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I'm Rosie and I'm a carboholic

RosieLKH said:
Yep - it was a stupid impulse buy and eat. I should just avoid any of this pre-prepared stuff. It's much safer for me to cook my own and generally I do, but I am prone to doing this type of thing at the drop of a hat. It's something I have yet to learn to control.
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Don't beat yourself up. It was protein. It could have been red velvet cupcakes, or a mega white bloomer, or a mahoooooosive packet of sweet chilli kettle chips. For those, self-flagellation might have been permissible. :)

Today, with a new regime, is a whole new day.
 
Wk 5 Thurs12/6/14
  • carbs 37 - 7 of those came from sugar free polo mints. Something new learnt there!
  • cals - 1210
  • BG - 7.6 mid morning
 
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Great thread.
And I'm so impressed that you are low carbing with such low fat! I wouldn't stick to it for a day, let alone 7 pages! Incredible achievement.

That weight regain a few days ago was water, but you knew that, didn't you. You'll hold it for a few days then it will just disappear one day in a widdle.

Am rooting for you!
 
Brunneria - it's Saturday - what are you doing up at half seven?

Yes, thought it was water. Weight loss looks to be 5lb now, but scales do go up and down and read differently if I step on, off, on, off - so I'm just watching for the downward creep towards the 16!

It doesn't feel low fat to be honest. I'm not using butter on bread, and that is a massive reduction for me. I notice that the butter in the butter dish is replaced far less often and I'm buying far less. It leaves room for me to have luxurious tasting scrambled eggs and omelette. I still think I'm eating too much protein, but I'll see how my BS is now I'm on less Gliclazide. Of course, I still need to up the exercise levels, which could use up some of the glucose from the protein.

Wk 5 Fri13/6/14
  • carbs 40
  • cals - 1595 - extra cals at wine o'clock
  • BG - 7.0 fasting - 6.9 before lunch
I felt seriously awful all day up to about 4:30pm. I woke up feeling headachey with palpitations and wondered if it was low blood sugar, but apparently not as BS was 7.0. If I had gone low in the night, and then my liver had compensated, I suppose I wouldn't notice in my BS if it had raised due to that.

Anyway, felt shaky and had palpitations for most of the day, even after eating. I convinced my self that this was probably more likely to be something akin to the famed carb flu, plus the hot weather. Took it easy, went for a gentle walk with dog when husband got home for weekend, then felt fine for the rest of the evening - hence 'forgot' I'd felt unwell and drank white wine! Feel tip top healthy today - BUT - we always eat later when husband is here - 9:30pm - and we always eat just a bit more, so more carbs - so far less likely to have low BS overnight - so woke up with no headache etc.

I'm watching this feeling though, as I never had it when BS was consistently higher than it should be, so in my mind it must have something to do with my new, lower BS, the way the Metformin and Gliclazide work with lower BS and new diet, and of course the lower carb diet. There are too many variables there to know what is making me have palpitations etc and it could be a combination anyway. I will have to keep an eye on the times it happens and see if it relates to the times I ate, took meds, how low the carbs were etc.
 
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Wk 5 Sat 14/6/14
  • carbs 21
  • cals - 1507
  • BG - 6.0 before lunch - I'm really pleased I'm still getting these levels having dropped one of the Gliclazide tablets. I was taking 3 a day.
Felt great today. None of the rubbishy palpitations of yesterday. Went for the longest dog walk in years - which was only 45 minutes, but given I'm waiting to have a knee replaced that's good going for me. This time last year I could only make it from the car park to the dog run field - all of 50m. All my hard work doing physio for the knee is paying off, as it losing a grand total of 6lb now. The say each 1 lb lost is worth 4lb of pressure off our knees.

And got a fasting BS of 5.5 this morning. Am chuffed with that.
 
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Week 5 Sun 15/6/14
Family BBQ - wine and desserts eaten :eek:
  • carbs - not even counting - I avoided the bread, had a bit of tabouleh salad, had wine, had a bit of 4 different types of pudding with cream
  • cals - yeah right!
  • BG - 5.5 fasting
All the eating was done before 5 p.m, so had a slice of cheese and some almonds in the evening once at home. Woke about 1 a.m. from a nightmare and with heart thumping, so decided to check BS in case this was a hypo (unlikely after all the food, I know) - BS was 6.1, which I thought wasn't bad considering the desserts and the wine.

I am still wondering about these palpitations. They have only been happening since I've been low carbing and since my BS has been so much lower. If they happen while I'm asleep I usually wake with a fright and from a disturbing dream. I'm wondering if my BS gets a bit low. It might still be in a normal range I guess, but since it was never low, a bit low might make my body think that something bad is going on. Then I get the hypo symptoms and the bad dreams and that wakes me up. The last two times this has happened at night my BS has been fine. Luckily I have had two ECGs recently for pre-admission check-ups for the knee replacement and they were normal, which reassures me that it's probably not something else, and since it's only just started happening to me.
 
