I'm Rosie and I'm a carboholic

[RosieLKH]

Have you tried M&S crispy bacon? Heavenly.

I love the idea of mindful eating.
I almost always eat while doing other stuff (reading, Ipadding, watching TV). It's not a good thing, but somehow it's an incredibly hard habit to break. Almost as though just eating food without entertainment is somehow boring.

I did try to instigate an eating at the table once, but then we got rid of the dining table. Which sort of ended that one...

That's why I tend to want to snack through the evening, as it's the time when I might sit and watch TV or go on the computer for fun stuff, as opposed to trying to to work stuff. Appreciating my food is easier when husband is home - someone to share the experience with.

 

[RosieLKH]

Week 7 Sun 29/6/14

• carbs - 22
• cals - 1208
• BG - 6.9

 

[RosieLKH]

Week 8 Mon 30/6/14

• carbs - 48
• cals - 1297
• BG - 6.7

I'm feeling in need of some 'good' snacks to have about the place to stop me going off the rails. Have bought crispy bacon, nuts and seeds, and cream. I've also bought some nice things to have for dinners over the next few nights - prawns, good steak, pork escalopes. Having these to look forward to will hopefully keep me away from the carbs.

I've also been looking at my BS results from my meter over the last year. I have them on a spreadsheet so did a few averages, which I've added to my signature. It's great to see the downward progression. I must ring the health centre to book a blood test, which will hopefully echo this downward move.

 

[cold ethyl]

All sounds positive. I'm joining you on the good food treats as I feel it keeps me going when all I want to do is have a bacon bun. BS have been a big higher for me this last week for no apparent reason other than I haven't been eating at sensible times so it is time to take myself and my liver in hand and eat more regularly. Poor liver seems able to read a clock and thinks that 12.30 as lunch time has been set in stone.
Enjoy the steak and good luck with the blood tests.

 

[RosieLKH]

Well, blood test booked for tomorrow.

Steak was lovely. 100g of expensive fillet hit just the right spot! Had it with lettuce fresh from the garden and a mushroom & cream sauce. You've gotta love these low carb meals!

I even have enough cals left today to have a few nuts and some blueberries while I watch the goings on in the Big Brother house - Ooops, let out a bit of a secret vice there!

 

[RosieLKH]

Week 8 Tues 1/7/14

• carbs - 30
• cals - 1300
• BG - 5.3

 

[RosieLKH]

Right. I think I have a reasonable handle on this so I'm going to stop posting daily and do a sort of weekly update or when I have something to say. I feel much more in control and, while I'm sure I will have time when I have too much of the wrong food, I feel pretty certain that I'm going to stick with this way of eating for the foreseeable future.

 

[AndBreathe]

Well done Rosie. Once most of the cravings go, much is down to routine and habit;albeit the routine and habit maybe newly formed.

 

[RosieLKH]

Muggy weather here. I hate it. I'm feeling hot, tired and sweaty - and it's raining so the dog will not set foot outside the house (greyhound in her mix!).

Anyway, I'm feeling a bit down and worried, which is unlike me. Two things. I still have ear canal pain - otitis externa - which is something I've been getting on and off for the last 4 years. I have just read it is not good if you have diabetes, so I really should book one of my very rare GP appointments (have only seen GP twice since I moved here 3 years ago). Having painful swelling in both ear canals for the last week is dragging me down.

In addition, I have been reading threads on here about statins. I've been on them for yonks. Really, I have no idea how long, certainly over 8 years. My last GP put me on them at the same time I went on Metformin. I never questioned why. I never thought I had side-effects. Now I know the massive night cramps I get in my legs are most likely connected and possibly the aches, pains and memory loss. So all this is worrying me and I'm considering not taking them to see how I feel.

