Newbee...........and need help with breakfast!

[rogbert]

hi fergus and ursula,
3 units gosh I 'm type 2 and take 60 units in morning 60 at lunch and 60 at supper,Is that too much?I'm also on a low carb diet the complete reverse of what my doc says ,why do they always say low fat high carbs.I don't eat any bread or potatoes, go easy on the rice and pasta and make gluton/wheat free bread if I get desperate.
cheers
rog

 

[deadwood2]

I've been cheated!

I could have had the full metal breakfast all along, and I've been told to eat all bran!

How wrong can you get? :lol:

 

[Philip60]

Hi Ursula,

I'm 49 and have been Type 1 diabetic for about 3 years. Doctor though it was type 2, :x but I read about LADA and made him send me to a specialist who gave me the AntiGAD and C-peptide tests. Like you, I'm on Lantus & Humalog. I've never really counted carbs, as it's not an exact science - there's low and high GI carbs, and everybody reacts differently as well. Anyway, if you're on insulin, who cares - just take more of it!!! Yummy, yummy! :lol: I think it's better to just know how much Humalog to take for what you're eating. Before I was on insulin I put myself on a low carb diet (the only way to keep my levels half-decent!), but my cholesterol went up to 5.2 and my doctor wanted to put me on Statins. :evil: NO WAY! I thought, so when I got the "right tools for the job" (ie. insulin!) I got it down to 4.0 (which is the max recommended for diabetics) by counting saturated fats and keeping them as low as possible. :wink:
For what it's worth, this is my basic weekday 'regime':

Breakfast: porridge with lots of brown sugar :lol: (3-4 units Humalog) (Funnily enough, the sugar doesn't make much difference, it's the porridge that sends the bg levels up!) 1.5 hours later 1 slice of toast to prevent going low. (I could take less insulin, but I don't like going much beyond 10Mmols peak if I can help it.)

Lunch: 3 slices bread with low fat fillings. (c.9 units Humalog) Again, I tend to have a pudding a bit later when the Humalog is acting the most (1-2 hours) - something like a pot of low fat custard. I test at 1.5-2 hours after taking the Humalog to see how I'm doing. I also take 13-16 units Lantus at this time, depending on how active I'm going to be that day. Although I was originally advised to take Lantus first thing in the morning, I found that my fast metabolism used it up before the next morning and my readings were a bit high. Even hardened diabetics produce some insulin, and this is mostly during the morning, so I figured that's when it didn't matter if the Lantus was all used up.

Tea: cup of tea (1/2 teaspoon sugar) & slice of cake (3 units)

Supper: hot meal of some sort, prob. c.6-9 units Humalog. I need to test increasingly towards the latter part of the day, as bg levels are less predictable then. I like to be about 5.5-6 at bedtime if poss, but that's easier said than done!

Don't know if that helps, but there it is anyway! Maybe in years to come I'll have to do things differently. I'm already taking more insulin than I was when I started, but only a bit more. I think I'm quite lucky.

All the best!

Philip.

 

[mjm]

Ursula,
All us diabetics are as different as chalk and cheese. In other words, what suits me may not necessarily suit someone else. We all have to find our own limits. I eat between 250g and 300g carbs per day and my weight is only 10stones. fortunately I burn carbs rather quickly so don't have the problem of putting on weight.
What I have for breakfast is a bowl of porridge topped with natural yogurt, on which is put sunflower seeds topped with sesame seeds and sprinkled with maple-leaf syrup. I eat 2 slices of wholemeal bread topped with peanut butter. I then have an orange. Total carbs for breakfast are between 95g and 100g.
I do however also exercise.

 

[mjm]

Ursula,
I should have added that being diabetic doesnt restrict you from eating anything. I wouldn't however eat something that would be bad for a person, whether diabetic or not. I tend to eat only food which is beneficial to me.
Also, banana is a no no for me, as it raises my blood sugar sharply when I eat one. The reason for this is, I think, that they have a high GI. It certainly has that effect on me. Most fruits however, are low to medium GI, so won't raise your BG too sharply. I eat lots of fruit each day and even at my age (63) feel quite good, WOOHOO!!!!

