weight

[ally1]

i will try the yoghurts
i will buy some when i do my shopping on monday

 

[Bluetit1802]

OK but you can join myfitnesspal for free. You will be surprised how much it will help you.

 

[cold ethyl]

I know that carbs are a really cheap and easy way to fill up, but you can't both have good health and continue to eat them, sadly. I alternate my shopping between Aldi and Asda and both have plenty of offers that aren't twenty packets of crisps for a quid. Aldi's strawberries were lovely last week and I think only 79p a punnet which did me 4 days. Their Greek yogurt is nice too and about 80p a large pot and that would do days too. Aldi's super six usually have something I can use and I find their cooked ham and cheese slices very reasonable. Also , there's nothing to say it has to be fresh veg and fruit- frozen cauli is fine to make a cauli and cheese mash from( and saves on fuel) , frozen berries are nice blitzed with yogurt or cream and frozen fish and meat is ok too as long as not crumbed. Eggs are cheap and an omelette with cheese or mushrooms is a filling breakfast or brunch, and vegetarian dishes like roasted veg and feta cheese are cheap if you buy cooking peppers or use a veg stall off market. Try looking at the what have you eaten today thread for ideas and it won't seem so daunting.

 

[dootsie]

I have a similar problem. My BG is high 8.6 withmetformin tablets. My diet is poor despite having my own personal chef at home. I have been reading all your comments coz im scared of how it can turn out if i dont comply with the doctor. I dont want to be sticking needles in myself.
Im at a loose end when it comes to breakfasts, its either 2-3 toast with moderate butter and jam. Sometimes skip lunch, have heavy dinner, no exercise except oncea week treck down the high street market. I weight 16 stone @ 5ft tall, female. I have high bp, hig cholest. underactive thyroid, urge incontinence, my muscles cramp due to the statins, unable to move, my muscles feel like lead, leaving me unable to exercise. Its a vicious circle. I cant monitor bg as doc will not precribe strips so how can i keep track. Oh, I have pop and water at dinner, evening snacks of crisps or biscuits. Oh God, where do i begin, am confused totally.

 

[dootsie]

how much eggs and bacon can i have, but it wont last till lunch time. I'll be starving by then

I depend on my carbs.

 

[ally1]

where i live, there isn,t an aldi but an asda, so will go there on monday
i really need to change my diet to help myself
i have been good and havn,t eaten any crisps, biscuits or sweets

 

[Bluetit1802]

Dootsie, (and Ally)

You can have as much bacon and eggs as you want, with tomatoes and mushrooms if you wish, and you can cook the mushrooms in butter. The extra fat will stop you being hungry and believe it or not won't harm your waistline either.

I'm sorry you are in such a mess with your health, but you can try to do something about your blood sugars and weight loss. You could start with a fry up for breakfast (no bread!) and cut out the bread, jam, crisps and biscuits completely. If you start to have some lunch (doesn't have to be much) you wouldn't need such a heavy meal at tea time. If you try yogurt and berries for breakfast you could then have your fry up at lunch time. That's what I do. Try a 100g tin of red salmon with some cherry tomatoes, onions, cheese and real mayonnaise for a change. Don't be afraid of increasing your fat as long as you reduce your carbs it won't make you fatter and will help you lose weight.

Let the fear of injections be your motivation.

 

[cold ethyl]

I have a similar problem. My BG is high 8.6 withmetformin tablets. My diet is poor despite having my own personal chef at home. I have been reading all your comments coz im scared of how it can turn out if i dont comply with the doctor. I dont want to be sticking needles in myself.
Im at a loose end when it comes to breakfasts, its either 2-3 toast with moderate butter and jam. Sometimes skip lunch, have heavy dinner, no exercise except oncea week treck down the high street market. I weight 16 stone @ 5ft tall, female. I have high bp, hig cholest. underactive thyroid, urge incontinence, my muscles cramp due to the statins, unable to move, my muscles feel like lead, leaving me unable to exercise. Its a vicious circle. I cant monitor bg as doc will not precribe strips so how can i keep track. Oh, I have pop and water at dinner, evening snacks of crisps or biscuits. Oh God, where do i begin, am confused totally.

