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Type 2 Help - fallen off the wagon

L

lrostron

Active Member
Messages
43
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Nuts, cheese, tea and coffee
I got diagnosed in March with A1C of 97, down to 39 in September, since then I've gradually crept back into my old way of eating i.e. lots of crisps and sweets. I can't seem to stop. I'll have a couple of good days and then revert back. My blood sugars have been high for about a month now, I know I need to stop!!!. I'm trying a low carb diet but I'm struggling. A lot of the recipes seem to have cheese or nuts in and I don't like either and I'm sick to death of eggs!!

Any advice would be great
 
Uh... Thinking.... Berries with cream or full fat greek yoghurt? Stir fried or grilled veggies and meat or fish? Celery sticks with hummus or some low carb dip? Extra dark chocolate. (With butter <3 ) Salad with tuna, olives, capers, mayonaise, avocado? There's probably loads more on dietdoctor.com, but those are my non-eggy, no-nut and cheeseless staples. Any time you feel like having crisps, just go for rashers or pork belly scratchings or whatever you call that crispy bacon stuff (Dutch here, sorry). Any time I have a craving for something I can't have, I just grab something I can, which is equally delish. Or pour myself something warm to drink. Which works rather comforting too, and hits the spot.

Remember, once you're eating carbs again the cravings come back something fierce, so the longer you go without, the better it'll be.

Good luck!
 
Do you like fish? Lots of varieties, tastes and textures. Low carb breads from golden flax and chia seed? Fairy cakes with almond flour and a couple of fresh raspberries in each cake case? Remember that a variety of good fats will help control your appetite, such as olive oil.

I have had many encounters with "carb creep". The sugar monster is an insidious foe. Also because carbs are all around you all the time, it can be very hard to keep on the staight and narrow. I cut back on the carbs as much as I can and wait for the moment I can get off of the carb merry go round. I can't really describe what this feeling is, but I just know that if I stop eating carbs at that time, I'll have the strength to go cold turkey. Be kind to yourself, it is not easy. The only crumb of comfort that I can offer is that I have found that the falls off of the wagon get less frequent and getting back on gets easier the longer I go on trying.
 

Thank you for your advice, I will certainly take it on board and try a little harder
 

Thank you, I love fish, unfortunately as a family of four there is only me that does!! Fairy cakes with almond flour I'll be certainly giving a go. It is hard especially with the rest of the family not low carb. I will keep trying and as you say hopefully the falls will lessen and it'll get easier.
 
Kids do make it tougher - I'm surrounded by cereal and crisps and sweets. And pasta.

I hve the opposite problem in that I buy expensive stuff for me to low carb and not make an entirely separate meal and my family eat that too. I don't steal their chocolate (any more...)! They now like Oppo ice cream, and oomi noodles (they're fish protein noodles with hardly any carbs that you can use in stir fries and things. It sounds gross, but they are actually really nice). I do lots of stir fries where they have rice (supposedly) and I mix in my noodles (which are mine).

The thing for me is that I have to have something that is easily accessible when everyone else is reaching for the crisps and biscuits. I have the Two chicks 'Chirps' as a go-to snack. They're 10.2g of carbs per pack, which may be higher than your low carb limit, but it's better than a regular bag of crisps or sweets.
 
Bacon, Sausage, ham, beef, lamb chicken, pork chops, pork steaks, cauliflower, cabbage, cream, egg plant , courgette etcetera the list of alternative low carb foods goes on and on mix and match for the carb eaters in the family staying clear of the carbs for yourself four in my house I'm the only diagnosed diabetic we manage.
 

Thank you, I've not heard of the noodles or the chirps I'll give them both a try.
 
In the face of carb creep I revisit the possible complications of poor blood sugar control - blindness, kidney failure, foot and leg ulcers, gangrene, amputations, heart disease etc. This usually works for me!
 
Dr Snoddy said:
In the face of carb creep I revisit the possible complications of poor blood sugar control - blindness, kidney failure, foot and leg ulcers, gangrene, amputations, heart disease etc. This usually works for me!
Click to expand...


I think your comments are going to help me. I've started back on the carbs and it does seem the more you have the more you want of them. I've put off having my Hba1C because I'm sure it will have gone up.
 
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Excellent food suggestions! I had problems with "carb creep" too. I find that keeping a detailed food diary keeps me accountable for what I eat, mainly to myself, but also to my wife who is free to look at it and chastise me if necessary. I weigh all food and calculate carbs, max. 50g per day. It gets a bit tedious at times, but it's the only way I can manage long-term (almost 3 years now).

As with Dr Snoddy above, I also find it motivating to think of the medical outcomes of poor glucose control. And I am really happy that I can keep my diabetes in remission myself, with no input from my GP. Or for that matter, output to my GP, i.e. $$$.

One other motivator for me is my "Saturday morning treat". My wife and I go to a cafe for a coffee and a muffin or scone or doughnut or whatever, as a treat for maintaining low carb all the rest of the week. Some people may not be able to get away with that, but I seem to.

Good luck Irostron, don't give up. The longer you do it, the more it becomes a new way of life, just what you have to do now.
 
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Hey @Irostron look up low carb mug cakes and boy are they yummy!! This past w/end I hosted family dinner and while everyone else feasted on super dark brownies topped with ice cream, I whipped up two super dark gluten free low carb mug brownies for my son and myself - literally took 1 minute in the micro and 1/2 minute to put together. Oh my......everyone wanted a taste of our brownies!!

Carb creep is sooooo insidious and one really does have to have a switch of mindset and think differently about what one puts in one's mouth! Stick with it, you will lose that taste again when you are replacing the yens with something that is good for you

@Rachox, you had a picture in another post of an amazing looking carrot cake!! Is that from diet doctor??
 
Rachox said:
No it’s from Ditch the Carbs, another good low carb website
https://www.ditchthecarbs.com/low-carb-carrot-cake/
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The cake is the one on the ditchthecatbs website, I believe @Rachox has posted the link for you, I made it this evening it is lovely, very easy to make too
 

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Check your magnesium levels. Low ones can cause carb cravings.
Also check out whole plant food diet, Colin T Camblell.
 
It's the winter cold!! making us all eat more. I've been terrible the last couple of weeks, since September really. I need to get some lovely homemade soups in the freezer to take to work
 
lrostron said:
I can't seem to stop.
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Hi Irostron,
You can't just buy a pair of trainers and run a marathon you need to build up to it and so it goes with food make the best choice you can, each time. Building to your goal if you want to stop eating crisps there realy is only one way, stop buying them. But until your ready to make that choice.

Crisps.
Fist thing to look at is which crisps you are buying. Check the back and see the sugar content walkers salt and vinegar is about 0.3 grams. Mckoy's Steak crisps 1.1 grams of sugar. (I count sugar not carbs)

Second I struggled with giving up crisps recently until I realised it was salt I was craving not the crisps. They were just the salt delivery system.

Sweet Tooth. (that's ok just pick something that works for you that has the least impact on your bg levels.)
I miss a bikkie with a cup of coffee so instead I have a oat cake with peanut butter spread on top.
This used to be 2 chocolate bikkies 4.5 grams of sugar each now 2 oat cakes 0.1g of sugar each plus peanut butter call it 0.5g total.

And obviously dark chocolate . (less sugar and high in healthy fat)
The fat in chocolate comes from cocoa butter and is a heart-healthy monounsaturated fat.

When your giving something up you have to deal with cravings in my experience a craving lasts for about 3 days if you can tough it out then you are usually good.

You don't always have to stop ought right just start making better choices to get you there.
 
Enjoy the celebrations and the cake x
 
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