Fed up!!

Fiona29 said:

Hi guys & girls,
I'm still really confused/Fed up/even teary

about what to eat! I'm constantly reading labels and just end up with boring salads. I'm not on any meds atm, so diet controlled but I need to lose weight as well,

I read up about the low carb high fat diet but if I eat full fat this n that won't I put weight on, my cholesterol is high as it is!! So sorry I feel so angry with myself for letting myself get like this in the first place

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Hi Fiona,
I think it’s natural to have the feelings that you have now and again. I sometimes feel exactly as you describe, I long for the days when I was carefree about what to eat and when but that is no longer the case, this realisation occasionally overwhelmes me and I get upset, we are human and we have ups and downs, good days and some not so good. Don’t give up or give in, the consequences of that are really not worth considering in my opinion. I mentioned to someone recently that although I wish I didn’t have this condition I feel that in some respects I am now in a better place, I am educated and knowledgeable about what I eat and why, I still get it wrong sometimes, it’s still relatively early days for me, however when I do get it wrong, it’s one food choice or one meal not a continuous cycle of eating badly as it was before.
I am fortunate enough to have good cholesterol levels so haven’t panicked too much about having cream, butter and cheese etc but I do sympathise with you as I get days where I seem to eat the same safe things over and over but I have found I enjoy things that I wouldn’t have eaten 5 months ago.
Hopefully knowing that you are not alone, is a little bit of a help to you, I’m sure there are lots of people here who experience the same emotions and frustrations, we are all human and on bad days we need to take a deep breath, smile and find the strength to try to not give in, I like to think that at those moments I’m superhuman

Fiona29 said:

if I eat full fat this n that won't I put weight on, my cholesterol is high as it is!!

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I'm not on a LCHF diet, but what I read over and over again from members here is that they lose weight and get better cholesterol numbers on it.

Hi Fiona, please don’t blame yourself, have a read of the thread entitled “Don’t involve yourself in the blame game” it’s an old pinned thread in the type 2 sub forum, it helped me at the start of my diabetic life. Also have a look at the Low Carb Forum, there’s a thread there entitled “What have you eaten today” lots of us post our meals and swap recipes there. Loads of inspiration beyond salads, I even had chocolate cake this evening, low carb of course!
I eat low carb, moderate fat I’d describe it as and I have lost 5 1/2 stone in ten months. It’s only the last month when my weight loss plateaued a bit, that I cut the fats a little more. I’ve not counted calories at all since diagnosis.
My cholesterol numbers deteriorated initially but that’s common with quick weight loss, but my last test in Feb showed some improvement, so the amount of fat I’m eating seems to be ok now

Fat does not make you fat but a high fat high carb diet may make you fat. As for cholesterol, when there is a change to dietary regime resulting in weight loss this can skew your lipids but eventually this settles down again. Dietary cholesterol is in my opinion a bit of a none starter.

Hi @Fiona29 First things first, don't blame yourself. I go with what @Rachox posted, have a look at some the food forums and see if you can pick up any ideas. The link between eating fats and your own cholesterol levels is not nearly cut and dried, they can take time to get back down. If you are interested in low carbing I would recommend giving it a go and if you're not testing, it is a useful thing to do to help you understand how your BG respond to the things you eat. I would say I can't think of many members reporting that they have put on weight going low carb high/med fat. For myself I lost a bunch of weight and managed to maintain it for four years.
I wish you well and please let us know how you're getting on.

Hi, I am new to diabetes and have managed to get my HbA1c down to 44 in February 2018, it was 116 in September 2017. I feel your pain as this is what I felt like in my first month. I have gone from size 14-16 to a size 12 and feel great. At first I was confused and constantly reading labels and still do (there were bad and good days). Have you considered seeing your GP or Diabetic nurse to ask for support once again? Could you join a gym or start walking? Even putting on music and just dancing helps. You could plan your meals in advance. I hope it works out. Good luck. Dimples

Fiona29 said:

Hi guys & girls,
I'm still really confused/Fed up/even teary

about what to eat! I'm constantly reading labels and just end up with boring salads. I'm not on any meds atm, so diet controlled but I need to lose weight as well,

I read up about the low carb high fat diet but if I eat full fat this n that won't I put weight on, my cholesterol is high as it is!! So sorry I feel so angry with myself for letting myself get like this in the first place

Click to expand...