Personal chef?!!
Sadly all the things you list are doing your BG levels no good at all, nor your weight or cholesterol. The more carbs you eat, the more you want to eat them I think as for some people they are like an addiction as well as making you feel constantly hungry. Pop unless diet pop is going to be ful of sugar and the artificial sweeteners in the diet versions probably aren't the best things to be consuming in any quantity. You say you skip lunch but have a heavy dinner then snacks like crisps and biscuits both of which will be putting your levels up so why not try to have lunch and no snacks later in day. Salad is good with meat, or tuna or cheese and eggs for lunch and bacon and eggs are great breakfast. You have to get used to reducing your food intake, although the metformin and cutting out carbs will help with that, and getting used to what it is to be hungry as opposed to eating because the clock says so,pr because some carb laden snack is crying out to you. Try a glass of sparkling water as often it's thirst not hunger. I know it's hard as I am there too, but having cut the carbs, I feel far less hungry and can see that weight is coming off at last. Have a look at the what have you eaten thread for ideas. There's plenty to choose from and people are all to willing to help and offer advice, though only you can make the changes. By asking on here, you've already taken a big step to a better you.

 

[ladybird64]

how much eggs and bacon can i have, but it wont last till lunch time. I'll be starving by then

I depend on my carbs.

What do you depend upon your carbs for? Do you realise that the more carbs you eat, the hungrier you become? Those 2-3 slices of toast for brekkie will be doing you absolutely no favours, not for your sugar levels, nor your hunger.

It really is down to your personal choice. You know that for your height, you are carrying a lot of extra weight and that a fair few of the problems you have can be helped by making changes to your diet. A meter can be bought for under a tenner I believe and test strips can be bough relatively cheaply. If you changed some of the foods you are "relying on", you would have money to buy the meter and test regularly.

You have to be prepared to make the changes, if not, then nothing about your situation will change. You think you can't do without carbs because you haven't tried being without them.

ally, I have answered somebody else on your thread, apologies. It can seem like information overload for a diabetic when they first join and get the info here. If I could make a simple suggestion, a really good starting point is to cut out bread completely. Once you get to grips with that, the rest will start to fall into place..it isn't just about the snacks. Take your time and don't be scared by too much information.

 

[Brunneria]

I actually find that egg and bacon lasts me longer than cereal. Carbs are much quicker to digest than protein and fat, so a good egg n bacon brekkie lasts me 4 hours, while toast or cereal will have me wanting a snack at 11am.

If you can't face the thought of such a breakfast without toast, then one slice of Livlife or Burgen with the egg and bacon is ok. But no more - at least until you've sorted the rest of your diet out, and know what foods do to blood glucose.

At this stage, I wouldn't stress about the portion sizes. 2 or 3 scrambled eggs with a dab of butter (please don't use marge!). Then see how long it lasts... Maybe tomorrow, use 1 egg and add some bacon.

You don't ever want to be hungry when you low carb - because that is when you start craving sweet stuff, so it is better to eat a lot to start with, and then cut back when you've got used to it.

 

[Pipp]

You don't need an Ipad or tablet. Your PC or laptop will do the same job. I use my PC for my fitness pal and I also have the Carbs & Cals book. Didn't you say you were going to order that from Amazon on another thread?

Try a plain Greek yogurt with a few fresh berries thrown in for breakfast. It works for me. Some people also add a few seeds.

Yogurt berries etc are fairly reasonably priced. I buy frozen berries, no waste. Eggs and mushrooms also make a good breakfast, and they can be bought cheaply too. Vegetables from a market, particularly near the end of the day, are virtually given away. I make soups or bake them. I find this way of eating much cheaper than when I buy bread and potatoes etc.
I am sure you will be able to get this sorted ally1. Keep reading on forum, and keep us updated.

