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I need a hug, and a kick up the .....

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nannoo

Well-Known Member
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I am in a real quandry over what diet to eat. I've been reading some of the posts, and it seems so complicated to work out how to keep the blood sugars level. Does this mean testing many times a day? And how can you tell what works and what doesn't? Was it the coffee you had an hour ago that raised your blood sugar levels, or something you ate at breakfast two hours ago? How do you control your blood sugars without becoming completely consumed (no pun intended) by diabetes?

Secondly, I have bought quite a few cookbooks for diabetics, but find the recipes I've tried pretty unappetising. I am not a lover of salad or vegetables, but know I have to become one - any ideas, or helpful websites with appetising recipes?

I am feeling very depressed by this illness. I am very lucky that apart from slight neuropathy in my toes, I have no other symptoms, but I know what the future could hold for me, and I am overwhelmed.

I am sorry this sounds like a "poor me" moan. I know how serious our illness is, but we still have to live en enjoyable life.
 
Yes,it is confusing and no ,don't worry about the 'poor me' we've all been there.The basics of diabetes is that you cannot process carbohydrate properly ,that is it in it's simplest form.Therefore in order to control your diabetes you need either medicine that will help you do this or to find a diet that will help you control the amount of carbs that you eat.
As is often said on here ,everyone is different so the diet you choose must have two functions,

A) be one that you can live with because it is a total change of lifestyle not just a 'diet',and

B) be one that is successful in getting your blood sugar levels under control.

How you achieve this is up to you.You need to be able to do blood tests and keep a food diary for at least a week to see what works for you.You will find various books recommended on the forum by various authors on various diets.
Please have a good read round the forum and you will pick up some useful info to help you decide what is best for you.
 
Oh dear, Don't worry, We all have DAYS!
Look at some of the cookbooks aimed for atkins dieters. One or 2 have good recipes and don't forget the ones on this forum.
You don't have to sacrifice good food, or buy expensive special stuff. You MIGHT have to eat veggies and salad :evil:
 
(((((((((nannoo)))))))))

But I really, really think that you will have to learn to love vegetables. They are actually really nice once you have got used to them/lost the fear of eating them, why is it that you are so against veggies? Try a veggie mash or try Doczoc's cabbage recipe, you find it in the Low Carb recipe thread, even cabbage haters enjoy this recipe, I have cooked it several times.

You still can eat your fish and meat and curries and cheese and all that, but just not the rice, bread, pasta, potatoes, cakes or biscuits...or if you do then only in really reduced quantities, depends on how your body responds to carbs, thats where testing comes in.

You say you have neuropathy in your toes already, so be careful and face up to your diabetes, deal with it, you dont want to make things worse, please be brave, we all support you and are willing you on.

Love from

Karen x
 
It does no harm and is in fact a good thing to be obsessive *at first*

http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2006/10/d-day.html

When I met Alan (he was visiting the UK) he didn't test once in my presence, mainly because he knew from previous experience how he would react to what he ate. I tested a few times because I'd never eaten Dreamfields before and wanted to see what it would do. Before my preprandial test I predicted my BG and was only a few points out.

Now you simply CAN'T do this until you know how your body works and you can't know how your body works without testing a lot at first. These days I mainly only test when I'm outside of my usual flight envelope, then every so often I run an entire day to see if things have changed since the last Testing Day (at the moment my numbers are slightly up, probably the result of an infection so I'll keep an eye on them)

These guys are good

http://www.diabetic-talk.org/freeveggies.htm

also check out the Eat The Rainbow sticky

Dana Carpender comes recommended

http://www.lowcarbohydrate.net/blog

check out her books also
 
Thank you all, it has made me think. Perhaps keeping a food diary alongside my BS testing would be the best start. I still find it all very daunting though.
 
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