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Giving LCHF consideration...

optimistic_ginger

optimistic_ginger

Member
Messages
10
Location
Newcastle upon Tyne
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Non-insulin injectable medication (incretin mimetics)
Dislikes
celery, housework
Hi,

This is going to be a lengthy post I think, I hope you don't mind...

I'm type 2 of 6 1/2 years, I was just on metformin and had non-diabetic A1cs until about 2 years ago, despite a persistent chocolate habit (like 300g a day, most days, and sweets). I'm now on exenatide, my BMI has dropped from 40 to 36 with the reduced appetite related to the exenatide. My HbA1c has dropped from 65 to 57 from last summer to last month. My fasting BMs vary from about 8 to a shocking 15 yesterday morning, depending on my diet and exercise the day before. My post exenatide meals BMs vary from about 5.0 to 9.0 depending on the meal and pre-prandial BM.

I love carbs, It's like a hug on the inside! When I'm tired or feeling anxious or busy I turn to carbs. Because of the diabetes carbs act like a sedative; if I'm really stressed then I can eat a bag of sweets and I'll pass out for a couple of hours. I am becoming increasingly aware that I love carbs but carbs do not love me. I guess I could consider that I have a carbohydrate intolerance. That's type 2 diabetes isn't it? In the past for weight loss I have tried the Atkins, South Beach and Cambridge diets. I did briefly go ketogenic on the Cambridge diet. I've been dieting since I was 12 and find it hard to get my head around the high fat aspect (I understand the science and think it makes sense, it's just my gut reaction hasn't caught up yet).

I don't want to go very low carb/ketogenic, it won't suit my lifestyle (I eat with friends a lot and like an occasional beer or 2) and I'm certain it would make me miserable. I guess my main question is, as long as I do reduce my carbs, is it safe to increase the fat content of my food or is that a recipe for weight gain? Does the fact that I will almost certainly break and have sweets from time to time (I'm an emotional eater with a tendency towards self destruction and I'm coming out of a very difficult couple of years) change anything?

Thanks in advance for your guidance folks.
 
Hi, welcome. LCHF shouldn't cause weight gain because of the fat, but just be conscious of the calories.

For your long term health you really should reduce your carbs and drop the sweets. Binging on carbs and sweets and passing out is not good. Your fasting levels are too high and if you carry on your 'lifestyle' which you claim to like will become a different 'lifestyle' which you won't like at all.

Well done for giving your situation some thought but you have some serious decisions to make.

Keep posting and you will get support on here.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum,

I had to look up Exenatide as I've never heard of it.

If you are considering LCHF then have a look at this which may help you. http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/a-new-low-carb-guide-for-beginners.68695/

You say you are worried that higher fat will make you gain weight. It won't ...... PROVIDING you reduce your carbs. If you have a lot of carbs and increase your fat, you will gain weight fairly quickly. So you have a choice. It is all about balance.

You have kept your levels down to non-diabetic levels before, so you can do it again. It does require will power and effort. There are some people on here that had eating problems such as you describe. @Brunneria is one of them. Hopefully she will see this and comment.

Carbs can be very pleasant comfort foods, but so can low carb options. I find mine is a coffee with cream in or some berries with cream or yogurt.

I believe you know what needs to be done, so stick around on here as you will receive a lot of help and support.
 
Thank you both, I know I have some serious decisions to make. Last year I had infection after infection that left me admitted to hospital with suspected meningitis (it was actually flu, despite having had the flu jab), I was referred to the infectious diseases department and they said that my immune system is fine, it was just my poorly controlled diabetes causing my infections. It gave me a glimpse of how much damage I am actually doing to myself. I was being a bit facetious in my above post, maybe that's something I need to think about too...
 
I was addicted to carbs for years, but when I cut right down on them and omitted all sugary foods, I had about a week of cold turkey and then it settled down and I can honestly say that I don't miss them at all.
Carb foods look brown, boring and tasteless.
One of the things that has helped me is finding alternative treats that are allowed. For me this has been berries with thick cream, a cooked breakfast, trying lots of different cheeses, changing to butter instead of marg . . . .You need to find your own treats.
The consequences of uncontrolled diabetes are enough motivation to change our eating habits. Don't kid yourself that you will get away with high readings. Please please listen to the advice on this site.
 
Back now, so can answer properly. :D

It sounds like you and I have a LOT in common. My choc habit is legendary, amongst my friends. A family bar of dairy milk was a light snackette, for much of my life. ;)

And, like you, I've tried a thousand different diets and eating plans... But in 30+ yrs the best has always been low carbing. I've been generally low carbing for most of that time, basically because carbs are delicious, addictive, and make me feel so rough. If it isn't heartburn and flatulence, it's bloating, apathy, fatigue, brain fog, sleepiness and cravings. Emotional eating. Depression. Weepyniss. Full scale addiction and cravings. The low carbing made things better, but never great. Then every so often, I would try something else (calorie counting, or low fat, or cabbages, or... ) but they would make me feel worse than low carb, because reducing carbs made me feel better. So I would return to low carb. I also got regular low blood sugar episodes, long before developing diabetes, but that is another story.

