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Need a Little advice.........

tree-peony said:
well I thought I might try some chocolate frosting on top of the muffins... but not until I've got some more weight off!!
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Drool... Sounds yummy, my daughters just dipped the tops of their muffins into the melted chocolate, then waited for it to set. I was so tempted, but I have not had any chocolate (except chocolate flavoured shakes) pass my lips since diagnosis, so I opted for the cream. I just wish I hadn't had quite so much now. :sick:
 
tree-peony said:
lol
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I have just ordered some Xylitol and liquid stevia, so I will play around and see how it works out. I have Amazon prime, so they will be here on Friday. I just need to work out the ratio of them to sugar/splenda.
 
Grazer said:
Maybe you're trying to go from one extreme to another. If you go from High Carb to low carb, that's a big demand. Those who do it undoubtedly benefit. If you find it hard, perhaps try the sort of half way house I eat, starting at half the carbs reccommended for a non-diabetic- that's 150 for a man, 125 for a woman. leave out the obvious nasties like sugars, white bread and other starchy carbs. Then test and see how you get on with that level. Give it a chance to work and for your BGs to settle. If you're ok, then it's a diet you can stick with that isn't too hard. If you're levels are still too high, you have a choice. Lower the carbs until you find a level that's ok, or accept the medication route.
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Hi Grazer

thanks for the suggestion. at the minute i am soooooo insulin resistant that even if i eat a meal with say 10g of carbs i get higher readings, especially in the morning i need to have as zero carb a breakfast as possible.

I think probably i am beyond lowering my bg just with carbs as i have been diagnosed for 7 years so presumably lots of damage has been done. but i do not want to go on insulin because of related weight gain.

i probably need to apologize for not being as "good" as most people here who have done so brilliantly and got off carbs completely and got "normal" blood sugars.

i know all about getting over cravings as i quite a 20-day 15 year smoking habit, so it is not for not wanting to try....there are other issues...it is not as straight forward as people might think.

anyway...i ll keep trying cause one day i ll get it right....
 
claymic said:
Grazer said:
Maybe you're trying to go from one extreme to another. If you go from High Carb to low carb, that's a big demand. Those who do it undoubtedly benefit. If you find it hard, perhaps try the sort of half way house I eat, starting at half the carbs reccommended for a non-diabetic- that's 150 for a man, 125 for a woman. leave out the obvious nasties like sugars, white bread and other starchy carbs. Then test and see how you get on with that level. Give it a chance to work and for your BGs to settle. If you're ok, then it's a diet you can stick with that isn't too hard. If you're levels are still too high, you have a choice. Lower the carbs until you find a level that's ok, or accept the medication route.
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Hi Grazer

thanks for the suggestion. at the minute i am soooooo insulin resistant that even if i eat a meal with say 10g of carbs i get higher readings, especially in the morning i need to have as zero carb a breakfast as possible.

I think probably i am beyond lowering my bg just with carbs as i have been diagnosed for 7 years so presumably lots of damage has been done. but i do not want to go on insulin because of related weight gain.

i probably need to apologize for not being as "good" as most people here who have done so brilliantly and got off carbs completely and got "normal" blood sugars.

i know all about getting over cravings as i quite a 20-day 15 year smoking habit, so it is not for not wanting to try....there are other issues...it is not as straight forward as people might think.

anyway...i ll keep trying cause one day i ll get it right....
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So sorry Claudette, I didn't realise there were other issues, my bad for assuming. :( Like TP said, all you can do is your best, none of us can do any more than that. (((Claudette)))
 
Have you tried Viv's Modified Atkins Diet ? It's a Sticky Thread.

I eat this way almost all the time (well, mostly! :oops: ) and it works for me. If it's too low-carb for you, use it as a basic list and just add in a few more carbs (from a carb counter book) until you reach the level you are comfortable with. Make sure your extra carbs are from low GI foods.

You can but try it :D

Viv 8)
 
Thanks Viv....I am sure that i can pick up great tips.

