Occasional Treat???

Hi Bazza and welcome to the board.
I'm a type 2 since January, currently diet control. I've been doing a lot of blood monitoring since then which has helped me get my head around what everyday life can include food wise, but also helped me think about what I am going to let myself have as treats.

One of the upsides for me of the lowered carbs is that I feel a lot better than I did. I rarely wake with a muzzy head and am generally just a lot perkier than I was. I'm no saint, I've had plenty of soddit moments along the way, but what I've found is that if I do go OTT on the carb front I feel almost as though I've got a hangover the next day - alright, not a banging head but thirsty and tired and crabbit. That has kind of taken the shine off things that I used to think of as treats; I like the idea of half a packet of chocolate digestives but I don't like the reality.

That's not to say that I don't have treats, but they are smaller than I would have had before and if I've decided to have some chocolate I'm likely to fit in an exercise session (I go for long walks) before I eat it to help my bod deal with it.

I have found that I can keep my blood sugars reasonable-ish if I have between 75-100g of carbs a day and try not to have more than 20 g carbs at any one meal. Translating that into treats, a Lindor fondant egg (28g) comes in at about 11g of carbohydrate, so if I was going to have one I would be looking to make low carb choices in the meals around it and go for a walk first. I know that that doesn't sound like much of a treat because I'm working for it, the up side is that I feel ok the next morning.

You'll figure it put as you go along. If you're very active then your treats might involve a lot more carb than I get away with, you'll only know that by testing, testing, testing. Also, there are plenty low carb cook books out there, I've got a lovely recipe for a chocolate almond cake that when I've figured out which sweetener tastes best will be a real regular treat and the non diabetics in my family certainly don't hestitate to eat it whilst my back is turned.

It does take a bit of getting your head around, and you will have slips and trips along the way but you'll find plenty folk in here who know what you're feeling and will help you figure out what's right for you

Hi Bazza,

Treats make life bearable when you are a diabetic. It is not something I indulge in every day but a small portion of what you fancy once in a while is acceptable. Be guided by your meter and you will soon see what you can and cannot eat.

Bazza,
I know what you're saying about the Pizza Hut treat!!! It's like Primmers says - the longer you Do control your BG's, the better you feel, and the more able your body is to cope with the OCCASIONAL treat.

Here's the interesting part: If you were to have a Pizza Hut pizza + extras, you'd know about it the day after . You'd certainly know that you'd eaten something that effects your BG, and your mood, and your general well being.

It's THAT that makes it such a rare treat for me. It's a bit of a vicious cycle:

1) Eat really well for a long period.
2) Feel great.
3) Treat myself to a pizza/curry/fish n' chips
4) Enjoy the food (a lot!)
5) Feel bad about eating the food.
6) Measure BG - see effects of food. (High BG).
7) Feel terrrible, resolve not to eat take away again.
8) Back to 1).

See what I mean abou the vicious cycle?

You eat well and behave yourself following feeling bad about eating take away, then you treat yourself to a takeaway when you've behaved for a while!

The good news is, there are lo-carb alternatices to pizza crust and rice. The problem then is, they don't seem like a treat because they don't effect your BG (or your mood).

No-one ever said it was gonna be easy, mate! :wink:

Bazza, all our bodies work slightly differently. Some folk in here can eat porridge without it putting their blood sugar way up, some can't. That's why we advocate testing to see what the food has done to you. If I was talking to my kids about treats I would be telling them not every day or it's not a treat. Once or twice a week as something to look forward to. That would be whether it was a food treat or a trip to the cinema or whatever.

I would consider eating a packet of crisps once a week as there are only about 12.5 g of carbs in a 25 g bag. I would not have it at the same sitting as something else high carb, but I wouldn't ever say never. Mind you, I can think of carby treats I'd prefer to crisps, diabetes has made me a more discerning snacker, if I'm going to be naughty I'd better really enjoy it :lol:

Get into the way of looking at labels, figuring how many carbs there are in a hundred grams of the food and how large a portion of the food is. Crisps are nearly 50% carb but the regular size bag is a fairly small portion so every now and then it probably won't rock the boat. A bigger bag would be a different story, it's not just about carbs per 100 g but portion size.

A lot of places have nutritional info on their sites if you hunt. So for instance, on your pizza enquiry, a Pizza Hut Margherita (small Italian, six slice size) would give you 15.8 g per slice, a Pizza Hut Margherita (stuffed crust, 10 slice size) would give you 32.2 g per slice. If I wanted pizza I'd accept that I couldn't eat a whole one and choose the Italian.

In the short term while you're thinking about it all the time there's a certain lack of spontaneity to the decisions you make, but when you've been reading, thinking, testing and making sensible choices for a few months it'll become second nature.

It is tedious and not fair, but it's also the way to avoid the longer term complications like blindness, amputation and premature death - sorry to be blunt but there's no point glossing over why we're all doing this.

Here's a practical example of working a treat into a day. I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself over something work related at the mo, when I woke my blood sugar was 6.7. I really wanted to have something nice and sweet to eat and did. I had a banana, split lengthways and sandwiched together with nutella...

That comes nowhere near being a low carb treat so I put on my walking boots and went for a good long walk, a five miles round trip taking in a bit of shopping and lasting about an hour and three quarters. Blood sugar on return 4.7 - by doing the exercise I got an acceptable blood sugar and to have my full throttle no half measures 'goodie'. Not an every day occurence but in the scheme of things probably better for me than not allowing myself anything and sitting at home moping.