I think i might have hypoglycemia

ghost_whistler said:

I do eat those things, notsomuch fish (apart from tinned tuna), but what can i replace bread and spuds with? A cheese sandwich without bread is just buttered cheese, and that's not a meal IMO!

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What can I eat?
Yeah, been there, done that, done the shopping, cooked and then said to myself, is that it! I've never ate like this? My family, my doctor, my friends, what will they say?
What will I eat?

Ok, meat!
Protein as in eggs,
Lots and lots of vegetables, I have never ate spinach, but now it's in every salad I have!
Low carb homemade soups, curry, stews, make a lot and freeze, which we save you money!
Dairy, full fat, cheeses, yoghurt cream.
Small pieces of fruit, preferably berries, Apple, pears.

There is so much to eat!

I just had bacon and egg and tomatoes.
Dinner is a piece of gammon from a joint. With a bit of salad.
Chicken for my evening meal again from a roasted bird.
And supper, is yoghurt, a few strawberries and a couple pieces of 85% dark chocolate to let in the New Year!
Travelling tomorrow and meat from roasts will keep me going till I get back.
Doing a small joint of roast pork for my New Year's dinner, with Apple sauce and veg!


Sorted, all low carb and keeps me healthy!

This is not going to happen overnight, your own personal choices, come heavily into your thinking, you do need to discover how to get control, so you can feel better, that will take a bit of time, but it's well worth it, the feeling of energy and losing weight is brilliant.

It is now nearly three and a half years since my diagnosis. I've gone through what you are going through. It's not nice, the dread and fear doesn't stop straight away. The so called experts are few and far, I was lucky to find my endocrinologist, we are rare and unique in all our own way!
Please, you need to keep fighting for a diagnosis, it took me years to get mine.
It is worth it! The consequences are not worth thinking about!

Learn about the condition and how we treat it. It is mainly dietary.
The things you eat and believe are healthy for you are not!
The basic foodstuff that we are supposed to depend on, is like a poison to us!
I am weird, my GP and my endocrinologist agreed with him, but us weirdos have got to grips with this condition, I've lost five stone plus, I am fitter and healthier than I have been for decades. I work very hard, I have great energy, I don't have the symptoms no more, it is always there, there is no cure, there is however a way to control it and live a normal (ish) life. I'm 61, in full time employment, coach football at kids level, look after my disabled wife and I do all the chores, shopping, and I wouldn't change anything!
If I didn't have the control, everything, would go to the dogs!
Try and be positive and take it easy, this is for the rest of your life, your future health!
Best wishes.

Pack a container of your favourite meat and cheese. Add a vegetable of your choice.
Nuts in moderation. Full fat yogurt with some kind of berries. Less expensive when bought frozen.
This is your life and health and you need to figure out how much you want to change to feel better.

ghost_whistler said:

Yes that's what I'm trying to do. But this is going to be horrifically expensive. I looked at salmon in tesco today and one slice was £2.50. That's one thin slice for one breakfast. I have chicken 4 nights a week and I can't afford any other meat, it's not cheap here at all. I'm just not seeing the options at all. Same with berries; I buy bananas because they are (strangely given they are imported) the cheapest. But they also turn out to be high sugar.

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Meat is not cheap here either. I don't buy salmon very often. Canned fish is less.
Chicken thighs are less expensive.
You'll find as you eat a higher fat and lower cab diet, you'll be less hungry and not eat as much.
I buy whole chickens when they are on sale and roast them and then I have roast chicken handy. Either frozen in small portions or in the fridge.
Hard boiled eggs also are a great snack. You can cook a few and have them ready for the morning.
I have learnt to think of any food as snack or breakfast food. I make larger portions of Suppers then I have it ready for the morning or lunch.
I know it's all over whelming at first but the people on the forum are a great support. Your in the right place.

ghost_whistler said:

Yes that's what I'm trying to do. But this is going to be horrifically expensive. I looked at salmon in tesco today and one slice was £2.50. That's one thin slice for one breakfast. I have chicken 4 nights a week and I can't afford any other meat, it's not cheap here at all. I'm just not seeing the options at all. Same with berries; I buy bananas because they are (strangely given they are imported) the cheapest. But they also turn out to be high sugar.

