Has LCHF/diabetes changed where/how you shop?

[Rosbif]

I am in the same boat as you having been diagnosed as pre diabetic and at high risk of developing type 2 etc. I occasionally allow myself a treat and find it doesn't affect my bg half as much as I thought it would but the outstanding thing I notice is that even though I think I am desperate for something like maybe an ice cream or cake, ...when I actually eat it, it is a huge disappointment and doesn't ''hit the spot'' like I thought they would. There are so many things I used to love but now wouldn't even bother buying as a rare treat. A lot of the longings and cravings are more in the mind than actually needed or really wanted. Even though I am 'prediabetic' I eat pretty much LCHF and am delighted with the results of that. I get what you say about being ''too tired to cook''...that's where cooking up one big batch and freezing it comes into it's own....doesn't take long to cook and is so easy to take out of the freezer ready to eat later in the week

I see where you're coming from. And I'm starting to become a little bit more choosy about what I'm willing to break my diet for.
I've been an emotional eater all my life, starting from teenagehood where I'd smuggle bags of sweets into my room and binge on them on the sly, to university where I would binge on six doughnuts at a time in response to a period of depression, to working life when during a particularly difficult period in my old job I'd spend evenings on the sofa with a huge pizza and a tub of ice cream, etc etc etc. I'm surprised I'm still alive!
I'll have to start batch cooking, it would make things easier!

 

[Gezzabelle]

I see where you're coming from. And I'm starting to become a little bit more choosy about what I'm willing to break my diet for.
I've been an emotional eater all my life, starting from teenagehood where I'd smuggle bags of sweets into my room and binge on them on the sly, to university where I would binge on six doughnuts at a time in response to a period of depression, to working life when during a particularly difficult period in my old job I'd spend evenings on the sofa with a huge pizza and a tub of ice cream, etc etc etc. I'm surprised I'm still alive!
I'll have to start batch cooking, it would make things easier!

You have obviously been through some tough times and should be proud of yourself for the way you are coping with the prediabetes. It isn't easy to take on board all the changes and restrictions and it is all too easy to think...''oh well...I'm only PRE diabetic so I can cheat more''. Keep on the path you're on now and always remember there are a lot of people here to help at any time.

 

[Chook]

I see where you're coming from. And I'm starting to become a little bit more choosy about what I'm willing to break my diet for.
I've been an emotional eater all my life, starting from teenagehood where I'd smuggle bags of sweets into my room and binge on them on the sly, to university where I would binge on six doughnuts at a time in response to a period of depression, to working life when during a particularly difficult period in my old job I'd spend evenings on the sofa with a huge pizza and a tub of ice cream, etc etc etc. I'm surprised I'm still alive!
I'll have to start batch cooking, it would make things easier!

OMG, that's amazing! You've just described my old life!

The only difference is that I'm already doing the batch cooking.

I find a lot of things too sweet nowadays. I had a juicy strawberry a few weeks ago and it tasted much too sweet - almost artificial somehow. I get my sweet fix (occasionally) from 75% or above chocolate now, which no longer tastes bitter to me like it used to.

 

[Gezzabelle]

OMG, that's amazing! You've just described my old life!

The only difference is that I'm already doing the batch cooking.

I find a lot of things too sweet nowadays. I had a juicy strawberry a few weeks ago and it tasted much too sweet - almost artificial somehow. I get my sweet fix (occasionally) from 75% or above chocolate now, which no longer tastes bitter to me like it used to.

Funny that...it's exactly that way for me too.....everything is too sweet now and bitter tastes perfect. I dipped my little finger in the juice of some baked beans as I thought I missed eating them now but almost gagged at the sweetness of it. Amazing how things change

 

[Rosbif]

You have obviously been through some tough times and should be proud of yourself for the way you are coping with the prediabetes. It isn't easy to take on board all the changes and restrictions and it is all too easy to think...''oh well...I'm only PRE diabetic so I can cheat more''. Keep on the path you're on now and always remember there are a lot of people here to help at any time.

Thanks for the encouragement!

 

[Rosbif]

OMG, that's amazing! You've just described my old life!

The only difference is that I'm already doing the batch cooking.

