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Diet help needed

C

Cheshire_Paul

Member
Messages
7
Location
Warrington, Cheshire
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Apologies in advance, this could turn into a long post.
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes around six and a half years ago and ever since then I've had struggles with maintaining a decent Hba1c level.
I've tried low carb and the keto diets and seem to stick to the diets for two or three months and then get bored and frustrated and return to eating the wrong things that push up my Hba1c levels.
I'll go to my review and get a telling off. I'll then return to following a diet and eating correctly to then fall off the wagon a couple of months later.
I find sticking to a low carb or keto diet very frustrating and I mentally struggle to keep motivated and strong.
Most of the diets I have followed recomend that I eat vegetables grown above the ground because they have less or no carbs compared to those grown in the ground.
But, I do not like cauliflower or broccoli so that somewhat limits what I can have with my meals.
Couscous isn't an option, because again i don't like it.
I struggle with what to take to work for my lunches and easily get bored and fed up with having the same things to eat day in and day out.
I'm reaching out to the forum to ask you wonderful people to give me some help and guidance as to what are the best things are for me to eat and ways to keep to a diet.

Thanks in advance
 
I know you’ve said you don’t like cauliflower and broccoli but have to tried cooking them in different ways, Cauli mash with butter, cream and a bit of cream cheese is very different from boiled, try roasting par boiled florets with spices etc. other veg, green beans, runners beans, all cabbages and spring greens, asparagus, kale, Brussels sprouts, spinach, courgettes, marrow, small amounts of butternut squash. Not liking cous cous is no problem as it’s high in carbs, it’s just tiny pieces of pasta.
A couple of below ground veg that are lower carb and versatile are celeriac and turnip/swede, they can be mashed, roasted, made into chips

Do you test before and after meals? You may be one of the lucky ones that don’t have to go full on minimum carbs and may be able to tolerate a few more carbs
 
I have a lot of intolerance to foods especially carbs and sugars. I also have an aversion like yourself to other ?is carb foods especially cooked/ boiled vegetables.
I have as you can imagine a limited dietary balance and it is not difficult to stick to. Because I had good as necessity rather than a part of my regimented meal times and so on. I use intermittent fasting and base my meals on meat, salad, other protein like eggs, and I limit my portion sizes, so I don't overeat. I have a small window for this , and that is it.
My condition doesn't allow me to eat a different way, owing to the fact, I would be ill! And I don't want to be I'll again!
You don't have to be so restrictive, you can have a less limited diet, as long as know what happened when you eat and test, test, test. Trial and error recording your blood glucose levels in a good diary to compare when you have that meal again. Take control.
Below ground veg are usually starchy, which in turn is high in carbs and turn to glucose quickly. And spike your blood glucose levels higher than you can probably tolerate. Which is not good.
Dietdoctor.com is very good for food suggestions for low carb.
@Rachox can give you more suggestions and cheap glucometer and strips.
 
Many thanks. To be extremely honest I have only ever thought of cauliflower as boiled. I will certainly try your suggestion. I will also try all the other vegetables you have suggested. Thanks for your reply
 
Thanks for your replay and the link to the website. I will go and take a look
 
What about mushrooms, lettuce, celery, raw baby spinach (salad), cucumber?
Salads with oily dressings? Served with chicken, ham, eggs, cheeses or cold meat?
Bacon and Mushrooms for breakfast, perhaps with some avocado?
Full fat Greek yogurt with a few fresh raspberries?
I have spaghetti Bolognese without pasta, with loads of cheese
or roast chicken with veg, then served the next day in a cream cheese sauce with mushrooms
I make my own cauliflower rice as it tastes better - grated then roasted at 180C for about 12mins - store in fridge and microwave or fry to reheat and finish cooking. It makes a reasonable stir fried rice.
 
Cheshire_Paul said:
Many thanks. To be extremely honest I have only ever thought of cauliflower as boiled. I will certainly try your suggestion. I will also try all the other vegetables you have suggested. Thanks for your reply
Click to expand...
I tend to stir fry veg as it tastes much nicer then.
 
There's a thread here where anyone is welcome to post what they eat. Some good ideas, and no judgement, we are all different

What have you eaten today?

Share what you've eaten today with the rest of the DCUK community and maybe steal a few ideas for yourself! Please remember that this is the 'Low Carb Diet Forum' and that this thread isn't for low carb debates :)
www.diabetes.co.uk

Also, for motivation I find using a bg monitor invaluable. It shows me instantly what my body likes and what is doesn't. Makes it so much easier to stick to the things that are good and Avoid the not so good.
Have you got one?
 
Cheshire_Paul said:
I have only ever thought of cauliflower as boiled
Click to expand...
Roast
Wrapped in bacon
With cheese sauce
Rice and served with curry
Rice and made into bread
Mashed with loads of cheese
.... Google keto caulifower, you'll be amazed
 
Thanks for the tag @Lamont D ,
Here’s some info on UK meters, and to be clear I have no commercial connections with any of the companies mentioned.



HOME HEALTH have the Gluco Navii, which is a fairly new model and seems to be getting good reviews if you use this link and select the meter plus 5 packs of strips, and then add the code dcuk (all lower case) at check out you may get money off, I’m not sure if this code is still valid.

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-produ...ose-meter-test-strips-choose-mmol-l-or-mg-dl/

Links to the strips for future orders:

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/glucose-navii-blood-glucose-test-strips-50-strip-pack/

There are also discount codes for when you come to buy more strips - "navii5" and "navii10" will give you 20% off purchases of 5 packs of strips and 25% off 10 packs of strips respectively. Again I’m not sure if these codes are still valid.

Then they sell the older SD Code Free, details to be found here!

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/

Discount codes for the Code Free strips, again I haven’t used them in a while.

5 packs 264086

10 packs 975833




SPIRIT HEALTHCARE have a meter called the Tee2 + which is quite popular however I haven’t been able to find it on their website lately.


(Old link which doesn’t work for me now but maybe works for you, if it doesn’t try the phone number below

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...e2-blood-glucose-meter?variant=19264017268793 ) or Google it and you’ll find it’s available from other outlets.


The strips are to be found here:


https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...py-of-tee2-test-strips?variant=19264017367097


Some members have got a free Tee2+ by phoning up to order, with a large order of strips they often throw the meter in for free:


Phone number 0800 8815423


If there is a choice of units of measurement then ‘mmol/L’ are the standard units in the UK, ‘mg/dl’ in the US, other countries may vary.



Don’t forget to check the box if you have pre diabetes or diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)
 
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