Low Carb Newbie - how am i doing?

[toastlover]

So for a while I have been thinking of trying low carb. I'm T1 and although the consultant is pleased with me I'd like to get my hba1c down from 7.0 to somewhere in the 5's. I also need to lose a lot of weight so thought low carb was worth a try.

I'm only on day 2, but my food over the past 2 days has been as follows:

Monday
Breakfast - yoghurt
Lunch - cooked chicken, coleslaw, cheese and a tomato
Dinner- bacon frittata, sauteed mushrooms
Snacks - apple

Tuesday
Breakfast - small banana
Lunch - cooked chicken, coleslaw, cheese and a tomato
Dinner - Toulouse sausages (v. low carb - 1.4 in 3), roasted peppers, courgette, onion and tomato
Snacks - small decaff latte, apple

So far my fast acting insulin requirements have dropped by two thirds. No change yet to my basal.

I haven't really been counting carbs - more cutting out the starchy ones. Am I on the right lines with this and roughly how many grams of carbs am i consuming?

Thanks

 

[SamJB]

Yeah looks good to me. Most of us ditch the fruit, but depends on how much they affect your levels.

Off the top of my head, I'd say you're on about 30-40g per day.

I'd suggest two books:

1. Bernstein's Diabetes Diet.
2. The Low Carb Gourmet. Dont know why by off the top of my head but got it from Amazon. Fantastic book. Every low carber should have one. Pancakes, muffins, "pasta", cauli mash & rice. Loads of innovative recipes.

 

[Just Laura]

Hi Sam,

Who's the author of your book suggestion, The Low-Carb Gourmet? Just looked on Amazon and there's two.

I am the most useless, unimaginative chef in the world and dinner always just happened whenever it happened. So having a newly diagnosed type 1 five year old has made me finally get my ass in gear and get sorted. So I need a good book!

x


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[SamJB]

Hi Laura,
It's Karen Barnaby. Great book. Best of luck!

Edit: called you Karen by mistake!

 

[Just Laura]

Just ordered it. Thank you


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[Finzi]

So for a while I have been thinking of trying low carb. I'm T1 and although the consultant is pleased with me I'd like to get my hba1c down from 7.0 to somewhere in the 5's. I also need to lose a lot of weight so thought low carb was worth a try.

I'm only on day 2, but my food over the past 2 days has been as follows:

Monday
Breakfast - yoghurt
Lunch - cooked chicken, coleslaw, cheese and a tomato
Dinner- bacon frittata, sauteed mushrooms
Snacks - apple

Tuesday
Breakfast - small banana
Lunch - cooked chicken, coleslaw, cheese and a tomato
Dinner - Toulouse sausages (v. low carb - 1.4 in 3), roasted peppers, courgette, onion and tomato
Snacks - small decaff latte, apple

So far my fast acting insulin requirements have dropped by two thirds. No change yet to my basal.

I haven't really been counting carbs - more cutting out the starchy ones. Am I on the right lines with this and roughly how many grams of carbs am i consuming?

Thanks

I think you're doing we'll - good news on the insulin requirement drop!

Just a couple of thoughts for if you wanted to drop further - not saying you should, more that you could without depriving yourself of food and feeling hungry. It's difficult to count the carbs for you without knowing the portion sizes and the brands, but I think maybe 40-50g might be closer than 30-40g.

Apples are about 12-14g I think, and bananas similar. If you cut down on fruit and replaced it with protein such as nuts, cheese, or meat, you would drop your carb count and possibly feel fuller too. I would be particularly wary of having a banana on its own for breakfast. If you absolutely must have a banana, have it later in the day, or at least with some fat, like cream. Unadulterated carbs at breakfast are apparently the worst time to have them. Yoghurt for breakfast is good but only if its full fat Greek type yogurt, not low fat yoghurts crammed with sugar, or fruit yoghurt, similarly crammed with sugar. I have full fat Greek yoghurt, mix in a few blueberries, and some flax seed - its delicious!


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