 

[madbird]

Hi ppl

Although I am quite new to this my new husband has been type 1 for 40 odd years. He has found the GI diet to be the best. As we get up at the unearthly hour of 4:30am each day he tends to have just a little weetabix, perhaps half just to have with the insulin, but for his 10am breakfast I make him a mixture which he absolutely loves, its as follows:
Base Mixture (I tend to make up a massive container)
8 tablespoons of oads
1 tablespoon of chopped dried apricots
1 tablespoon of sultanas
1 tablespoon of finely chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon of finely chopped almonds, brazil nuts or hazelnuts
To serve:
1/2 a grated apple
150 - 300 ml skimmed milk
4 raspberries
4 blueberries
4 grapes
1/2 kiwi fruit sliced
1 tablespoon of low fat yogurt
Serves 4

I have kind of adapted this to include goji berries and sunflower seeds, with only grapes and apple as the fresh fruit as I struggle to keeps the rest of the fruit fresh long enough.

He finds that with 2-3 small tablespoons in the evening in a bowl with some milk and the apple soakd over night - then add the grapes and yogurt in the morning it makes for a really creamy nice tasting breakfast which seems to keep his blood sugar level reasonably constant during the morning till lunch, hope that gives you some ideas!
Madbird

 

[Dennis]

Hi madbird and welcome to the forum.

I guess that your breakfast recipe just emphasises the different dietary possibilities for type 1 and type 2 diabetics. A very approximate tot-up of the 2 breakfasts (so including the early morning weetabix) shows that mixture to have about the same amount of carbs that I as a type 2 can manage in an entire day. Some of the ingredients have huge amounts of sugar. The difference is that a type 1 can cover that level of carbs with a higher amount of insulin, whereas a type 2 is on a set level of medication and therefore can't have anywhere near that level of carbs without blood sugar levels that would be uncontrollable.

 

[eclarke76]

Hi Newbee - I'm a newbee to just signed up. I have diabetes for about 2 years now and have just started a course on counting Carbohydrate intake so that I can adjust my insulin accordingly. It is really interesting. I'm only on day three but although it is a hassle initially monitoring everthing I eat - already I can see some major improvements.

Basically you calculate the amount of carbs you eat and take one unit of insulin for every 10g of carbs - eg bread has about 15g of carbs per slice so if you have two slices that is 3 units of insulin you should be taking. Stick with the cheese as this has no carbs whereas if you fancy a banana for a change it has about 20g of carbs so take an extra 2 units of insulin that morning. If you fancy cereal then weigh out what you take in grams and work out how many gs of carbs % by 10 to give no of units of insulin. You have to be careful though and monitor you BG to make sure it is working for you as some people may only need 1/2 unit of insulin for every 10 g or indeed some may need 2 units per 10g but as a guide it is a 10:1 ratio

So far so good - my control already a lot better and gives so much more flexability in the long run.

 

[Katharine]

I am not diabetic, my son is a type one. I make him a low carb breakfast every day because he is a teenager with a powerful dawn phenomenon. Lot of fat and protein at breakfast also keeps him going till lunch without needing a snack.

The usual breakfasts are:

smoked salmon or trout and scrambled egg,
bacon, eggs, black pudding, tomato.
smoked haddock and poached eggs.
devilled eggs.

And for a bit of decadence (at very little extra carb count)

almond bread slices toasted with a little jam
cheesecakes
cakes
muffins
biscuits
fruit crumbles
pancakes

(all made with eg almonds, soya flour, whey protein powder and artificial sweeteners)

The low carb baking makes such a difference.

 

[hanadr]

Hi Ursula
I read you're going to bake Fergus's bread. You will have trouble finding Wheat gluten, if you even can. in shops. Try Low car megastore online. Stuff comes quickly.
I started making the bread a while back and now have modifications for my own taste. I started by following the instructions to the letter.
It gets better every loaf you make
Good luck with it
Hana

 

[deadwood2]

The usual breakfasts are:

smoked salmon or trout and scrambled egg,
bacon, eggs, black pudding, tomato.
smoked haddock and poached eggs.
devilled eggs.

He cannot begin to imagine how lucky he is!!

