Questins, questions, questions

[janewatt]

Thank you to everyone who responded to my posting in the Greetings area in November. The generosity and advice helped me to feel well supported. I live alone in rural France and have some great family stresses at present and no support so this has been very valuable.
I’ve done loads of reading, consulted French and English websites and regularly read Forum entries in this site. I’ve the Collins carb counter and also found the French list referred to by Phoenix, very helpful.
I now have lots more queries and hope you’ll help with these too. I’ve tried to underline questions to make things a bit clearer
My doctor has been great and prescribed a BG meter and test strips and lancets. (My meter gives results in mg/dl so I’ve translated results into mmol/L where relevant as this seems to be the measurement you use).
She’s gradually increasing my dose of Metformine (now at 2000 mg per day) and says she may add another drug soon. However, I hate medication and would have liked to get the BG down without adding more drugs. The doctor is ordering an HA1C[/u] every month and is concentrating on reducing this to 7 before sending me to the hospital clinic. It is decreasing, but I’m wondering how long it takes on average? Will I be on diabetes drugs for ever?
My HA1C results:
Nov 18 - 15.0%
Dec 10 - 13.3%
Jan 6 - 11.1%

I‘ve always been interested in food and nutrition, and understand the ideas behind low carbing. However I’ve always eaten a lot of bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc.
I no longer eat potatoes and very little rice pasta, etc, but bread is a big problem. I make bread and experiment with grains and flours hoping to make it as low carb as possible but of course there’s no way of testing it. Does anyone have any tips on low carb bread ingredients?Breakfast is also a problem. I’ve tried scrambled eggs with mushrooms. toast and peanut butter, good muesli, porridge made with water and cinnamon with home mad natural yoghurt on top, everything seems to raise BG by at least 8.33 mmol/L (eg from 7.5 – 14.28).
However increases after meals later in the day are usually much less (eg. 2.78).
Is breakfast just difficult?
I eat slowly – it might even take me nearly an hour to finish; do I still test one and two hours after starting? Is it better to eat slowly? Is there a good order to eat – eg. Cheese and vegetables before the rice?
I realise that I need to get portions sizes down and have been pretty successful at this, but Is it better to keep portion ratios balanced – ie. Roughly same ratio of protein to carbs to fats, in each meal?
Why is it advised to have 4 meals per day? Why not miss a meal if trying to lose weight?
Having great problems getting exercise. Nice walking around here but feel self conscious. Also can’t go too far as have problems in right leg and foot. Can’t find anyone to exercise with. How do others find motivation?
Sorry for the long list. Would appreciate any comments at all on any part of it.

 

[Synonym]

Hi Jane

All the starchy carbohydrates which you say you eat are the very food items which will raise blood sugar levels. The only way to know if this happens to you is by testing before each meal and again two hours afterwards. This will help you to know which foods to avoid.

I love porridge but have to keep off it at present as my numbers go sky high as when I eat all starchy carbohydrates. Bread is nice but not necessary, some of us keep off it and other people use Bergen and other low carb varieties.

If you keep your food intake regular and small then so should your bg levels. It is not advisable to miss meals as it could lower your bg levels too much.

I am very new to all this too and there is so much to learn. There are lots of people on this forum with great knowledge and there will be someone along very soon with much more experience.

 

[hanadr]

Fresh veggies are the key to everything. I start my meal plans with the veggies. for example tomrrow's dinner starts with onions, peppers,mushrooms and chicken breasts. It will be in the slow cooker before I go out to replace the windscreen wipers on my car.
I think I'd have trouble resisting bread if I lived in France.
Hana

 

[Ardbeg]

Having great problems getting exercise. Nice walking around here but feel self conscious. Also can’t go too far as have problems in right leg and foot. Can’t find anyone to exercise with. How do others find motivation?

Hi Jane,

Why not get yourself a small dog?

We have a shitzu and I walk him 3 or 4 times a day, just "around the block" which is enough exercise for his little legs.

