein at one time. Especially burgers or chicken wings dipped in a rich creamy dressing. Yup, I'm more about fats than sweets for sure.

I had many days when I have relapse by saying only one day for cheating then ending up having lots of cheat days.
Thankfully those days are over.
I do have the odd treat but now it's very rare

Ly_atdia said:

Me, with T2. I was wondering if we could have a cheat day, which we are freely to eat anything. And turn back to strictly diet tomorrow.
Any idea or comment.

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I eat some bad carbs but I always walk it off for an hr afterwards and my average is 4.5

I am less strict than I was with my low carb diet...but only because I got things well under control and found that I can handle a small amount of chips with a low carb meal if my level is below 6mmols before I eat. I also treat (not cheat) myself to a croissant or a half a sticky bun...maybe even a biscuit IF my level is low...but not often. I do not do this often as I don't want to risk a spike that means my level 2 hours after eating is up more than maybe 2.5mmols. For me, while I put a lot of effort into informing myself at first and getting my levels down under 7mmols without meds (from an initial 22mmols on diagnosis), it is my own little limit that I avoid levels above maybe 8.5 at a maximum but mostly I manage that without difficulty. It is as important to me that while watching my levels, that I know I can sustain a certain way of eating..and that includes the odd treat. Like a lot of people, I have other health issues. Due to a kidney condition I was born with, I had to have a transplant, and... due to immuno-suppressants to prevent rejection of the new kidney, I am very prone to infections. What I am saying is...health is vital obviously, but so is a certain quality of life. You need to hold yourself in check so the odd treat doesn't do damage or become an everyday thing. Good luck.

Ly_atdia said:

Me, with T2. I was wondering if we could have a cheat day, which we are freely to eat anything. And turn back to strictly diet tomorrow.
Any idea or comment.

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I think I know what you mean and it is a wonderful idea, but you would of seen lots of responses saying that it really isn't a good idea. I am really new to this - but I have tried to read every thread I can not only on this site but others and have done tons of independent research to try and get my knowledge up so hopefully I will be able to explain why you shouldn't. I do apologise if I tell you everything you already know.

Firstly, to have T2 you must either have a reduced supply of insulin being produced by your pancreas or you are not able to use the insulin well and maybe you have both of these issues - who knows and it is not that important.
What that means though is that when you eat, pretty much most things, you work a pancreas that is already a bit overworked when you should be resting it. If you see a blip of over 2mmol increase over a 2 hour period then you are placing undue pressure on your insulin supplies and ultimately making your damage worse. So a cheat day of eating everything as normal or before would cause you to do more damage you might later regret as your insulin reduces further.

Then, in any given meal or day you need to avoid your overall sugars going above 7.9 consistently for two hours. And that is easy done. There is a lot of research that say's when you do that you damage your internal organs, feet and eyes. So you don't want to do that - even every now and then adds up and you do not know what damage you have already done.

So average BG levels like the HBA1C test going down is great - but it hides the two things above, or can.

No one that cared would want no harm to come to you and say /"Yep, have a cheat day why not".

In life though something is going to get you in the end - old age being the favoured choice so don't let T2 beat old age to it.

Alison Campbell said:

No glic is quite a strong medication.

HBA1C of 6.4 is not in the green zone. I think you have misunderstood the chart.

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So Glic is strong medication? I just wished i could understand this Diabetes,,, my diabetic nurse seems to feel i am on low medication?
How often do you have full blood tests? Thank you

Ly_atdia said:

Me, with T2. I was wondering if we could have a cheat day, which we are freely to eat anything. And turn back to strictly diet tomorrow.
Any idea or comment.

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Cheat: act dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage.

What advantage do you hope to gain?

homestasisbaker said:

So Glic is strong medication? I just wished i could understand this Diabetes,,, my diabetic nurse seems to feel i am on low medication?
How often do you have full blood tests? Thank you

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There is a diagram on the NICE website that suggests at what stage different medications should be prescribed for type 2. Your team are best able to apply this to your circumstances. Maybe you nurse meant you are on a low dose of glic?

There is a risk of blood sugar levels going too low with glic which means caution when making changes to eating and exercise .

I have annnual test because my HBA1C is just in the normal criteria. Nurse offered 3 monthly test when things were going in the wrong direction.

homestasisbaker said:

So Glic is strong medication? I just wished i could understand this Diabetes,,, my diabetic nurse seems to feel i am on low medication?
How often do you have full blood tests? Thank you

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What is your HbA1c?
Are you newly diagnosed?

Gliclazide is a strong medication. Metformin is not.
The NICE guidelines recommend Metformin as a first line medication for those who do not manage to reduce their levels by diet and exercise. If Metformin doesn't "work" alongside diet and exercise then Gliclazide may be added to the prescription. If that doesn't work there are a couple of other drugs, and eventually insulin. So it pays to make sure you have a suitable diet - diet is the key to this disease.

Gliclazide works by stimulating the pancreas to produce extra insulin.
Metformin does very little to help other than to help reduce the amount of glucose the liver produces irrespective of food, helps slightly with insulin resistance, and helps the overweight more because it is an appetite suppressant. All to a limited extent.

After diagnosis we should be seen again with further blood tests after 3 months. This 3 month interval should continue until levels have reduced and any medication can be seen to be helping. Then we move to either 6 monthly intervals or 12 monthly. 12 months is the most we should have to wait.

Fleegle said:

Firstly, to have T2 you must either have a reduced supply of insulin being produced by your pancreas or you are not able to use the insulin well and maybe you have both of these issues - who knows and it is not that important.

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Actually for T2D, it is a case of excessive insulin response...till eventual beta cells exhaustion, see lower graph.So attempting to preserve what is left would actually be a good idea to consider.


http://www.ejinme.com/article/S0953-6205(09)00098-3/fulltext

When we "cheat", ie carbs up, there is cumulative effects, not just a single post meal effect. So there is a cost to it.
Eg, with the Libre sensor, I am able to see that a day of "cheating" results in higher glucose all day and night...above the 5.5 mmol range.