Karbstruck, I have to own, however petulant and childish as it sounds, that my age is a factor in my distress about this diagnosis. I'm 31, so not young (and I cannot even imagine the grief of a type 1 child and their parents), but not quite done with youthful excesses yet--so I do feel a little deprived. Is that hedonistic and self-indulgent? Yes, but I am still very much in the stages of trying to grapple with this illness. And it's been an ugly struggle.
You say you've eliminated sugar and grain products. May I ask how your energy levels are? I find that since restricting my carbohydrates, that I have been feeling very weak, and my mental acuity, isn't quite there. I've been having the most difficult time getting through a novel, when I used to read multiple books in a week. I realise a lot of us put little stock in the dietary advice given by official diabetic organizations, but what fuel is everyone else here using? Are you getting your carbohydrates from vegetables, proteins, or fats? I just feel so enervated, and I can barely stand up at times, without feeling dizzy.
Good luck on your meal preparations!
Hi again touchett,
Although I have eliminated sugar and most grains from my diet, I think I get enough carbs from dairy and vegs. A typical day's food would be:
Breakfast: 100g of full fat Greek yoghurt with 1/4 cup of raspberries and 1 tsp of flax seed (thanks to Andy)
Lunch: 1 beef hamburger (from last night's dinner) or some cold ham or chicken -
-with a largish salad of combined iceberg lettuce & rocket or baby spinach leaves, 1/4 sliced red onion, slices of red capsicum, cucumber, tomatoes. avocado and fresh basil & oregano topped with a dressing of combined olive oil, red (or white) wine vinegar and a tsp of Dijon mustard, salt and black pepper.
Dinner: Omelette of 2 eggs mixed with a tbsp of creme fraiche.
In a little olive oil, I fry a 1/4 red onion, 1/2 hot jalapeno pepper, red capsicum slices, a handful of chopped baby spinach, a few slices of pepperoni salami or chorizo topped with cheese and sprinkled with dried oregano, then placed under the grill to cook the top and melt the cheese.
(I bought a small non-stick pan especially for omelettes)
Sometimes I have omelette for lunch and meat meal with salad or veg for dinner.
The other night I cooked loads of crushed garlic in olive oil, then added some sliced chicken, dried oregano, capsicum and jalapeno slices, tomatoes and loads of choy sum. It was a bit of an improvisation on what was in the fridge, but I had been missing garlic, so it filled that need.
I also love curries, so I need to work on those. I have cooked Thai red beef curry with coconut milk from Charmaine Solomon's Southeast Asian cookbook, which is an easy recipe. I just ate a small serve without rice and it didn't send my bs sky high.
I still feel sufficiently mentally alert, though after walking for an hour each day I do feel a bit tired, but better if I don't eat too much for lunch. Portion control is not my strong point.
It must be much more of a blow to be as young as 31 ( it seems very young to me) and to not have had a lifetime of eating beautiful foods as I have, but I try to focus on what to do with what I can eat. (I must check out some of those gourmet diabetic cookbooks too.)
Perhaps learning to cook with limited ingredients can be viewed as an adventure into the unknown, like the literary hero, or the Tarot card Fool, setting out on the journey which will reshape his or her life.
