Decision to abandon LCHF just for Christmas

be warned that one day blow out can lead to diet failure.it has to me before. i lost 100kgs and then blew it. you can spoil yourself without blowing your diet. do you really want to risk it. im trying not to be a kill joy but christmas food is not worth the risk. im planning to have turkey stuffing pigs in blankets roast veg potatoes carrots turnips celeriac sweet potatoes. most likely one of each with mashed carrot and turnips. i may be over my 40 carbs but not a lot.

My take on this is as follows. I recently had ten days of high bg after having caudal injections (corticosteroids) and it was a free choice of mine to have them done. I refuse to have two or three days of high numbers worry me so much that it spoils my Christmas. I still have family living with me and have more coming to visit on the day so everything I bought pre dx has been bought this year and I will buy it every year.

I had a birthday treat of one apple turnover with a beef roast dinner and was surprised with one single spike that did not alarm me so I am doing the same on monday and tuesday, choosing my all time favourites but in small quantities and after a low carb dinner.

I refuse to let anything dictate my choices but will not whinge if my choices do me no favours.

melliemars said:

I was able to come off 2000mg Metformin within 9 months of diagnosis and have an a1c of 5.1 without medication.

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I can't click "winner" for that bit because I've already used up my click allowance with a 'funny'. So I'll write it: "Winner".

I don't know if you are aware but it was me who started and extremely naughty thread on mince pies:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/a-mince-pie-conundrum.130638/

I'll be a hell of a lot more naughty than you over the next year I'm sure. It's me that needs a good talking to. I do by and large make good efforts overall and have also radically changed my HbA1c, but I have a lot more work to do!

Guzzler said:

I refuse to let anything dictate my choices but will not whinge if my choices do me no favours.

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This is the right way of thinking, I will be doing something similar.

we all do. but we should not be worrying over our eating and bg. no point getting decent control and then getting high blood pressure over the stress we cause ourselves. my diets been right off the last two days. due to christmas shopping.only managing 1 proper meal a day. snacked on whatever i could get.mainly meat but not healthy. im not bothered just chill and plod on. just dont extend the mince pies to easter eggs.

why did you dump the metformin as it helps with the weight loss.

My only comment would be , sure enjoy what you want on holiday days , however if your body responds like mine does to such a " binge " you might find the actual holiday itself less enjoyable than simply having more indulgences within the low carb environment. - extra double cream , nuts , pork scratchings , lots of meat and fatty gravy . Smoked salmon , indulgent cheese . For me personally its not really a question of how hard i find it to go back to low carbing , but more one of relief that i feel less ill . So maybe try it one day and then adjust if you can feel things starting to go a but awry . Have a great holiday

Hi @melliemars
Great progress in both HbA1c and weight loss - really amazing so well done. My HbA1c isn't quite as low as yours but I'm OK with it at 35. As I don't need to lose weight I do eat probably more carbs than you. For Christmas I will relax to some extent but still restrict some carbs. I'm sure an occasional day will be OK for you as long as you do go back to your excellent routine afterwards. To think how far you have come in the last 18 months is amazing.

I am going to do a quick heavy weights session and walk. Help with the cooking.

Just before dinner, 5 minute heavy weights out of sight of everyone to prime the GLUT4 receptors.

I will have a great Christmas dinner in a low carb manner. I can may have a parsnip or small sweer potato. I will have an over amount of the meats on offer, loads of veggies, sausage meat etc.

I have just returned from Tesco with some tequila as it is non grain based, so 2 of these and a red wine (large).

Now the problem is the desert. I am going to ask my wife to help me make an Apple pie with almond meal and I have some cinnamon a Greek yogurt.

Followed by a strategic walk. I will be disappointed if my fbg the next day is higher than 4.8.

Good luck with your choices but enjoy yourself.

Simply put - just don't go mad with the extra carbs; your body won't thank you for it.

Remember also that your taste may have changed, and high-carb foods you thought you had been craving for may now not taste as great as you remembered them.

Last year I stuck to my 20-50g carbs per day throughout Christmas. It wasn't difficult, though friends did wonder sometimes what could they make that was 'safe'! I simply told them not to worry and I would carb-count what was on the plate!

This autumn I have experimented somewhat with slightly higher carb foods - but by increasing the fats too; this has been mainly successful, and only tonight I had a hot mince pie with a decent portion of double cream, a minor spike from 5.3 to 7.2, but back to 5.9 two hours later. A run with the dogs shortly will bring it nicely down to around 4.8 ready for bed.

However, don't over-use this method if trying it; every other day for one week is possible, but things will start to suffer if you kept it up.
My 2-week test last month has dried out my skin something shocking, and only now with lots of rehydration and back on low-carb is it starting to settle again.

