• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Keto Diet

J

Jillyfl

Well-Known Member
Messages
100
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Swimming
Hello

I have been struggling to reduce my blood sugar levels, so I visited the diet doctor website as recommended. I found the keto diet and have been following it for a week or so now. This really works and I am now around sixes and sevens on my monitor now. I am unable to eat fruit of any kind as it sends my sugar levels up way too high. I am eating around 20g carbs a day. I feel good as long as I don't eat too much fat as this makes me feel sick. My question is, can this be sustained long term. Will this diet harm me or can I stick to this forever. I am very sensitive to the smallest amount of carbs and my levels easily go up.
 
I have found after several months of LCHF/keto, I can tolerate slightly more carbs than at the beginning. I will stick to this new way of eating for life.
 
Jillyfl said:
Hello

I have been struggling to reduce my blood sugar levels, so I visited the diet doctor website as recommended. I found the keto diet and have been following it for a week or so now. This really works and I am now around sixes and sevens on my monitor now. I am unable to eat fruit of any kind as it sends my sugar levels up way too high. I am eating around 20g carbs a day. I feel good as long as I don't eat too much fat as this makes me feel sick. My question is, can this be sustained long term. Will this diet harm me or can I stick to this forever. I am very sensitive to the smallest amount of carbs and my levels easily go up.
Click to expand...
I've been doing it for about 3 years.. seems to work well for me. Why do you think eating real food would harm you?
 
Jillyfl said:
My question is, can this be sustained long term. Will this diet harm me or can I stick to this forever.
Click to expand...
We've done five and a half years now, still healthy and James has been categorised as "diabetes resolved" at the doctor's. No intention of changing anything.
Sally
 
Transitioned from low GI (kind of Paleo with Dairy) to LCHF, then Keto all with exercise, and now Keto / higher protein. This will be will be 4 years in Jan / Feb 2019.

Sustainable is a yes for me.
 
Ok thank you! I will continue to keep my blood sugars down. It’s hard and very restrictive. I am already sick of eggs and bacon but there are a lot of people out there worse off than me. I must admit I have more energy. I have meal plans and recipes to follow for next week when I shop for the ingredients so I’m hoping I’ll enjoy eating a little more. Thank you all for your replies, I have learned a lot and have got more help from everyone on here than I have been able to research myself. It helps me to keep going!
 
Jillyfl said:
It’s hard and very restrictive
Click to expand...
Just have steak for breakfast and bacon for dinner mix it up a bit.
To be honest I find it so much easier not to have to worry about what to eat since going more carnivore. Food is now fuel and not a "treat" or "reward". And skipping breakfast means nothing to worry about in the morning at all.
 
Oddly I find it a little sad to think of it solely as fuel. Food has always been enjoyable and social for me. I am experimenting more now and trying new recipes to bring back those old feelings. Eating out isn’t as enjoyable due to fewer and repetitive options.
 
Not odd, I agree entirely with what you said.
Eating in our family has always been a sociable occasion and something to enjoy.
Eating out is more restrictive now and cooking for the family more tricky, with a carb loving OH and fussy grandchildren.
Still, hopefully it’s worth it!
 
Try this.....

Lime and coriander chicken with avocado mash

  • In a food processor, whizz coriander, lime zest and juice.
  • Place in a food bag and add chicken breasts. Leave in fridge until required.
  • Heat oil in frying pan on medium heat, add chicken breasts cook slowly then add rest of marinade and carton of cream; simmer.
  • Season to taste
  • Serve with mashed avocado, sea salt flakes and chilli flakes to taste plus a few salad leaves
 
Jillyfl said:
Ok thank you! I will continue to keep my blood sugars down. It’s hard and very restrictive. I am already sick of eggs and bacon but there are a lot of people out there worse off than me. I must admit I have more energy. I have meal plans and recipes to follow for next week when I shop for the ingredients so I’m hoping I’ll enjoy eating a little more. Thank you all for your replies, I have learned a lot and have got more help from everyone on here than I have been able to research myself. It helps me to keep going!
Click to expand...

Have you found the www.dietdoctor.com website yet?
The recipes and food ideas on there are absolutely inspirational :)

And well done for sticking it through the first week until you have started to see the benefits. It helps tremendously to see the improvements, doesn't it? :D
 
Jillyfl said:
Try this.....

Lime and coriander chicken with avocado mash

  • In a food processor, whizz coriander, lime zest and juice.
  • Place in a food bag and add chicken breasts. Leave in fridge until required.
  • Heat oil in frying pan on medium heat, add chicken breasts cook slowly then add rest of marinade and carton of cream; simmer.
  • Season to taste
  • Serve with mashed avocado, sea salt flakes and chilli flakes to taste plus a few salad leaves
Click to expand...

That sounds delicious. Any idea of the carbs per portion?
 