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Think of it as an experiment.
Go low carb for a few weeks, and see if it makes any difference.

It can be done cheaply, as has been said, what you eat isn't as important as what you don't
Tesco do a cooking bacon at 500g for 60p.
Aldi mushrooms, and you have several breakfasts and dinners lined up.
Fresh or frozen green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, other veg low in carbs.
I've made many a vegetable curry simply out of what I've found in the bottom of my fridge, and frozen it for several days dinners.

There are a lot of chicken thighs, fresh fish on the reduced shelf, buy it and freeze it.
Leafy veg is a good 'filler'

Batch cook, and stick the rest in the fridge and freezer.
Snacks, look at the hot deli, most stuff is half price later in the day, and can be eaten cold the next day.
Frozen berries are cheap, but to be honest, for a few weeks you don't need to do much more than not eat carbs, so a packet of them with some bio yogurt, make sure it's sugar free though.

So, initially you may live on the same thing for a few days, but it's only going to be for a short time.
You won't be short of any nutrients or vitamins over a few weeks, and you won't make any difference to cholesterol etc short term
You'll know it either works for you, and can then stand to increase your repertoire, or you'll know it wasn't that, and can move on.

(And as many say, you will probably find you eat a lot less, so the calorie reduction helps weight loss, and is cheaper as you're buying less food overall)

Nothing.
Just a larger bowl of curry.
The curry will have veg in, such as cauliflower, broccoli, beans, onion, pepper, and any meat if you have any. (but watch the carbs in pepper and onions)
(So actually, the answer is probably veg for me)
Mine got everything leftover chucked into a pan or slow cooker, and spiced to taste with a tub of tesco curry powder.
That's about all the recipe.

As to curry, I find the simple dry powder in a spice jar works well.
It's the flavour you need.
Avoid the pre mixed jars, as they contain sugar in fairly high numbers.

Cream, a tin of coconut milk from B&M, or even milk helps the texture.

Remember, this is a 'rough and ready' introduction to the LCHF way to change your life short term, like everything else, practice will improve the experience, and you'll find what sorts of food you like, and can eat everyday, and what complete disasters you won't be touching again.
You're starting cooking and eating from scratch, and no one is a gourmet chef from day one!

Hi @ghost_whistler

I've just eaten, for my evening meal, a Bolognaise sauce which I made a couple of weeks ago, portioned out and put in freezer so, 5mins in m/wave after a stir 1/2 way thru and it's ready. I also steamed some veg, cauliflower, brocolli and Brussel sprouts, some Olive oil & salt and it all went into a good-sized bowl with a decent helping of grated cheddar (I don't like Parmesan) I've even dished this up to a friend of mine and she was amazed how nice it was with vegetables and she wasn't hungry for hours

Regarding chicken, I have to admit to being one for value for money and so I buy a whole chicken, bung it in my pressure cooker (but a Slow Cooker or stick in oven would be fine) then, when cooked, I have some for my meal then, when cool enough to handle, pull the meat off, portion it up and freeze. In fact, the carcass can then be boiled up, strained and, with some veg and whatever else takes your fancy, can make some soup.

To be honest, I don't find eating LCHF any more expensive. I consider this is because I'm just not hungry like I used to be prior to LCHF so eating less.

In the supermarkets, two salmon steaks will make two meals and I have a lovely topping (Low Carb, of course) which is very easy to do and it's fantastic - even though I really don't like fish much These are not too expensive either and probably considerably less than the slice of salmon.

As for a sandwich, my favourite, and regular breakfast, is a slice of ham with sliced cheese, all rolled up. I only have one but I wouldn't think two would be too much for a busy bloke

As already mentioned, it really would be worth giving it a go just for a couple of weeks. I believe you will be amazed how easy it actually is. Also, you will soon be feeling much brighter and active, I think.

Energize said:

Hi @ghost_whistler
In the supermarkets, two salmon steaks will make two meals and I have a lovely topping (Low Carb, of course) which is very easy to do and it's fantastic - even though I really don't like fish much These are not too expensive either and probably considerably less than the slice of salmon.

