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Trying to keep BG down - going overboard

D

Defren

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,106
Since diagnosis last week, I have fought like a demon to keep a very, very tight reign on carbs. I have ordered Atkins meal replacement shakes, and last night Karela Powder. I also test like a demon, and have had to order extra test strips. I only use milk in cups of tea, but have changed to soya milk. Do you think (especially the newly diagnosed) we can take this too far? For now I am ruled by thoughts of finding low carb foods, or aids to help me keep my BG down. The terror that my diabetes complications could get worse, forces me forward, and makes me keep to a very strict less that 30g of carbs a day. It has become all consuming. I will even text my daughters to tell them my BG if it's a good one.

The idea of a stroke, heart attack, kidney or liver failure, coupled with blindness really does have me afraid. Is anyone else finding life is ruled and bank account depleted in an attempt to find a way to keep BG down and stable? For those who have lived with this condition a while, do you calm down after a while, if you were looking like I am for things to help?

I looked through all the recipes on here and the ones I liked the sound of, I ordered the ingredients to be delivered in this weeks shop, bumping the bill up by around 50%. I have this overwhelming urge, almost an addiction to find ways to keep me healthy. Is it healthy to be this way?
 
Hi Defren.

I was diagnosed a couple of days before you, but started low carbing a week ago yesterday. I do keep ordering the odd ingredient to make new recipes, and seem to spend a lot more on meat, fish and so on. Thank goodness I have my own chickens and they are laying like crazy!

I ring my daughters to tell them about a really good reading. My oldest is so convinced she will become diabetic in the future she is following low carb as well. I am glad of that. She won`t get bored of me going on about food.

Luckily I love a challenge, and I also love finding about about new things. It is even better if it involves something that can be affected. I am determined to keep my now normal BS readings, and hopefully drop them down to 4. something all the time as I become more proficient at dealing with this :angel:
 
I think that you'll come to find a balance that works for you and your family. It is perfectly natural to be frightened at first, but as you come to terms with it all, you'll find that things will level off and you'll relax.

I had a stroke due to my undiagnosed diabetes and I do live in fear of another one which is a major incentive keep my sugar levels down because I was lucky first time round and if it happened again I might not be so lucky.

It's quite natural at first when you are diagnosed that you want to try all sorts of things to find what works for you and eventually you'll weed out the things that are not working so well. It's all a case of trial and error. I had a go with cinnamon over the last couple of weeks and found it set off my ibs horribly, so that has been chucked out of the window now.

The best bit of advice I was given was from Grazer who said he exercises 45 minutes to one hour after eating and I started doing that and it worked. Not only did my levels come down, but the weight fell off as well. I religiously exercise every morning and evening after eating. I do exercise after lunch if I am not working. It's a bit rigid, but it has really worked for me and now I don't feel right unless I get my exercise. I saw the diabetic nurse yesterday for the first time since last July and she did not recognise me because I had lost so much weight.

I have become so healthy that it is really quite nauseating and I know that my husband (who is super fit at the age of 66) finds it frustrating at times. He was reminiscing about the days when we had Chinese and Indian takeaways the other day. Not one of those has been had in this house since last June. There's nothing to stop him going and getting one, but I'll not be eating it. I'd not enjoy it because it would make me worry about my blood levels.

I don't low carb, but I do probably eat reduced carbs in that I don't touch pasta or rice and will only eat Food Doctor pitta breads, but no other bread. I've never been a foodie so I don't miss a variation in my diet and am quite happy to eat more or less the same thing every day.

Quite honestly I can say that being diagnosed with diabetes has literally turned my life around. I've gone from being a overweight unhealthy breathless blob to being fitter than I have been since I was a teenager many long years ago.
 
Well done.

It's not the only way, but I think that it's the best way to use your post-diagnosis shock to get things under control.

I was in exactly the same position as you a year ago. I was desperate to prove to myself that I could control my BG, once I had done that the rest was much easier, and for the first 6 months I stuck religiously to the <30g a day mantra and pulled my HbA1c down from 10.2% to 5.6% at my 3 month check up and lost nearly 4 stone in weight. In the 5 months afterwards, I relaxed it a bit, by choosing my carbs more sensibly (and still managed to reduce my HbA1c to 5.2%).

My only advice is not to lean too heavily on the Atkins bars and shakes. I'm guessing those are what has put your shopping bill up.

