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Murder in the kitchen

Sweet_Sophie

Well-Known Member
Messages
62
Location
Hertfordshire
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello everyone, diagnosed borderline pre diabetic in June needs to loose 1st started well back up during the school holidays. Cooking for the kids and family something I can't eat is just depressing me. Husband working can't help. Any advice ? I have tried fasting a bit and gone to 2 meals like late breakfast/early lunch and dinner is hard as I'm only thinking about food. I'm starting to hate cooking which I used to love. Anyone here experiencing something similar ?...
 
Erm, make them eat what you are? Check out the low carb recipies thread....
 

Yes - though my wife and I share the cooking we at first found it hard. I agree with @Diakat that the best meals are the ones that are adapted for the whole family, after all to some extend you are now cooking more healthy food - less carbs - so ideal for the family. I confess though with children depending on their age that is difficult sometimes. Now we rarely eat different foods. Just removing chips and potatoes in general made the biggest difference.
 
It is all about the taste. So are your crew into spice? If so then you can turn the humblest food into something finger licking. How about curried Seabass with garlic and olive oil roasted vegetables and sliced avocado. Followed by roasted nuts and a couple of spoons of Oppo ice cream. If not into spices try some Italian herbs or vegetable stock will make brocolli and the like delicious. Another trick is cauliflower rice with creme frais.

There are loads of free recipes on this sites low carb programme and diet doctor. You could also try Instagram e.g. Clean Eating Alice (just remove the carby bits). This morning my daughter made sausages and bacon followed by blackberry, blueberry, strawberry, raspberry and Greek full fat yogurt smoothie - I was over the moon as she is 12 and still a bit of a carb fan, but she now makes educated choices.
 
Heya, @Sweet_Sophie !

I've been on LCHF since mid-June and, in that time, my very fussy son with autism (who at first deeply resented the lack of crisps, sugar and cereal in the house) has now started eating many, many foods that he would never touch before, including salads (when we go out to eat now, he automatically orders a salad instead of chips) roasted veg, guacamole, nuts, unprocessed meat (pork chops instead of sausages, eg) and cheese that isn't cheddar.

It was his birthday on Tuesday, and we went out to dinner with a group of his friends and some adult friends of mine, and though the restaurant brought him a slice of birthday cake, he took only one mouthful and passed it along: even he's able to recognise the improvement in his health since he started eating like me.

A couple of our friends have noticed such a change in our health, colour (we're both pink again!), energy and weight loss - I've lost 3 clothes sizes, Euan's lost all his "podge" that they're thinking of adopting this way of eating just as a more healthier way to be - one of them is gluten-free, the other is vegetarian.

My point is, change is difficult, whether you have autism or not, and your family will grumble and grouse if you insist they eat what you eat. But it'll make your life (and your decision to low carb - and if you've weighed up your options and decided that's the best way to get healthy, then you need support in that) much easier and they'll catch on in time.

Plus you don't have to force them to drop from whatever they eat now to 50g carbs a day! Gradual reduction over time - if you enjoy cooking, this could be a culinary challenge to rise to: finding delicious recipes to fool their taste buds!

Good luck <3
 
I am probably a bad wife because I didn't bother asking my husband - I just cooked low carb meals (all very healthy and tasty) and just cooked him a carb 'side' - but we had a kitchen cupboard full of his 'treats'. After a while I noticed that I wasn't having to order any more treats (from Asda) and he was mostly leaving the carb 'side'. Then, one day, he was cooking a curry and asked me if I had any cauliflower rice in the freezer because he prefers the flavour to normal rice. And thats how it progressed, one small change at a time and he claims he feels so much healthier for reducing his carbs.

He still makes himself cakes / breads / pies using Diet Doctor, Paleo or low carb cake recipes and loves making things like the Diet Doctor Fat Head pizza recipe which he often takes to work cold for his packed lunch.
 
My husband and I just eat the same low carb meals. He is enjoying them too and doesn't feel hungry. Only problem is he has lost 2 st and I am not losing nearly as fast he had even less to lose too!
 
