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My first post to this forum.

Beelady

Active Member
Messages
40
Location
NW Leeds
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Tripe and offal
I've been looking at Diabetes.co.uk web site for some time. Once you're a member you receive all kinds of emails, tips etc. One of these was about LCHF which I've been considering for some time.
Coincidently my DN and GP have been trying to help me out with the unpleasant side effects of Metformin. I tried slow release tablets but the side effects were still there, albeit not as severe. We agreed the plan of action to be:
1. stop taking Metformin straight away.
2. Doctor will prescribe a new med which would probably make me gain weight.
Problem is that after 3 days without Metformin my readings have shot up to 11.1 fasting and 4 hours later I'm now 11.9 after a no carb lunch. (Avocado, boiled egg, 4 baby tomatoes and a spoonful of mayonaise and some humus.
I am feeling absolutely ghastly and I just don't know which way to turn.
A year ago I started running using C25K plan and the effects were superb. I then partially ruptured my achilles tendon so that is currently no longer an option.
Feeling utterly fed up. It is up to me to sort myself out with this T2D but I'm not making much progress.
 
Welcome! There's no guarantee that LCHF will work, but it will take more than a single meal. Also, maybe the humus and tomatoes had too much carbs for you. You could try some intermittent fasting as well.
 
NoCrbs4Me said:
Welcome! There's no guarantee that LCHF will work, but it will take more than a single meal. Also, maybe the humus and tomatoes had too much carbs for you. You could try some intermittent fasting as well.
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Thank you for the welcome!
I did try 5:2 for a while but no where near as good as the running. I used to be the type who had to eat the moment I got up, and never ever felt full (I could eat Christmas dinner and eat it all again. - needles to say I didn't!) After running I felt full the rest of the day, which was great!
I would not expect any dietary change to show for several days, or weeks, but I was puzzled because I genuinely thought I'd had few carbs so why so high a reading. I've got a lot to learn haven't I?
 
Hi welcome from me too.

Have you tried using www.myfitnesspal.com to track your carb intake? There's also a book called Carbs and Cals which I found very helpful.
 
People can be quite different with respect to carb tolerance. It can take a bit of trial and error to figure out what spikes your blood glucose. One person may be fine with tomatoes and humus, but maybe you are not. Or maybe it's just one of the two you can't tolerate. Maybe see what a truly zero carb meal (eg meat only) does to your blood glucose. However, even too much protein can cause a blood glucose spike in someone with diabetes.
 
zand said:
Hi welcome from me too.

Have you tried using www.myfitnesspal.com to track your carb intake? There's also a book called Carbs and Cals which I found very helpful.
Click to expand...
I do have MFP so will go back to logging everything again! Just done today and only got 69 cals left if I want to keep under 500 for the day. Will probably reset the total amount - 500/day was for doing 5:2.
 
Well done - keep posting your progress, it will help you and us too.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. When you are trying diet alone it can take time for your levels to come down so dont be t
 
sorry - dont be too concerned atm. It is easy to assume that items are low carb so MFP is definately handy there. I can relate to the achilles tendon, I tore mine and it healed wrong so Im in some degree of pain every time I walk.
 
welcome to the forums .. I have been LCHF way of eating for 2 years now .. I don't count calories .. I do count carbs ... between 20 to 30 a day max .. this is eaten with the highish fats .. and in 18 months I lost 5st.. and my diabetes is now well and truly in remission .. and my heart failure also seems to be repairing its self .. so do keep at it and don't cheat with the carb counting as they soon add up. Don't worry to much about the calories until you have got used to the low carb and stop loosing weight.
 
Thank you Enclave. I think it's a question of trusting that eating the 'demon fats' which we've all been told to avoid like the plague for so long will do me more good in the long term.
I will Google for a carbs list and plan my menu list again!
Thank you for the positive post. (I've been looking at so many sites and feel I've got myself all bamboozled!)
 
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4ratbags said:
sorry - dont be too concerned atm. It is easy to assume that items are low carb so MFP is definately handy there. I can relate to the achilles tendon, I tore mine and it healed wrong so Im in some degree of pain every time I walk.
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Hi 4ratbags.
I notice that some of you post lists of your stats over the years. I don't have my HBA1C markers but will ask for them next time I see DN.
About the painful tendon - have you tried aqua aerobics? I can get to one session a week and it's great. I am looking for some other swimming sessions and will do some running in the pool. Ordinary walking sets up awful cramps in my calf muscles but it's worth a try. I miss the running so much and when I see people on 'my' routes every time I drive out I feel such envy! I usually manage to give them an encouraging wave though!
 
