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First week on Low Carbs

S

Salvia

Well-Known Member
Messages
811
Location
West Midlands, UK
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi folks,

I joined the forum a week ago, after spending time browsing around on and off over the past 3 months or so, (more off than on I regret to say). My GP had told me last November that I was prediabetic, but not to worry – so I didn’t. But reading the information, advice and support that is given so freely here, I realized diabetes wasn’t something I should take lightly, not if I want to avoid becoming T2 and/or on meds for years. So I bought myself a meter, joined the forum, and have just started testing this past week. A bit sporadic, and I’m not sure what this is telling me, but this is my record for the week:

Waking readings: 5.9 - 7.2
Breakfast: 6.5 - 7.0: 1 hr after; 6.1 - 7.0: 2 hrs after (only 3 days)
Lunch: 6.2 - 11.9: 1 hr after; 5.4 - 6.6: 2 hrs after
Dinner: 6.8 - 10.0: 1 hr after; 6.3 - 9.2: 2 hrs after

I did the 1hr and 2hr readings because there’s some advice on here about finding when the spikes happen, and what causes them. These numbers don’t seem too bad, but they’re over the recommended levels so I guess I have some work to do. Tues looks the worst day, (highs of 11.9 & 10.0) but that’s because I was testing to see what happens if I have mousse and banana. On reflection perhaps I should have just carried on with my ‘normal’ diet to see what it was doing to my blood sugars but too late now. :rolleyes:

I’ve only had breakfast 3 days, because I don’t normally have anything till about 2-3p.m., so had to force myself to eat. It felt bloated afterwards for quite a long time (eggs scrambled or poached). Is this something that’s a must for people watching their BG levels? Can I safely give breakfast a miss most days?

Lunch time food has been ham, salmon, sardines with salad, and similar in the evenings with chicken, pork loin, cheese, again with salad. A bit restricted but I don’t know what I’m doing yet.

I did manage to drink 2 litres of water on one day, but the other days have been between 1-2 litres.

One thing that is worrying me though. Since Thursday I’ve been feeling lightheaded and “fuzzy”. Today it’s been particularly bad, so I’ve had a banana to see if it’s the lack of carbs and change from normally eating bread and pots, and biscuits, to none. Could that be the reason? Had the banana at 5.30p.m. and I still feel dizzy. :(

Would welcome any thoughts, on my numbers as well as the lightheadedness.


Salvia
 
Changing your diet from high carb to low carb could be causing your light-headedness. You should become adjusted to less carbs after a week or so. If you''re not hungry in the morning, you can skip breakfast. No need to worry about how much water you drink. If you feel like drinking water, drink some water, if not don't worry about it. It's probably not a good idea to eat high carb foods while you are adjusting. That will just prolong the adjustment period.
 
Thanks for the advice NoCrbs4Me, and for the reassurance. I wondered if the light headed feeling was because of the change from high carb to very little, that's why I had the banana, but it didn't seem to have any effect. I hope that the dizzyness is because of the change in diet, and nothing to worry about. Hopefully it will pass in a day or so.
 
Salvia said:
Waking readings: 5.9 - 7.2
Breakfast: 6.5 - 7.0: 1 hr after; 6.1 - 7.0: 2 hrs after (only 3 days)
Lunch: 6.2 - 11.9: 1 hr after; 5.4 - 6.6: 2 hrs after
Dinner: 6.8 - 10.0: 1 hr after; 6.3 - 9.2: 2 hrs after
Click to expand...

Yes these are definitely pre-diabetic numbers. A non-diabetic person will usually have waking numbers in the 4.0-6.0 range and be able to maintain well within 7.8 mmol after meals.

This study shows how effective a little carbs reduction can be to normalize the blood glucose level.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4063858/
 
Hi @Salvia and welcome to the forum. Well done for finding this forum and taking action now while you are still pre-diabetic. I wish I had, and could have avoided becoming diabetic. There is a lot of good advice on here. As @NoCrbs4Me says your lightheadedness might be due to carb flu, and will probably pass once your body adapts to low carb eating.
I don't eat breakfast usually, I don't think it makes any difference to my BG levels.
 
You can definitely miss out breakfast and that will help you get into an intermittent fasting mode which seems to help some of us too by giving our livers a rest from insulin production. The reduced eating window is where you eat in an 8 hour window and don't eat for the other 16 hours in the day. Have you stopped drinking tea or coffee as well? you don't need to and it may cause the lightheadedness too? Keep it up it all becomes much easier as you see what causes your sugar to spike and avoid those foods. Good luck you can do it!
Regards
Mark
 
