Low carb insurgency!

[Triflegirl]

Hi all from a newbie in the depths of despair. However, having read many of the posts on this forum, I am beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel and can only hope that it isn't the proverbial freight train!

I was diagnosed with T2 about 2 and a half years ago and have struggled with controlling my BS and weight ever since. Before my diagnosis, I was delighted to find that I had stumbled across the perfect diet of partying, tequila and pizza as I watched the excess 2 or 3 stone I'd been carrying around for years melt away. But....... of course it was only the dreaded diabetes and now, after over 2 years of metformin, pioglitazone and amaryl, that 2 or 3 stone has come back with a vengeance and then some and I just can't seem to get my BS under control no matter how good my diet is - my last HbA1C was 9.3.

After my last GP visit on Friday I was really losing all hope and decided to have a pole around on the interweb to see if there was any alternative - and here I am. After a weekend of reading through a million interesting posts, I can see where I may have been going wrong (or perhaps my GP nas been going wrong).

Since diagnosis, I have been following the diet recommended to me by my GP - between 7 and 14 portions of carbs a day, very low fat and calories. Hmmm, beginning to see what's wrong here?

I have been very interested to read about all the people who have had great success in getting their BS under control by reducing their carbs and feel that this is definitely worth a go so I shall be joining the ranks of the low carbers for a few weeks to see if this will help.

This forum is very informative and I feel more positive than I have in ages - thanks all.

PS. Does tequila count as low carb??? :twisted:

 

[Katharine]

Well Triflegirl,

I'm sorry your partying, tequila and pizza diet turned out to be diabetes too. Not only would you have a best seller but we would all be on it.

 

[hanadr]

Hi triflegirl. I found low carb after a couple of years of doing what I'd been told and steadily gaining weight.
I'm now 2 1/2 stone lighter, with another 2 to go. It's VERY slow now, but I am an old woman of 61.
I've also got rid of gliclazide, which like piolitazone is an insulin stimulator and causes the weight gain. I now manqage a better range of BGs on 2 x 500mg Metformin and the lowered carbs.
Glad you've found us.
Welcome to a fitter life!

 

[IanD]

Welcome to the forum, Triflegirl, though not to the condition.

I think you will find that reduced carb makes sense. It has for me. When I checked out my previous NHS "healthy diet" I found I was actually eating 350 - 400 g carbs per day, & about 3,000 calories. Muscle pains made me feel like & old man of 69, suffering some of the complications predicted.

Advice on this forum meant I have reduced my carbs to around 100 g, & calories to around 2,000. The result was improvements in everything - HBA, cholesterol, blood pressure, weight, AND freedom from the leg pain that was crippling me. I'm a young man of 69 again.

I trust you will soon find the benefits.

 

[ally5555]

Ian - u puzzle me why were you put on a diet of 3000 calories - that is more than a normal blokes requirements?

 

[fergus]

Welcome triflegirl, I like the cut o' yer jib already!
I've been a low carber for 8 years now (4 stones lighter and 25% of my inital insulin dose within the first 12 months on a really satisfying, hunger-free eating plan.)
You'll already have seen a great number of diabetics on the forum who started out with HbA1cs as high or higher than yours. In a very short time they have come down to 4s 5s and 6s, often with significant weight loss and reduced hunger. I've yet to come across anyone for whom it hasn't worked.
Any questions at all, just fire away. There are lots of good people here who'd love to help.

fergus

(incidentally, I've got a crackin' low carb trifle recipe for you!)

 

[hanadr]

Fergus can I have that recipe please( not if it contains cocnut though)
Hana

 

[sugarless sue]

Me too,please!

 

[IanD]

Ian - u puzzle me why were you put on a diet of 3000 calories - that is more than a normal blokes requirements?

I was given the NHS/DUK diet & dutifully ate my complex carbs with every meal. I've just checked it out for carbs & calories. As my weight & HBAs were considered OK, no-one checked what I was eating. Actually all my results were at the high end of OK, or the low end of unacceptable.

