Need Advice please!

[Mother Bear]

I am newly diabetic and my dietitian insisted that I only have 2 portions of protein a day, an egg would be one or a small skinless chicken breast for example because too much is bad on the kidneys. Said I could eat as much veg as I like, about 6 portions of Carbs like brown bread, brown rice, potatoes etc. As low fat as possible because of diabetics leading to heart problems etc. only 2 portions of fruit and not together and only after a meal. If I was still hungry after my 3 perfectly portioned meals I was aloud to have maybe a couple of slices of brown bread.

Ok, to begin with I am 19 stone 7 and I worked out in weight watcher points if anyone is familiar with them I was only aloud to eat about up to 15 points a day when they kept me in for a week in the hospital, which if I were put on WW I would be on about 27 or something to start with and eat less points as I lose weight. I don't want to put my body in starvation mode either.

I have tried to be very good, but even after eating two bowl fulls of homemade carrot and butternut squash soup for lunch yesterday my sugars went up to 8. I am finding it hard to only have 2 portions of protein a day as I find it more filling than carbs even good carbs. I find it daunting living on a low carb, low protein and low fat diet for the rest of my days. I was also told to keep away from the good fats like olive oil, nuts and oily fish (not that I like fish anyway).

How much Protein and fat do you eat on a low carb diet? I love my cheese and meat and feel so sad that I was told to eat so little from now on!

Please give me your opinions on the diet I was told to follow. I trust in the advice of those who live with it rather than dietitians and doctors who never had diabetes.

Thanks

 

[IanD]

Welcome to the forum no-one wants to belong to .

You may find this thread helpful.It reports on the X-PERT course & has a lot of diet advice.

I can only speak from experience; you need to work by trial & BG tests. Ask for the print-out of your blood test result sheet, & keep them all safe. It will have a lot of useful info that you will learn the significance of as time goes by, & you will see the progress of your condition.

I couldn't eat that much carb & maintain control.

I eat lots of protein - cheese, meat, unsalted nuts, soya, eggs... my kidney function is mildly impaired & the earliest result the Dr gave me from 4 years ago is the same. I've only eaten the reduced carb diet for 2 years, so that means NO FURTHER CHANGE. The impairment began with the high starchy carb diet.

As I understand it, animal fats & oils only cause a problem when they are eaten with carbs - chips, bread & butter & cheese sandwich, etc. I snack on cheese with neither bread nor biscuits, nuts, & fruit, up to 4 portions. Tomato juice is OK but not fruit juices.

And lots of tea.

Hope that helps.

 

[Mother Bear]

Thank you for that link. It was a very interesting read!

 

[Synonym]

Hello Mother Bear.

I see you have been hit with the same advice I was originally given! :roll: :evil:

You will obviously note that the advice on here does not coincide with that which you have been given as it is based on the experience of those who have diabetes and are living with it!! :roll:

Ian's advice is spot on and I would add that, as we are all unique, what suits one person may not necessarily suit another so the only way to find out for sure is to test. I would suggest that you keep a food diary and note your blood test results before and 2 hours after every meal and you will see a pattern emerging. You can use this to decide what foods you can safely eat and what you need to cut down or out. Many of us have found that the starchy carbs are what shoots up the BG levels. I, for one, cannot eat them at all and do not eat anything made from grains at all so do not eat bread, cakes, biscuits, crispbreads, rice, porage or potatoes etc!

I do eat meat, fish, eggs and cheese and although I would not say I have a generous portion I am not mean with it either. You do need these food items so that you can at least feel that you have eaten! Portion control is also very important - we probably all eat too much unless we are vigilant! :roll:

Testing, testing, testing!! 8) :lol: It is the only way! :roll:

 

[Mother Bear]

I will get a carb counter as soon as I can. On average, how many carbs would you normaly eat a day, I know everybody will be a little different but just so I will have some sort of idea to aim for?

Also would you count net carbs after subtracting the fibre?

 

[Synonym]

I will get a carb counter as soon as I can. On average, how many carbs would you normaly eat a day, I know everybody will be a little different but just so I will have some sort of idea to aim for?

Also would you count net carbs after subtracting the fibre?

I have not found that I need to get complicated - which is just as well! :roll: :lol: I eat to my meter and make sure that my BG levels are good and the rest seems to look after itself - so far! 8)

I can no longer do complicated so my mantra is: "Why not just make life simple when it takes so much effort to make it impossibly complicated?!" :lol: :roll: :lol: