I'm really struggling

[Stevia_queen]

I am a struggling pre diabetic, overweight and find exercise difficult. no motivation and it hurts. haha hmmm
told i was HAc1 6.4mmol 3 months ago
3 weeks ago i got a accu check monitor which has been a revelation.
I'm monitoring blood sugars 5 times a day
I don't eat any sugars and no refine foods at all
I have my carbs down to 20 - max 100grms a day
I'm at estimated HAc1 5.3mmol but i keep peaking and i am struggling a lot on the 3rd week managing and monitoring my blood sugar and the low carb diet.
I slipped and had a pizza, a piece of cake and a chocolate bar this weekend (over the 2 days, I'm gutted)
my estimate is still at 5.3mmol but its peaking and telling me hey your sugars are too varied.

Im trying to find the balance i had last week.
I've seen posts on here of people on 25gr carbs a day!! i find 50grms hard!! how do they do it??
just boiled eggs fish and long green beans?
I dont want to eat too much meat and diary but I'm turning to it just to get by.

since the weekend my mood has suffered and my energy has dipped considerably and my fasting glucose went from 5mmol last week to 6.4mmol this morning

I'm going to New york next week and I'm really worried i can't keep it up when I'm out there
arrgg

 

[TorqPenderloin]

It sounds like you're on the right track. That's the most important part. Remember that finding balance means that you CAN occasionally have pizza, cake, or chocolate...you just can't have it all the time and all at once. Take that experience and learn from it. The next time you have a craving, try to limit yourself to one of those things, and eventually avoid them as much as possible.

This is a long game and you're only 3 weeks in. Be proud of your progress, but don't get discouraged that things aren't perfect yet.

Find ways to set goals for yourself, but don't neglect setting a few that are "Confidence boosters" that are easy to achieve. I find that helps tremendously with my discipline, but also my mood when it comes to this sort of thing.

As far as how we eat 25g of carbs a day? What works for me is to treat food as if it were fuel and nothing more. I eat many of the same foods every single day because it helps to keep me from overeating. I also usually have a future day in mind where I'll reward myself for sticking to my plan. That may be a wedding or a holiday where I choose to enjoy the food just like everyone else.

Remember that balance doesn't mean avoiding things entirely. It a matter of finding a way to keep everything that's important to you without any negative implications.

 

[Stevia_queen]

i appreciate your encouragement a lot. i guess a life of enjoying all the bad things i have to reap the consequences now.
I have to flip it and see it as a good thing.
I do want to get to that point where food is just fuel. i almost caught a glimpse of it last week haha almonds help a lot a lot as they low the hunger pangs. but only once or twice a day of about 10 almonds.
i guess a boiled egg and green beans it is for me then lol...

 

[dawnmc]

Do you eat fish? A can of tuna, mixed with chopped capers, olives with mayo, salt pepper and lemon juice is a good lunch. Throw in some walnuts and its pretty tasty. Chopped up chicken breast with curry mayo ala 'coronation chicken', that's nice too. Boiled eggs with cheese, olives and nuts. Its important to keep some snacks in the fridge to keep your energy up while you get a chance to make something proper. If you can manage lentils you could make a dahl with boiled eggs.

 

[TorqPenderloin]

i guess a life of enjoying all the bad things i have to reap the consequences now. I have to flip it and see it as a good thing.

I try to look at things a bit differently than that and I find it helps a lot in terms of my mental strength.

If I could go back in time, there are plenty of things I would have done differently, but I try to learn from those experiences and then move on. At this point, I can't do anything to affect those decisions so why dwell on them and wonder what would have happened if I did things differently? S**t happened. Learn from it. Move on.....that's my general approach and it's worked pretty well so far for me.

Instead of seeing your life as the "Consequences" of the past. Look at it as a new chapter in your life. No matter how hard you try, you'll never be able to change that a1c from three months ago, that piece of cake you ate, or the weight you gained. Those things happened, learn from them, and make the necessary adjustments to make sure they aren't repeated.

 

[Phoenix55]

I also found it difficult at the beginning and I have a strong dislike of exercise, to put it mildly. Now with my bg monitor I find it a voyage of discovery. I am eating foods I had not eaten much before, the result on the monitor is often a surprise and I have found an exercise programme that I enjoy, is free online, varied and that I enjoy. The salads in the middle of winter were tough, but I learnt how to vary them to keep them interesting and have gained confidence in my ability to cook edible food that is healthy! By keeping a diary of food and bg results I have a record to show at a check up so I can show progress. As a bonus when work colleagues commented on my weight loss I started to monitor that and I have lost over a stone in a few months. I feel so much better and have kick started other areas of my life that had been put on hold for too long, and am looking forward to wearing some sizes of clothes this summer that I have not worn for a while. Testing, testing, testing truly is the key to finding what you can eat, if you can't count the carbs check portion sizes and refuse to be scared of trying something new.