Just to mention the breakfast of egg, bacon, mushroom and tomato. Not a green leaf in sight!

Cheese omelette is a good one as well, or scrambled eggs in butter.

The whole point of high fat is that it makes you feel full very quickly so you end up eating less. Strange when you think about it, but it seems to work for most people.

Fiona29 said:

I feel so angry with myself for letting myself get like this in the first place

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I can relate to that feeling, but then there's the bigger picture. A bit of anger at oneself can be helpful if you are the sort to find it motivational, but it's just as appropriate to get angry with the bad luck you've had - there will be millions of people in the world who can eat whatever they want all their lives, do as little activity as they want, and they'll be healthy all their lives. **** it!

Anyway re LCHF, like Rachox I'd say I've been more LCMF, but like a lot of people here, have found my cholesterol levels improved. Since you are currently in a state where too many carbs cause toxic blood glucose levels, you clearly have to monitor and reduce carbs, but you don't need to consciously increase fat so long as you start eating the sort of foods recommended on a LCHF diet. The way I see it, it only becomes important to ensure you are eating lots of fat if you don't want to lose weight.

Hi @Fiona29

Firstly please don't beat yourself up! This is not your fault and you are now in a position where you can control your BG and your weight through education, diet and exercise. I started LCHF immediately after diagnosis and have lost 3 stone. I started off eating full fat yoghurt, mayonnaise, double cream in coffee, cheese and nuts etc. My weight loss has stalled now so I have cut the fat intake and now eat less cheese, nuts etc but still allow myself cream in coffee once a day. There are lots of things you can eat - bacon, eggs, omelettes, fish, 'overground' veg, low carb soups, butternut squash lasagne, strawberries... the list goes on and on.
My cholesterol has gone up and I have been summoned by my GP - but I have prepared my case for not going on statins! On the plus side, my blood pressure is now very low so I am hoping she will reduce my medication for high blood pressure!
Please shout if you would like any recipes - I have been copying them from posts for months now. Today I had home made stilton and broccoli soup for lunch and it was yummy.

Oh Fiona, I don’t know if you’ve look for low carb ideas on tinternet but here are a few of my favourite websites for low carb recipes:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/recipes
https://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/
https://www.ditchthecarbs.com/

There are also 1000's of recipes on this website

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/recipes/

With all the advice to eat 'healthy' carbs how can anyone avoid the mantra of low fat is good?
Strange that when they want to fatten up livestock they feed them on carbs carbs and more carbs. Not a smidge of fat is included yet the animals fatten up nicely.
My diet is one to make a dietician weep - lots of meat and fish and cheese, eggs, shellfish - cream in my coffee, thought I do have lots of salads and quite a bit of veges as long as they are 10 percent or fewer carbs.
I have had to throw out all my recently bought clothes and either buy new or go into the back of my wardrobe to find smaller garments.

OK so you've had enough of the boring salads.
Let's work on the interesting ones.
Banish insipid lettuce - use rocket, kale, baby spinach, raw cabbage, vine leaves.
Use nut oils for dressing.

Hi @Fiona29 - here's the thread @Rachox mentioned https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/dont-involve-yourself-in-the-blame-game.21894/ Whenever I hear the little demon on my left shoulder start muttering 'it's all your fault', I read through it which helps a lot. I'm sure most of us have heard that voice at some time but, as you will see from the thread, there are so many outside factors that come into play.

We are so indoctrinated by the high fat is bad, low fat is good that it can be very difficult to get over that message, and I found it a struggle at first. Cream in coffee (or rather coffee in cream sometimes...!)? Butter on everything? Cheese galore? Sacrilege to the low-fat brigade! The idea that fat is bad has been pushed for so long but a read through the Forum and of course this thread shows many who have gone against this doctrine and have lost weight, have normal cholesterol, bg and bp.

The recipe links above are really worth clicking on. Easter Sunday saw me having two hot cross buns (low carb!), a couple of pieces of choc fat bomb (there are various recipes for these), a salad with anchovies, grilled halloumi, cherry toms, baby spinach and celery with oil and vinegar dressing. three cups of coffee with cream, and scrambled egg. I wish you good recipe hunting!