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I'm more than happy to post how I make this topping but not sure where to post it.
If it's appropriate, would someone please advise where best to post, please?
Many thanks

Energize said:

I'm more than happy to post how I make this topping but not sure where to post it.
If it's appropriate, would someone please advise where best to post, please?
Many thanks

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If it's a recipe, then we have a section here:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/food-nutrition-and-recipes.3/

.

@ghost_whistler This was all new to all of us when we first started.

For me, personally, it seemed to go against everything I had been taught over the years. The ONLY way forward is to be positive about the new way of eating that you are contemplating - look on it as an experiment and don't keep thinking about what you can't eat - make a list of the things that you can eat. Try making a list of the veg and other things you like then google the carbs in that food item - or look at the back of the packet (if it comes in one). When chosing what you are intending to eat look for the cheaper ranges - like Asda's Smartprice or Tesco's Value. For instance I very often get a gammon joint from Asda to bake or boil - costs about £3.50 - and does 2 of us for two or three meals. Lidl and Aldi are both very cheap and many supermarkets have some very good yellow sticker reductions at the end of the afternoon.

Things I often eat that are cheap(ish) and low carb:

Eggs
Large packs of minced beef (which are then cooked and frozen in portions)
Bacon off-cuts
Chicken (cooked and frozen in portions)
Ham
Ham off-cuts from deli counter (great for crustless quiches)
Pork - chops, belly, ribs
Frozen vegetables
Frozen fruit
Fresh veg in season

The other thing you can do, of course, is to look around this website as there are forums where people list what they have eaten each day - I very often get excellent ideas from other forumers who are low carbing.

Eggs for breakfast are fine. They disproved the egg cholesterol myth some time ago. If eggs are raising your blood sugars (have you tested for this) then, yes, you do need to see your doctor because eggs haven't got any carbs in them and eggs eaten on their own shouldn't affect you at all.

I've been type 2 diabetic for about ten years, for the first seven I ate the diet the doctor prescribed for me and got worse, in the end I was injecting rather a lot of insulin about five times a day and gained a stone for every year I was on it. In the three years I've been low-carbing I've nearly lost the insulin weight I put on and feel so much better. I no longer inject and have cut right back on other diabetes meds. Incidentally, I have only used psyllium husk four times - it is the crushed outer husk of a plant (looks like beige dust) and is a natural product which is useful if you get constipated and much gentler than swallowing chemicals. I have used it once for constipation and the other three times because it was an ingredient in a recipe I was cooking.

This way of eating, once you get accustomed to it, is really very nice and satisfying. My husband isn't diabetic but has chosen to join me in low-carbing because he found he felt healthier eating food that isn't jam-packed full of preservatives, hormones and other rubbish. It took me about six months to get to a point when I didn't have to think any more - I had just got used to looking at the yummy things I can eat rather than the beige or white things I can't eat.

I live in a tiny Yorkshire village literally in the middle of nowhere and I can't drive - but ALL the major supermarkets deliver here and they are much cheaper than the village shops. I use Asda because I think they are cheapest and are decent quality. I can also look on their website at the ingredients and nutritional information in the product before I buy it.

I hope this helps - its up to you now.

ghost_whistler said:

But eggs don't seem to be agreeing with me as the symptoms are worse after eating that than a bowl of Shreddies (which i eat instead of porridge, even though it's the usual prepackaged mass market stuff).

I have to say I'm not convinced that eating eggs every day for breakfast is heealthy anyway. It might be best to go back to my GP. This diet, according to the website linked earlier, claims its based on how people used to eat before processed **** was introduced. I agree with reducing all that (and maybe that's enough), but they also argue that you might not get enough fibre and you should eat stuff like that psyilium powder, which itself seems artifical. Isn't that a bit contradictory? Are there no risks to eating no/low carbs?

I also don't live anywhere near a deli counter I'm afraid. Our local butcher, while decent quality (afaik) isn't cheap. This is the problem. I was going to buy a pack of sausages today and use that to get started, but the ingredients are terrible: half the content isn't even meat it's starch and processed wheat!

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You said you were in Tesco yesterday?