Don't dwell on the past, the future is a exciting and different.

 

[donnellysdogs]

LCHF really doesn't have to be boring...
Please have a look at some of the recipes from this website and the forum members....
Honestly they are fantastic.
I am gluten free, lactose free as well. I make wonderful broccoli and stilton soup that is low carb. Many people have berries and a bit of yogurt or bacon, sausage n mushrooms etc..
The thing is that you will need fat of some sort.
You don't say whether you are willing to cook or not, so its quite hard to advise.
2sq of dark choc a day is ok. Or one-ha!!
Spirallised courgettes are lovely and see even M&S are selling them already spirallised.
The key no matter what is to get balanced nutrition for all the vitamins and minerals...so some fat, protein is necessary.. Doesn't have to be OTT just make sure that its balanced.

Don't think its impossible... Its not. Yes, its easy to get a quick pizza but its so easy to make one that is low carb and balanced...

 

[Stevia_queen]

LCHF really doesn't have to be boring...
Please have a look at some of the recipes from this website and the forum members....
Honestly they are fantastic.
I am gluten free, lactose free as well. I make wonderful broccoli and stilton soup that is low carb. Many people have berries and a bit of yogurt or bacon, sausage n mushrooms etc..
The thing is that you will need fat of some sort.
You don't say whether you are willing to cook or not, so its quite hard to advise.
2sq of dark choc a day is ok. Or one-ha!!
Spirallised courgettes are lovely and see even M&S are selling them already spirallised.
The key no matter what is to get balanced nutrition for all the vitamins and minerals...so some fat, protein is necessary.. Doesn't have to be OTT just make sure that its balanced.

Don't think its impossible... Its not. Yes, its easy to get a quick pizza but its so easy to make one that is low carb and balanced...

ok yes you are right, I love to cook and am great at it lol love fish so thats cool,
I do eat full fat plain yoghurt and strawberries and blueberries, I love spinach and broccoli and green beans and garden peas.
Im trying to stay away from too much cheeses, as I'm also trying to alkalise my body a bit.
I have stopped all gluten and grains now since the first week testing, I also had to stop the quinoa as that was spiking me.
I have a few almond recipes i use too. and i think ill try the cauliflower pizza see how that works out.
I think this weekends cheating myself not treating myself got me down i guess.
Onward and upwards! thank you ill check the recipes out.

 

[donnellysdogs]

ok yes you are right, I love to cook and am great at it lol love fish so thats cool,
I do eat full fat plain yoghurt and strawberries and blueberries, I love spinach and broccoli and green beans and garden peas.
Im trying to stay away from too much cheeses, as I'm also trying to alkalise my body a bit.
I have stopped all gluten and grains now since the first week testing, I also had to stop the quinoa as that was spiking me.
I have a few almond recipes i use too. and i think ill try the cauliflower pizza see how that works out.
I think this weekends cheating myself not treating myself got me down i guess.
Onward and upwards! thank you ill check the recipes out.

Great to hear... So glad you do enjoy cooking... Makes lchf easier.

Even the soups I make are pretty low carb especially compared to shop bought ones.

Salmon or vege lasagne is low carb if you make it with courgettes instead of pasta. Although this does have cheese in..

Theres a lovely breakfast.. 1/2 pepper (each person) par roasted for about 10 mins. Put in sundried tomatos, some pesto and top with an egg. Then bake for somewhere between 16-20 mins... I never liked pesto or sundried tomatoes before trying this..

Honestly there are some delicious foods to experiment with. I'm so glad you are climbing back on board again.

Avocado chocolate mousse is delicious too.

 

[mfactor]

Loads of good advice given already and the only thing I would add would be to prioritize your diabetes for now and worry about the other things later

ie. just concentrate on low carb and dont sweat the rest until you have control (you mention avoiding meat, dairy and cheese)

 

[Helss]

I've been lowish carving for the last 8 weeks and am starting to find it really boring too. But sticking with known recipes has got me over the hump / shock of the diagnosis...I feel more confident now to try other things, like spicy food flavours to stop being so bored of fish and chicken! I suffer from IBS that is aggravated by veg, so am trying to eat to not make that worse, so it's an added factor. I am also guilty of getting hugely over-obsessed about my health, so have also recognised the for me, daily testing isn't a good idea for my anxiety levels. I suppose what I'm saying is that it's finally sinking in that this is a marathon not a race. You're doing brilliantly to have got to where you are. I trust the forum, it really, really helps!

