Hey ho, let's go!

Generally speaking you will do better with making your own meals from scratch. Once you get into the swing of it you will find you can eat better and spend less, it just takes a bit more organisation. Enjoy your chicken and stir fry veg!

Synonym said:

Generally speaking you will do better with making your own meals from scratch. Once you get into the swing of it you will find you can eat better and spend less, it just takes a bit more organisation. Enjoy your chicken and stir fry veg!

Click to expand...

Eat better? probably... Spend less? Heck no!

We've always cooked from scratch in my house but we've lived for a long time on a sort of extended (and cheap) student diet. Since we've been low carbing our grocery bill has at least doubled. I also seem to spend my life popping into Aldi for more salad and eggs, rather than just the one weekly shop at Asda. However, my blood sugars are much more level (6 point something represents a spike these days, not a low) and the husband's losing weight. So we see it as an investment.

On the positive side we pay fewer visits to the take away because low carb food is SO quick to make (pan-fried salmon and stir-fried veg tonight) that I don't have the midweek thing when I come in from work and can't face cooking, so that saves some money.

Bufferz, the very best of luck with the diet experiment. It was the best thing we've done and I wish I'd found out about low carbing YEARS ago - I actually have my hubby's expanding waistline to thank for getting me into this way of eating.

I'm waiting for my appointment with the diabetologist next month to see what my bloods are like - the one thing I haven't managed to shake off is the feeling that all this fat is not doing my cholesterol/triglyceride levels much good. Before anyone posts to tell me all the evidence to the contrary, PEASE, I've read everything I can get my hands on BUT I need to see the figures in black and white - all that old diabetic diet conditioning is kinda hard to finally shake off....

Cheers, BB

bufferz said:

Having read about the low carb successes, I too have decided to give it a go, at least until the end of February. So as of 1600hrs today, it is low carb for me and the wife. It's shocking how many carbs are in everything though, we went to tescos to do an initial shopping trip, and it was like "Ooh how about this.....oh ****** its got too many carbs in" :roll: so we are on chicken and stirfry veg tonight to start with. Wish me luck folks!

Click to expand...

Good luck - to both of you!

Be prepared to have big improvements in your blood glucose levels ........and quickly too.

Cutting back on carbs really does work!

Best wishes - John

Hi Banjo brunette

I suppose the comparative cost depends on what base you are starting from. I have not been a student for many years so I am a bit out of touch in that respect.

I shop online and have it delivered every 10-14 days as I am unable to do it any other way. I have to be very organised to make this work and so make out a menu and shop to that menu. I divide into portions and freeze too and in these ways have managed to reduce the overall costs.

I know that not everyone would be able to do this but I have to and I can, so I do. 8)

Initially, low carb food may seem cosily, but when you factor in what you save by not having carby snacks, it evens out.
The only carby snacks I ever have in the house are Twiglets, which I eat just a few at a time, in any one day. The family sized packet lasts me a week or more. The most expensive item is the spring clip on the bag I put them in
Hana.

Hi Bufferz

I can't offer any advice about the hypos - but I'm interested in what your GP recommends. I've become much more hypo unaware since I've been low carbing - had a proper shaky, sweaty hypo and found my sugars were as low as 2.9 when before I would get wobbly on mid 4s.

I think I'll start a new post to ask what people think about this....

Well done on the low carb start BTW - is your wife OK so far?

Cheers, BB

hanadr said:

Initially, low carb food may seem cosily, but when you factor in what you save by not having carby snacks, it evens out....
Hana.

Click to expand...

Hmmmmm!!! Speaking of snacks.... Thanks, Hana, for letting drop about Aldi's 85% chocolate. I'm now SERIOUSLY addicted to the stuff on the excuse that it's only 5g carbs per little bar. Who am I kidding?

Hi Bufferz

If you can give each other moral support, that's great and you both benefit :wink:

From what I understand, the carb cravings go away quite quickly. Try munching nuts rather than hitting the diabetic chockies -they're not good for man not beast - honest! Not too many nuts but a handful should be OK if you're desperate and preferably not high carb ones. I'm sure someone can recommend a web-site that gives info on this but from memory: brazils, walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts are OK, peanuts and cashews are carbier. Macadamias are OK too.

Yes, the Aldi chocolate is dark but they do a 70% one which even my husband can tolerate in very small pieces - he hates bitter chocolate too. I LOVE it and it's supposed to be full of anti-oxidants.

Keep us updated on your progress....

Cheers, BB

Hi Bufferz , wishing you lots of luck ! I started low carbing about 2 months ago , I felt terrible at first, just for the first couple of days but ever since then, its become second nature ! What even better is that my BG readings are good, my cholesterol has taken a nose dive ( despite eating butter and cheese ) and best still , with the help of exercise too , I`ve lost weight ! OK so i have my moments of longing for starchy carbs, but it passes . Wont say I will never lapse, wouldnt be that daft but when its for health reasons, its such an insentive , good luck to you !

Hi Bufferz
Sounding good so far! Looking forward to the next update...
Love the little piccie thingy in the corner BTW - I'd like that for my office wall
Cheers, BB

Lo-Carb can be expensive. I told my brother in law so. He is a bit of a spendthrift. I called round tonight and he gave me a bag of :-
7 portions of parma ham and 8 packets of various cheeses.....
....ticket value £33 !!!.

Cost him ??? :- £1.50!!!!.
Apparently if you go to a 24 hour Asda after 22:00, they slash the perishables going out of date to 10p and then dump them at midnight if they are not sold!!. He then freezes them and defrosts as he needs them.

(May not be common policy?)

Last week he declined 30 bags of frozen berries for £3 value £60 as he didnt have freezer space for them!!!


Also buy 3 packs of large chicken breasts from Farm Foods for a tenner (3kg, thats nearly 6 and a half pounds of chicken!)

All the best Steve.

hi bufferz, I've been low-carbing since July, wife and daughter joined me in October as they saw my meals were healthier and tastier than their carb-laden ones. They're non-diabetic but were both obese and candidates for T2 in the future. We've lost just under 10 stone between us. I've been taken off of insulin, and blood pressure tablets, and have HBA1C of 5.4% from 9.7%.

Like you, we don't even get carb cravings, getting our food-kicks from tasty, healthy, and varied meals. I plan all of our meals each Thursday for the following week, and then do a single shop on a Saturday morning. I've always done a single shop in one of the big supermarkets but find now that veg and salad prices are so high that I'm going to use the local market for fresh produce.

Breakfasts was the big problem for me at first, but then I discovered flaxmeal porridge which plugged the cereal gap very well. I can recommend the egg/cheese base pepperoni pizza too as a meal that seems to make a mockery of the idea that this diet is a punishment of any kind.

We find it easy to cope with regards our sweet side; we make brownies and chocolate cakes using pecan nuts and cocoa or 90% chocolate, cookies with lowest-carb peanut butter, coconut macaroons, and also cheesecake, almond muffins etc. (I've just re-read this last bit and want to point out that we don't make all of these at the same time )

Ixworth

Coconut macaroons?????? Recipe please....

Cheers, BB

Whoops, Sorry, forgot to say "Well done Bufferz!!!!" That's fabulous.
Cheers, BB

PS Am I the only person here NOT to lose wait on a low carb diet (and I mean 20-30 g a day)? Blood sugars are great and at least I'm not gaining anymore :wink:
Cheers, BB