Still, I have managed to keep off the insulin completely for over 2 years now (originally on 36 units daily) - thanks purely to LCHF

melliemars said:

The last part of your comment, wow, I so agree. I don’t want to know. I just want to do what I know works long term and allow the blip.

Btw I drink quite a bit but just spirits and Diet Coke. I have no spikes at all. Am I doing diabetes wrong lol?

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You say that you have no spikes during a few drinks of spirits. I don't mean to burst your bubble but when you test after a few drinks it can give you false low results. : ( try to cut down hun

This condition is for life.FACT.
It's no good being miserable for life,it's done enough of that already.
I'm "pretending" to be normal for one day,don't worry your guilt won't allow you to slip further,enjoy.

For my dinner as a Prediabetic, I will have roasted Celeriac (Tastes like parsnips) Broccoli, cauliflower sprouts one Yorkshire Pud pigs in blankets two small pork stuffing balls, lots of turkey and two small roast red potatoes. Red is best a little tip ( cook red potatoes the night before, let them go cold, put into the fridge overnight then roast them. Their glycemic is a lot lower done this way,only with red potatoes though. Oh meant to say soak the for a few hours first and rinse to get rid of some of the starch. I am planning to have dinner ready by 4ish so that I will not be hungry enough to want much to eat in the evening. I will go all day with nothing then boxing night will do a buffet. I have bought everything mini that has some carbs. A mini steak pie, mini pizza. I will have a Christmas mince pie and some Christmas pudding with brandy cream. I will mostly be eating from the buffet different meats cheese salad sprouts pigs in blankets eggs, so really I won't be going to mad at all. I have quite good willpower where food is concerned. No chocolates or cakes as such for me. I do not want to put on any weight that I have lost. I just think of the lovely summer dresses I want to wear that are in my wardrobe

I say good luck! And also.. WOW! You've managed to lose more than an entire me in weight! And I mean that in the nicest possible way, ie that's awesome!

I'm new to this, but been thinking the same kinda thoughts. So far I've applied my usual engineering approach. Ok, I can't hit my pancreas with a hammer or apply duct tape, but I removed temptations.. But I've also noticed Xmas challenges, like all the sweet stuff.. and one wafer thin mint won't hurt.. Or would I fall off the wagon and start eating badly again? There are soo many temptations around. Plus today's been a lil odd on my BG front, 6.7 in the morning, 11.1 after I got back from town and the highest I've recorded since starting on the meter. But then 4.8 post-meal, so tempted again..

@melliemars well done on your progress to date. Relax over the next couple of days but, rather than abandon LCHF, eat carbs in moderation. I tend to eat more carbs than many on this forum and my latest hba1c in November was 35. For my Christmas dinner I will be having turkey with all the trimmings, including stuffing, but I will only have my usual 2-3 small potatoes and load my plate with plenty of meat and vegs. I will also indulge in a small individual Christmas pud with clotted cream (hubby and brother in law will have pavlova) and I may have a mince pie or two throughout the day; I also have 70-80% chocolate in the house so if I want any other treats. There is plenty of salad in the fridge for tea either on its’ own and high protein, lowish carb bread for turkey sandwiches. Unless curiosity gets the better of me my meter will be staying in its’ case undisturbed for the day. You may find that you don’t want to stray too far from your norm but, if you do, it isn’t the end of the world - enjoy your Christmas!

@melliemars , wow well.done! You have done amazing work.

I am easing off a little for Christmas, but not too much. I now know that if I eat too many carbs I dont feel.well. I also get very hungry, so I'm not going overboard on the carbs.

But I am going to eat a ton of cheese!!!!

Well, I'm off the wagon until the New Year.

Nothing major because I don't have room in my stomach any more, but revisiting old memories of foods long cast aside.

Just made some REAL chips, from a couple of very small King Edwards in a small pan of olive oil.
Scrubbed but not peeled; cooked with the skin on.
This confirmed that celeriac chips are OK but not like the real thing.
It also confirmed that the best bit of potatoes is the skin; the taste is distinctive and reminded me of spuds in jackets.

Tomorrow I will have a mince pie for elevenses, a couple of small roasties with the cooked meal at around 16:00 (when it goes dark) and a very small Christmas pud with lots of double cream.

I won't be eating masses, though.

I had the tail end of a beef stew and a couple of pork meatballs with the chips and I am busting. I can remember when a meal that side would have been a snack.

So I won't be stinting myself but the vast majority of what I will eat will be LCHF - pigs in blankets, turkey, sprouts. Perhaps later (or the next day) a turkey roll made with a Lidl protein roll.

All to be paid for in Just Deserts January when I try to get my weight down by half a stone.