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Food Portions

derry60

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,200
Location
Bridlington Yorkshire
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Rudeness,people being unkind
Hi there,

I am new to this forum and have been told by my doctor that I am pre diabetic. As with everybody else you can imagine how this frightened me. I had a heart attack 12 years ago and lived very healthy. Well the last two years I have been a little bit of a naughty lady and ate things that perhaps I should of cut back on. I am pretty clued up on food, what is good and what is bad, but it is always good to gain more knowledge. The question that I want to ask is. I was looking at the 30 day plan Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner menu. One particular menu was lamb cutlets and onions, peppers. The menu was for 6 people, which meant one lamb cutlet each with a few peppers and onions. I noticed that at the end of the cooking that there was not an option for extra added vegetables, this seems to be the case on a lot of recipes on the menus. Surely one lamb cutlet and a few onions and peppers will leave people hungry. 2 peppers between six people, and one onion. I would of thought adding broccoli and green beans would not spoil the diet. Or am I taking the menu to literally? Any advice?
 
Many people are guided by their meter readings rather than recipes or portions sizes - personally I could not add the green beans you suggest as they seem to increase my blood glucose disproportionality to their carb content, which is the case for all legumes, but the cauliflower would not be a problem.
Everyone reacts differently to various foods, and having a blood glucose meter seems to help a lot when sorting out what can and can't be eaten.
You might be surprised at what is regarded as healthy here on the forum - many foods which are pushed as essential to good health are avoided and some are embraced - such as fats.
 
 
This would not be enough for me I would add as many vegetables as to get full or salad followed by cheeses or berries and yoghurt (full fat Greek).
 
Thank you so much for your reply Resurgam. Well I never knew that Green Beans could up somebody who is diabetic BG. It all seam's very daunting when we are told even by the NHS what to eat only to find that in some people it can have an adverse effect on their BG. The thing is also because I had a heart attack 12 years ago I have to eat what is good for my heart also. I think that I am going to have to get a BG monitor. I have limited my carbs I am eating mainly meats fish fruit, quinoa,cous cous. I am measuring out the complex carbs, I have given up eating bread but some recipes suggest Rye bread is best, one slice.
 
The trick is to determine a portion size that does not overload you, but at the same time dies not leave you wanting. It comes with practice and patience. As a rule of thumb, I measure most foods by the size of my palm. It fills me up without the need to have more. It works for me.
 
I have to agree Mbaker. I would be very hungry if I went by some of the recipes on the 30 day meal plan. I am confused though because on the NHS or UK Diabetic forum it is telling people that no fruit is off limits,or vegetables but must cut back on carbs,lower portion sizes,keep away from the white carbs which I have always done as I prefer complex carbs.
 
 
I have actually bought measuring cups from Ebay,they are controlled portion sizes. To be honest my family laugh at the portions size especially the carb one, very small indeed but recommended
 
I can manage the Lidl protein rolls, but legumes, seeds and all grains are pretty much out for me, and potatoes and other starchy vegetables, citrus fruits too, but I do find that the low carb way of eating suits me very well.
The diabetes education sessions were pretty much a deal loss for me - except the third one where they gave out the results of the second blood test and my doing Atkins had dropped my Hba1c down below diabetic. Some of the others on the course were looking so ill that I really wanted to tell them about low carb, but that was not allowed.
Dr Atkins was not a weight loss specialist he was a cardiologist - I use his 'New Diet Revolution' books, not the later Atkins Corporation publications and feel so much better than I was last year.
 
This alternative site to the main stream site, is internationally more popular for good reason - outcomes. For me with an initial 134 HbA1c, this was life threatening.

It does get confusing because how can the weight of the NHS and others such as the British Heart Foundation be wrong. The proof is that under the current guidelines symptoms are masked. Under the experiences on this site the conditions can be managed with either diet, diet and exercise and or intermittent fasting.
 
Mbaker.. I understand what you mean. No size fits all kind of thinking. Well I am glad that I have found this site and hoping to gets lots of good advice. Hope that I can be of help to others also. Thank you for your replies Mbaker
 
derry60 said:
Mbaker.. I understand what you mean. No size fits all kind of thinking. Well I am glad that I have found this site and hoping to gets lots of good advice. Hope that I can be of help to others also. Thank you for your replies Mbaker
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You will be best served by getting a meter. Testing before and after meals will show you which foods and which portion sizes your body reacts to. You can then adjust your own diet to suit what your meter tells you.

You mentioned fruit. Most fruit is particularly bad for T2 diabetics and for those heading in that direction. This is because they contain fructose, which as soon as eaten goes straight to the liver for processing. Like alcohol does. It is a long story I won't bother you with now, but safe to say this contributes significantly to fatty liver. (Non-alcoholic fatty liver) Fatty livers are not good for anyone, and particularly T2 diabetics. I am talking large and frequent portions of fruit here.

Apart from fructose, fruits also contain sugar, some more than others. The best and safest ones to eat are berries, with either cream or full fat yogurts and eaten as a dessert with a meal rather than a snack.

It is all a huge learning curve, but I suggest you read round this forum and this website diabetes.co.uk rather than the other one diabetes.org which is entirely different and promotes carbs.
 
 
I have always thought the portion size depends on what you intend to do with the fuel you are putting in your body.
The size of meal I eat when I have come back from an 8 hour hike is much higher than the size after a day sitting at my computer.
 
helensaramay said:
I have always thought the portion size depends on what you intend to do with the fuel you are putting in your body.
The size of meal I eat when I have come back from an 8 hour hike is much higher than the size after a day sitting at my computer.
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A meter will tell you. Some find strenuous exercise pushes up levels (it does with me) whilst more gentle exercise lowers them. If your levels are high before you eat they will be even higher after your meal. Without a meter you will be working blind.

I would have thought you need the fuel for your hike before you have the hike, not afterwards!
 
Really Bluetit? I love my fruit. Although what I have been eating is blackberries, Strawberries , raspberries' with low sugar and low fat yogurt, How about bananas? I also read that sweet potatoes actually lower the BG. Berries are abundance in the summer, meaning fresh ones but in the winter can only get tinned or frozen and not keen.I read that fruit did not have an impact on BG because of natural sugars. I have an appointment with the Nurse on the 12th July and she will be giving me diet advice, but I feel that she is going to tell me to eat all the things that the NHS suggests, yet these things could make my prediabetes worse. Yes I will certainly get a BG monitor, think I need one. What on earth do you eat for a little snack if you are peckish? lol
 
 
Strenuous exercise pushes up BG levels,ahh some good news at last Seriously I have heard that, or perhaps read it somewhere else. They recommended walking. Even a little jiggle as you are doing housework helps apparently
 
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