Low fat, low sugar diet, is there one?

Most vegetables are both low in fat and low in sugar, Martin.

Personally, I'd concentrate in the low sugar approach. Low fat will do little to help you lose weight because dietary fat won't make you fat, contrary to popular belief.

You know it's mad to stop taking your insulin I'm sure. Any short term weight loss will be regained when you start taking insulin again, but the damage to your insides in the meantime may well be permanent.

But you can see the benefit to your weight in lowering your insulin use, without stopping it completely! So, lower it by avoiding the foods that elevate your blood glucose and eating more of the foods that don't. Easy!

All the best,

fergus

Hi Martin

I agree, stick to low sugar, if your bg rises you can become even more depressed, also with dieting just tell yourself, just for this week, then see how it goes, dont look too far ahead or you give up on the second day, I had several stones to lose and knew it would take me a year or longer, and that thought drove me to the fridge straight away which in turn made me feel a failure before I even started and so of course I never even managed to stick to any diet and putting on even more weight.

So just take it a day or week at a time, when you feel too hungry or weak and you feel like giving up try and distract yourself, go for a walk if you can (not past the food shops) or ring someone for a chat and talk about how hard you find this losing weight lark.
I think if you have done it for a week you will find that you are so encouraged you will want to try a second week and so on, I know that this tricking myself worked for me, also I used to treat myself to other things to make up for depriving myself of food. And I devised my own diet based on what I really enjoyed eating, just smaller quanitities and the rest of the plate filled with vegetables, I missed gravy, so I just sprinkled Maggi and seame seeds or other toasted seeds over the veggies to give them a bit more taste and zap.
You say your mobility is rubbish, now dont think I am being funny but diet guru Rosemary Conley has a new video/DVD with a special section for disabled/mobility impaired people that want to lose weight, and who knows it could help you too, a guy in our office told us about that video, he was quite embarrassed he thought its only for women but thats rubbish, anyway he has lost 2st and is becoming noticeably fitter, of course if you are thinking of exercise you must check with your doctor or maybe your surgery has a deal with the local authority and can prescribe you a few sessions at the gym?

Praying for you.

All best

Karen

Hi again, the DVD is called Roemary Conley's ULTIMATE Whole Body Workout - it has a chair workout for disabled or very unfit people, the idea is even with this particular workout that you build up slowly, our colleague only managed about 5 minutes a time when he first started, he was really VERY unfit and has not exercised for a long time, what a difference now though.

But please do have a check up before starting any exercise; also remember any movement will help burn a few calories, even just twiddling your thumbs while you are sitting in your chair or lying in bed is better than nothing, so start fidgeting with your hands, your feet, legs, whatever, in actual fact twiddling your toes around will help circulation and how easy is that huh? I sometimes used to lie in bed and think oh well I have done some exercise and stuck to my diet today, now I shall twiddle my toes till I fall asleep, I swear that I slept better and woke up feeling a bit better

Another thing that helped me was having slimming buddies, it was good to be able to ring someone or chat online especially when one of us was struggling and just about to order a huge take away with a tub of icecream and a double portion of cheesecake, I am not kidding either!

Let me know how I can support you, I have great empathy I can assure you, but you can lose all your excess weight, if I can do it and I am a really weak person, then anyone can, trust me.

All the best

Karen

My diet is both low fat and low sugar

Most of the people I know who are overweight eat a diet high in processed foods, I very rarely eat processed foods as I don't have any control over my BG when I do.

I do make everything from scratch though, it gives me more control over what I eat

There is an Australian Women's Weekly Book available in eg Waterstones which has low carb/low fat recipies. It looks good with a lot of what would be described as asian fusion recipies but I didn't buy it because I have lots of similar recipies scattered elsewhere. It costs about £5.

Eating meat/poultry/fish/eggs plus salad/non starchy vegetables and low glycaemic fruits such as berries and a small amount of nuts would fit the bill.