That is so encouraging! My hubby usually prepares his and my step daughters' meals himself. Basically because they both eat meat and I don't. But if I do a meal for all of us then I will use my low carb, wheat and dairy free stuff... he always seems to enjoy it anyway! But he is a very considerate man and perhaps doesn't want to hurt my feelings?!
I've heard of the Diet Doctor from another thread, but not looked into it. Is it suitable for veggies on wheat and dairy free?
 

This is a really achievement. X
 
Sweet_Sophie said:
I'm only thinking about food. I'm starting to hate cooking which I used to love. Anyone here experiencing something similar ?...
Click to expand...

Probably for the last ten years and to make matters worse my successful efforts to eat sensibly and eat less than my BMR by a long shot have not been rewarded by losing loads of weight, but that's another story.

The major problem is the mind, it's the thing that makes life difficult. I always found that I would start having a discussion with myself about whether I should or shouldn't eat something, before giving in because I was weak willed. The method I used was to persuade myself that not only did a particular thing taste disgusting but that it was going to kill me in the long run.

In our house we don't touch any processed foods except tins for beans, tomatoes and ratatouille, so that makes life much easier. We don't buy anything "just in case" so any surprise visitors will starve until I visit the local shops.

Catering for families, especially with children, makes life a lot harder but not impossible and they need to be on board and understanding why you're doing what you're doing. You need to get a whole new weekly menu that may take a while to research and then impose on the family. Do it bit by bit and they may not notice.

Keeping occupied should help to stop the mind wondering, I know it works for me, but then there's always stuff to be done apart from the housework and cooking (I was the house spouse until my wife recently retired).

Just a few things, hope it helps a bit.
 
Maybe a healthier diet is good for ur fam too, so cook what u all can eat together ! When my twin sister became allergic to milk protein we completely cut off dairies, welcomed coconut and almond milk in the house. When she became allergic to most oils, we changed that up too. When I became diabetic the fam no longer let bad carbs in the kitchen. Now I seem to be allergic to meats. The story of us becoming vegan. :''DDD Jokes aside, they like eating healthy with me, tho they do eat "bad" foods sometimes when they eat out with friends, but nobody minds eating what everyone can at home. And do not starve urself. There r plenty foods u can eat, give low carb diet a chance, Im sure it ll make u much happier and love cooking again !)) XX
 
I think there's a somewhat traditional mental break women (and men, too, if they're the family "nurturers") go through where we model "good" mothering on what we experienced as children and grandchildren (back in the days when we were raised to expect to nurture families of our own).

Certainly my best moments with my mother - which was always a strained relationship - were in the kitchen cooking, and her love very much was defined by the food we ate. Xmas Day was always us eating carbs until we were comatose otherwise she felt deeply rejected. I'm certain that's a hangover of her post-war childhood, when sugar and flour were still being rationed and, therefore, hard to come by.

So we start to raise our own families, cooking and providing for them, and though we may think we're liberal, modern folks, there's still a corner of our minds that equate love and nurturing with those big, sloppy cakes and licking the bowl and secret sweet stashes and chocolate on special occasions, tea and biscuits and so on, when, actually, the love that we have for our families is bigger and manifests itself in far more complicated ways than just how and what we feed them.

But I think it's a kind of social programming, in some ways, that we're unconsciously still trying to conform to.

Also, @DavidGrahamJones , you know better than this:

I would start having a discussion with myself about whether I should or shouldn't eat something, before giving in because I was weak willed
Click to expand...

I've seen you advise other people that it's not about will-power but about habit and breaking the addiction. Your will-power is fine - give yourself a break! <3
 
My husband is happy to eat just what I'm having as main meals, he just adds his carbs back in with cereals and bread! A lot of what I cooked before stays the same with low carb substitutes, cauliflower rice in place of rice, butternut squash in place of lasagne etc. I still do the original carb for my kids and substitutes for me and hubby. Did you see my half and half lasagne in the 'Food Nutrition and Recipes Forum'?
 