Then I took my BS level, but forget I only had brekkie (egg, bacon, mushrooms) 1 hour ago and am shocked that my BS is 11.8. Yesterday wasn't a particularly high carb day, 45g, but 20 of that was a bottle of beer (which was disgusting as it had 'tones of damson and liquorice' in it - puke!! - so wasn't worth the waste of carbs). Now it looks like that might still be having an effect on my BS, as things from the day before do tend to stay with me for the next day, but that seems a bit high for after a low carb meal this morning.

Also, I keep reading everyone's success stories of dieting and losing 20lb in 3 weeks etc, and I've lost 9lb in 8 weeks - which I know is fine, and 1lb a week is safe, continuous loss, but I'm in a bad mood, so it all adds to it.

So, nothing much I can do about any of this today. Am off to a party 150 miles away tonight, with ex-colleagues, but am p'd off generally with the world (and something's marked my new bath - looks like it might be tar from my own foot - due to all the roads round here getting repaired ready for Monday's Tour de France - life sucks sometimes!).

Breathes deeply - sorry for the rant - just ignore me, unless you think I should stop taking statins or can offer a cure-all for this blasted ear thing.

 

[Brunneria]

Ranting is good - especially when it gives me the chance to debunk some of your trauma!

If you have chronic, ongoing infection/inflammation in your ear canal then that may be affecting your BG.

In the last three months I have had bubonic plague (laughingly known as 'a virus') and a tummy bug. Both had me running fasting BGs of 8-9 for 2 days. Food BG spikes stacked on top of those.

And as for the weight loss, well, you already know my thoughts... The slower the better.
All those amazing weight loss stories are for people dumping fluid retention and glycogen reserves in the first couple of weeks. They think its fat loss. It isn't! The point at which they slow down to a pound or two a week is the point they actually start losing fat. Annoying, irritating, and true.

Check the bloodsugar101 website for the science bit.

Actually, the studies quoted show that actual fat loss on a low carb diet tends to be at around the same rate as any other weight loss diet - after the initial glycogen dumpage.

A pound a week is about what I would be getting on your diet, and (as you know) you are a much better person than me - cos I can't face the grinding torture for so little return.

So have a hug, congratulations on your achievement, and enjoy your party.

(((Hug)))

 

[AndBreathe]

Oh boy. Sometimes life just has a great big belly laugh at our expense.

Whilst the beer may not have been your finest moment (damson and liquorice?!? ), I'd bet your ears are impacting. Do you use drops or a spray for them? My OH has something similar, and has prescription drops (mild steroid) that wrangle it back into shape pronto. Sofradex or Otomize. It is prescription only - even on t'internet, and even here where you can buy almost anything over the counter if you have enough money, but ear health gold dust if you are Mr Breathe.

A trip to your GP could be in order.

 

[oldgreymare]

Hi Rosie,

Just read through your entire thread - thank you so much for sharing your journey. Please don't get discouraged with your progress! I can totally emphasise. After being diagnosed as an adult onset Type 1 now on MDI insulin therapy, it has taken a couple of years to get on top of fairly large fluid retention swings - almost more stressful than the inevitable insulin induced fat gain. LCHF seems to help for me. Either extra carbs and/or hard exercise can easily cause an extra 1 kg of water retention (at start it was 2-3kg overnight eek!) So I expect some weight fluctuation day by day but try to see if overall trend is down.

Last couple of months my weight is pretty steady - rather too much white wine and definitely calories too high (ODing on roasted almonds as a snack). But next step is to try to shed some of my fat gain...

I have refused statin therapy as I already have mild peripheral neuropathy with occasional aching legs and I am trying to increase my muscle strength. My HDL and triglyceride levels are excellent, LDL slightly high (common on LCHF). I think I read that the evidence for the value of statins therapy for post-menopausal women is weak.

 

[RosieLKH]

Party was great. A bit carby on the food side, but avoided chunks of bread, which kept it down. I am OK with eating a 'normal' amount of carbs on these occasions. I don't have such a whirlwind social life to mean this happens all that often!

