some advice for beginner

[gbswales]

I am attracted by low carb dieting - from a few experiments the control seems better - however it is going to take me a while to find the time to study it more - in the meantime I have a few questions.

At the moment I am relying on the packet lables and frequently see two carb readings - a total and then "of which sugars" which is usually lower - which of these two should I count?

From a diabetes control perspective, to what extent (if at all) should I be thinking about the other things on the labels?

The carbohydrate count of somethings that I previously thought "good" are in fact quite high - my morning glass of orange juice being one of them - I have always found that the OJ wakes me up and goes nicely with the breakfast cereal (also high in carbs) - I am also getting a few surprises by weighing normal portions - the "portions" quoted on packets are tiny - err 40g of cereal? 70 - 80g is about what I need so that effectively doubles the carbs. Breakfast is something I have to work on - weekends and days off are ok because I dont mind cooking bacon when I get up later - but cooked food at 7.00 am would leave me feeling sick, not to mention needing to get up earlier!

I've glanced through the meals bit but havent seen any really nice ideas for instant breakfast!

 

[gbswales]

One more question - does anyone know a good on-line beginners guide - preferably with audio visual content that is not so stodgy to read as most things I have found so far? The pages here are very helpful but I find forums a bit disjointed and much better for support rather than learning - I am looking for something like a beginners training course where I can take "lessons" each day for about 15 - 20 mins. Or alternatively have you come across any audio books which are not too technical - I hate reading books but listen to loads in the car or read online

 

[the_anticarb]

hi gbswales - it's the total carbohydrate content you need to look at! The theory being that all carbs are effectively sugar, once digested, but the starchy carbs take longer to digest than the sugary kind.
Yes, they are in most foods in quite high amounts so you'll find that to really cut down on them you'll need to base your diet around things like meat, fish, cheese, dairy,non starchy vegetables, nuts, berries and seeds. It takes some getting used to but once you do you won't look back.
It depends how low you want to go really, that's what I do and come in at around 40g / day but that's quite low by most people's standards so you may want to have more carbs than that. Dont know of any audiobooks I'm afraid but lots of info on here for beginners.

 

[gbswales]

the main plus is that it makes eating home made ice cream less scary! Seriously though while I like meat as long as its lean and off the bone (faddy like that), dairy products and some fish - I dont get much joy out of vegatables (at least not the non starchy ones) about the only veg I routinely like is carrots. I think the biggest problem however is removing the things that make you feel "full" - I like potatoes, rice and pasta - 90% of which has to go - I have just ordered some low carb pasta to try (my what a price compared to a 90p large packet in tesco!) but I really cannot think of what to sensibly replace bread, potatoes and rice with. Nuts berries and seeds dont sound a very yummy (or easy to prepare cooking wise) option. That doesnt mean I will give up but does make it much more difficult to buy cheaper foods that I can just bung in the microwave or oven.

I have had hemophillia all my life but if I had to choose between that and diabetes the hemophillia would win!! unfortunately nature hasnt given me the luxury of choice :roll:

 

[the_anticarb]

Hi gbswales, I was also worried about not feeling full but found that once I'd changed to running on low carb fuel, my satiety receptors in my brain kind of changed too. Most folk find that they need a lot less food to feel full, so for example if you eat say eggs and bacon for breakfast perhaps with some mushrooms and tomatoes, this will be more than enough to keep most people going til lunch.

I used to snack all the time, now I rarely do. If I do get hungry between meals I find nuts are really filling.

It does take a few weeks for your body to adapt, but once it has you'll be suprised at how satisfied you feel.

It's worth a try, depends what you have to lose vs what you have to gain. For me it was the only way I could realistically get some control over my diabetes, and I'd been diagnosed with retinopathy so it was no contest really. Others find that they can manage the higher carb way without any problems.

Also it's worth bearing in mind that I, and some others on this forum, do low carb quite strictly - the more liberal low carbers may eat some things that I would regard as only occasional foods, such as carrots and apples, so don't be put off just by my quite strict interpretation of low carb!

AC

 

[claridge]

Hi,

Can l ask how long you leave before you have your main meals if you dont snack?
I have breakkie at half 6/7 and am starving by 11.30/12 but dont have my lunch break at work until 1pm- as lm not in work in the morning. And hungry again by 4-5ish but wont get home until half 6/7.
I find snacking does help but l still get hungry. The only thing that seems to keep me full without snacking all the time is meat. Maybe l should have some meat at 11 and 3 or something...

 

[the_anticarb]

Hi Claridge

I don't know really, I just eat when I am hungry but found that after switching to low carb I could go a lot longer between meals. I often don't eat breakfast, then maybe have an early lunch around 12, then something to eat around four (ok so maybe that is a snack then) and then dinner around seven. Because I am on a low dose of insulin plus metformin I don't go hypo unless I've been doing a lot of exercise or really not eaten all day. But it all depends on how hungry I feel - I tend to go by that rather than the clock. If I ate a substantial breakfast of, say eggs and sausages or something at 8 am I wouldn't expect to need a snack before lunch. Between lunch and dinner I may need a snack, depending on how much I had eaten, then again I may not.

When I used to eat carbs I would feel the need to eat every 2-3 hours, but I'm now convinced I had a carbohydrate addiction that was both physical and psychological in nature.

So compared to that I may have the odd snack, but nothing like on the scale of before!