I do the same thing. I now find that often if I ask mr Hotpepper he wants what I'm eating and passes on the pasta and rice.
He doesn't turn down potatoes but if I'm making some roast meat it's not a problem to throw in a few potatoes.
He does eat bread on the weekend with his breakfast but I can leave that.
 
After 49 years of Type 2 I thought I had heard all there was to hear about "Home Cures" but this one I found this morning
really intrigued me......You need 300grams of Celery and 6 Lemons......wash the celery then grate and put into an enamel pot.
Add the juice of the 6 lemons into the pot......close the pot and place into a bigger one filled with water....Allow the water to boil
then simmer on a low heat ......when cooked remove the pot from the stove and allow it tocool....then open the smaller pot and
when the mixture is thoroughly cooled pour the mixture into a glass jar....close tightly then refrigerate......Take a tablespoon of
the mixture 30 minutes before breakfast.......this amount should last for 2 months after which sugar levels will normalise...
Opinions greatly appreciated ....I have to admit I haven't tried it myself yet
Best wishes to all.
 
Got to taste pretty awful though! Not sure I'm brave enough to try it!
 
T1 but I also have limited eating due to difficulties with stomach and colon.

I've never enjoyed shopping but my hubby took this over for me as I found it very hard to go in shops and not be able to buy meat. Didnt like fish (learnt to accept little buts now). Couldnt have onions that I love. Couldnt have heaps of salad that I loved.. all only skinned cucumber and avocado for a salad..

However, now I realuse that 5 seconds after going past an aisle of meat for example I have forgotten it.
By time I get to car park-I've got no thoughts on anything besides getting home.

Hubby has adapted his eating to mine. I never asked him to, he is just wonderful not to make me sad.

My thoughts are as well.. if I cant eat and buy the same as normal people then that money will go to best organic that I can get and some treats for us...


However, food is still delicious. We both love caulicheese or broccoli, mushy veg like roasted bnut squash, courgettes, celeriac cut into chips.
Not all low carb but because I eat amall quantities it doesnt matter.

My tea plate of food also takes me as ling as others with full plates as I ensure I chew a lot and not gulp... and I talk as well!!

We also do food list together and plan meals.

We do make really good enjoyable meals for both of us but we havent got children to think about.

I do think though that because my hubby has seen me with my stomach, colon and ambulances etc that its been easier for us to do because he can see the effects of ill health on me.
Diabetes alone is not visible to family and it doesnt really matter how much they care they can still walk round without paying to much attention to the diabetes.... not there fault.

I put it quite basic terms... having had a double mastectomy my hubby would not say go and buy yourself a new bra!! However, thats visible... effects from stomach is visible so again he will not consider attempting to enjoy supermarket shops. However, with just T1 he had less worries as not visible and he never really paid much attention to food then.

Diabetes is still hidden and some of joe public are still under the impression that medication only is necessary...
 
I just cook the low carb stuff and serve us both.
He is usually Master of the Microwave for the veg for both of us, then doing any potato/carb he wants.
And if he wants bread, he just helps himself.
The result is that he needs to make an effort to carb up, and often can't be bothered.

He has a cupboard with stashed carbs in it (crisps, biscuits, bread, etc) that I don't look in.

Oh, and as for the food shopping, with do 90+% of it online nowadays, so we both do sit down at different times and he orders carb stuff, and I order the rest, which is all low carb.

I think if we had children or visitors, we would probably just fall into the same habit, with me providing a healthy range of low carb food including lots of veg and salad then him adding in carbs.
 
Yep i was diagnosed bordline last year and i found starving myself didnt work unless i its for 24hours

I eat every 3 hours, veggie and meat stews,meal replacement shake (yokibi)chicken and veg etc, basicly high protein.


Sent from my SM-N9005 using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app
 

I'm French and Italian so my heritage is very much pasta until last year when I swapped for courgetti so yummy !
 
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