I am writing this from a long term low-carber perspective. I know a lot about low carbing. What you are describing is classic Low Carb flu. It comes about because when you get to below, say 40g carbs a day, the diet is a natural diuretic, you will probably notice that you are peeing more. When I am down to my normal 20g a day I usually need 3 pees a night (tmi I know, but it's relevant). So I do try to incorporate plenty of clear fluids, weak black tea, herbal tea, water etc. You can check if you are getting enough fluids by the colour of your pee, it needs to stay very pale 'normal' looking. Too dark and you are dehydrated. But the other thing you are losing is salt, and you need to replace it. I use natural sea salt, from the salt pans on the West coast of France. As well as Sodiun Chloride (salt) it contains as many as 80 different trace elements that are good for health. There is no need to restrict it, it is a 'health food' use this liberally in cooking and on the table, and if I get at all light headed (don't now, fully adapted to LCHF) I simply put half a teaspoonful in a glass of water, with a squeeze of lemon and drink it, another alternative is just to dissolve an oxo in water and drink that. You can buy natural, unrefined, grey sea salt from Holland and Barrett, I think, if you're not planning a trip to the Ile De Re any time soon! Or if all else fails, most supermarkets sell Himalayan Pink Salt, also good, or Celtic Sea salt. It needs to be unrefined.

If I was you, personally, I'd go strict low carb till all your readings are normal, then gradually introduce slightly higher carb stuff until your meter tells you you've gone too far, then cut back. Most importantly, experiment with low carb cooking / food to make it interesting and flavoursome, this needs to be something you can do for life, not just for a short time. If you don't want a meal, just skip it, I only ever have 2 meals a day (in my case breakfast and dinner) because lacks of peaks and troughs in BG / insulin levels eliminates hunger (another big advantage of LCHF).

Good luck.
 
bulkbiker said:
You can definitely miss out breakfast and that will help you get into an intermittent fasting mode which seems to help some of us too by giving our livers a rest from insulin production. The reduced eating window is where you eat in an 8 hour window and don't eat for the other 16 hours in the day. Have you stopped drinking tea or coffee as well? you don't need to and it may cause the lightheadedness too? Keep it up it all becomes much easier as you see what causes your sugar to spike and avoid those foods. Good luck you can do it!
Regards
Mark
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for this info @Mark, the fasting mode is something I'll really look into, coz I don't normally eat very early anyway and it would fit in quite well with my normal life patterns. I haven't exactly given up tea or coffe; it's just that in trying to drink so much water I didn't very often feel like having a cup of tea, so I can see that the sudden absence of the caffeine might be the reason. I'll keep that in mind as well. Thanks for you well-wishes
 
Last edited by a moderator:
AtkinsMo said:
I am writing this from a long term low-carber perspective. I know a lot about low carbing. What you are describing is classic Low Carb flu. It comes about because when you get to below, say 40g carbs a day, the diet is a natural diuretic, you will probably notice that you are peeing more. When I am down to my normal 20g a day I usually need 3 pees a night (tmi I know, but it's relevant). So I do try to incorporate plenty of clear fluids, weak black tea, herbal tea, water etc. You can check if you are getting enough fluids by the colour of your pee, it needs to stay very pale 'normal' looking. Too dark and you are dehydrated. But the other thing you are losing is salt, and you need to replace it. I use natural sea salt, from the salt pans on the West coast of France. As well as Sodiun Chloride (salt) it contains as many as 80 different trace elements that are good for health. There is no need to restrict it, it is a 'health food' use this liberally in cooking and on the table, and if I get at all light headed (don't now, fully adapted to LCHF) I simply put half a teaspoonful in a glass of water, with a squeeze of lemon and drink it, another alternative is just to dissolve an oxo in water and drink that. You can buy natural, unrefined, grey sea salt from Holland and Barrett, I think, if you're not planning a trip to the Ile De Re any time soon! Or if all else fails, most supermarkets sell Himalayan Pink Salt, also good, or Celtic Sea salt. It needs to be unrefined.

If I was you, personally, I'd go strict low carb till all your readings are normal, then gradually introduce slightly higher carb stuff until your meter tells you you've gone too far, then cut back. Most importantly, experiment with low carb cooking / food to make it interesting and flavoursome, this needs to be something you can do for life, not just for a short time. If you don't want a meal, just skip it, I only ever have 2 meals a day (in my case breakfast and dinner) because lacks of peaks and troughs in BG / insulin levels eliminates hunger (another big advantage of LCHF).

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your very full and helpful advice @AtkinsMo; there's plenty there for me to follow up on - and I shall do so; no point asking for advice and then ignoring it.

I stopped adding salt to food years ago, so adding this now will be a new thing for me, I can only try it and see.

Will carry on with the low carbs and see how I go. I've seen plenty of recipes on the site and I plan to try out a few of those, once I've got into some sort of rhythm and feel a bit more confident about things.

Cheers
 
Last edited by a moderator:
britishpub said:
I think this is the best advice you can offer someone starting out on the LC journey.

Just concentrate on cutting the Carbs for few weeks, rather than delaying the effects by trying to find out what you can or can't eat, or trying to find substitutes for high carb treats.