Thankfully the ears are calming down. i do have some over the counter ear stuff, but I don't think it was very effective. I'll have to look into having something better to hand. Interesting to hear that could have raised my BS. Hopefully I should see it going down again this week.

Will not be stepping on the scales until Tuesday, but will check BS later today. It will be higher as the people we stayed with had a choice of either toast or muesli for brekkie (or bread pudding - weird?). Toast seemed the best bet there.

 

[RosieLKH]

I had take-away curry at the weekends because that's what everyone was having, and I must admit to having a quarter of a naan and some rice. Not too bad, but I was OK the next day with BS of 8.1 by 2pm, then 5.9 2 hrs after my evening meal.

Last night I had a small, sugery item, which seemed to leap into my mouth by accident while I was distracted. OK it was 300 cals and 67 carbs - mainly consisting of dried fuit and hailing from the land of Eccles.

Today my BS has been 9.9 2hrs after brekkie, 8.8 2 hrs later after a dog walk and has finally just reached 6.5.

So it seems that whenever I stray from low carbs my body does take a long time to deal with them.

Anyway, that's it for naughtiness this week. I am going to make a big effort to get nearer the big, black 16 on the scales.

 

[Brunneria]

I had take-away curry at the weekends because that's what everyone was having, and I must admit to having a quarter of a naan and some rice. Not too bad, but I was OK the next day with BS of 8.1 by 2pm, then 5.9 2 hrs after my evening meal.

Last night I had a small, sugery item, which seemed to leap into my mouth by accident while I was distracted. OK it was 300 cals and 67 carbs - mainly consisting of dried fuit and hailing from the land of Eccles.

Today my BS has been 9.9 2hrs after brekkie, 8.8 2 hrs later after a dog walk and has finally just reached 6.5.

So it seems that whenever I stray from low carbs my body does take a long time to deal with them.

Anyway, that's it for naughtiness this week. I am going to make a big effort to get nearer the big, black 16 on the scales.

Sadly, this is the price of enjoying the gluttonous delights of low carb.

Your body seems to forget how to deal with carbs, and you get this ridiculously OTT reaction when you stray. It's one of the reasons I've been sticking to LCHF more and more. The highs get a bit intimidating.

 

[JTL]

Hi,

I've been diagnosed with type 2 for a few years now and have moved from 3x500mg Metformin to 5x, then had 2x 80mg Gliclazide added, and last week went to 3x that.
However, I've been in denial about being diabetic and have not adjusted my diet.

My weight crept up and up and up over 30 years until I was nearly touching 20st (I'm 5' 1" - so that's not a good look). My knees could not take the strain, plus (or possibly because) I developed osteoarthritis and they are now crumbling away.

I have taken my weight down to 17st over the last 4 years, which is fine, but still never bothered to watch what my blood sugars were, and they continued to rise as, although overall I've lost weight, I also have sessions of total binge eating. I have not had a good relationship with food, but I have worked on this over the last 5 years or so and am much more mindful now about what I'm eating and why. I do still go off the rails though.

I was about to go in for a knee replacement op next week, but my pre-op has shown up my high blood sugar levels and have resulted in the op being cancelled.

I know this sounds like a tale of woe and many would say you've done this to yourself, made your bed, blah, blah, blah. Actually, I'm not a tale of woe sort of girl really. I'm generally happy, self-contained and positive. Anyway, I'm also not entirely stupid, and know that only I can do something about this. Partly the thought of going on to insulin motivates me, and partly the knowledge that my knees can only get worse and I will be unable to even walk my lovely dog. So now is the time. I AM going to change this, BUT I know I need to go public, feel I have support of people who understand, and take advice of people who've been there and done it - so I'm here and if you don't mind putting up with me - this is my diary where I'll log my progress.

I'm going low carb. It'll be hard, but I know I have to go cold turkey on some of the things I love. I recognise that when I eat bread, I want to eat more bread... then pastry and cakes follow... then ice-cream. So none of that - it's all out. I'm not fussed about potatoes, unless they are jackets and then one isn't enough - so they're out. I love pasta, but it's always a huge portion - so that's out.