Once you get used to it, you really can have quite a nice diet without very many carbs. I tend to stick with meat / salad / veg / eggs / cheese / cream and sugar free jelly. (I couldn't cope without the sugar free jelly). After nearly a year, I'm more obsessed with carbohydrate content of food than ever. Checking out the carbs (and finding new low-carb food) is the only real pleasure that I get when shopping with the wife these days.

If you haven't tried it already - I recommend cooking Aubergine lasagne that someone recommended on one of the boards.

The only time low-carbing is tough is when I'm travelling on business and have less control over my food...

After 4 weeks back on the ULC (<<30g a day), I'm feeling healthier than I've ever felt. For the first time in my adult life, I'm managing to sleep all the way through the night without waking up. My snoring has stopped altogether, and I've lost 7lbs in weight. Best of all my BG never goes above 6mmol/l and I don't get any spikes.

You can probably add in some carbs and still control your BG, but when you first start, I think the feeling of kicking diabetes' **** makes the whole thing worth while. I'm back on it, and at the moment, am intending to stay on it for the rest of my natural.
 
I think I have become a bit obsessed. Like the others said, I wouldnt rely on shakes and stuff, just good plain food.

I hope, once I have the knowledge and a pattern I can calm down a bit. It is scary at first. Its been just over 2 weeks for me.

Am I supposed to be aiming for bs of 4? I thought the normal rate was higher?

I still cant work out what to do when travelling and staying away from home though.
 
Thanks for all the replies. The shakes are just meant as a one meal replacement. I didn't used to eat breakfast and so struggle now. Come lunch time I just can't face anything, hence the trial on shakes. Borofergie it shames me to say, that no, the shakes are from the Atkins web page and my grocery shop is from Sainsbury's so not included in the 50% rise :shh:

I'm really quite relieved that others have been in the same boat as me, and some carry it on. I hope that once I find what absolutely works for me, I can cut out the obsessive hunt for things to help.

The fear I could end up with diabetic complications is ruling my thoughts. I already have peripheral neuropathy in both hands, and I am waiting for a diabetes eye test, which I fear is going to show signs of retinopathy. The drive to make myself as well as is humanly possible is all consuming. I do have other medical problems, which mean I can't exercise at all (I'm wheelchair bound) makes a sensible approach to keeping carbs and weight down my only option. This could be why I have gone so OTT.

My diet is made up of meat, fish, veg, salad, tiny amounts of burgan bread, soya milk and dairy. I keep the protein level high, the fat content middling and the carb content very, very low. I like the sound of the aubergine lasagne. I was never a huge pasta fan anyway, preferring fruit and veg. I have now dropped the fruit from my diet. I take a multi vit each day, and prescribed Vit D and calcium. I eat no potato's at all, no rice, not even a grain, everything has to be the lowest in carbs I can find. That said, with the recipes from here, I will be having a very enjoyable diet. People assume because you are very low carbing, meals are dull and boring. Absolutely no need to be. Whitby Jet and others have some amazing low carb meal idea's and even some treats (I don't have a sweet tooth) so there simply is no need to have a bland boring low carb diet.
 


No need to worry about Indian food provided you stay away from the bread, nans, chapattis, paratha etc and share a basmati rice, I just have a spoonful if I'm out. Most Indian dishes are fairly low carb, go for either a dry meat dish or a creamy one and a couple of vegetable dishes on the side, has negligible effects on my bg levels :thumbup:

Cant life without curry, eat it twice a week at home, usually a chicken tika massala one night and then either a chicken Madras or vindaloo on another night, accompanied by chana massala (chick pea) or Mushroom bhaji
 

Shurrup Sid :mrgreen: I love Indian, but only when I mop up the sauce with a pashwari nan, can't do that anymore, so no take aways here
 
Thankyou Sid - I really miss my Chicken Biriyani and Bindi Bahji. I put half into a container for the next day, so 1 takeaway does 2 meals.

Good idea bout the shakes for breakfast Dan. I struggle with breakfast as I am usually not hungry in the morning and never used to eat breakfast. Please let me know how you get on with them.
 

If you mean me, I am a girl not a Dan :mrgreen: Sure, I will let you know. The shakes arrived today, and as sods law would have it, I wanted lunch :? I will either have one for breakfast or lunch tomorrow and then one a day from there.
 
