How often should I eat?

spendercat

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Messages
277
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Diet only
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Cruelty. I am kind.
On the subject of low-carb diet for weight loss.

Is it better to eat more frequently and avoid sudden spikes in blood glucose, or eat more infrequently so that a larger proportion of the day is spent at a low level of blood glucose?

I have a tendency to nibble, and although I am keeping carbs between 30 and 60 grams, my weight loss is very slow. (2lb per month) Wondering if I am doing it wrong.

Blood glucose is wonderful, though. So I am not complaining. my BMI of 28 might be as low as I can go :roll:
 

viviennem

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3,140
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Other
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Football. Bad manners.
Hi Spendercat

Atkins recommends eating at least 3 times a day and as many as 5 small meals if it suits you better. I think it's best to even things out really - having said that, I don't eat carbs until lunchtime (large salad), and probably do eat marginally more at supper.

If your BG is as good as you say, I would think you're doing right for you. Do you still test before and after every meal? If not, it might be worth doing a couple of days' full testing, just to check what's going on.

Re weight loss - if you don't have a great deal to lose, 2lbs a month may well be about right. Short of joining the 'Newcastle Diet' guineapigs, I don't really see what else you can do! :D And it doesn't sound as if you need to go to such an extreme. :wink:

I would kill for a BMI of 28. Maybe one day . . . :lol:

Viv 8)
 

spendercat

Well-Known Member
Messages
277
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Diet only
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Cruelty. I am kind.
Hi Viv,

Thanks for those kind words.

Like you, the first time I did the Atkins, about six years ago, I lost stones perfectly easily. But... as soon as I started eating carbs again it just all piled back on, and more. I cursed that blasted diet.

Of course now that I am diabetic, and older, and my metabolism appears to be somewhat knackered, it is all so much slower, a real slog. It is strange though - knowing I have to do this for life holds no fears, only a kind of relief to know what I have to eat and why.

You gave me some advice about the dawn phenomenon a while back, and I found that counting carbs fixed the problem. My fasting BG is around 5.7 in the morning now. After lunch it settles around 6 for the rest of the day. About 6.5 at bedtime. The other day I risked some rice with my evening meal (18 carbs, thought I could handle it) Result - BG of 9.5 after 3 hours - took six hours to drop back below 6. Goodness knows how high it went. No question, refined carbohydrates are out.

I also asked a while back if people thought that deterioration with this condition is inevitable. I honestly believe now that it is not. In fact, on the correct diet I think at least some of the damage is reversible, although insulin resistance is incurable. I have been Coeliac for 27 years and I discovered that on a gluten free diet I simply did not have the illness, and of course, in a couple of years my gut actually recovered and healed. So although I will always have coeliac disease, on the right diet I am symptom free. I hope that Diabetes follows the same pattern.

Travelling hopefully
Angela
 

viviennem

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Messages
3,140
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Other
Dislikes
Football. Bad manners.
Hi Angela

Your experience with Atkins is much like mine, first time around. I think part of my problem with post-Atkins weight gain was increasing the carbs without decreasing the fat :shock: .

I found that being diagnosed with diabetes (despite vehement denials :lol: ) was in some ways quite a relief, because I already knew what to do about it. It was just a matter of going straight back on Atkins, which I had been trying to do for years, with a real motive for sticking to it this time. I've just relaxed my diet for about 3 weeks, eaten more carbs, and put on 7lbs :shock: . Carbs do not suit me!

I agree with your belief that diabetes does not have to be progressive, at least not in all cases. And I do wonder about insulin resistance being 'incurable'. Maybe when I've lost all this weight, and all my cells have changed over many times, I'll be able to handle carbs better - though not in the quantities I once used to eat :lol:

Well done with your Coeliac - it must be a great relief.

Viv 8)