I find a lot of things too sweet nowadays. I had a juicy strawberry a few weeks ago and it tasted much too sweet - almost artificial somehow. I get my sweet fix (occasionally) from 75% or above chocolate now, which no longer tastes bitter to me like it used to.

It's great you managed to turn things around!

I had an apple yesterday and then an orange this morning which I also found very sweet. I suppose when our tastebuds aren't being bombarded with added sugar we can distinguish natural sweetness very easily.

 

[Chook]

Funny that...it's exactly that way for me too.....everything is too sweet now and bitter tastes perfect. I dipped my little finger in the juice of some baked beans as I thought I missed eating them now but almost gagged at the sweetness of it. Amazing how things change

I know what you means about baked beans. I work in a care home where they have baked beans a lot and you can smell the sweetness in the air.... I got a really strange look when I said the beans smelled sweet.

 

[Kyi]

It is really weird the way once you have cut out the sugar you go to oh wow thats so yuck when you have something that is sweet. Before you have been on a sugar free period you wonder how on earth you can eat stuff without sugar. Its way easier than you think once you have rediscovered your taste buds. I now think that milk tastes sweet too.
I have emergency soup in the fridge. I make up a batch at the weekend from all the left over vegs that havent been used up with some stock have it whenever Im too lazy to cook and it warms in the microwave.

 

[Chook]

It's great you managed to turn things around!

I had an apple yesterday and then an orange this morning which I also found very sweet. I suppose when our tastebuds aren't being bombarded with added sugar we can distinguish natural sweetness very easily.

I think you are exactly right. I don't know when it happened precisely but I do remember about two months after starting low carb that some things that hadn't been sweet before then seemed sweeter than they should, especially vegetables.

 

[Chook]

It is really weird the way once you have cut out the sugar you go to oh wow thats so yuck when you have something that is sweet. Before you have been on a sugar free period you wonder how on earth you can eat stuff without sugar. Its way easier than you think once you have rediscovered your taste buds. I now think that milk tastes sweet too.
I have emergency soup in the fridge. I make up a batch at the weekend from all the left over vegs that havent been used up with some stock have it whenever Im too lazy to cook and it warms in the microwave.

Yes, milk tastes very sweet. I can't believe that (before LC)I used to have a mug of hot milk with honey before going to bed. Yuck!

 

[Brunneria]

Hi

You've been mentioning emotional eating. And it is very very real. But it also often goes hand in hand with reactive hypoglycaemia , which you may find interesting. When i sorted the RH out, the 'emotional eating' vaporised too.

Basically, stress and upset causes bg to dip lower than usual. This triggers physical carb cravings as well as emotional ones. Then, your bg peaks, drops, and triggers a reactive low, leading to a cycle of food binges.

We have a reactive hypoglycaemia section of the forum if that is ringing any bells.

 

[donnellysdogs]

Big freezer now needed for Tesco frozen avocado's since reading they were being sold on this forum. Rarely go to Tesco but had to for these and they are brilliant!!
I go to Lidl and Waitrose but also asian and eastern shops for things like nuts, dates and coconut oil.
Also buy a lot of rice flour, coconut flour, etc over the internet but have to buy small qtys due to some short shelf life dates on these "non flour" flours.

When I talk about shopping-I confess.. I hate it so hubby goes 99% of the time....

 

[Rosbif]

Hi

You've been mentioning emotional eating. And it is very very real. But it also often goes hand in hand with reactive hypoglycaemia , which you may find interesting. When i sorted the RH out, the 'emotional eating' vaporised too.

Basically, stress and upset causes bg to dip lower than usual. This triggers physical carb cravings as well as emotional ones. Then, your bg peaks, drops, and triggers a reactive low, leading to a cycle of food binges.

We have a reactive hypoglycaemia section of the forum if that is ringing any bells.

Hi,
I've never heard of that and it makes sense. I can see underneath your post that you have type 2? So you get excessive highs AND lows? I'm definitely doing a lot better on low carb although I have to be careful not to let my energy levels run too low in the late afternoon.

