Making Low Carb Work For You

[C.flem88]

I have been type 1 diabetic for 3 years now and my weight has just spiralled out of control I'm now at the heaviest I have been and although my Diabetes is well controlled my weight really gets me down.

I have done a lot of reading up on the low carb diets and think this is my best shot at getting rid of the belly! Just have a few questions that I was hoping people could answer and apologies if the answers have already been posted.

What is a low amount of carbs per day? are we talking under 100 grams or under 50 grams?
Are carbs from bread pasta and such a total no-no? Could you have a sandwich one day if you were still under your 50 grams of carbs daily?
Can you have off days and still make it work? can you still enjoy a beer or two on rare occasions?

Thanks

 

[DCUKMod]

I have been type 1 diabetic for 3 years now and my weight has just spiralled out of control I'm now at the heaviest I have been and although my Diabetes is well controlled my weight really gets me down.

I have done a lot of reading up on the low carb diets and think this is my best shot at getting rid of the belly! Just have a few questions that I was hoping people could answer and apologies if the answers have already been posted.

What is a low amount of carbs per day? are we talking under 100 grams or under 50 grams?
Are carbs from bread pasta and such a total no-no? Could you have a sandwich one day if you were still under your 50 grams of carbs daily?
Can you have off days and still make it work? can you still enjoy a beer or two on rare occasions?

Thanks

C.flem, as a general rule of thumb, "low carb" is 130gr or lower, but other than that, bearing in mind you have, and of course have to have, insulin to help you manage your blood glucose scores, you can make it up as you go along.

Some who low carb have limits on how many grammes they will consume a day, or there are others, like me, who take a bit more flexibility, as long as my blood glucose numbers stay in my personal range.

Big caveat here now: Provided you are confident carb counting and adjusting your insulin doses, in your shoes, I might experiment a bit. If you are not confident in carb counting or adjusting your insulin, it might not be such a hot idea, as your insulin needs are likely to change, and depending on how low carb you go, they could change a lot. In your early days you will need to be testing a lot, or if you are a Libre user, scanning fairly frequently.

Often those who go low carb find they drop a pile of weight straight away; some of which is water that has been retained in the carbs they have been previously consuming.

Initially, I (again personally) would try to do something consistent for the first couple of weeks.

I haven't eaten bread for over 6 years, but that was a personal choice. It just didn't seem with it to me, but others do have modest quantities of bread, and there are also some (relatively) lower carbs out there.

 

[C.flem88]

C.flem, as a general rule of thumb, "low carb" is 130gr or lower, but other than that, bearing in mind you have, and of course have to have, insulin to help you manage your blood glucose scores, you can make it up as you go along.

Some who low carb have limits on how many grammes they will consume a day, or there are others, like me, who take a bit more flexibility, as long as my blood glucose numbers stay in my personal range.

Big caveat here now: Provided you are confident carb counting and adjusting your insulin doses, in your shoes, I might experiment a bit. If you are not confident in carb counting or adjusting your insulin, it might not be such a hot idea, as your insulin needs are likely to change, and depending on how low carb you go, they could change a lot. In your early days you will need to be testing a lot, or if you are a Libre user, scanning fairly frequently.

Often those who go low carb find they drop a pile of weight straight away; some of which is water that has been retained in the carbs they have been previously consuming.

Initially, I (again personally) would try to do something consistent for the first couple of weeks.

I haven't eaten bread for over 6 years, but that was a personal choice. It just didn't seem with it to me, but others do have modest quantities of bread, and there are also some (relatively) lower carbs out there.

Thanks for the reply, yeah I am thankfully on the libre and omnipod so hopefully make it easier. I have tried once before and found I was having hypo after hypo and a bag of jelly babies a day doesn't help with weight loss I'm better equipped with the libre and better understanding now so time to try again.

I think it will be trial and error for the first little while and then hopefully find a balance I might find I no longer want to eat bread but I don't want to restrict myself too much then end up eating a full loaf. I think if I am seeing good results on the weight front and the BG levels it will be encouraging and keep me on the straight and narrow.

 

[DCUKMod]

Thanks for the reply, yeah I am thankfully on the libre and omnipod so hopefully make it easier. I have tried once before and found I was having hypo after hypo and a bag of jelly babies a day doesn't help with weight loss I'm better equipped with the libre and better understanding now so time to try again.

I think it will be trial and error for the first little while and then hopefully find a balance I might find I no longer want to eat bread but I don't want to restrict myself too much then end up eating a full loaf. I think if I am seeing good results on the weight front and the BG levels it will be encouraging and keep me on the straight and narrow.

I'd agree with your sentiments.

I started reduced carb eating when I was diagnosed T2, and to be honest, the meter readings helped my resolve. I'd be disingenuous to say it was easy, peasy, but if there's a desired reward, whether bloods or scales, it's easier to say "not today".

I've never said never about anything, but along the way I've had to go gluten-free, which just added another dimension. I've always tried to just eat proper food, as opposed to extreme Lookee-likey products, and having side stepped bread for a while anyway, I just plain old didn't bother investigating the GF variants.

To be honest, it just means I can have more sandwich filling, more curry (less or no rice) and so on.

Good luck with it all. Hopefully some of the LC T1ers might comment. I know @NicoleC1971 eats reduced carb if not keto, so she may have some wisdom on the starting insulin adjustments.