Last edited:
Flora123 said:
That sounds delicious. Any idea of the carbs per portion?
Click to expand...
No sorry I don't and I don't know how to calculate how many carbs are in food. It doesn't push my sugar levels up very much at all when I test 2 hours later though.
 
bulkbiker said:
I've been doing it for about 3 years.. seems to work well for me. Why do you think eating real food would harm you?
Click to expand...
It’s because I was always of the belief that to eat healthily you should eat a balanced diet with lots of fruit and vegetables, low fat and plenty of fibre. The keto diet adds a lot of fat, and no fruit. There are limited vegetables. I thought this would not be very good for me health wise. It’s working though to keep my sugar levels stable, I would like them to be lower but don’t know what else to do. I will continue this way for life as I see that there are a lot of you that have been eating this way for years. My body does seem to be very sensitive though. I tried natural yoghurt with a handful of berries and my sugar jumped to 11.5
 
Jillyfl said:
It’s working though to keep my sugar levels stable, I would like them to be lower but don’t know what else to do
Click to expand...
Just keep going .. it takes a while for your body to stabilise.. quite a few months for me before I got anywhere near "normal" levels. The bad dietary advice we have been given for years (especially where fruit is concerned) is quite a worry. If we were just having it when it in season for a month or two in the late summer autumn we'd probably be fine but its purpose was probably to fatten us up for the winter. The extra bred for sweetness stuff we eat all your round is nothing like those original fruits.
As for fibre.. I have hardly eaten any for the past 4 months.. after an initial acclimatisation period no problems whatsoever.
 
I do not mean to sound patronising, but there are so many combination low carb meals, I cannot keep up. Today "we" got back late afternoon from football, so stopped off for a take away (shout out to Carty Caribbean Catering, Outside The Royal Pub Mottingham). There we picked up grilled jerk chicken (dry) and curry goat - this was the first time my whole family did 100% carnivore, let's just say there was little talking. What I am getting at was this was just humble chicken and goat transformed into "clear your plate" loveliness. So just looking at chicken, there's a basic roast, curry, braised, poached, sautéed, and then there are differing cuisines such as Moroccan. I love ribs, and make my own rub out of seasonings we have. Other times I have salmon, kippers, seabass, steak, duck etc.

Have you tried Greek yogurt, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and nuts. Or maybe coconut or almond flour pancakes. YouTube has loads of ideas, here's a couple:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzRYivTpUQ0r2qPPjfLoQiA

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHhMFg6MNHc-VeqRHBghIJA
 
I have been doing this low carb now for nearly 2 years. I would be telling lies if I were to say that I did not get sick of meat cheese and eggs. There are some days where I just do not want any meat. On those days I will cut up Celeriac into chips, part boil season with oil, garlic powder, and some chili powder and then put into the Air Fryer. I will have Salmon with this and some broccoli.. Or I will stir fry courgette noodles with prawns mushrooms, peppers, and some onions, add lemon and coriander, garlic and soy sauce. I do find going out for a meal a chore because the veg that most places offer with the meat is peas or carrots. If you want a more decent meal the more expensive restaurants usually accommodate more. I don't want to eat what I cook at home when I go out as I may as well not spend the money and just cook at home. The idea of going out for a meal is to have something different, but with our BG there is not much option
 
I've been eating a low carb/ketogenic diet for just on five years now and it's definitely done me much more good than any harm! I don't necessarily go overboard on fat - I simply eat enough full fat food (fattyish meat, oily fish, dairy, nuts, seeds, olives, avocados...) to replace the fueI I no longer get from eating carbs I actually have a much better and more varied diet now than I had for a number of years previously, so my diet's certainly sustainable long term..

You don't necessarily have to go extremely low carb, I made the biggest reduction in my glucose levels simply by cutting out all the obvious sugary/starchy/carby foods. and then gradually refining things to fit my requirements. Using a meter to test your response to foods is essential for tailoring the number of carbs you eat to best suit you.

You can get a good and varied picture of what other low carbers are eating by having a look at our "What have you eaten today?" thread.

Robbity
 
I started lchf in Feb this year and bg levels immediately improved but recently they’ve started to go up slightly so like you @Jillyfl I’ve decided to follow DD meal plans for a while to get back on track and give myself a bit of structure.
I think a lot of the meals are ‘samey’ - chicken or fish in a sauce made of cream cheese and cheddar variations, but there are a load of really good recipes too - sesame coated salmon springs to mind. Breakfast doesn’t need to be bacon and eggs, try coconut porridge with a few blueberries and cream, pancakes ( many variations made with coconut flour, cottage cheese etc) or avocado and smoked salmon.
I love this way of eating and feel a lot better for it. My HbA1c has been in the normal range for 6 months now.
Like @Robbity says, have a look at the ‘What have you eaten today’ thread for ideas if you get bored.
Good luck with it all.
Ps I love the sound of your coriander and lime chicken.
 
Back
Top