The last couple of days i have been good, and i have really been trying to look out for when i feel full.....anf then stop


:D
 
Yes, I'm a grazer too - or rather, a nibbler! Particularly after a glass or two of wine :oops: .

In my case I was/am (given half a chance! :lol: ) a heavy carb eater, and I find the best way for me is to go "cold turkey", and bite the bullet on Atkins Induction, rather than try to decrease gradually. You can eat as much as you like, of the allowed foods (except where quantities are given) so you should never be hungry on it. Snacks are easy (cold meat, cheese, eggs, chunks of vegetables) for those 'what can I do with my hands?' moments. I find knitting helps - that's how I stopped smoking.

I live alone so I don't keep anything in the house that I can't eat. It is much more difficult for people who live with non-low-carbing partners/families. The only way there is to get them to help. For us diabetics, it's not just weight loss, it's our eyesight/kidneys/lower limbs we're trying to preserve, so families should help, even for so selfish a motive as not wanting to have to take care of us in our old age! :shock: :wink:

This time I'm eating to my meter, not my bathroom scales, and I find it much easier to keep motivated.

Good luck all!

Viv 8)
 
When learning to low carb,
one suggestion Ihave is keep a food diary for a bit.
It might be helpful too to go back to using basic inedients and keep off ready made food .
I find it's pretty simple to stick to the low carb if I cook all the food myself.PLUS Iknow I'm getting good food and it tastes good too, and it's cheaper to live well.
Hana
 
Defren

Earlier in this thread you mentioned "subtracting freh fruit & veg fiber" - can you explain what this means please? I have recently started to pay more attention to my carbs and am trying to low carb (not vlc) but my weight and bgs have not moved at all. I accept that I am not going very low but I would think I have reduced my carbs by at least 50%, some days much more. I am really downhearted about this especially after reading all the successes on thi forum!! :(

Thanks
 
Jude, it took my BG months to even think about starting to cooperate! The key thing to remember here is that everyone is different. I try to keep my carbs down to 60-70g a day, so nothing like as low as a lot of others here but it's the best that I can manage. If you give us an idea of your diet we may be able to help you cut out some "hidden" stuff if you like :)
 
Jude said:
Defren

Earlier in this thread you mentioned "subtracting freh fruit & veg fiber" - can you explain what this means please? I have recently started to pay more attention to my carbs and am trying to low carb (not vlc) but my weight and bgs have not moved at all. I accept that I am not going very low but I would think I have reduced my carbs by at least 50%, some days much more. I am really downhearted about this especially after reading all the successes on thi forum!! :(

Thanks
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Hi Jude,

When you have fresh fruit and veg, if they have fiber then you subtract the fiber to get the net carbs. An example:

100g of cauliflower has 3g carbs 2g of fiber so net carbs are 1g.

Hope that helps.

Like TP said, post a daily menu and we will try to help you cut carbs. I am an ultra low carber, and TP a bit higher, I am sure we can manage something between us. :lol:
 
Defren & Tree-pony

Thank you for your responses. I note that you are both newly diagnosed and very informed on aspect of diet. I have been at this now for 7 years - when diagnosed I was too bad to try diet only and infact did not get any real advice on diet at that time. After 18 months on byetta 3 years ago I lost 14 kilos but bgs refused to budge so reluctantly had to go on insulin. That has reduced bgs but 14 kilos came back virtually overnight so Consultant put me back on byetta with insulin to see if it would help with my weight but it has not. If I had been as informed as some of you seem to be I would have asked to stay on byetta when I was put on insulin. Anyway, I have been relucant to try reducing my carbs because I also have IBS and the best diet for that is carbs!

So, I have been so absolutely fed up and decided to try reducing my carbs - nowhere near as low as you two but up to 130 which is probably half of what I have been having so I did think it should help. For 40+ years I have counted calories, losing 5stone and putting 6 back on, so I have been noting the calories alongside the carb and with what I have been eating I should have lost some weight by now. I followed your record Defren when you were doing the Newcastle diet when the weight absolutely fell off you and I cannot even prise a kilo off!