Hi Defren

Just a note on low carbing, I'm not sure how other people have found it but after a retinopathy scare last year (which turned out to be wrong) I dropped my carbs quite a bit. I don't know if it is technically a 'low carb' diet but was much lower for me and now I find myself underweight and struggling to keep loosing anymore. I want to have slightly more carbs and put just half a stone or so back on but now I can't tolerate carbs much at all and everyday I have highs of 9 or 10 and am still hungry. Maybe my meds need changing now.

I had a HbA1c of 6.2 last time but that was before all the weight loss and now I fear it will have sky rocketed just trying to get back to a normal weight. I have an appointment with a dietician in two days though so I hope she can help.

For people who keep low carbing how do you cope after loosing the weight?
 

With you there Sid. No more Indian? One step far too far. It took me eight attempts to get to a BG safe Indian but now I have and its back as a weekend treat. I'm amazed you can do chicken tika massala as I always assumed it was one of the sweet ones that would be a killer. I stick to dry spicy curries or ones with thick pastes. Chicken or Prawn madras should theoretically be pretty much close to zero carbs, mushroom bhaji is great stuff and I also normally get a couple of small onion bhaji's. I replace the rice I use to get with a chicken tikka starter although like Sid says I can also get away with around a sixth of one of the tin thingys.

mmmmm
 
I make a fabulous green lentil curry. Not very low carb, but I can handle a SMALL portion
Hana
 
I've decided I don't like anyone who can still have curry of any description :mrgreen: Although not a diet staple, I did used to really love an Indian now and then. Sadly, I am at a point where I am just to afraid to push my luck, so will have to give it a miss, certainly until I get my GS sorted out.
 
Meg2009Arm said:
For people who keep low carbing how do you cope after loosing the weight?
Click to expand...

You need to either significantly increase the fat content of your diet or stop low-carbing.

If you consider the a "balanced diet" including carbs that would allow you to stay at a constant weight. For every two grams of carbohydrate you have cut out on your low-carb diet, you need to add 1 gram of fat to keep the calorie count the same.
 

Borofergie can't you do the same by adding 1 gram of protein instead of 1 gram of fat? (not that I have a lot against fat)

Meg2009Arm - I have the same concern but other long term forum members such as Grazer said it may well balance out because as you lose weight so your insulin resistance drops thus you can hopefully begin to eat more carbs. He found a balance point appeared where he can now maintain his slimmed down weight through his 150-180g carb regime.
 
Protein and Carbohydrate are worth roughly the same calorific-ally around 4 calories per 1g (although protein is slightly harder for the body to convert to fat than carbohydrate).. fat is worth around 9 calories per 1g... generally you are ok to swap carbohydrate for protein and this would maintain your calorific intake..
 
xyzzy said:
Borofergie can't you do the same by adding 1 gram of protein instead of 1 gram of fat? (not that I have a lot against fat)
Click to expand...

You could, in principal, add 2 grams of protein per 2 grams of carbohydrate (instead of 1 gram of fat) to keep at the same total calories.

However, it's very difficult to stomach too much protein beyond a certain lmit (and even more difficult to construct an appealing diet that is very high in protein and low in fat). Besides, if you're not careful, the excess protein can be turned into glucose and end up increasing your BG anyway. There is also some concern that a very hight protein diet might put force your kidneys to work too hard.

Think of it this way - in the weight loss phase of your diet, you were fuelling your system with body fat. Once you finish the weight loss phase, and want to keep a constant body weight, you need to fuel your body with injested fat, rather than body fat. Since the protein option is unappealing, the only other option is to increase your carbohydrate intake, which will take you out of ketosis, and potentially spike your BG.

For most people, sensibly increasing your carbohydrate will be the best option. If you want to keep on low-carbing (and not keep losing weight) then you'll have to increase your fat intake. Either way, you have to judge the risks and consequences for yourself.

(My own personal opinion is that there is no clear evidence that links increased dietry fat with mortality, and I'm happy to continue low-carb/high-fatting. DYOR, YMMV)
 
I bought a pack of frozen Mediterranean mixed veg today, which I fried in a touch of oil. I had those with Aberdeen Angus burgers cooked in the George Forman and boy was I full. The great thing is my BG before dinner was 6.1 before dinner, and only 6.8 two hours later. They made a really nice change, and frying them just topped up the fat content to balance everything out.
 
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