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I don't know your age, but palpitations can be a symptom of the change. I get them and that is what drove me to GP prior to diabetes diagnosis. They have got better recently but i do find that waking up suddenly from a dream can set them off and the dreaded hot flushes and night sweats. I think as well they can be a side effect of lo carbing in the early days, and wonder if eating too many after lower numbers can set them off again.
 
cold ethyl said:
I don't know your age, but palpitations can be a symptom of the change. I get them and that is what drove me to GP prior to diabetes diagnosis. They have got better recently but i do find that waking up suddenly from a dream can set them off and the dreaded hot flushes and night sweats. I think as well they can be a side effect of lo carbing in the early days, and wonder if eating too many after lower numbers can set them off again.
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I'm 52, but have not had periods for 4 years now - with none of the hormonal stuff, thankfully. So, yes, am fully expecting these, but it's weird they have only started since low carbing, which is why I'm linking them to that, and then when I had my first hypo, it dawned on me that it felt so similar that maybe it's low carbing and low BS at times - and my body's not used to either yet.

I'm not too worried. I'll let it run a bit and see if things change.
 
I was horrified to read that the nasty hormonal things can go on after the periods stop ..I'd naively assumed that post- menopause the flushes and anxiety rubbish would stop but it ain't guaranteed. I can't take HRT so am just wading through it like I was in treacle at the minute. I may have to have another trip to the female GP as I saw a bloke about it all last few times and as nice as he is, he us focused on the diabetes and BP readings far more than the feeling at the end of my tether bit. I find drinking plenty seems to ease them, and keeping room cooler at night. Obvious things like cutting out caffeine help if you still drink the stuff?
 
RosieLKH said:
Interesting thoughts on low carb diets and palpitations http://thorfalk.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/arrhythmia-heart-palpitations-ketosis-and-low-carb-diet/
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Interesting article though obviously only one person's anecdotal experience it sounds like others suffer from palpitations. So the conclusion is the doctor did an EGG and saw characteristic signs of palpitations caused by stress and told the person not to worry. But for some reason despite having pain, injury and sudden increase in strenuous exercise as likely causes of stress, the person decided that low carb was the cause of the stress? Odd. Sounds like confirmation bias. Also the blogger may have been borderline low carb and not in ketosis, it's unclear.

Thanks for posting this though. Palpitations are always a worry, especially if they can't be tied to a hypo. I get them, and not always with a hypo, so if there is any link to low carbing that would be good to know.

It's weird that "Paleo 2.0" advocates rice and potatoes. Rice being a Neolithic food and potatoes being unknown in most of the world until after the middle ages. And both have a pretty high glycemic index.
 
Spiker said:
It's weird that "Paleo 2.0" advocates rice and potatoes. Rice being a Neolithic food and potatoes being unknown in most of the world until after the middle ages. And both have a pretty high glycemic index.
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Funnily enough I was musing yesterday on the origins of man, as you do, and a hunter gatherer diet. Since humans are thought to have come out of Africa they must have had fruits from those areas, so why haven't we evolved to process the sugar in them better?

I'm missing my oranges!
 
RosieLKH said:
Funnily enough I was musing yesterday on the origins of man, as you do, and a hunter gatherer diet. Since humans are thought to have come out of Africa they must have had fruits from those areas, so why haven't we evolved to process the sugar in them better?

I'm missing my oranges!
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Actually we do have specific adaptations to process fruit, that our near relatives (other primates) don't have. We are better at absorbing fruit, with lower blood glucose spikes, because of amylase enzyme. Humans all produce more of this enzyme than primates (in varying degrees).

Nonetheless in evolutionary time we were occasionally binging on fruit when we found it, in season. Not downing litres of HFCS drinks every day. I don't think that whole fruit is a bad thing for a non diabetic person. It is a bad thing in excess for a diabetic, perhaps.
 
Spiker said:
Actually we do have specific adaptations to process fruit, that our near relatives (other primates) don't have. We are better at absorbing fruit, with lower blood glucose spikes, because of amylase enzyme. Humans all produce more of this enzyme than primates (in varying degrees).

Nonetheless in evolutionary time we were occasionally binging on fruit when we found it, in season. Not downing litres of HFCS drinks every day. I don't think that whole fruit is a bad thing for a non diabetic person. It is a bad thing in excess for a diabetic, perhaps.
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You are right. If I didn't have diabetes, whether I brought it on myself or was predisposed to put on weight and get it, I would be able to eat fruit with no problems. Maybe I'll get back there one day, but for the moment nearly all fruit spikes my BS a lot. Luckily I like celery and cucumber and have managed to convince myself they are a great alternative! ;)
 
RosieLKH said:
You are right. If I didn't have diabetes, whether I brought it on myself or was predisposed to put on weight and get it, I would be able to eat fruit with no problems. Maybe I'll get back there one day, but for the moment nearly all fruit spikes my BS a lot. Luckily I like celery and cucumber and have managed to convince myself they are a great alternative! ;)
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Interestingly, one of the 'inspirations' for Victoria Boutenko, (who claims she created the first green smoothie from blended fruit and leafy green veg), was watching chimpanzees.

