I am thinking of trying low-carbing (again!)

[mrs bambi]

Hello everyone,

I am thinking of doing the low carb thing again after a failed attempt when first diagnisosed as a T1 this Feb. I have a couple of ?'s though...

Is it best to ease down your carb intake slowly or just drop your intake suddenly? Having just looked at my food diary I am doing for my dietician I am consuming between 200-400g a day. (eek) I think my body will go into shock at first and I'll collapse at the gym or something.

Second question is what do you eat to treat a hypo if you are low carbing ? (Say I took too much novorapid with lunch and then went to the gym type situation....)

On a more positive note this forum is giving me lots of ideas of what to eat ! On a less postive note I think the dietician won't like it but I like to experiment ! I can't for the life of me get this carb:insulin ratio right so I want to give this another go.

Thanks all,
Mrs B

 

[Spiral]

It is hard enough making small changes and sticking to them without making huge changes all at once. I think we set ourselves up for failure by doing that and as diabetics we can't afford to fail.

I have made regular stepwise changes since my diagnosis in February.
1. Cut out all added sugar and junk, by which I mean sweet and fatty treats , except I still had regular lapses (and still have lapses now, although the nature of my sins has changed :roll: )
2. Added fresh and raw most of the time, and made sure I ate breakfast.
3. Did that for a few weeks while I was looking for a diet I could stick to and looked like normal food.
4. Explored low GI diets and adopted more of the principles of that regime, which is really useful.
5. After a few weeks reading on here I went lower carb - by that I mean I stopped eating bread, pasta, rice and potato and any flour products.
6. After a couple of months I started to weigh stuff to restrict the number of carbs I was a eating, I have been doing this for about a week.

Every time I have made a change I have seen a positive change in my blood test results and the excess weight is falling away (I have to be half the woman I was at diagnosis). Initially the blood work was being done fortnightly at the surgery. I have been testing several times a day for about 2 months with my own meter - if you don't have a meter and a steady supply of strips you need to devise a testing regime that suits you so you can measure your success.

Make a plan. Set yourself smaller and realistic targets and review them regularly. This is bloody hard work, don't make it harder on yourself than you need to be. My focus has always been the next blood test with the doctor, mine will be at the end of August. I hope my HbA1c will be closer to 6% at that point.

 

[fergus]

Definitely a good idea to make the changes more gradually Mrs. B.
For one thing, you'll get a clearer picture of how you respond to particular foods if you deal with them one at a time. Since you're a T1 like me, there's also the inherent uncertainty of matching insulin dosing to a changing diet, particularly since your daily carb intake sounds pretty high at the moment.
As for treating hypos, glucose is always the best idea. I found Dextro tabs very useful because they will raise your bg by a specific amount (1mmol/l for me). Much more precise than anything else.
Best of luck with it and let us know if we can help at all. The results are seriously worth it!

All the best,

fergus

 

[the_anticarb]

Hi Mrs. B

You'll find that once you drop the carbs, there'll be less need for insulin and whilst you may not be able to completely cut out the novorapid as I did, the less insulin you take the less the chance of going hypo. I rarely go hypo now whereas it used to be all the time - a massive benefit for me of the low carb way of life.

There will be a teething period at first when you get used to it though. I personally found it better to underestimate the amount of insulin I'd need, test regularly and adjust upwards, but everyone is different so that's only my personal view.

And yes agree that glucose is the antidote to hypos.

 

[mrs bambi]

thanks guys !

that is really helpful, will definately make the change more slowly than last time I tried. Your 6 step plan is great Spiral. I have numerous meters and test very regularly so will be able to keep a good check on how it works. you have to start somewhere so today I had 1 slice of granary toast for b'fast with scrambled egg instead of just the 2 slices of toast !

I will also stick to the glucose tabs for my hypo's then as have just gone through a jelly baby phase that followed a fruit pastille phase ! (my toddler will be disappointed though as he likes to pinch my hypo sweets from my handbag)

Would be great to drop the novorapid ~ I don't take huge doses as it is so depending how low carb I go for what meal I could be off it. nice. I guess I would be keeping the lantus going though just as something in the background.