I plan to be kind to myself though, and eat things which I count as lovely. I love fish, so lots of that. I like meat, so that's in too. I like salad, green veg, fruit and pulses, but am confused about how much of some of them I can have. I love nuts and seeds, but after a life-time of looking at calories, I can't get my head around being allowed them, and I do need to lose weight as well as go low carb, so again am confused about what I can eat of those, but I will be reading loads of stuff on this site to help. Any lovely low carb food ideas welcome - especially brekkie and lunch.

Anyway - the diary bit. I joined this week. Started low carbing on Tuesday, using MyFitnessPal to help me, and so far have had two successful days.

Tues - carbs 86 ('cos I had a veggie biriani to use up), cals 1335 out of 1680 ('cos I had earned extra through exercise), BG a.m. 14.7, p.m. 11.1

Weds - carbs 55 (and learnt that cheese has 0 - who knew?), cals 1339 out of 1335 (a few over - whoops), BG a.m. 13.5, p.m. 9.7 (I won't be doing daily readings for long, just for a while to prove to myself it's working)

Feeling good so far. A little hungry around mid-afternoon, but solved that with green tea and celery.

If you've read this far, many thanks for indulging me. Looking forward to posting here and keeping it all going. Small steps and all that!

R x

Lovely refreshingly honest.
I'll now go read the rest ....

 

[RosieLKH]

Well, just phoned the surgery and got the basic result for my recent HbA1c test.

In May, when I was refused knee surgery due to high BS levels it was 94 mmol/mol, by the first week of July, after low carbing for most of the interval between tests, it is down to 64 mmol/mol - with the attached note of 'abnormal level - but expected and improved - no action'.

As I understand it that blood test will show an average for about 12 weeks. I'd been low carbing for about 9 weeks, so I my BS levels would include 3 weeks of high carbs (very high!), so while I still have a way to go to get to 48 mmol/mol, I'd expect to be below 64 mmol/mol by now.

Giving myself a small and reserved high five here! But for anyone reading these posts in the hope of finding out if low carbing works to bring BS levels down - well, yes, it does - and in a fairly short time span.

 

[AndBreathe]

Well, just phoned the surgery and got the basic result for my recent HbA1c test.

In May, when I was refused knee surgery due to high BS levels it was 94 mmol/mol, by the first week of July, after low carbing for most of the interval between tests, it is down to 64 mmol/mol - with the attached note of 'abnormal level - but expected and improved - no action'.

As I understand it that blood test will show an average for about 12 weeks. I'd been low carbing for about 9 weeks, so I my BS levels would include 3 weeks of high carbs (very high!), so while I still have a way to go to get to 48 mmol/mol, I'd expect to be below 64 mmol/mol by now.

Giving myself a small and reserved high five here! But for anyone reading these posts in the hope of finding out if low carbing works to bring BS levels down - well, yes, it does - and in a fairly short time span.

That's quite a shift Rosie. Do you know what level you need to achieve for your surgery to go ahead? Apologies, if I'm being lazy, not rereading the whole thread.

 

[RosieLKH]

It's 69, but I'm holding off until after my holiday in Sept, and in the hope that as I lose weight the recovery will be easier. However, I am walking so much better at the moment, having lost a bit of weight. This time last year I could barely get around a supermarket with the aid of a trolley. Today I walked the dog for 45 minutes.

 

[AndBreathe]

It's 69, but I'm holding off until after my holiday in Sept, and in the hope that as I lose weight the recovery will be easier. However, I am walking so much better at the moment, having lost a bit of weight. This time last year I could barely get around a supermarket with the aid of a trolley. Today I walked the dog for 45 minutes.

That's incredibly positive. Wouldn't it be ironic to see a little more progress, then decide to defer surgery for a while*/forever*?

* Delete as appropriate.