Anyway, long story short, the best I have ever felt in my adult life has been this last year since I cut the carbs really low. Between 10 and 50g carbs a day. Sometimes a high as 80g, although I usually start feeling worse and cut back sharply.

So why tell you all this?
Basically, IF you are like me (and you may not be), then the more you cut down carbs, the better, and less addicted you will feel. And if you cut down to a low enough level, the cravings will ease up and disappear.
IF you are like me. :)

And I really can't describe how wonderful it is to wake up one day and realise that the ever-present jiggly preoccupation with the next portion of bread, pasta, chocolate or potato has completely disappeared!

It's very liberating.

So my experience is that reducing carbs works best if you are willing to reduce them until you are under your own personal carb threshold (which is the point at which the negative symptoms, and cravings disappear).

I have no idea what your personal carb threshold is, and whether you can keep below it while maintaining your social life...
Although I have to say, since I went ketogenic, I have been amazed how disinterested other people are in my food choices. No potato? Ok. No pud? No worries. They really don't care - if they even notice!
 
Well said Brunneria!

By the way, I used to have lots of low blood sugar episodes too, and could never get any sense from the doctors on it. Eventually they let me have a meter, and even free strips sometimes.
Over time, the glycaemic index appeared and this was a break through for me; then I moved on to glycaemic load, and now, since being type 2 and finding this forum, I am on low carbs and moderate fat.
I can't believe that I am eating so few carbs after all my years of dependency on them, and like you Brunneria, I have found it very liberating. I'm longer thinking about when the next meal is or craving snacks. I have my lunch when I feel like it, not because I'm feeling hypo.
 
nancyb said:
Well said Brunneria!

By the way, I used to have lots of low blood sugar episodes too, and could never get any sense from the doctors on it. Eventually they let me have a meter, and even free strips sometimes.
Over time, the glycaemic index appeared and this was a break through for me; then I moved on to glycaemic load, and now, since being type 2 and finding this forum, I am on low carbs and moderate fat.
I can't believe that I am eating so few carbs after all my years of dependency on them, and like you Brunneria, I have found it very liberating. I'm longer thinking about when the next meal is or craving snacks. I have my lunch when I feel like it, not because I'm feeling hypo.
Click to expand...
Hi @nancyb

Have you seen this thread yet?
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/thr...orum-section-on-reactive-hypoglycaemia.65454/
You may find it interesting...

Sorry folks, that was off topic - your normal programming will now resume! ;)
 
Thank you Brunneria, you're an inspiration. And thanks everyone, for your wise words and support.

I went overboard after I posted on here, freaked out, couldn't think what to eat and ended up binging on chocolate pretty badly for a few days. So what I've done since is cut out the sweets and chocolate, I'm on day 4, I've had pretty bad withdrawals but it seems to be passing off now. My blood sugars have come down nicely, my morning BM was 7.9, not been that low for a while. And my energy is starting to come back, in fact I'm going out for my first run of the year shortly. I've made it to 4 days off the sugar with fairly intensive support from my friends, that's new, actually asking for help and for congratulations. I think I'm going to persevere with not eating the bad stuff and be conscious of keeping my carb intake low, then maybe work up to low carb over time. I'll hang out on the type 2 forum for now, head back over here if and when I'm ready to give this a better shot. One thing at a time right?

Thanks again everyone
Liz
 
Oh, well done!
And thank you. :happy:
Hope you enjoyed your run, and see you around... :D
 
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optimistic_ginger said:
Thank you Brunneria, you're an inspiration. And thanks everyone, for your wise words and support.

I went overboard after I posted on here, freaked out, couldn't think what to eat and ended up binging on chocolate pretty badly for a few days. So what I've done since is cut out the sweets and chocolate, I'm on day 4, I've had pretty bad withdrawals but it seems to be passing off now. My blood sugars have come down nicely, my morning BM was 7.9, not been that low for a while. And my energy is starting to come back, in fact I'm going out for my first run of the year shortly. I've made it to 4 days off the sugar with fairly intensive support from my friends, that's new, actually asking for help and for congratulations. I think I'm going to persevere with not eating the bad stuff and be conscious of keeping my carb intake low, then maybe work up to low carb over time. I'll hang out on the type 2 forum for now, head back over here if and when I'm ready to give this a better shot. One thing at a time right?

Thanks again everyone
Liz
Click to expand...

Well done for making a great start. And, what a lovely post.
 
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