little changes can make a big difference

[mullaneder]

i was thinking that for new people looking at this forum are really left to their own devices as regard diets and maybe if we put down some changes that we have made that have helped us ,it can help others.these are the changes that i find work for me ,i know everyone is different but here goes ,obviously i stopped eating all chocolate .cakes buns,soft drinks,fast food, drink plenty of water 2 to three litres a day
i changed from white bread to wholegrain bread
i changed from white rice to brown rice and from plain pasta to wholegrain pasta
i find when i eat brussels sprouts with a meal it really lowers my sugar levels
i find reducing the plate size really helped
also i changed to low fat dairy products
i stopped eating all cereals except for weetabix and special k
i stopped using sugar and now i put a tiny bit of splenda on my cereals
for a snack i have a small amount of mixed nuts or a small bit of fruit
i now steam all veg and potatoes its easier and cleaner although some veg are lovely roasted
i rarely fry maybe only an egg and if i do i use olive oil
i try to stay away from processed foods
also i find a lot of the so called healthy bars are very high in sugar
these are the basics of what i do and if anyone could add what works for them i would really appreciate it
thanks for reading dermot

 

[Sweet3x]

also i find a lot of the so called healthy bars are very high in sugar

thanks for reading dermot

gosh, aren't they just! I always have a dig at my friends who are eating them, because they are healthy :lol:
I like your ideas, though I think all of them are useful for all of us, whatever our state is Granary bread is far more tasty than white, too, and the bits in it add a great texture to sandwiches
Thanks for the tips

 

[mullaneder]

thanks sweet3x i definately agree with you about the breads ,and i never ate brown bread before i got diabetes,and i used to eat a ton of white bread,i was so bad i used to eat mash ed potatoe sandwiches,both hot and cold.id have it with chips and with fish,i would eat about 8 slices with an irish stew,now i shudder when i think of what i used to eat.but i find now that my taste buds have changed and i am a lot more willing to try new foods ,kidney beans are the latest addition to my diet ,also i am eating a lot more fish dermot

 

[kegstore]

Well this is an interesting one. When I was diagnosed, all carb options went immediately to wholegrain, brown or whatever the "healthier" equivalent was, and portions reduced considerably. However in the last 5 years or so I have readjusted again, mainly due to discovering the impact of GI on blood sugar, and reaffirming the presence of my taste buds. Portions remain small.

I much prefer the taste of granary bread and always have, but white has it's place too (e.g. cooked breakfast! ).
Brown rice? yuck.
Brown pasta? same.
What I have definitely found is that changing back to the more refined versions has had no impact on my overall control at all. This was brought into focus when I started with CGM last year, and I could see what was happening real-time, minus 20 minutes of course! Rice and pasta are essentially fairly low GI anyway, so the colour makes little difference to absorption, and I just prefer the taste of white.
Lots of veg, some fruit, and definitely a carnivore!
Not obviously low fat but certainly no sugar, cereals, biscuits or cakes of any sort.
I prepare most of what I eat from raw ingredients, it's cheaper, healthier and tastes better.

My medical history is hardly a shining example for others to replicate, which makes me realise there's clearly more to the overall picture than we have any influence over. But I also wonder how much worse off I would actually be if I didn't take such care over what I eat.

 

[Thirsty]

Things that made a difference for me...

Replacing spuds with sweet potatoes, (they're lovely mashed with butter and black pepper.)

Cutting out normal strength beer and switching to diat pils, white wine spritzers and spirits with a diet mixer.

No more baked beans with a cooked breakfast; extra grilled tomatoes and mushrooms instead.

Making my own pickles and salad dressings to use instead of sugar-laden stuff like ketchup, HP Sauce and other such products.

Using red lentils or (small) home-made chappatis as an alternative to rice.

Eating apricots and the sourer varieties of apple as a snack.

Giving myself an excuse to eat TONS of shellfish.

No cereal at all. I've yet to find a product that's readily available and doesn't include added sugar.

 

[mullaneder]

thanks thirsty i have never tried sweet potatoes i must get some tomorrow

 

[Funky Mum]

Good thread!
I already love brown rice and wholemeal pasta. Also like sweet potatoes so that's good.
Just need to watch my portions, which I should be doing regardless :lol:
Ooh and sprouts - love them too

 

[Sweet3x]

i'm not entirely certain, but doesn't sweet potato have more carbs than normal potato? I tend to eat swede instead of potato - it's gorgeous smashed up with lots of butter and black pepper. Has carbs in it, but not so much as tatoes.