Having received this information about fruit and veg being lower in carb than I thought that should be helpful - having tried most diets in 40 years but not carb counted I did not realise about the fiber content reducing the carb grams. All those veg which are deemed healthy are bad for my IBS - all the insoluble high fibers - cauli, broccoli, cabbage, etc. I noticed on something else you had written Defren that you did not have milk or dairy - is that personal choice or because of the carbs?

I have eventually bought myself the Collins carb counter so am well set up now - thank you both for your input - anything else will be gratefully received. I have been ill-health retired for 15 years now (was 60 last month) and being at home all day on my own does not help - I was a medical secretary and I really do miss the company etc.

Jude :wave:
 
Hi again :D

It was this forum that got me where I am now. I was diagnosed and hit the road running because I had the information from this forum. I have also done the Newcastle diet which does drop weight quickly and due to that BG's come down as well. I have found out I am just as carb intolerant as I was before, so the diet didn't help me in that respect, but I really am a completely new woman.

I never ever eat more than 30g of carbs a day. Most days are 20 ish, but that suits me and I don't feel deprived in any way. I like my diet and I like how it makes me feel. That's not the case for everyone, and I do think 30g or less a day of carbs is difficult, I just found myself doing ultra low carbs and I liked what I was eating.

I think it's very hard and you're really putting major pressure on yourself, by doing that you will slip back. Find a carb level you can be happy with and it will be easier to stick at that level, perhaps reducing slightly by looking for alternatives you feel you could adapt.

I eat loads and loads of veg, I absolutely love it, I think that made this whole low carb lark that much easier. I was never a huge fan of pasta and ate rice now and then. I do miss crumpets, and really creamy mash but I found that by adding a good knob of butter to steamed cauli and zapping it in the food processor, it made a super delicious creamy alternative.

I like my own company and I think that has made me less likely to feel alone or crave others around me. I am home alone at the moment, dinner is cooking and I know my family will be home soon, and I guess that knowing someone is coming home does help me. I wish I could offer some wise words, but I can't, would a cyber hug help? (((Jude)))

Take care and don't give up - Joanna.
 
Defren said:
Jude said:
Defren
Hi Jude,

When you have fresh fruit and veg, if they have fiber then you subtract the fiber to get the net carbs. An example:

100g of cauliflower has 3g carbs 2g of fiber so net carbs are 1g.

That's only true if your source of carbohydrate values is from the US. They include the fibre in the total carbohydrates.


Hope that helps.

Like TP said, post a daily menu and we will try to help you cut carbs. I am an ultra low carber, and TP a bit higher, I am sure we can manage something between us. :lol:
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That would only be true if you used a US source for your carbohydrate values. In the US they include fibre under the heading of total carbohydrates. So it is Carbs of which fibre.
If your source is from the UK (or elsewhere in Europe) then the value given will already have had the fibre subtracted.Hence this site gets it's values from a UK source
http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/ca ... ower.htmso
It lists cauliflower as 2.7g per 100g . This is the true carb value.

If your source is from the US like this site
http://caloriecount.about.com/calories- ... wer-i11135
They will get their data from the USDA data base.
In this case The total carbohydrate count is 5.3g per 100, of which fiber(US spelling gives it away) is 2.5g . In this case it can be subtracted to give a true (net) carb of 2.8g per 100 (rounding/different analyses accounts for the slight difference)

So I'm sorry but cauliflower has more carbs than you thought.

What you see is what you get for carbs in the UK and applies to all labelled products that are labelled in Europe ie almost all things in UK supermarkets. The carb value is the true carb value and fibre has already been deducted.

NB you have to be really careful with sites like Livestrong which accept member inputs from all over the world as you don't always know which system they are using.
 
