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Pre Diagnosis Food

neithskye

Well-Known Member
Messages
244
Location
Toronto, Canada
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Do you ever go back and read the labels of the food you used to eat before your diabetes diagnosis?

I only have to cook for myself, and I'm also a lazy cook. I used to eat so much packaged food (TV dinners, pizza pops). I had no idea what a carb was or how insulin worked. Sometimes when I go grocery shopping I read the labels of stuff I used to eat. Yikes! More carbs in one serving than I eat now in three days.

Just an interesting experiment I do. This diabetes journey has certainly been very educational.
 
We used to begin the day with a bowl of muesli (carefully chosen for low salt and no added sugar), skimmed milk, a plate of fruit (half a banana each, some grapes, blueberries, half a nectarine) and, often a glass of orange juice or fruit smoothie. I thought we were being super healthy. No wonder my husband became diabetic.
Sally
 
I don't do it intentionally, but sometimes my mom, who's trying to cut carbs, will ask whether something's alright, sometimes things I used to eat... And a portion often turns out to be what I consume in 3 to 5 days. It is rather eye-opening!
 
My pre-diagnosis was a bowl of Cornflakes in the morning with sugar on and a glass of orange juice, baked beans on 2 slices of toast with a low fat spread for lunch, and potatoes and bread with just about anything we had for tea.

I have never bought a ready meal (unless you count fish & chips) nor been in a MacDonalds or similar, nor drunk Colas and pop, nor have I ever snacked, so that is at least some compensation.
 
I used to have this one every day and not only that but twice or three times the recommended portion!
https://www.dorsetcereals.co.uk/things-we-make/product/simply-fruity-muesli/
 
Oh God, where do I start. Every day I'd have white toast or sugary cereal for breakfast. Inevitable sandwich with crisps for lunch. Ready meal for dinner. Takeaways, loads of biscuits, chocolate bars, cakes, booze....etc Even when I was first told I'd crept into the diabetic range, I stopped having sugar in my tea and cut back on chocolate, but compensated with more crisps (I thought savoury stuff was ok). No wonder I ended up how I did.
 
The one thing that makes me cringe now that I used to eat is banana sandwiches. White bread and butter spread with bananas mashed in sugar! Probably more carbs than I’d eat in a whole day now. The only bit I’d eat these days is the butter
 
I never ate Brekky. Sometimes I would skip lunch even back then. If I did have lunch it would have been chopped up banana, chopped peach, strawberries, with diet fruit yogurt, or Baked beans on one slice of wholemeal toast, or a wrap with salad in of some kind. Dinner would be a pasta homemade meal or rice any grain or potato etc. After I would have another diet yogurt. Also I would eat for dinner W/W meal a couple of times a week. I ate diet cheese, anything low fat, not realising the sugar these foods contained. I thought I was being healthy. I always ate loads of veg, but loved root veg also. You can see where it all went wrong can't you? lol Oh I used to eat 5 fruits a day
 
It is about time the people who label food as ‘diet’ changed their food to be suitable to prevent diabetes, rather than cause it. Supermarkets now have a ‘free from’ aisle, but all their food contains more sugar than ordinary food. I want a sugar free aisle to be set up in every supermarket.
 

Hear! Hear!
Hope my local Sainsburys is reading this. Other supermarkets are available
 
I am not great with milk in any form, so I escaped the cereal at breakfast thing. I had “healthy” seeded bread and butter. Sigh.
Lunch was rice or potato with meat or fish and veg. Same thing for dinner. I would then snack on fruits through the day. Did I mention tea with 3 spoons of sugar?
I shudder as I am writing this ...
 
I'm not married and don't have kids. I've never enjoyed cooking. Pretty much everything I ate came from a package or from a pizza or subway sandwich take-out store.

I was a big fan of things you could just cook in the microwave. One thing was a Hungry Man dinner. My favourite one has 75 carbs.

I was a milk addict and drank about two litres of skim milk a day. Plus lots of Coke.

No wonder I feel so much better now.
 
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