Careful of apricots, if that is the dried version - they are hefty in carbs, too

Cereal - there are some no sugar added mueslis around - they are nice with a dollop of cream on top Try porridge, too - you can add as much sugar as you want - I tend to have salty porridge (again, with butter and cream on top).

I eat macadamia nuts as a snack - they contain healthy oil/fat, and no carbs Make sure it's the non-salted ones, though.

ok, maybe I'm not a great example of a healthy eater, when you look at how much butter and cream I add to stuff :lol:

 

[DiaBetty]

Hi ,I'm new to this site,have been lurking here for a good while ,I reduce my carb intake so that I am in control of my diabetes but I cannot believe this advice!!!

you can add as much sugar as you want -

Are you serious!!! The one thing I have definitely given up is sugar on anything!!!!!!!

 

[Thirsty]

Sweet3x, sweet potatoes contain around the same amount of carbs as spuds, but they're much lower on the glycaemic index when boiled and mashed. I'm not advising anyone to eat an enormous plateful of the stuff, just to consider them as a reasonable alternative. A little change, no?

Dried apricots? Not for me, thanks. Fresh, they don't cause me any problems. Pomegranetes are another favourite.

Hi ,I'm new to this site,have been lurking here for a good while ,I reduce my carb intake so that I am in control of my diabetes but I cannot believe this advice!!!

you can add as much sugar as you want -

Are you serious!!! The one thing I have definitely given up is sugar on anything!!!!!!!

Who said that? :?

 

[DiaBetty]

Sweet3x said that in the post that you just replied to !!!
Also sweet potatoes have more carbs than new potatoes!!18.4 gm per 90 gm as opposed to 17.8 per 100gm for potatoes.

 

[Thirsty]

Sweet3x said that in the post that you just replied to !!!
Also sweet potatoes have more carbs than new potatoes!!18.4 gm per 90 gm as opposed to 17.8 per 100gm for potatoes.

Err. Where did Sweet3x say that sweet potatoes are lower on the glycaemic index? :?

 

[DiaBetty]

She didn't ,and I didn't either!

 

[Thirsty]

Ah. Sorry, I misunderstood.

 

[Sweet3x]

Hi ,I'm new to this site,have been lurking here for a good while ,I reduce my carb intake so that I am in control of my diabetes but I cannot believe this advice!!!

you can add as much sugar as you want -

Are you serious!!! The one thing I have definitely given up is sugar on anything!!!!!!!

Bah - totally my bad. I meant 'you can add as much salt as you like' - was thinking faster than I was typing. You are correct. I was trying to point out that porridge isn't always sugary, in reply to the post someone said about not having added sugar in cereal. Soz for any confuzzlement!

 

[Sweet3x]

Sweet3x, sweet potatoes contain around the same amount of carbs as spuds, but they're much lower on the glycaemic index when boiled and mashed. I'm not advising anyone to eat an enormous plateful of the stuff, just to consider them as a reasonable alternative. A little change, no?

Dried apricots? Not for me, thanks. Fresh, they don't cause me any problems. Pomegranetes are another favourite.

Mm love pomegranetes too .
I will try sweet potatoes, then If I can get hold of them here.

Just realised, the OP was talking about making changes to lose a bit of weight. I seem to have taken the thread completely away from that

I'll shush up now

 

[Thirsty]

Sweet3x, you're forgiven; if they can put up with me and my big mouth, you have nothing to worry about. :mrgreen:

 

[mullaneder]

speaking of porridge i cant stand the texture of it hot even though i kind of like the taste of it but i have no problem eating it as a meusli strange or what :shock:

 

[Thirsty]

Porridge does things to unmentionable parts of the human body.

I shall say no more.

 

[phoenix]

As someone on insulin I think a change that was quite big but was easy to implement was becoming aware of quantities. I bought some new scales immediately after coming out of hospital and they go everywhere with me, together with a 'carb' book and a calculator enabling me to count carbs accurately. To start with I even weighed my carbs in restaurants! Now I'm quite good at estimating. I also think that it's a good idea at the beginning to keep to a very regular pattern of meals, trying to stick to similar proportions of meat/ veg and starchy carbs. This helps to calculate carb/insulin ratio . Later you can vary things knowing how much insulin to take.

Second change was to learn more about the glycaemic index: for example sticky rice as in rissotto is very high gi and might play havoc with your blood glucose. Al dente, wild, basmati and brown rice are much slower and easier on the glucose levels.