Here is what I have eaten-confused.

Philip99 said:

While I guess its good for weight loss with hardly any fat, but what is it like on a diabetic level?

Click to expand...

It's pretty terrible for your BG control, and probably for weight loss too...

Philip99 said:

Tuesday:

Cereal.
Salad with a bit of ham.
2 water crackers
Meatballs and brown pasta with chopped tomatoes (tin)
3 apples.

Wednesday:

Porridge (half semi skinned, half water)
Carrot soup (homemade containing carrots, onions, garlic and a potato + pepper and mixed herbs)
Omlette with a large salad.
2 apples.

Today:

Porridge
Carrot soup, as above.

Click to expand...

The things I've marked in red are carbohydrates and will make your BG go higher. Your best chance of getting your diabetes under control - and losing weight - is limiting these to a level at which your BG is less than 7.8mmol/l @ 2hours after a meal.

You won't have to cut all carbs out, but rice, bread, potatoes, pasta, cereal are all pretty potent sources of carbohydrate and you'd be best limiting them, if not avoiding them altogether.

The real answer is "you'll have to test your blood after eating those things to see if they are bad for you". If you haven't got one, you're going to have to get a BG meter and some strips.

I think I would get thin on so much carrot soup. The cereals/porridge and pasta (depending on the amount) are the things that might confound you but keep eating them since with just carrot soup you may not make it to your appointment. Reduce the amount if you can.

Seriously though, you do not mention exercise and this is an essential part of losing weight. You have cut your calories but do not mention what you are doing to use up the ones you do eat.

Go for a walk each day or at the very least walk to some places you normally go to if you can manage it. Increase your effort each day if you can. You may not yet have a meter but you probably have a pair of scales and you should be able to see some weight loss quite soon. To paraphrase the advice on this forum, eat to your scales.

So (according to the Carrs website) 2 crackers have about 5g of carb. That isn't too bad I suppose, if you can stick to 2 of them. Personally I'd rather waste those 5 carbs on something with nutritional value, like some fresh raspberries...

For diabetes, you'd be better off sticking with the fried breakfast (eggs, bacon, good quality sausage) which contains almost zero carbs.

I'd honestly worry about get your BG under control first, and then worry about the weight. If you cut down on the carbs you'll probably find that it'll drop of its own accord.

Philip99 said:

Thanks for the advice-I understand what you are saying re the carbs-however, compared to my fried breakfast/fast food/chocolate/puddings diet I was on previously I reckon my calories have dropped by 2/3rds.

What i struggle with, is that 2 itty bitty 2" crackers can be sooo bad :shock:

S0, whats best for breakfast and whats good for a snack when I get hungry?

Click to expand...

If your carb counting, or trying to low carb, go back to your fried breakfast. Just don't add a fried slice, and limit the tomatoes as they contain a lot of sugar. When frying use virgin olive oil or lard, or dripping - no veg oils or trans fats - just natural fats. However, if you're calorie counting or reducing fat intake, the fry up won't help!

Have a look at the Low Carb thread - if you feel you want to go down that route - it's very, very helpful.

Ju

Hi. I agree with others that the important thing is keeping your BS under control and not worrying too much about your weight at this stage. Yes, keep your carbs down but don't panic. I have home-made muesli for breakfast or sometimes fried egg and bacon. The muesli does have carbs in it but it's mixed with nuts, seeds etc which help keep it low'ish GI. The decision for starting on Metformin if needed should be based on your HBa1c BS measure not your weight. As others have found, carbs can be a big contributor to weight and not necessarily just fats.

Hi Phillip

After years and i mean years of trying every diet on the planet (slight exageration) I have finally lost loads of weight, easily.

The way I did it was don't diet - control blood glucose.

I did become a bit obsessive, common in the early days til you know what you can eat, but I found the weight dropping off me. The weight loss was a very pleasant side effect to reducing my carbs to control my BG.

8 months on - 3 stone lighter, normal BG, dropped 1 of my BP tablets, normal cholesterol (but it wasn't too bad to start with).

Happy days - normal BMI here I come!

Mary x

have to say for me Philip if i had 3 apples a day wow would my BG level go up i can only have one apple a day found this out by testing same diet and 2 apples one day and 1 the next difference was amazing.

[quote="Philip99Thanks for that Mary-could you give me an example of your daily food please?[/quote]

Certainly - not very exciting.

Breakfast - 2 Eggs scrambled or omlette - I dont use any fat, just a good non stick pan, with about 5 button mushrooms

Lunch - 100g Chicken (1/2 pack flamegrilled type from supermarket ), lots of salad (no beetroot as it put my Bgs up), coleslaw (not low fat)

Dinner - Salmon fillet (cooked in foil with pat of butter, chilli flakes, s+p,parsley), lots of veg like broccoli, asparagus, carrots.

If i was wanting a snack I'll have a handful of nuts, tea and coffee as I want it and I try to drink lots of water, don't always do it.

Mary x

Although I eat a variation of the above everyday here's some others bits I have, otherwise I wouldn't have stuck it. I do really enjoy my new way of eating and I'm very lucky to not have a sweettooth.

