New to low carbs..tried & failed! Help!

lcarter said:

Hi all.

Just been lurking in this forum for a while..I tried my version of lower carbs aiming to have about 100-150g a day. After two weeks I stayed the same weight & sugar levels were still all over the place. I am a type 1. I liked the lower carbs but had high fats, like anchor butter and olive/veg oil, I had lots of cheese, eggs, veg, soups I made myself with cream, mushrooms, omelettes, salads, fish and meat. I snacked on carrots/houmous/meat and dark chocolate. Anyone got any suggestions for me as I am going to try again after having carbs this weekend and feeling rubbish!

Thank you

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Perhaps you're having too many carbs?
I can't advise a t1 but @ElyDave may as I think he low carbs and is T1?
@mo1905
Am trying to think of t1s.
I am t2.
Brekkie: bacon and eggs
Lunch: cheese, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, chicken, fish
Dinner: salmon and salad, chicken and green veg
2 squares of dark choccie.
Have you checked out diet doc? He is a Swedish doc specialising in obesity and diabetes.
http://www.dietdoctor.com

@Heathenlass
Are you able to help?
Scandix

maybe @Spiker ? Sorry I'm T2 too

this might help, this lass was having the same problem, and got here bloods right with TAG, total available glucose
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/lchf-diet-newbie-high-blood-sugars.63558/

lcarter said:

Hi all.

Just been lurking in this forum for a while..I tried my version of lower carbs aiming to have about 100-150g a day. After two weeks I stayed the same weight & sugar levels were still all over the place. I am a type 1. I liked the lower carbs but had high fats, like anchor butter and olive/veg oil, I had lots of cheese, eggs, veg, soups I made myself with cream, mushrooms, omelettes, salads, fish and meat. I snacked on carrots/houmous/meat and dark chocolate. Anyone got any suggestions for me as I am going to try again after having carbs this weekend and feeling rubbish!

Click to expand...

It might just be your overdoing the fat part of your diet, just remember that 1g of fat contains 9 calories compared to 1g of carbs and protein containing 4 calories. Also too much fat in the diet can cause insulin resistance which in turn can cause high bg levels. The following article gives an explanation of this process:

http://www.mendosa.com/The-Fat-of-the-Matter-How-Dietary-Fat-Effects-Blood-Glucose.htm

I'm a type 1 and lost over 2 stone on a similar level of carbs per day that you are eating now, it's all about reducing your calorie intake, if you burn more than you consume then the weight will begin to fall off, you'll also find when you do lose weight your insulin sensitivity will increase which is a good thing all round.

Best wishes!!!!!

Thanks, @Scandichic

@lcarter, are you calculating the carbs in everything that you eat, and accurately ? You still need to bolus for veggies, protein (around 50% of what you would calculate for carbs ). Also carrots, as a "veg from beneath the ground" are quite carby - some people can tolerate them, some not.

What are your BG's like ? You said they were all over the place, have you noticed a pattern ?

You may want to consider dropping your carbs a wee bit, even if it's just to get you started. Actually, having said that, if you accurately calculate what you are eating, that may happen by itself, and also as you start substituting more, eg, cauli for rice, leeks in lasagne etc etc. I find that I can use a typical recipe, then make my own substitutions for those thingsI know spike my BG's.

I mentioned a "wonder app" in another thread called "Cook and Count" in which you input your own foods and recipes, and it calculates the carbs for you. It saves your recipes, and also gives you the option to add your own ingredients to the database for future reference. You can also edit the recipes should you decide to change something in it . And, no, I didn't invent the app and get royalties from it It was developed by a mother for cooking for her diabetic child, and it's immensely useful!

I can't think of anything else at the moment, I've just come in and need a cuppa, but if I do, I'll post it up

Signy

lcarter said:

I tried my version of lower carbs...... & sugar levels were still all over the place. I am a type 1.

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Is this because you are juggling with less insulin requirements?

I ask with no insulin knowledge, but have read that some T1's switching to low carb diets have gone from 30+ units down to 6units of insulin a day...... Going through this change must be very difficult regarding insulin amount.

Hopefully someone on this forum has done this before and can further advise.

Hi @lcarter

As a lapsed and relapsing T1 low carber, I can certainly sympathise. There are good questions and good advice in the posts above.

I guess my "top tip" for low carbing as a T1 is to get your basal rate and carb ratio right before you start. Do a fasting day to check your basal is right. Then do some carb tests to make sure your carb ratio is right. If you made any changes, wait a while on the new rate / new ratio, to make sure those changes are correct.