 

[Dillinger]

Hi,

As has been said it is the total carbs that you need to look at; the percentage of which sugars shows you how quickly they'll be absorbed, but they all will be absorbed in the end.

For breakfast I like things like cold ham with emmantal cheese and baby tomatoes, or try cream cheese and salmon if your feeling flush, also those sandwich fillers that you can get everywhere are often low carb and can work. Alternatively, you could stick to scrambled eggs or other eggs or have a look at some of those Atkins breakfast bars.

The thing about going onto a low carb diet is your sense of satiety will increase markedly; your body will be metabolising fat and this will stop your hunger response from happening. It's a win win. Carbohydrates actually have the opposite effect meaning that you can eat far more without feeling full.

Claridge; how many carbs are you eating? You may well find if you cut them down some more then your hunger pangs will go I eat at 8:00 am, 1:00 pm and often not until 9:00 pm and never snack in the day and rarely at night; not through any will power, but just that I'm not hungry.

All the best

Dillinger

 

[gbswales]

i can see the argument here - it doesnt deal with the need to eat when you are not feeling hungry - for example I have just had a biscuit with my coffee (cut down from the three I would previously have had) this is not because of hunger but because for 63 years I have always had biscuits with my coffee! Its a kind of "fix" or "habit" and breaking those without feeling "deprived" is one of the keys - at the moment i am at the classic stage that smokers would call "cutting down" LOL

Another point is that I dont want to feel that my life is different because of diabetes - that is something I have worked to avoid with hemophilia (even went skiing when I was younger despite the risks) when, for example, someone brings in cakes or donuts into the office for their birthday (happens about once a week at least) I dont WANT to be the person who says "I cant eat that - and get out a packet of peanuts!". I know this sounds a bit like a spoilt child, well I was, but deep down inside most of us want to be accepted as "normal" in day to day life.

And anyway I LOVE donuts! even though I rarely eat them now. My only reason for going low carb is so I can eat ice cream more often (home made or low carb)!

 

[Dillinger]

That's true; I guess that there is a tipping point though; once you get off the carbohydrate wagon and everything sort of clicks into place it becomes easier to say no to the doughnuts. I for instance love cheesecake, but haven't eaten any for years; and I won't because I know the pleasure will not be worth the damaging effects it will have on my control.

Part of the thing with being on a ketogenic diet is that it doesn't appear to switch immediately; you need a few days bedding in to get it working, so each sugary breach of the diet sets you back days rather than a couple of hours of raised blood sugar. That thought makes it easier for me to avoid temptation.

When people have cakes in my office I just smile and say no thank you; and I think no one really cares if you eat cake or not, but I do know it's nicer to be a party to it all. If you say I can't have that because of my diabetes then in a way you are making it harder for yourself to give into temptation in the future as well. Hopefully there is no shame in having diabetes or haemophilia or any chronic illness; we can just be normal diabetics or haemophiliacs.

All the best

Dillinger

 

[claridge]

I have no idea how many carbs l eat l have never counted- feels a tad too laborious and works well for me just cutting them down to how l feel l should- l nothing that makes my blood sugar go over 7.
I will give a general idea of what l eat:
Breakkie: fried Kale and fried egg (try to incorporate bacon/meat to keep me full)
Lunch today: Salad with meat/a few pine nuts/cucumber/red onion and a little squash... a little squash is my treat... if my blood sugar dares to go over 7 l will climb the stairs
Dinner: Meat/Fish with low carb veggies
I dont have bread/pasta/potatoes/rice/milk/sugar sweet stuff/i very rarely if every have starchy veg. I rarely have fruit- if l wil it will be low carb berries with yoagrt.
Snacks would be meat, fish, occasionally blueberries with yogart etc .
I need to really cut out cheese as well as it affects my eczema.

Today l included 2 rashes of bacon in my breakkie then at half 10 l had 3 parma ham strips with lots of tea through the morning- l made it to 2pm without getting the weak hungry feeling I dont know if its just my body craving/requiring the meat to keep me going... or if its somthing l have missed...

 

[claridge]

I forgot to say that in the past week l have stopped having to use my Insulin- im type 1 since Feb... hoping it is something l will be able to maintain!

 

[Dillinger]

Hi Claridge,

That seems pretty low carb to me; if your weight isn't a problem perhaps you can increase the quantities, or just keep low carb snacking if it's not too much hassle.

That sounds amazing that you have stopped insulin; normally Type 1's won't revert as far as I know, good luck with it but keep a close eye on things, did your doctor think they had made an incorrect diagnosis?

Dillinger

 

[claridge]

ha scrap the no insulin thing... basically l have been on 5units of levimir a day for a while- no novorapid needed if l dont low carb... but then my insulin went off and l didnt realise so when l changed it my BS level had dropped 2-3 units over night so then last night didnt bother taking any- it was about 4.9 and about 4.6 when woke... although my lunch did make my BS go up to 9- Eeek... so just walked up and down the stairs to bring it down. I should not have had any squash- oops! I might go back to taking a unit tonight and see how that goes. Also l have been studying every chance l get (outside of work hrs) as l have a load of assignments due- so my usual exercise (almost every day) has dropped . My nurse did say that there l might not need insulen at all at some point but she believes that most type 1s have this- Honeymoon period where there pancreas starts producing insulin again then it gives up. Dr Bernstein believes we can prolong the honeymoon. Im going to try to do that for as long as possible.