 

[ally5555]

doesnt sound right as the cal reqts for an average man is 2500 /day

 

[IanD]

doesnt sound right as the cal reqts for an average man is 2500 /day

Agreed, yet I, & my wife (a heart patient) were anxious to comply with diet recommendations.

 

[Triflegirl]

Well it's been 5 whole days on the low carb thing now and I do have a couple of questions which hopefully the more experienced low carbers can help me with....

I bought a Collins carb-coutner book and estimate that I'm eating about 70g of carbs a day but should I be using the carbs column or the net carbs column?

Also, what on earth do you eat for breakfast??? I am a vegetarian so bacon, sausages, cold meats etc are out and I can't face salad at 7.30am! And I can't cope with eggs every day.

My GP has told me in so many words that I'm insane to go down the low-carb route but I am going to stick with it and wipe that smug smile off her pharmaceutical company funded face!

 

[scottishkate]

Hi Triflegirl (great name btw - I'm trying to come up with a decent low-carn trifle for xmas!),

For breakfast I always have eggs, usually an omlette - I really look forward to them now!

But how about trying some miso soup? You can make it in advance and just heat it up in the morning.
Or maybe try a tofu shake - blend up some tofu with a little water, some sugar free da vinci vanilla syrup, spoon of greek yogurt, teaspoon of cinnamon, teaspoon ginger, nutmeg and a little sweetener if you need it.
Or big portobello mushrooms fried or grilled make great vessels for other ingredients - maybe some riccota or feta cheese?
Or halloumi cheese grilled with a few mushys or tomatoes is lovely.

I've also tried a recipe from the Berstein forum for egg muffins - you can make them in advance and they keep for a few days so you can grab them on the run for a quick b/fast. Here it is:

6 eggs
1/2 cup whipping cream
12 slices bacon, cooked (I used cooked ham)
6 oz cheddar cheese or any hard cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

In a bowl, scramble the eggs with the cream and salt and pepper. Add the chopped bacon or ham and half the cheese.

Pour into pam sprayed regular-sized muffin tins. (It was supposed to make 12; mine only made 10.)

Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until slightly browned.

Remove from muffin tins and cool on a rack.

Store in an airtight container in refrigerator for up to 4 days, and reheat slightly in microwave before eating. They also freeze well.

Hope this gives you some ideas!!

Katie

 

[Triflegirl]

Fantastic! Thank you for such great ideas, they sound delicious and I shall thrash my way around the kitchen todya having a go.

Fergus, if you have a low carb, low sugar trifle recipe for me I may well have to hunt you down and snog your face off! I ADORE trifle and haven't had any for about 18 months which is just torture :evil:

 

[fergus]

Triflegirl, I've just posted the trifle recipe in the food forum, hope it's up your street.
I'll take you up on the offer of a faceoff-snog, just nipping out for some breathmints. :mrgreen:

Cheers m'dear

fergus

 

[IanD]

Re: Low carb vegan trifle

Basic formula -
sachet Vegegel
70 ml nas squash
add 200 ml cold water to dissolve
make up to 500 ml
bring to boil & allow to set
it sets on cooling.

The Vegegel directions say boil the 200 ml & add cold ingredients. I find that breaks the gel, so it doesn't set properly. You may need 2 sachets.

Variations:
add ground almonds or dessicated coconut; wheat germ; soya milk; drained & chopped tinned peaches; chopped melon;
top with soya yoghurt.

If the solid ingredients settle out, that is what trifles normally do.

Enjoy, Triflegirl

 

[Jem]

heya triflegirl ... loving the name!

welcome to the forum - I'm a veggie (22 years and counting) and diabetic (3 months) and using the lower end of carbs ...

in three months I've reduced my hba1c to 5.6 from 7.8, I've dropped two dress sizes and lost 25lbs ... so whilst low carb *might* not be suitable for every person on the planet IT REALLY WORKS FOR ME.

I feel 10 years younger and more alive than I have for at least 6 years.

Diabetes wasn't a death sentence for me as a life improvement wake up call!