 

[IanD]

I use this as bread:

hi banjo..really fancy these muffins as i am gagging for a bit bread/cake!! how do i put it all together?..any recipe?
thanks :roll:

Fill a 1/4 or 1/3 cup with ground almonds, soya flour, oat bran, dessicated coconut etc in any ratio
add 1/2 teasp baking powder
transfer to a small m/wave proof pudding bowl & mix thoroughly
one egg
1one tabsp oil
mix thoroughly to a smooth paste & scrape down the sides
m/wave on full for 1 - 1 1/4 mins
tap out & allow to cool
it has a light spongy texture, easy to slice
good for soaking up gravy or with soup

As Spock would say, "It's bread, Jim, but not as we know it."

All sorts of variations are possible:-
use benecol or flora pro-v instead of oil
sweeten for cake
add cocoa powder, sultanas, cranberries, blueberries, spices ....
enjoy

I also use ground almonds as the basis for 'porridge'

 

[brill]

"Is breakfast just difficult?"
Yes, it can be hard to stay off the toast and OJ. On work days I usually go for scrambled eggs on their own - very quick and fills you up for a long time. At weekends, when I have more time, I might have grilled bacon, or a boil-in-the-bag kipper. They are high fat, so satisfying and keep you fuller for longer, but low carb. Kippers are an acquired taste though!
I would watch the oats - they certainly make my BG rocket and I've seen others say the same.

Brill

 

[janewatt]

Thank you all for your comments.

Still finding exercise difficult; I have a dog but she is difficult to walk now she's blind and deaf. Have got some weights to build up muscle I lost before diagnosis.

Thanks for "bread" recipe, Ian. Have tried twice with different ingrediants, but although it's good as you say with soup, it can't replace toast! When I've got BS down to reasonable numbers, I'll experiment with different ingredients whren making bread for my grandchildren.

Have had non-stop colds, unwell feelings for at least 3 months. Recently lots of nausea and stomach ache. Thought I'd got over Metformine side effects some time ago so wondering if it's normal to be not ill, but not well either. BS levels are dropping, not as fast as I want, but I'm keen to avoid more drugs. (Metformine 2000 per day now).
Any comments?

Thanks again to all,

Jane.

 

[hanadr]

Jane
Portion size, as you say somewhere is a key you can use.If you limit portions of starchy cabs and eat as much as you like of green leafy veggies and protein plus a reasonable amount of fat, you should be OK.
I understand about your dog. I have 3, of which the oldest is also blind and I don't take her out with the others, because she gets so frightened.
you could try looking up some seated exercises on the computer. Those can be veery helpful if you hsve limited mobility.
Hana

 

[phoenix]

I'm not type 2 so I'll leave most toJ others
Just a note on bread .
I've found these types to be lower gi.Try pain aux noix, pain complet/integrale aux cereales, pain de seigle, pain de son or even pain de campagne especially if risen with levain (sourdough) rather than levure (yeast).Weigh the slices because they are dense, not brilliant for toast though I like the nut one toasted (edit just reread your post, if you're making it, have you tried sourdough methods?)
avoid typical baguette as it can cause very fast high blood glucose rises.
I would also avoid Harrys and the like but that's mostly because I think that they're worse than the British equivalent (full of presevatives and other additives)

 

[Synonym]

For me bread has become a no, no at present as it just raises my BG levels too high. :cry: Only occasionally do I miss it to the point of being tempted but I know that there is no advantage to me in succumbing so I have managed not to - so far.

 

[janewatt]

Thanks for sourdough tip - I'll try it when I'm really desperate. I keep finding nice low carb things I could . . . spread on bread!

Although I've lost quite lot of weight through the diabetes, it's all gone from the muscle on my arms and legs, so I now have awful flabby sagging skin there but have retained my huge stomach! I've just got into normal BMI range just to learn this is no longer considered best way to assess liability for heart problems, strokes etc.

It's now shape that counts - the huge waistline is the danger. I cannot seem to lose anything off it. Looking at specific exercises and trying these, but seem to have little strength there or in thighs. This evening I've been walking around the house wearing small weights attached to my ankles to try to exercise legs a bit more to re-build muscle.

Anyone know good waist line exercises or have comments on the dangers of the apple-shaped body?

Jane.