 

[Alan S]

To all those interested in breakfasts, maybe the ideas here will help you think of your own:

Breakfasts

For various reasons, I'm one of the many type 2's for whom breakfast is the hardest meal of the day to get right. The traditional "heart-healthy" breakfast of cereal, milk, juice and toast is a disaster for my blood glucose levels. So, after much experimentation I came up with these ideas.

Breakfasts With Minimal Carbs

1. Egg. The humble egg can be cooked in so many ways: poached, fried (minimal oil in a non-stick pan), normal omelette (beat it lightly while cooking), fluffy omelette (separate, whip the white with a spoonful of water, fold back with filling and yolk), scrambled with a little milk, frittata (sort of a heavier omelette with filling), and baked. Use fillings, cheese, fresh herbs if you can, dried if you can't.

2. Meat. Bacon, Ham, small steak, hamburger patty (watch the fat), chicken, prosciutto, hot dogs and so on. Can be fried, grilled/broiled, chopped after cooking and added to omelettes, frittata or scrambled eggs. For bacon or other fatty meats, drain on absorbent paper before serving.

3. Fish. Smoked, canned or fresh. Can be poached, fried, as a mornay (easy on the thickener), mixed in a stir-fry etc. Same for seafood.

4. Mushrooms. Small ones can be sliced and cooked with onions, herbs , garlic etc and a little oil and a smidgin of flour for a gravy. Large ones can be filled with bolognaise or napoli sauce (or whatever you like), topped with grated cheese and baked in the oven. Also another good omelette filling.

5. Casseroles and stews - beef, lamb, chicken, mince (ground beef) etc can be pre-prepared and divided into individual breakfast sized serves. Put them in small plastic containers in the freezer and zap one in the microwave for breakfast. Check the carbs in the recipe to check suitability. Beef bourgignon, Irish Stew (watch the spuds), chicken fricassee, whatever your favourite is. Always test at 1 hr the first time with casseroles - thickeners are usually the carb culprits for high BGs.

6. Leftovers - slices of roast meat, re-heated or cold, re-heated chops etc

Bon Appetit.

 

[samcogle]

I have just read your breakfast ideas Alan and initially gagged at the thought of stew for breakfast, yet I never thought twice of re-heating a leftover curry [usually left on the floor] from the night before, for breakfast...it's official i am weird :lol:
But now it's sunk in, what a great idea. I am sick of eating fruit and yogurt...thanks for that.

 

[Alan S]

I have just read your breakfast ideas Alan and initially gagged at the thought of stew for breakfast, yet I never thought twice of re-heating a leftover curry [usually left on the floor] from the night before, for breakfast...it's official i am weird :lol:
But now it's sunk in, what a great idea. I am sick of eating fruit and yogurt...thanks for that.

Glad I could help.

I'm not sure about storing leftovers on the floor though; I know it gets cold in the UK, but I hadn't realised it got cold enough to use the floor as a fridge.

 

[ukcutey]

hiya i know im slow in replying to this lol but i have shreddies when i do have a breakfast if that helps with green milk lol hmmmm ive done the dafne course if you've not heard bout it then you should defo ask bout it cos its great you can eat what you want when you want as long as you have the insulin for it lol if this helps you... but dont go changing anything in your regime until youve spoken to your diabetes nurse though

 

[fergus]

you can eat what you want when you want as long as you have the insulin

That's got to be one of the most misguided ideas ever perpetrated by the pharmaceutical industry!

fergus

 

[Trinkwasser]

you can eat what you want when you want as long as you have the insulin

That's got to be one of the most misguided ideas ever perpetrated by the pharmaceutical industry!

fergus

Well it's technically correct!

Whether it's a good idea or not is another matter . . .

 

[mjm]

"you can eat what you want when you want as long as you have the insulin"
I think if you add "as long as it's healthy", then I think the aforementioned statement would be 100% correct.

 

[deadwood2]

The subjective nature of "healthy" would seem to be the only (and insurmountable) stumbling block..

 

[ukcutey]

ok slow at replying again hahahaha yea it might be bad but ive found its the best way so far of me being able to control my diabetes im not a big eater so it helps me out lol i stick to my usual background then have my novo rapid when i eat and when needed so its easy and if i go to the cinemas i dont have to worrry bout eatin loads of sweet popcorn haha cos i dont like saltedd and have to worry bout my sugars because i have the insulin for it