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New to this - couple of questions if no-one minds?

T

Trulee

Well-Known Member
Messages
96
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Have had 'low(ish) carbing' suggested by my diabetes team at the hospital, but as this is so alien to all advice I have been given over the last decade, am not quite sure where to start, and what is what!!! Have been referred for a dietician appt but this wont be for at least another month.

SO:
How low is too low - is a level of 90g carbs a day far too high/low, or is it a decent base from which to start?

Having been trying to do this over the weekend, and (using MyFitnessPal app on my phone to add up), although I haven't been hungry at all, only seem to have consumed about 1150 calories on both days - is this fairly standard for a diabetic low carbing? It seems a bit low to me, but am not sure what else I can 'add' to my meals/diet to bring this back up again, without either going over 'allowed' carbs, or being really heavy on fat :?

I have to say that so far I have had to halve my lunchtime insulin as I've hypo'd both days about 2 hours after lunch, and generally my sugars seem to be a lot better - can anyone give me a simple guide to matching insulin with carb intake - this totally confuses me as I've never had to think about it before :)

Sorry to ramble, as you can tell am more than a little confused :?

many thanks - any suggestions appreciated
Trulee
 
Hi Trulee,

I can't advise on insulin but I can advise on low carbing! When you remove carbs from your diet you need to replace it with protein and fat. Remember fat is not the demon its made out to be. Have a look at this website http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf and also I recommend reading Gary Taubes - Why we get fat and what to do about it - when I read it I was blown away.

Since I have been low carbing I have not felt any where near as hungry as I was when eating carbs so I can understand why you are not necessarily consuming as many calories as you are used to. It depends on your objective, if you need to lose weight then the lower calorie intake will help but if you need to maintain your weight then you can add things like nuts, seeds etc to increase your calories.

Everyone is different, so I cannot say if 90g of carbs is right for you, you need to test and check your results +2 hours after each meal I hope I have been some help, hoping someone else will jump in with insulin advice.

Cheers, Jane
 
Hi Jane - many thanks for the response.

I'm just worried that if the calorie intake drops too low, then 'starvation' mode will kick in and it will all backfire on me - not quite sure what that point is :?

Many thanks - will go have a look later when I get home from work.
 
can anyone give me a simple guide to matching insulin with carb intake - this totally confuses me as I've never had to think about it before
Click to expand...
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-dia ... e-Counter/

The examples given in the book are relatively high carb, the principle is the same for any amount of carbs . Basically you have to work out through trial and error how much insulin you need to take for each 10g of carbs.
Personally I find that for low or no carb meals I need to take more insulin than my normal carb ratio would predict.
 
thanks Phoenix - will take a look - am determined to make this work.

Started insulin three months ago, as soon as levels started to stabilize my weight started to go up by about 1.5kg a week :shock: :shock: so need to get things back under control again quickly
 
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