 

[Rosbif]

It is really weird the way once you have cut out the sugar you go to oh wow thats so yuck when you have something that is sweet. Before you have been on a sugar free period you wonder how on earth you can eat stuff without sugar. Its way easier than you think once you have rediscovered your taste buds. I now think that milk tastes sweet too.
I have emergency soup in the fridge. I make up a batch at the weekend from all the left over vegs that havent been used up with some stock have it whenever Im too lazy to cook and it warms in the microwave.

Yes, milk definitely tastes sweet! The soup is a good idea. So far I've had shop-bought frozen soup: the tomato version looks ok but the ratatouille-veg one was a mistake as it contains aubergines and courgettes fried in sunflower oil before being blended. I'll avoid that one in the future or just make my own. Saying that, it's still not as bad as four slices of toast ;-)

 

[Brunneria]

Hi,
I've never heard of that and it makes sense. I can see underneath your post that you have type 2? So you get excessive highs AND lows? I'm definitely doing a lot better on low carb although I have to be careful not to let my energy levels run too low in the late afternoon.

Yes, after about 40 yrs of RH (producing too much insulin) I became T2 about 5 years ago. Luckily low carb sorts out both problems.

If you are dipping too low late afternoon, have a snack of nuts or cheese or even (works for me) 70% choc about half an hour before the dip. Stops it dead.

 

[Rosbif]

Big freezer now needed for Tesco frozen avocado's since reading they were being sold on this forum. Rarely go to Tesco but had to for these and they are brilliant!!
I go to Lidl and Waitrose but also asian and eastern shops for things like nuts, dates and coconut oil.
Also buy a lot of rice flour, coconut flour, etc over the internet but have to buy small qtys due to some short shelf life dates on these "non flour" flours.

When I talk about shopping-I confess.. I hate it so hubby goes 99% of the time....

Have you tried blending your own specialty flours in a food processor? I've never really bothered with avocados but maybe I should give them a whirl! I love shopping (alas) and am a sucker for exotic things in jars ;-)

 

[Rosbif]

Yes, after about 40 yrs of RH (producing too much insulin) I became T2 about 5 years ago. Luckily low carb sorts out both problems.

If you are dipping too low late afternoon, have a snack of nuts or cheese or even (works for me) 70% choc about half an hour before the dip. Stops it dead.

Thanks for the tips!

I do have some nuts and chocolate to hand which are very useful!

 

[donnellysdogs]

Have you tried blending your own specialty flours in a food processor? I've never really bothered with avocados but maybe I should give them a whirl! I love shopping (alas) and am a sucker for exotic things in jars ;-)

I use ground almonds blended again to get finer flour but didn't have much success with anything else.

I also buy psyllium husk and polenta because I haven't got a clue what to do!!

I still have to buy some avocado's if I want to bake them as a souffle with egg whites mixed with the avocado and then put back in the skins to bake.

Its only thanks to people here talking about avocados and olives that I started to experiment. I needed more fat in my diet but saturated fat from cheese and cream crucified my cholesterol levels. Now for the first time in years my total is under 5.0 and my ratios are great. Same with hubby whose cholesterol with heavy saturated fats - he went on statins but totally off them now.....

 

[Avocado Sevenfold]

I use supermarkets and freezer shops to buy regular food.

Foods that I didn't buy before diagnosis, such as chia, psylium and coconut flour, I order online from Bulk Powders.

I buy weird ingredients online too when I cannot find them locally (tomato powder, liquid smoke, veggie sugar-free jelly, for example).

There is so much choice nowadays

 

[PenfoldAPD]

My food shopping has changed totally - but in a great way! We have a weekly Ocado order delivered on Friday (no naughty purchases then while in the supermarket hungry!), so am ready for the weekend. Everything we buy gets eaten now, the veggies are now longer going to waste. Cupboards are turning over and everything getting used. I've found lots of LCHF foods (Peters Yard crackers if you love your cheese, only 2 carbs each!) and discovering new recipes.

In 6 weeks since diagnosis I've lost over half a stone, down to sub 12 stone for first time in years. So all this healthy eating is good for you!

Need to head further afield to Lidl for those protein rolls, Camden branch doesn't do them sadly ...

Generally my food shopping has only improved - no more "I don't want the healthy stuff, I want a pie" evenings.