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Portion Control.

Sarah, you have to get motivated and decide what you want. To be ill or to control your blood sugars? No-one said it is easy. You can stop eating cereal and biscuits. I used to have Cornflakes and milk every morning, for probably 60 years. I knew I had to stop and find a replacement. It took me a few weeks but I eventually tried plain Yogurt, which I'd always said I hated, but in reality had probably never tried. It turned out I like it if sweetened with a few strawberries, blackberries or raspberries.

What do you have for lunch?
 

Sarah

I relate to your feelings about carbs. I too would rather eat carbs than meat, fats.

I ate so much sweet fruits and pasta and sandwiches and Chinese dim sum. I just loved it.

Today, I've given it all up and basically eat leafy green vegetables, vegetable fats and now meat - no dairy except for cream.

I am on insulin and I am still losing weight. Its not easy, but I just don't want diabetic complications.

My GF who is not diabetic kept a picture of fat self on the fridge.

I keep a picture like this on my phone and look at it when I feel my self control going out the window - which is daily.



It works for me.


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Hi Sarah

Like you and a lot of other I struggle with letting go of carbs and sugar and think "but what else could I eat?"

You change your diet by changing it. That's the only way. It takes about 3 days for the cravings for carbs to subside. Your taste buds change and foods that previously tasted bland (because they don't contain sugar) taste delicious. Foods that previously tasted nice (because they contain sugar) taste nauseating. You need to have meal plans, made in advance, shopped for in advance, and low carb snacks on hand, so that you don't fall back on old habits. All of it takes a reasonable amount of discipline and organisation.

You can get ongoing help and support here by posting on "What I ate today" and generally posting whatever is worrying you.

The choice you need to make to change your behaviour may feel nearly impossible to you right now, but it really is very achievable. Lots of people on here have been where you are right now, and made the change successfully, and sustained a good diet ever since. You can do it too. x

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Lunch can vary, Monday I had 1 1/2 corned beef sandwiches, yesterday and today I've had 4 slices of malt loaf. I won't be eating anything else till about 8pm which will probably be some mini cheddars.
 
Sarah69 said:
Lunch can vary, Monday I had 1 1/2 corned beef sandwiches, yesterday and today I've had 4 slices of malt loaf. I won't be eating anything else till about 8pm which will probably be some mini cheddars.
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Malt loaf and mini cheddars? Are you serious? That's pure carbs.
 

Yep! Works for me too!
 
Sarah69 said:
Hi, how do you control portion sizes. I would like to cut down but I would be sooo hungry! I have a large bowl of cornflakes but if I ate less I'd have to get something else to eat a bit later!
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Hi Sarah,

I did start a thread about portion control a while back. See if there is anything there that can help.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/portion-control.54738/

Whilst everyone is condemning what you are eating I have to ask if you have ever been given any education/dietary advice to help manage your diabetes?

Are you just grabbing something rather than thinking about what you are eating and how it will affect your diabetes or is it also that you do not have time to cook or do not understand what is healthy for a Type2?
 
I always read on the forums that a low carb diet is the way forward. I would like to do that I also need to lose weight but the foods that are low carb I'm not keen on. I tried a while back with having salad for tea I got fed up with it after 2 days I don't know how it's sustainable? There must be other diabetics like me who don't like the food . I'm not trying to be difficult in any way. I know I couldn't eat anything other than cereal for breakfast. If I don't have a sandwich or something on toast I don't know what to have. I need to eat something when I get in from work about 8pm but not a meal so I don't know what to have? I'm seeing a dietician next week. The last time I saw 1 she just suggest I cut down on roast potatoes and have more veg with a roast dinner but I'm not really a fan of veg. I just don't know what to eat!
 
Hi Sarah
I agree, there must be lots of diabetics out there who don't like food that's good for them and I bet they will all get complications as time goes on. I loved my carbs, bread, white chocolate, cakes and cookies but when I got the call to tell me I'd got t2 I googled it, found this forum and decided then and there that I wanted to live a longer healthy life a lot more that I wanted to eat high carb and sugar laden foods and lose my sight, my toes and have to cope with other horrid things that I'm seeing my mum try to cope with after following nhs diabetes advice for the last 25 years.
I suppose I'm lucky (?) in some respects that I like most foods (with exception of mushrooms) but I have had to totally review what I eat and when I eat it and as others have said this is the way forward. I now cook from scratch every day - finding the time where I said I couldn't find it before as I was too tired and my diet is so much more varied.
Why not search the recipes on here and try something new every day? You CAN do it and you will feel so much better if you do.
I tell myself every day that sugar and carbs are poison to my body so I don't eat them. I wouldn't drink bleach or other hazardous stuff so why would I put sugar into my body knowing it's a type of poison? It works for me and although I'd rather be free of this awful disease this is the first time in over 35 years that I've had control over my food and weight and this is something that I've always sought after and said - it's a life thing - not a diet to hop on and off as I see fit. All the best to you


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Totto said:
http://www.dietdoctor.com/how-to-lose-weight
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The above is a very good resource.