 

[Brunneria]

I go through phases of boredom (though i am never sure whether it is LC or me being lazy )

Every time, i get through it with Google, Pinterest, or the recipe threads on this forum. Herbs, spices, curry pastes, rubs, marinades... 10 mins of internet exploration, and i become invigorated again.

Also, well worth googling 'low carb cheese sauce' (its better than one made with flour), and
Low carb pizza http://www.fathead-movie.com/index....e-older-brothers-oldest-sons-faux-carb-pizza/ (again, better than carby ones)

 

[Stevia_queen]

H

Do you eat fish? A can of tuna, mixed with chopped capers, olives with mayo, salt pepper and lemon juice is a good lunch. Throw in some walnuts and its pretty tasty. Chopped up chicken breast with curry mayo ala 'coronation chicken', that's nice too. Boiled eggs with cheese, olives and nuts. Its important to keep some snacks in the fridge to keep your energy up while you get a chance to make something proper. If you can manage lentils you could make a dahl with boiled eggs.

I yes love tuna and eat it. I boil eggs and have lots of cheeses. Spinach lettucw celery olives. And long green beans french beans are low carb and have inulin in it to support insulin resistance.

 

[Stevia_queen]

Ok all update time
Im still estimated at 5.3habc1 on my diabetes m app . I have been testing 5 times a day ans entering all data. Fasting b4 and after breakfast linch and dinner.
I have stopped peeking now and have a steady green reads between 5.6 and 4.2.

I was away in new york last week and still kept the low carb diet all my reads were green for 2 weeks till now.
1.
I bought some low GI sugar substitute called erythmitol while I was put there which is like stevia but doesn not impact and has only 4g per 100g of carb so a tsp in coffee in the morning is negligible. Although it does rise me 0.5 after coffee with one spoon.

2.
I have something important I noticed while in new york. Organic maple syrup brings my blood sugar down completely! (As does apple cider vinegar but alot more tasty)
I had to have american pancake while out there. But.. I only had one gluten free delicious pancake with a teaspoon of maple syrup over it. I expected to spike 3 mmols but instead I went down to 3.2!!! Lowest read ever!!! I had a quater teaspoon full when I got back to london. And it brought it down 1 mmol!
3. My target fasting read is 4. But i cant
seem to bring it lower than 4.6
I would likw reads of 3.2 to 4 but dont know what else to do to get it down. I have been alot more physical. Still low carb. Still lots of greens fiwh chicken protien and cheeses etc. Only do strawberries and blueberries for fruit.
Any advice on getting my reads down to 3 or 4 mmol? My ave to 4.0 habc1 from 5.3% ?

 

[Glink]

Wow, 4.2 to 5.6 sounds just about perfect! Congrats!
Your maple syrup experience makes me wonder about reactive hypoglycemia. Have you looked into that?
I've been told that below 4 mmol/l is not desirable (not that I've ever been in danger of that).
Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in here as well, as I'm relatively new to all this myself in the past year.

 

[donnellysdogs]

Why try to achieve 4 when that is low?
Meters have up to a 20% error so 4 could be much lower...

 

[Stevia_queen]

Why try to achieve 4 when that is low?
Meters have up to a 20% error so 4 could be much lower...

Hi donnell
I guess im looking at readings for healthy normal non diabetics which are 3.2 to 5.5 fasting. Seeing as im pre diabetic and nit diabetic yet. Id like to think I can train my pancreas and blood sugars lol.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Hi donnell
I guess im looking at readings for healthy normal non diabetics which are 3.2 to 4.5 fasting. Seeing as im pre diabetic and nit diabetic yet. Id like to think I can train my pancreas and blood sugars lol.

Can you tell me where did you get those figures from? I understood it was 4 to 5.9. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Stevia_queen]

I have

Wow, 4.2 to 5.6 sounds just about perfect! Congrats!
Your maple syrup experience makes me wonder about reactive hypoglycemia. Have you looked into that?
I've been told that below 4 mmol/l is not desirable (not that I've ever been in danger of that).
Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in here as well, as I'm relatively new to all this myself in the past year.

heard on the grapevine that maple syrug can bring down bgs if taken in small doses. I also heard that about cinnamon and apple cider vinegar and aswaganda tincture. I cant stick to things long term so I dip in and out of each of these and am about to experiment with aswaganda tincture. I dont have maple syrup at home but mayne I should get some! Ill keep u posted if I do. X

 

[Stevia_queen]

Can you tell me where did you get those figures from? I understood it was 4 to 5.9. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Can you tell me where did you get those figures from? I understood it was 4 to 5.9. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Umm I got it from
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_sugar
It says normal levels for healthy normal people non diabetic etc is 3.9 to 5.5