Get the control that Low Carbing offers first, and then from that position of strength you can start to experiment.
Click to expand...


Many thanks @britishpub, will do
 
Some statements here are confusing me.
I have seen statements from reputable organisations that if one has diabetes it is important to eat many small meals a day (6) I never ate breakfast before but now I have.
Is it OK to fast?
I googled and found this:....sooo confusing!
http://www.everydayhealth.com/diabetes/fasting-safely-with-diabetes.aspx
http://www.dietdoctor.com/new-study-low-carb-diet-intermittent-fasting-beneficial-diabetics
http://www.drwhitaker.com/reverse-diabetes-with-the-mini-fast-program/
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/ramadan
 
nelibonsai said:
Some statements here are confusing me.
I have seen statements from reputable organisations that if one has diabetes it is important to eat many small meals a day (6) I never ate breakfast before but now I have.
Is it OK to fast?
I googled and found this:....sooo confusing!
http://www.everydayhealth.com/diabetes/fasting-safely-with-diabetes.aspx
http://www.dietdoctor.com/new-study-low-carb-diet-intermittent-fasting-beneficial-diabetics
http://www.drwhitaker.com/reverse-diabetes-with-the-mini-fast-program/
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/ramadan
Click to expand...
Hi
Yes its fine to fast. The so called reputable organisations often recommend eating carbs at every meal too but a lot of us find that does not help with blood sugar control at all.. Check out some of the Jason Fung videos on youtube I quite often do 48 hour fasts with no ill effects and get lower than usual blood sugar numbers. Give it a try you might like it.
 
The mixed messages are because the two approaches to managing diabetes come from opposite perspectives. If you are eating carbs, then dividing the total amount of carbs in a day and spreading them evenly over the day will help to flatten out blood glucose peaks and troughs somewhat.

If you are not eating significant amounts of carbs, you will eliminate blood glucose spikes and the most recent research is saying that restricting any eating to say, an 8 hour period in a day, improves fasting blood glucose. Lots and lots of people on here notice that effect. Personally I eat only breakfast and dinner, only eat when I am hungry, and reduce portion sizes. That works for me. Oh, and I forgot to mention, strictly Low Carb High Fat.
 
bulkbiker said:
Hi
Yes its fine to fast. The so called reputable organisations often recommend eating carbs at every meal too but a lot of us find that does not help with blood sugar control at all.. Check out some of the Jason Fung videos on youtube I quite often do 48 hour fasts with no ill effects and get lower than usual blood sugar numbers. Give it a try you might like it.
Click to expand...
Thanks ! I went and searched fasting and found lots of info. Going to try it for sure.
 
AtkinsMo said:
The mixed messages are because the two approaches to managing diabetes come from opposite perspectives. If you are eating carbs, then dividing the total amount of carbs in a day and spreading them evenly over the day will help to flatten out blood glucose peaks and troughs somewhat.

If you are not eating significant amounts of carbs, you will eliminate blood glucose spikes and the most recent research is saying that restricting any eating to say, an 8 hour period in a day, improves fasting blood glucose. Lots and lots of people on here notice that effect. Personally I eat only breakfast and dinner, only eat when I am hungry, and reduce portion sizes. That works for me. Oh, and I forgot to mention, strictly Low Carb High Fat.
Click to expand...
Thanks. going to try no breakfast and late lunch. I am already on low carby diet. I am prediabetic but dont want to progress. Should I go bellow 100 carbs a day?
 
Personally I avoid all 'obvious' carbs, all flour / grains, white potatoes, pasta, rice, fruit, sugar (obviously) and carby fruit, it really depends how low you want to go. For me it resolved numerous health issues (high Blood pressure, GERD, irritable bowel, excess weight), as well as resolving 'pre-diabetic' HbA1c.
 
nelibonsai said:
Thanks. going to try no breakfast and late lunch. I am already on low carby diet. I am prediabetic but dont want to progress. Should I go bellow 100 carbs a day?
Click to expand...
Personally like @AtkinsMo I try and go very low carb just eating salad stuff and green leaf veg with some cauli but mainly meats and fats. Snack on pork scratchings and a few nuts. I try and avoid anything starchy and anything with more than 3% carbs even to the extent that I have soya milk and double cream in coffee rather than milk.
 
bulkbiker said:
Personally like @AtkinsMo I try and go very low carb just eating salad stuff and green leaf veg with some cauli but mainly meats and fats. Snack on pork scratchings and a few nuts. I try and avoid anything starchy and anything with more than 3% carbs even to the extent that I have soya milk and double cream in coffee rather than milk.
Click to expand...
Same here. Tried today 30 carbs for the whole day and cooked myself ( he he he not my cook) and it was nice and feeling. Left his food since it was not low carb enough for me. will have to teach him new recipes. Wondering only about cholesterol now.
 
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