Apparently, when they are glutting on, for example, a whole tree of ripe bananas, or a mango tree, they often roll the ripe fruit in leaves.
Flavour?
Lowering the glycaemic load?
Adding fibre?
No idea.

But the result has got to be lowering the BG spike...
http://greensmoothiesblog.com/who-is-victoria-boutenko/
There's a lot of varying press about Boutenko's theories, but whatever you think, green smoothies are ACE!!! :happy:
 
Week 6 Mon 16/6/14
  • carbs - 67 too high today
  • cals - 1190
  • BG - 6.1 fasting
Week 6 Tues 17/6/14
  • carbs - 34
  • cals - 1285
  • BG - 9.3 fasting - 4.8 before lunch
 
Week 6 Weds 18/6/14
  • carbs - 36
  • cals - 1578
  • BG - 7.0 before lunch - I'm not getting the lower readings not I've dropped a Gliclazide, but I've not gone too low either. I'm also having more carbs this week due to having plain yoghurt and more veggie meals. I'm going to have to watch this. I'll see if I can get back to lower carbs and what this does to BS.
 
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Week 6 Thurs 19/6/14
  • carbs - 30
  • cals - 1770 - oh dear!
  • BG - 6.9 before lunch
Lessons learned this week. Smoked mackerel has high cals for small quantities, as do almond nuts, pumpkin seeds and cream - and more to the point I like them all just a bit too much.

On a good note, I tried making courgette spaghetti (actally tagiatelle, 'cos I used a potato peeler and got thin strips). It is fab. I had it with a homemade tomato sauce and parmesan one night, and with a few bacon bits and parmesan another night. Also, becoming a firm favourite, aubergine pizza. It's nothing like pizza at all, but is delicious. Two chunky slices of aubergine, seasoned and buttered and put in a dish. Sliced tomato put on top, seasoned (I used a little garlic salt). Bake until soft (baked until cremated was when I forgot about them!) and serve with a bit of grated cheese of choice or with a slice of mozzarella melted on top.

Another good note - my 30 minute dog walk route now takes me 20 mins.
 
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I do think that sadly some of us just have to watch calorie intake as well.... I see relatively slim people in town with what I think of now as a carb belly and I'm sure just going low carb would sort them out, but I think for those of us that have been like this a long time , our portion control went out the window with our carb addiction and that part of the journey to better health is learning to listen to our real appetite not the one we've followed for years.
Smoked mackerel is high in calories but good for you.. I try and split the packet into a portion with salad and the rest either made into late with cottage cheese and lemon juice and loads black pepper, or a treat for the cats. Like the sound of the Aubergine pizzas especially since discovering Morrisons sell white ones which aren't as bitter to my taste buds.
Keep up the good work.
 
cold ethyl said:
I do think that sadly some of us just have to watch calorie intake as well.... I see relatively slim people in town with what I think of now as a carb belly and I'm sure just going low carb would sort them out, but I think for those of us that have been like this a long time , our portion control went out the window with our carb addiction and that part of the journey to better health is learning to listen to our real appetite not the one we've followed for years.
Smoked mackerel is high in calories but good for you.. I try and split the packet into a portion with salad and the rest either made into late with cottage cheese and lemon juice and loads black pepper, or a treat for the cats. Like the sound of the Aubergine pizzas especially since discovering Morrisons sell white ones which aren't as bitter to my taste buds.
Keep up the good work.
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So true. It's only in very recent years I've realised I have this carb addiction. I look around at my wider (literally - LOL) family and see so many members who do. It's not just nurture either, as these are people I rarely see (old adage of choosing friends but stuck with dodgy family!). I used to feel totally disgusted with myself, but seemed unable to have the willpower to change my eating habits - despite being reasonably intelligent, good at my job etc, etc. I took an online course on mindful eating, which I wouldn't normally have bothered with but it was offered free as a guinea-pig (now £250!!!). It helped me stop beating myself up and introduced me to the idea of eating being an addiction and one that is difficult to go cold turkey on.

I am finding that I am not hungry on this low carb diet, BUT... old habits die hard and I am still very much working on portion control. Using small plates is helping a bit. I'm so used to the look of a pile of food on a big plate, and I need to retrain my brain to accept small and tasty feels better than huge, bloated, falling asleep on the sofa... on so on.

Love smoked mackerel pate. I would certainly not be tempted to add carbs to it as it would be my finger dipping into the pot! Maybe not then - LOL. I'm going to raid the fish counter for fresh fish to stock the freezer up with. Luckily I love any fish. I might try turkey steaks too as a change from overdosing on processed pork - though I'm sure my bacon and egg breakfast is the thing that stops me being hungry for most of the day. Funny, when I was teaching I never used to eat breakfast, and sometimes skipped lunch. No wonder I had a crashing headache by the time I left work and stopped off in the first shop I passed to stack up on carb dreadfuls.

I've never found aubergine bitter, but know people who do sprinkle salt on it, leave it for an hour and then wash the salt off.
 
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