It is possible to have both - I'm doing it now and I have shifted almost 10kgs in a month!

someone already posted that veg is naturally low in fat and carbs which is always a good place to start (just remember potatoes are a starch !- try substituting things like swede or parsnips)
instead of rice I'll have a pile of spinach which is amazingly filling

The real kicker is you HAVE to be really strong willed and commited to it

for instance I just can't afford to have a pud after every meal and I have cut out fruit juice as well as it is REALLy high in carbs and not that low in fat (if you are looking to reduce your daily overall amount that is) and excersice is also a given

the best advice is to just be super aware of what you put in your mouth - everything else seems to sort itself out after that and when you see the weight actually comming off it just makes all the work that much more satifying - I know it has for me : )

When diagnosed the Consultant at the clinic raised the issue of weight.
When I said I was not overweight just undertall she responded by saying I ate too much and finished the conversation by saying that no fat people came out of Auschwitz. Point taken - no sweets and less of everything else. Result now 2 stone lighter and levels below 6. No foods containing transfats, no sugar, no salt. Consultant does not want me to return to the clinic unless something goes awry.

Forget diets, just eat less and exercise - I walk the 7 Whippets.

Buachaille said:

When diagnosed the Consultant at the clinic raised the issue of weight.
When I said I was not overweight just undertall she responded by saying I ate too much and finished the conversation by saying that no fat people came out of Auschwitz. Point taken - no sweets and less of everything else. Result now 2 stone lighter and levels below 6. No foods containing transfats, no sugar, no salt. Consultant does not want me to return to the clinic unless something goes awry.

Forget diets, just eat less and exercise - I walk the 7 Whippets.

Click to expand...

I had a nurtionist like that - stick thin little nazi herself - who so demoralized me that I actually put on weight

those sort of harsh tactics don't always work on people - it didn't on me

I don't diet - I just eat MORE of the good stuff

Doctors sometimes say stupid things and I have had patients in tears with comments like that - I remember one lady who had lost 11 stone and the doctor encouraged her by calling her fat!!

My wt is normal but patients frequently say to me well its allright for you, you don't have a problem with your wt - well i would if I ate rubbish but i don't! I often use myself as an example that is if I can keep my weight under control then you can - I think some find that reassuring . I have had pateints say oh I bet you only eat lettuce! Oh dear Dietitians cannot win!

Keep low carb and you will lose weight. Dietary fat is NOT the enemy they( who are they?) would like us to think.
It's not necessarily fast, all weight loss programmes eventually slow to about 2-3 pounds a month. I have lost 35 pounds in a year and kept BGs on target after half a lifetime of battles with weight. I tried the recommended low fat approach, I just gained pounds.( probably had glucose metabolism problems for many years) It's nice not having to go to the PLUS size department any more. BY BMI measurement, I'm technically still obese, but most people would call me "somewhat overweight"
Low carb isn't too hard to stick to . eating some fat leads to satiety.

Martin, Hanadr is bang on the money there. For me, I lost 4 stone by eating a low carb diet while never going hungry, eating really delicious food and achieving normal blood sugars into the bargain.

It still feels like there ought to be a catch, but, 7 years on, I still haven't found it.

All the best,

fergus

Hi,

Being an overweight diabetic, but Type 2 and on insulin I do sympathise. It is not easy. I have tried Weight Watcher, Rosemary Connely, exercises, gym etc etc and am still overweight. I successfully lost weight doing all of it but somewhere along the way a switch in my brain flicked and I rebelled - all the weight went back on and more!

Life started changing and I had time to reflect on why I ate at the wrong times and the wrong quantity of foods.

I am intelligent and a good cook, though I humbly say so myself. I looked at the foods I loved and worked out how I could make them lower in sugar and fat (cholesteral had to go down and statins made me ill). It has now become a way of life and slowly I have lost 6 stone. I use ordinary cookbooks and substitute a suitable sweetner for the task if sugar is required and lower the fat. For example when it states cook the onion until softened in 2 tbs of oil, I use on 1.5 tps. You have to stand over it more to stop it burning but it works.

I have also substituted olive oil or sunflower oil for butter as it is better for the heart.

When food thoughts and NOT hunger overcome me I substitute the 'naughties' for a substantial salad with no protein and lots of lovely flavoursome dressings.

Most of the recipes I use have to be completed quickly as I work full time and by the time I get home I am ready to put my head in the fridge and eat it! I therefore rely a lot on a book called the Half Hour Cook which cost £4.00. I bought it through my husband who is the agent for BJ Books.
Their website is http://www.bjbooks.co.uk If you add the ref/code BS23MC then the commission that he would earn, only when this ref/code is used, is donated to diabetic research on his behalf.

If anyone would like some tried and trusted recipes that I find successful and keep my bg down but also giving me a lot of energy to get through the day whilst losing weight, please let me know and I will post some.

Of course we also have to realise that food that suits 1 person does not the next. It is very much trial and error.

Good luck to you and I will remember you in my prayers.

sue