Thank you Joanna - much appreciated.
I do have my husband (of 41years!) - he still works full time so I am not on my own 24/7.
As well as my IBS problems I am not that keen on vegetables!! Hubby and I are doing this together though and I think he is doing ok (will not weigh himself though, judges the notches on his belt!).
I think you must be quite strong to stick at 20g daily. Another thing I did not mention is that I cannot do sweeteners of any kind because of the effect on the guts and unfortunately I have a sweet tooth and have also comfort ate all of my life. I have dealt with many of the issues involved in this and in many respects am much improved - I drink lots of water daily have done for many years now. I have cut out bread, potatoes, rice, pasta completely. I find breakfast most difficult as I need to eat as soon as I am up as my bgs continue to rocket - I used to have porridge but have recently changed to greek yogurt with fruit - there is no way I could eat eggs, bacon etc first thing. I have been making my own smoothie at lunch time with milk, fruit and protein powder and in the evening have meat and few veg followed by berries with cream. I have recently become a little "addicted" to Nescafe Latte which comes in a sachet and it has 15g carbs per mug - I enjoy this drink but probably need to hit it on the head - as you can see many of my daily carb come from this drink!!

Bye for now :wave:

Judith
 
Phoenix


Just seen your posting when I viewed mine! The Collins Gem Carb Counter which I have just bought lists carb values and net carb values which are mostly the same except with veg and fruits. Are you saying that this information is not correct? I do need to know please - am in a big enough mess as it is!! :roll:

Thanks

Judith
 
Jude said:
Thank you Joanna - much appreciated.
I do have my husband (of 41years!) - he still works full time so I am not on my own 24/7.
As well as my IBS problems I am not that keen on vegetables!! Hubby and I are doing this together though and I think he is doing ok (will not weigh himself though, judges the notches on his belt!).
I think you must be quite strong to stick at 20g daily. Another thing I did not mention is that I cannot do sweeteners of any kind because of the effect on the guts and unfortunately I have a sweet tooth and have also comfort ate all of my life. I have dealt with many of the issues involved in this and in many respects am much improved - I drink lots of water daily have done for many years now. I have cut out bread, potatoes, rice, pasta completely. I find breakfast most difficult as I need to eat as soon as I am up as my bgs continue to rocket - I used to have porridge but have recently changed to greek yogurt with fruit - there is no way I could eat eggs, bacon etc first thing. I have been making my own smoothie at lunch time with milk, fruit and protein powder and in the evening have meat and few veg followed by berries with cream. I have recently become a little "addicted" to Nescafe Latte which comes in a sachet and it has 15g carbs per mug - I enjoy this drink but probably need to hit it on the head - as you can see many of my daily carb come from this drink!!

Bye for now :wave:


Judith
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You have done so well so far, and it's brilliant that with your other health problems you have managed these changes. Like I say, even if you can just do small changes they are better than none. The water will help, I drink loads, and I am convinced it helps to keep my BG down a 'bit'. Another thing, can you exercise? I mean just go for a walk? I found that walking made such a difference, as it lowers my BG and keeps them down compared to if I don't walk. It doesn't have to be a huge walk, even a shortish one will make a difference, and of course you will feel better in yourself getting a little exercise and fresh air. My trio of naughty terriers makes sure I pop out most days, and being outside with the sun is lovely, make sure to take a wee bottle of water with you, just incase you get thirsty.

There are ways like this to work around your IBS and inability to use sweetners. I have some Stevia and another one, can't remember the name :oops: in the cupboard to try when I bake. I am lucky, I don't have a sweet tooth, have you tried the 80% chocolate? That might help with the sweet tooth and be less carbs? I made some chocolate muffins last night with Green and Blacks cocoa, and they are yummy, but they do have splenda in them.

I think you are doing so well, considering all the issues you are facing, and you should be really proud of what you are achieving, none of the changes you have made should be sniffed at, your a champ, and I am proud that at least you're trying. Well done love.

The Collins carb counter is right Judith, don't worry. :D
 
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