OKAY so down the the tough stuff, being a veggie and following a lower carb diet is NOT easy, however, it's very worth it. Breakfast is probably the hardest one, when strawberries are in season it's easier, I have 8 ounces of fresh strawbs with a thick dollop of fresh cream *hmmmm* or if I have time, then eggs with veggie bacon and veggie sausages and some cooked tomotoes, red onions and mushrooms are hearty enough to last the day ... on rush days I have a protein shake using powdered protein (online mail order, if you want, pm me for details of the company I use) with soya milk, cream and sometimes a little fruit in a blender ...

I love fresh veggies so this time of year is sprout heaven ... another veggie to buy in bulk is CAULIFLOWER (Aldi is cheapest round this way of the world) as you can roast (crisp and tasty) and mash them (with cream and grated cheese hmmmm) to help with your spud cravings

Regarding trifles ... you can google to find vegetarian sugar free jelly ... haven't tried it yet but did buy some

PILE ON THE CREAM

Jem xoxoxoxoxoxox

 

[Triflegirl]

Oh my just read Fergus's low carb trifle recipe and may have to go and have a lie down! I know what I'll be making this evening .......

Jem, thank you so much for your ideas too, I've been a veggie since I was about 8 (which of course was only about 10 years ago, ahem ... )! Been struggling a bit to build in enough protein, can I ask though if I should be watching fat content? This is something I've always had drummed into me but beginning to suspect from reading all your helpful posts that I may be wrong?

 

[Trinkwasser]

Oh my just read Fergus's low carb trifle recipe and may have to go and have a lie down! I know what I'll be making this evening .......

Jem, thank you so much for your ideas too, I've been a veggie since I was about 8 (which of course was only about 10 years ago, ahem ... )! Been struggling a bit to build in enough protein, can I ask though if I should be watching fat content? This is something I've always had drummed into me but beginning to suspect from reading all your helpful posts that I may be wrong?

It's advisable to avoid trans fats at all costs (and also it would appear the stuff they have invented to replace them) and it's also a good plan to take more Omega 3s and less Omega 6s. My experience is that in the absence of damaging levels of carbs I can happily eat saturated fats and convert them into HDL rather than LDL but not everyone can do that so you might need to limit sat fats also and concentrate on mono and polyunsaturates.

A lot of the anti-fat propaganda is just that, only some fats are actively harmful, some are actually essential, and even the non-beneficial ones aren't so harmful in the absence of excess carbs. There's a fair bit of individual variation, if you possibly can get a full lipid panel and keep an eye on the balance between the different lipids to determine how your diet is working

 

[Jem]

I couldn't dream of advising you about how healthy (or not) fats are, I really don't get the science behind it ... HOWEVER

I can tell you some basic results which I've had ...

Three months ago just prior to my diagnosis I was happily scoffing the low fat high complex carb diet as advised by nutritional experts as I was very overweight ... well, being as I'd been doing that for 20 odd years and getting fatter, it probably didn't help much ...

My hba1c was 7.8 (ok not shocking but still diabetic) and random bloods were 13+ ... cholesterol stood at 5.0

Since finding this place (my sanctuary and an oasis of sanity) and deciding that I would put my belief in reducing my carb (as the science made enough sense to me to warrant giving it a go) ... I have been aiming for 40-60 grammes of carbohydrate a day and in no way limiting my fat - in fact my fat consumption has increased probably ten fold because I was using such a small amount before.

I don't measure my intake of butter, cream (makes decaff tolerable) and endless amounts of nuts, mainly macadamia and pine nuts, walnuts, hazels and almond ... as well as saturated coconut oil for making sweet treats.

Since the three months have passed my hba1c *smug mode* has dropped to 5.6 and my cholesterol is down to 4.2.

Little short of *YAY* I think anyone would agree!

So I won't offer advice, merely encourage you to go with what you feel is right, use your BG meter to see what each type of food does to you and wish you the very best of luck!

Jem xoxoxoxoxox