I fully understand how you feel, only for me it was a no brainer .. I was so unwell and had nothing to loose after taking the low fat options for so long and seeing it was not working ... I have heart failure so need to see that I don't eat fats ... so I was told!!! but much to the amazement of my heart failure nurse the low carb high fat way of eating has got my weight down and not only that has greatly improved the performance of my heart. I did tell her I was eating a lot of full fat products like cheese and cream ..she was speechless and after a little while said .. she don't care ..keep doing what I am doing because its working. As a plus to all this my sugars are in the normal rage all the time and I do have the odd slice of bread, christmas cake ..mince pie ..sweeties now and it is not raising my sugar levels .. But LCHF is a way of eating not a diet ! I am also vegetarian so its easer for me because I don't over do the protein side of things.
 
Today my OH will be out until bedtime so I have the whole day to plan menus and exercise sessions (and therefore shopping lists etc at the same time)
It's a new year and time for radical change. It's good that you have such a good HCP. I have a good relationship with my DN and I am able to talk candidly with her. She has reservations that LCHF is not 'sustainable' in the long term. My plan is to do LCHF during the week. Alongside that if I do 5:2 intermittant fasting then I could introduce a small amount of carbs those 2 days only.
I have a small area of raised beds in the garden and I am choosing the seeds to start my gardening off again - nothing like freshly picked herbs and veg!
One of my beekeeping friends is a GP and I must admit he gets exasperated with me at times - 'why can't you just accept the healthy options plate, which is the result of a great amount of research.' (In other words they know best) But like I told him, on a bad day I feel so utterly ghastly and I'm bound to consider other means to improve my wellbeing.
All power to you and well done on improving your heart failure!
I find your post inspiring! Thank you for posting!
 

Good luck with the changes - it is well worth it. I think you will find plenty of people here who have been eating LCHF for a long time and find it easy enough to sustain - especially with the motivation of how much better and healthier they are as a result.

The easy answer to your GP friend is 'because it doesn't work for diabetics!" And it doesn't. Diabetes is effectively a carb intolerance. I doubt they'd tell someone allergic to shellfish to eat more shellfish so why try to make diabetics (who have a bad reaction to carbs), eat more carbs - it is demonstrably crazy.

How many diabetics following the eat well plate have got better? I'd wager exactly none. How many following the LCHF way of eating have got better? - plenty! And in the old days before insulin it was the only way for Type 1 diabetics to survive at all. Your friend may not be up to date - even Trudi Deakin who I believe was instrumental in devising the Eatwell plate or at least ran classes for diabetics based on it, has changed her mind and has written a book called 'Eat Fat' - maybe time to suggest some reading to your GP friend and help spread the message.

Edited to add - I highly recommend taking a look at the dietdoctor.com website. Lots of good advice about LCHF and its effects on weight loss and diabetes and run by a Swedish doctor (in Sweden they have adopted the LCHF as a better alternative to their version of the Eatwell plate). Much of the info is free.
 
Beelady said:
Hi 4ratbags.
I notice that some of you post lists of your stats over the years. I don't have my HBA1C markers but will ask for them next time I see DN.
Click to expand...
Hi @Beelady and welcome to the forum! You do need to get your HbA1c readings to know where you are starting from.
It depends how on high your figures are to know how low carb you need to go. Mine weren't too high on diagnosis so I haven't felt the need to cut out carbs completely. I still have potatoes, rice, bread and pasta occasionally, but less often and in smaller portions.
 
When Googling look for Glycemic Index or load this will give you a list foods starting from 1 to a 100 the higher the number the worst the foods are for your BG,there also books ,look on Amazon, with Glycemic lists ,they helped me to get my BG down
 
Hope you get on well with this way of eating ... 20g of carbs a day are good .. but you say about introducing small amounts of carbs after fasting days .. I must say I could never do the fasting as I need to eat with my heart medication, but if you go no carbs you will just be eating meat ? not good as all the extra protein can raise your sugar levels .. All veg has carbs in .. the highest for veg carbs are all root vegetables .. don't forget if you are very high in sugars to reduce the bs numbers slowly over a few weeks to get down to 20g day if your going for the same number of carbs that work for me.
 
My plan is to eat meat, fish, eggs, cheese, nuts and full fat greek yoghurt. The rest will be made up from vegetables (mostly raw) leafy greens, mushrooms, carrots, beetroot. I know to keep root veg and fruit to a minimum.
I need to read up more about protein turning into carbs, and carb contents of other foods.
Thanks to you and to 4ratbags for helping to clear the fog of information for me. I'm feeling much more positive now!
Thank you everyone for your advice - much appreciated.
 
Beelady said:
Problem is that after 3 days without Metformin my readings have shot up to 11.1 fasting and 4 hours later I'm now 11.9 after a no carb lunch. (Avocado, boiled egg, 4 baby tomatoes and a spoonful of mayonaise and some humus.
Click to expand...
Hi Beelady and welcome to the forum. You know - this reading isn't actually all that bad in terms of the actual rise in BG. You were 11.1 before the meal and 11.9 after - so as far as I can see the meal you ate didn't do much damage - a rise of 0.8 is pretty good
The issue is your overall readings being a little too high. It took around 3 weeks of low carb eating for my blood sugars to stabalise, so I really wouldn't panic about this at the moment.
 
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