Breakfast - bacon, ham-smeared with philli

Lunch - tuna salad, ham salad all with full fat coleslaw

Dinner - steaks with homemade peppercorn sauce, hubby making a lamb mince curry tonight he will have with rice I'll have veg, chicken breast in a tomato and red wine sauce served with veg, bolognese served with veg instead of pasta.

Saturday we always have a curry from the local Indian (I can't have chinese - sends BG through the roof) At the start I would have a tikka starter and share a curry, I can't eat the starter anymore, so I share a curry and have it with half a stuffed paratha(that affects my BG less than 1/2 a naan or some pilau rice. )

If i did want a desert I'd have sf jelly and or berries with double cream
Mary x

Philip99 said:

I had 2 scrambles eggs today (microwaved, so no need for ANY butter or fat) and a slice of chicken breast for breakfast.

Click to expand...

If you're cutting carbs, you need to get your energy from somewhere, so I wouldn't be too desperate to cut fat too...

borofergie said:

Philip99 said:

I had 2 scrambles eggs today (microwaved, so no need for ANY butter or fat) and a slice of chicken breast for breakfast.

Click to expand...

If you're cutting carbs, you need to get your energy from somewhere, so I wouldn't be too desperate to cut fat too...

Click to expand...

I inadvertently cut out most of the fat from my diet and ended up fainting - very scary - so, after seeking advice on here, I upped the fat. I stopped fainting and feeling swirly-headed and I lost more weight . I've said before, plenty of times, that it's peculiar getting your head around eating all of these things we are brainwashed in to believing are bad for you and stopping eating all of the things we're told are 'healthy'!

Ju

Very similar to Mary, even down to the Saturday night curry :lol:

Breakfast : Full fat Greek yoghurt with raspberries (or strawberries, blueberries etc) or bacon & egg fried in just enough olive oil to coat the pan.

Lunch : Cheese or ham omelette, small slice of Cheeseburger Pie (see low carb recipes) with some stir fry, bacon egg and mushrooms or at the moment my favourite is a salad (lettuce, cucumber, celery, few radishes, grated carrot) with either ham and grated cheese or small tin of sardines.

Dinner : Mostly based around loads of veg or stir fry but no potatoes rice or pasta. Then either steak, fish, chicken, mince plus seasoning or sauces etc. Usually end up putting a knob of real butter on the veg.

Pudding : 150g of fresh fruit salad made from 50% rhubarb with whatever other fruit we have + sugar free jelly + couple of tablespoons of double cream.

Snacks: Sugar free peanut butter on a slice of buttered (real butter) burgen soya bread toast or 8 buttered (real butter) Ritz crackers with cubes of cheese and celery.

Normal roast dinner: I just go heavy on the veg and meat then have a couple of roast potatoes. Roast are best as the oil they are cooked in will slow down the rate the potatoes will make your levels rise. My wife does a Yorkshire pud mix done with 50% soya flour and they work well!

Pub meals: I do steak and chips but tell them no chips just top the steak with a fried egg and bacon instead. Mushrooms and a few onion rings are fine. Cheese and biscuits for pud.

Takeaway: A thick dry curry + chicken tikka starter + mushroom bhaji + spinach and garlic bhaji + a couple small onion bhaji. Two level tablespoons of pilau rice. Pilau rice is best for levels as its fried rice.

Chinese is a problem but have got away with chicken green pepper and black bean sauce + a small amount of chow mein. Has to be small because of the noodles in the chow mein.

So on that kind of regime I've lost 4 stone, normalised my cholesterol and got my hBA1c from 11.3% to 4.9% in 6 months. My tolerance to starchy foods is pretty abysmal so you may find your tolerance is higher but you should get a meter and start testing to work things out for yourself. Remember the important thing is to aim to be under 8'ish two hours after a meal.

Do all of that with my GP's and DSN's blessing and support as I recorded all what I was eating and my blood test readings and showed them both. Hope your GP is just as progressive!

The hardest thing for me with the low carbs thing is increasing my fat intake as I have been doing fat free/low fat cooking for years. Now I am getting into new habits things are easier...and I am loosing weight as well as sugar levels dropping.
My main advise would be to keep refering to this site for ideas and support


P.S Are carrots high in sugar? I have fairly well dropped them although I used to eat loads

I really agree with you on the use of fat issue. It is so hard breaking the habits of a life time. I still feel a sense of guilt when I tuck into all the previously taboo fatty delights I now eat every day.

I find that cooked carrots do spike me but raw carrots have no effect so I happily add some grated to my salads. I even have them cut up into small chunks waiting in the fridge for when I want to a crunchy snack.

The only way to see what effect carrots have on you is by using your meter. I do a +2 test after my evening meal and that is the time I experiment with any item I want to add to my snacking stock. A quick test before bed lets me know what is safe to use in the future.

the idea of just trying new things at a set meal seems good to me.
I am a bit lax at moment so must get on track with testing

i am not mean but the stripes are so expensive for the machine I have. Have seen some bits about cheaper machines and spares but need to do maore research on this.

Still get cross that the only way to manage the diet is by testing and the NHS will not provide a meter

Life can be very weird at times