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Starting tomorrow

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Cosy

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Right I think that is me organised for starting to low carb tomorrow, the only thing is I am not 100% sure how many carbs I should be having. I am not trying to loose weight mainly trying to get my readings down but loosing a bit of weight would be a bonus. Can someone advise, thanks. Feel as if all I am doing is asking questions on this just now but I know a lot of you are experts in this :)
 
You need xyzzy who's a whizz with carbs. Hopefully he'll be along in a bit. I can't really help because I'm mega-boring and just eat the same thing every day :)
 
There's no fixed answer Cosy. It depends on your diabetes-we're all different. You need to try a meal with less carbs as per the guidelines we've given you, then test your blood two hours later. If its under about 8, that meal was ok. If it isn't, cut out some of the carbs from that meal next time round. Keep a good record of your meals and your readings. You'll soon work out how many carbs you can eat per day
 
Cosy said:
Right I think that is me organised for starting to low carb tomorrow, the only thing is I am not 100% sure how many carbs I should be having. I am not trying to loose weight mainly trying to get my readings down but loosing a bit of weight would be a bonus. Can someone advise, thanks. Feel as if all I am doing is asking questions on this just now but I know a lot of you are experts in this :)
Click to expand...

Will probably be shouted at by all the low carb boffins but i found that the easiest way o begin with was to reduce or even cut out altogether the starchy carbs - bread rice pasta , and hen graually reinroduce hem tesin o see how much they raise your bgs or how much you can tolerate. if you combine this with increased exercise you should see an immediate improvement iin your levels and some useful weight loss. Worjked for me when nothing else had for years and I was trying o stave off being put onto insulin.
there is a great deal of informaionaround the forum in the low-carb food section for example about fine tuning it but as a rough guide and bearing in mind you want quick results you might like to try this suggestion.
grazer posted as i was finishing my post. No disagreement there!
 
What he ^^ (Grazer) said. If you eat to your meter, you will soon learn what you can and can't eat. In the early days, if you have some - say rice, and it spikes you badly, but you love rice, then next time have less and again test. The idea of a meal and BG diary is so important, as it's easy to forget what you ate and how it effected you. I keep records and diary's of absolutely everything. It really did make a difference.

You may be best starting at perhaps 100 - 150g of carbs a day, I found that was WAY to high for me, but we are so very different in what amount of pancreatic function we have, you may tolerate that amount. If it's too high, then try say 80g a day and so on, until you find a level you can tolerate, and also what you know you can eat and keep the spikes at bay.

Good luck starting tomorrow, it may seem a little daunting, but I promise you will get the hang of it sooner than you think. :D
 
Before I was diagnosed, I have worked out I was eating 300+g carbs a day. I started by aiming for no more than 150g carbs a day, like some of the posters on here. Then I reduced it gradually, using my meter readings as a guide.

I am now, after about 12 weeks, on 60-80g a day, and feel comfortable with that. I have more energy and less thirst or trips to the loo and my bs levels are between 6 and 7 most of the time. But I have lots of weight to lose.

So see what your body does and how your sugars and weight reacts to find your own level.

Good Luck :D

PS I am diet only T2
 
Hi Cosy,

my 2 penneth worth..

I would start by knocking on the head those carbs that it's difficult to portion control. So that's pasta dishes where the pasta is the meal. I found that basically rules out pasta. If you're going to have rice, then Basmatic is probably best and do as Grazer says, make a note of how much you have and then test after 2 hrs. I find I can't tolerate rice at all, but some can.

Bread for me is a real problem - but I switched to Burgen bread initially (its in all the big supermarkets) and this helps cope with the need for bread.

Other things, like cereals - well measure the portion and then test. After a while you start to guard the carbs you can have and wont want to waste them on small snacks. I would far rather have a whole bowl of porridge now then a small piece of bread.

I kept a daily food diary for the first couple of months. It's good to be really intense about it (though you bore everyone silly). Write down what you have, test, try something else, write it down, test.. if you can, bung it all in a spreadsheet and draw a graph - it's really motivating to see the numbers fall and it inspires you to go further.

It can be daunting in the supermarket when there are now whole aisles that I don't use - but it is possible to eat this way and the effect on your health can be miraculous.
 
Unbeliever said:
Cosy said:
Right I think that is me organised for starting to low carb tomorrow, the only thing is I am not 100% sure how many carbs I should be having. I am not trying to loose weight mainly trying to get my readings down but loosing a bit of weight would be a bonus. Can someone advise, thanks. Feel as if all I am doing is asking questions on this just now but I know a lot of you are experts in this :)
Click to expand...

Will probably be shouted at by all the low carb boffins but i found that the easiest way o begin with was to reduce or even cut out altogether the starchy carbs - bread rice pasta , and hen graually reinroduce hem tesin o see how much they raise your bgs or how much you can tolerate. if you combine this with increased exercise you should see an immediate improvement iin your levels and some useful weight loss. Worjked for me when nothing else had for years and I was trying o stave off being put onto insulin.
Click to expand...

This was exactly how I did it. I went from my usual high carb diet to almost none, then tried different things. I do wonder which way is easiest, not that it matters so long as you find a way that's easiest for you.
 
Hi Cosy. Not a lot more to say really. Just remember the 5 baduns rice, pasta, bread, cereals and potatoes. Replace what you drop with more meat, cheese, eggs and especially veg. The knack is not to treat it as a diet so don't get hungry. Testing before and then 2 hours after your main meal is critical. Ideally you should end up under 8 but if you've been running high for a while so you start higher than 8 then try to restrict the junp to less than 2. If you do that you should see the numbers begin to fall. Some people post up what they are having and others will then tell you if they think its all right or how you could make it better if you need to. The key is keep asking questions and don't get discouraged if it goes wrong sometimes. Take care.
 
Thank you again so much to everyone for getting back to me you have been so helpful, I will keep using this site for advice and if I cannot find the answer I am looking for already in here will ask again, just dont want to be a pest !! Once I learn what I can and cannot eat I am sure i will find it a lot easier. Oh well out to enjoy this lovely sunshire now, have a nice day everyone :D
 
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