Mrs B

 

[byatt]

I'm Type 2, so can't give any advice other than not to make drastic changes but gradually decrease. I started around the 27th May and now 2 months later I do not have bread, pasta, potatoes or rice. It was by reducing gradually that has made it work for me. I really enjoy the food I have now and don't seem to miss the bread etc. (and I was always eating bread, pasta potatoes and so on along with cakes and biscuits!!).

Just want to give you some encouragement.

 

[hanadr]

Mrs b
it's what works for you. Some people creep into the swimming pool slowly from the shallow end and some dive sraight in. Do what you think will suit you best.
Hana

 

[inwales]

With wheat being so addictive, we can all feel happy at becoming ex-addicts!

One of the most addicting foods out there is wheat. Wheat, unfortunately, makes up a high percentage of many of our diets. Why is wheat so addicting? Wheat contains addicting opioids. This means that when you eat a wheat product, you get an immediate feeling of pleasure and relaxation.
However, soon after you consume it, your body will crave that same feeling once more and you will reach, often against your desires, for more wheat laden foods.

 

[AliB]

Absolutely.

Although I have had issues with carbs for many years it wasn't until my digestion finally collapsed that I realised that wheat/gluten was a major problem and adopted a gluten-free diet. Eating gluten-free carbs didn't help because they are typically more carb-dense even than ordinary wheat products.

It was only by really reigning in my carbs that I have been able to get a lot more control of both my BSs and my digestion. I still have a way to go but it is a lot better.

I tried going without insulin, but have had to go back to 1 x 12 - 14 units per day to keep things low enough and 2 x 1 Metformin morning and evening. How I wish I could drop the lot.

I try not to have anything that will spike the sugars so that not only will it not rise too much but I won't get hypos either.

 

[inwales]

I was reading that dairy has opioids too, so don't get addicted to that!

 

[cugila]

Hi inwales.

Interested to see a link to that one about opioids ? Do you have it to hand ? I'm a big fan of Milk and all sorts of Cheese.

Ken.

 

[inwales]

Here you go.

http://www.13.waisays.com/zombie.htm

The drug of choice for many!!!

 

[Ehlana]

I am new to this forum but have found it really useful. I am T2 but adopted low GI fairly early on. I eat very little wheat, no red meat or processed food. However, I have struggled to lower my carbs over the past few months. I run regularly and find my sugars drop about 12 - 18 hours after this. I get terrible cravings for carbs at this point.

Does anyone have any advice for low carb snacks or a way of easing these cravings? I find it impossible to stay "on the wagon" when I get them!

 

[cugila]

Here you go.

http://www.13.waisays.com/zombie.htm

The drug of choice for many!!!

Hi inwales.

Thaks for the link. WAI....??

I have had a good read, however I think you should find another library. I found an awful lot that is just plain rubbish, especially in the Diabetes section.

I think I will stick with the Milk every so often. I am addicted.

Ken.

 

[Spiral]

Does anyone have any advice for low carb snacks or a way of easing these cravings? I find it impossible to stay "on the wagon" when I get them!

The carb cravings get less as time goes on.

I find/found it easier to deal with the carb cravings if I am busy. Since I dropped the carbs and gone thru wthdrawal, I don't get them now, except in relatin to certain parts of my menstrual cycle, when my blood sugar goes to the wall as well :?

I have nuts to hand - I bought some very small plastic pots from ASDA to put portions of nuts in. Almonds and macadamia are my nuts of choice.
cheese - little cubes of cheese in a pot in the fridge

Test when you get a carb craving or feel a bit hypo before you eat something. You may find that your blood sugar is not as low as you think, "false hypos" may occur if you have been running high BS for a while :shock:

You can also see what you have done to your blood sugar if you test 1 or 2 hours after you have eaten, so you have info about what your snack has done and can work out what is a safe snack and get motivation to stick to or avoid certan foods.

I think I have learned the difference between hunger and carb cravings recently. But to be honest, I don't actually get that hungry these days, since going low carb. I have increased my fat intake and have still lost loads of weight.

 

[inwales]

Here you go.

http://www.13.waisays.com/zombie.htm

The drug of choice for many!!!

Hi inwales.

Thaks for the link. WAI....??

I have had a good read, however I think you should find another library. I found an awful lot that is just plain rubbish, especially in the Diabetes section.

I think I will stick with the Milk every so often. I am addicted.

Ken.

Can I beg you all to buy organic dairy produce then? Better quality of life issues for the animals, but not the death.