I so can relate to trying to figure what I can eat. In the states it floors me to go to a huge supermarket and realize that 90% of the food in there is not good for me.

Also try reading this book by Dr. Bernstein http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0316182699/
Dr Bernsteins Diabetic Solution: A complete Guide To Achieving Normal Blood Sugars

He is very radical and when I first read it I threw it down as pure rubbish thinking how can you live like this. Slowly over time I evolved to his way of eating - with less animal fat and no dairy.

I honestly now don't miss it except for Chinese dim sum.

I relate to what you are saying, and how I started was eating a consistent carbohydrate meal 3 times a day. I had 2-carbo servings per meal - I was in hospital - but you can not be so aggressive and have 3 or more servings.

Within a couple of weeks I started getting used to it.

I was always testing and started eliminating foods that spikes my BG.

Just take small steps and changes with a plan. Like Spiker said you will be surprised on how your taste will change and with reduced carbs intake and more fat you will be less hungry

it is not easy and it takes some discipline but it can be done.

I think we should all realize that through most of history the overriding human condition was trying to get enough food.





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Low carb is not just salad. Salad is just a garnish in addition to low carb, it's not the actual low carb meal. Maybe you have been misinformed on what foods you can eat on low carb? Do you not like meat, eggs, cheese, nuts, butter, leafy vegetables...?

I'm not trying to be difficult in any way. I know I couldn't eat anything other than cereal for breakfast. If I don't have a sandwich or something on toast I don't know what to have.
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This not knowing what to have is understandable but it's really just habit, and habit is what you need to change. Look at the "what did you eat today" thread and you will see an incredible range of healthy foods that are really delicious.

You absolutely don't need to restrict yourself to cereal and toast. If you choose to do that you not only won't lose weight, you will probably continue to gain weight, and also make yourself ill. :-(

I just don't know what to eat!
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I do understand this feeling but the solution is to educate yourself and discover all the many different meal plans you can have that will be really healthy, filling and taste good.


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Sarah what nannyg wrote mirrors my experience and what she wrote about being in control of her food and weight for the first time is what I believe and feel to.

Her advice is right on - the best!

Plus you have great support on this forum - we all stamped over each other to give advice and support. We all understand what it really means when a nondiabetic implies that having good control over ones blood sugar is easy. Its not. They have no idea.

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I've now had an apple to eat tonight but it wasn't enough so I've had to have some cheddars.
 
Sarah69 said:
I've now had an apple to eat tonight but it wasn't enough so I've had to have some cheddars.
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That's good, try testing to see if the apple spikes your BG.

The key is to plan your meals and eat to the plan. If you feel hungry a small portion of fat works wonders

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Sarah69 said:
I've now had an apple to eat tonight but it wasn't enough so I've had to have some cheddars.
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Do you mean mini cheddars, the little cracker things? I slice of cheddar cheese goes nicely with apple and is healthier than crackers if you are watching your bg.
 
Yes I meant mini cheddars. I only ate them because the apple didn't fill me up. I think I'll need to take a list of what I do and don't like and the dietician could make me a meal plan from it xx
 
What do expect the meal plan to do for you?

Perhaps I'm being harsh here, but from what I have read Sarah, you talk a lot about what you can't do, and what you don't like, and how you can only eat in a certain way at certain times of the day. Why not make a pact to actually do something outside your comfort zone for, say a week? By that I am suggesting you have a think and a look at the suggestions made here and try then. So, looking at alternatives for breakfast (and the other times you like cereal), for example. It needn't mean lots of cooking or faffing around, but it will need an open mind about actually doing it, and giving yourself honest feedback about how you felt after that week. Its bound to feel alien at the beginning. It certainly did for me, when I had to make the changes I have incorporated into my life.

Deciding to substitute an apple for a meal is never going to work on a regular basis. Starvation isn't the way forward, but nor is carb=loading, if you want a positive outcome. Unfortunately, we each have to find a path forward, dealing with this diabetes thing. We have all had to make uncomfortable choices along the way. As T2s, if our diets and lifestyles had been exemplary, we would not have been able to make the improvements we have done.

You need to devote some head-space to this thing and embrace change. If you always do the same thing, you will always see the same result. Or, with diabetes, a decreasingly acceptable result.

It's your choice. But this thing requires walking the walk, rather than just talking the talk.
 
Sarah69 said:
Yes I meant mini cheddars. I only ate them because the apple didn't fill me up. I think I'll need to take a list of what I do and don't like and the dietician could make me a meal plan from it xx
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that is a good idea, work it out with the dietitian so you can have a proper meal, anything is better than what you are eating now. There are lots of people who eat to the recommended carb intake. what may need to happen is to take another tablet or injection that will make your pancreas work more, or move onto insulin
the priority has to be to get your BG under control with the diet you eat
 
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