Type 1 Diet

@Mark-optimistic What insulin regime are you on? You mentioned issues with carb counting - have you had any help with this?

What are your blood sugars like?

And - a silly question maybe - why haven't you got a hob? Could you get one to widen your options?

Some posts in this thread have been deleted. Please can members not leap in with specific dietary advice without knowing more information. This is particularly true if the OP has a different type of diabetes from you.

Hi Mark, are you under a hospital for your diabetes care or with your GP? If with a GP then ask for a referral to a hospital team so you can shown how to carb count, also you need to check out the amount of basal insulin as it could need a tweak, perhaps do some basal testing. Bdec is a good on line carb counting course to help you out as well.

Mark-optimistic said:

Hi all, i have been type 1 diabetic for almost 2 years and i need to get a grasp on my diet.

I should be eating more healthy but i seem to eat whatever as it is easier and less hassle. A major factor is that i don't have a hob to cook on at home so i am limited to what i eat.

I am just very concerned about my blood sugar readings as over the past few months they have been all over the place. I find that many of the time i wake up with high bloods and i have random hypos during the day as i administrate too much insulin because of my lack of knowledge in carb counting to my bodys requirements.

Is anyone else in this predicament and if so, how have you been able to deal with it?

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Hi there, what cooking facilities do you have at home. Is it your home, a bed sit, do you live with parents or at uni, can't afford one ?
Raw veg with dip is tasty, salads, cold meats.
See if you can get referred to your diabetes clinic ( via GP) or the surgery's DSN, as your Insulin ratio may not be right and need tweaking. I hope things improve for you.
With best wishes RRB
edited to say, you could eat fruit, nuts and seeds.

Hi @Mark-optimistic, I have been diabetic for nearly 30 years, and up 9 or 10 months ago had two main issues: I had terrible control, and believed I knew all there was to know about diabetes ... I was, after all a veteran. I listened to what all the specialists told me and what I needed to do, but left the clinics and ignored them. Eventually however, I bought a couple of books (Sugar Surfing and Think Like a Pancreas) and something just "clicked". It suddenly made sense.
As what others have stated above, and you have alluded to, I think there are a number of things you probably need to sort out. Your insulin regime (is your basal right and are your carb and correction factors right) and your carb counting/ are you eating the right things. You may well understand all these things (no offence intended if you do!), but I didn't, and reading those books helped me get a handle on everything else. You can get a fantastic amount of help on here, and if you can work out what you need to concentrate on (I think its more than just your diet), you'll be able to target your questions even more accurately. Feel free to give me a shout if you want.

Hi @Mark-optimistic,

It's worth investing in a hob or just purchase a microwave which you can use to cook many meals, doing so will give you a wider choice of meals which should help somewhat.

A little more info (as asked for in the above posts) will help us get you on the right track.

Lack of knowledge is an easy one because all it takes is a bit of willpower to do your research and learn (just like you're doing now).

You may not realize it, but the rest of your problems are centralized around willpower (but that doesn't make them any easier).

Unfortunately, there is no "easy" way to accomplish what you're trying to do and you will have to hassle yourself (but not unreasonably).

Ultimately, you will have to make the choice to switch from what is easiest to what is "Best" for your health. From experience, it gets easier over time and starting is the hardest part.

Having just spent the last month traveling, I had to get a bit creative with my eating habits.

I always carry low-carb protein bars with me (Quest brand) to combat hunger cravings but also to avoid the temptations of fast food.

When I have no choice but to eat fast food, I'll often "Modify" it to be more suitable for my diet. For example, I might eat a hamburger, but remove the top bun.

It helps tremendously to find these sorts of compromises. Rarely are we faced with the "Perfect" meal options and we must often find the "Best" or at least the "Better" options available at that point.

I realize that's a bit vague, but we all have different lifestyles, diabetes management approaches, financial situations, and other circumstances that we have to overcome individually.


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Oo or a slow cooker - I love my slow cooker. They are great for making healthy simple easy meals - it's basically chop everything up, add some liquid & leave overnight or while you go to work - & when you come back your casserole, or chilli, or curry or stroganoff is ready (&it'll make you at least 4 meals worth, even a teeny tiny slow cooker, so, if you are cooking for 1, you can freeze the leftovers - or just have the same meal 4 days in a row, which is sometimes useful for adjusting your insulin & figuring out your ratios)

If you are struggling with carb counting and adjusting your insulin (you seem to recognise that you are giving too much insulin, causing hypos - so it seems it might be sensible to adjust your insulin and give less, in order to avoid the hypos) then the BEDC free online course on carb counting is a great place to start with the basics - http://www.bdec-e-learning.com