Then, when you start low carbing, keep watching your basal rate and carb ratio, because it's very likely they will change. But they should change slowly - unlike the dramatic changes in BG when you go onto low carb with incorrect basal rates and carb ratio. It is easy to have the wrong basal rate and wrong carb ratio, and not notice, when your diet is high carb. Reducing carbs tends to expose the problem!

A few more tips:

If you are over eating anything, it's probably a source of hidden carbs. As @Heathenlass said, be sure you are counting all the carbs.

Your carb target is quite high, even without "hidden" carbs. To make LCHF work, you need to get through ketoadaptation. If you hover around this but never go through to the other side, low carbing will be miserable and won't work, particularly for a T1. Set a lower target and be stricter in counting, watch out for your favoured "hidden carb" foods, and you will get through ketoadaptation faster, and have a much easier time of it.

I will offer a different opinion to @noblehead, though his advice is very sound. I suspect your problem is not too much fat, but that you are not reducing carbs as much as you think you are, and that your carb target is too close to the point where you (personally) come out of nutritional ketosis. For me, high dietary fat is my friend. It is the light switch that turns low carbing from an ordeal, into a breeze. It makes me feel not just full but satisfied, makes me feel that I'm not even denying myself. It can decrease your carb ratio though (more insulin), so do keep an eye on that.

The good news is that T1 LCHF is very achievable, and it does not require the discipline of a Tibetan monk either to get going, nor to maintain. Good luck, and make good use of the plentiful and excellent support on here. x

lcarter said:

I just want some carbs such as a potato here or there or a slice of brown toast occasionally.

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In my opinion, you are not low carbing if eating potatoes and brown toast. These are an absolute no no's if LcHf dieting. Likewise any rice or pasta no matter what type / colour.

Ian

did you pin your basal down before starting the diet.........

Hi there, you don't mention how much exercise you do... exercising allows you to eat more calories which can come from whatever you like. The main thing is to use more calories than you eat. I use myfitnesspal app to measure what I eat as it breaks it down into basics, carbs, protein, fat, sugar and so on. Doing this will allow you to experiment and see just what effects different foods have on your blood sugar.

You can also log your exercise and the app will convert this into extra calories for the day.... I find that low impact exercise such as walking & golf reduces my blood sugar well allowing me to use less insulin at each meal. Weight can be stubborn as well, with half a pound a week disappearing for a while and then staying level again for a couple of weeks. With myself I think my body feels it's being starved and starts to conserve energy where it can, so I have a couple of meals like chip shop fish & chips, a curry and so on and re-set everything and it seems to work and the weight starts to go down again.

Finally, lots of water helps as your brain can confuse thirst and hunger.

By the way, I allow myself bread at each meal, potatoes less often and so on... hope this helps

Personally I'm not convinced that exercise is critical, and I am particularly not convinced about exercising in order to "spend" the exercises calories on extra food/snacks/treats. But everyone is different. (Except me. I'm not)

However in relation to LCHF it's not true that you can "spend" extra exercise calories on anything. If you have extra carbs you will come out of ketosis and that will wreck LCHF. The advice on MFP uses the conventional dieting model of calories in - calories out. That science is pretty dated. It can work for some people, maybe most people *if* rigorously applied. But the science of LCHF is different. Use MFP as a tracking tool only if you are doing LCHF.

OP, looks like you're on the right track, so stick with it. You'll feel a lot better as well, guaranteed.

Carrots, as someone said are carby, as are tomatoes.

My recommendation is to 'shock' your body once a week by having a carb blow-out. So on a Friday, you can treat yourself to fish and chips, have a sandwich for lunch etc. Obviously adjust your mealtime insulins to take account of.

Let us know how you get on!

lcarter said:

Hi all.

Just been lurking in this forum for a while..I tried my version of lower carbs aiming to have about 100-150g a day. After two weeks I stayed the same weight & sugar levels were still all over the place. I am a type 1. I liked the lower carbs but had high fats, like anchor butter and olive/veg oil, I had lots of cheese, eggs, veg, soups I made myself with cream, mushrooms, omelettes, salads, fish and meat. I snacked on carrots/houmous/meat and dark chocolate. Anyone got any suggestions for me as I am going to try again after having carbs this weekend and feeling rubbish!

Thank you

Click to expand...

Hi, I found that the only way ive to get my blood sugar levels under control, is by dramatically reducing carb intake and getting into a good eating pattern. I allow myself to have 2 carb/sugary treats a week. I find that this is enough to satisfy my sugar cravings and I enjoy them more, when I do indulge a bit. Apparently drinking cinnamon tea can also help blood sugar levels. Good luck!