 

[RosieLKH]

Ally1 and Dootsie - it's not too late to do something about this. I ignored it for years. I had an "I'll do it tomorrow" attitude. I ate mostly very healthy food but in huge portion sizes and then every few weeks I binged on carbs, and then felt disgusted with myself so binged some more. My weight was heading towards 20 stone at one point - and I'm 5ft - not good. That was 4 years ago. I've been trying to get my head round it all since then. I managed to slowly get my weight down to 17 stone, but this wasn't enough to bring my blood sugar down or save my knees, which are now crumbling away with osteoarthritis.

Since I joined this site I have been trying my best to change all this. I've started to eat a very low carb diet. Already my blood sugar is much, much lower than it was - in the normal for type 2 diabetics range my diabetic nurse wrote down for me - between 4 and 8 on my meter. I am lucky enough to have a meter and strips from my nurse, as she considers me getting control over this money well spent.

I am not really doing a low carb, high fat diet. I am doing low carb and low calorie (1200 most days). I wasn't losing any weight on LCHF, even though my BS was great, and ultimately, if I want to get my BS as good as I can, and for my general health, I need to lose shed loads of weight. So I am watching what I eat. I am using the free website, My Fitness Pal. I find it easy to use and I record everything I eat, plus any exercise I do. It has helped me see that my portion control was way off, plus it shows me how many carbs I'm eating every day. I don't always get it right. Things I buy out shopping turn out to be not such a good idea when i see what their calorific value is or how many carbs they have, but I'm slowly learning. I have to watch how much yoghurt I eat. I love plain yoghurt, but it has calories and carbs and even too much of a healthy thing will make you put on weight. The same with the famed avocado. I read that people on a low carb high fat diet cook everything in butter and have lashings of cream, I can't do that - it would make me put on weight. I thought I could eat lots of meat, but my body then turned the protein into sugar and my BS went high, plus it has lots of calories so I'll put on weight.

What I'm trying to say with this long diatribe (sorry!!) is that you can change things. I have now lost half a stone in 5 weeks. It's slow, but down is down. I feel great. I'm not hungry on low carbs. I'm not really craving sweet things. I love having my cooked breakfast of bacon and some form of egg, sometimes with mushrooms or tomatoes - that easily keeps me going until lunchtime. Like I said -I'm honestly not getting hungry on this diet. Yes, there's loads to learn, yes, it's a huge lifestyle change, but it can be done and there are some lovely, knowledgeable folks on here who will be only too willing to help you.

I wish you both all the best.

 

[Pipp]

i will try the yoghurts
i will buy some when i do my shopping on monday

That is good. Watch out for 'low fat' yogurts though. When they take fat out they add sugar. That would increase your blood glucose readings.

 

[Pipp]

Ally1 and Dootsie - it's not too late to do something about this. I ignored it for years. I had an "I'll do it tomorrow" attitude. I ate mostly very healthy food but in huge portion sizes and then every few weeks I binged on carbs, and then felt disgusted with myself so binged some more. My weight was heading towards 20 stone at one point - and I'm 5ft - not good. That was 4 years ago. I've been trying to get my head round it all since then. I managed to slowly get my weight down to 17 stone, but this wasn't enough to bring my blood sugar down or save my knees, which are now crumbling away with osteoarthritis.

Since I joined this site I have been trying my best to change all this. I've started to eat a very low carb diet. Already my blood sugar is much, much lower than it was - in the normal for type 2 diabetics range my diabetic nurse wrote down for me - between 4 and 8 on my meter. I am lucky enough to have a meter and strips from my nurse, as she considers me getting control over this money well spent.

I am not really doing a low carb, high fat diet. I am doing low carb and low calorie (1200 most days). I wasn't losing any weight on LCHF, even though my BS was great, and ultimately, if I want to get my BS as good as I can, and for my general health, I need to lose shed loads of weight. So I am watching what I eat. I am using the free website, My Fitness Pal. I find it easy to use and I record everything I eat, plus any exercise I do. It has helped me see that my portion control was way off, plus it shows me how many carbs I'm eating every day. I don't always get it right. Things I buy out shopping turn out to be not such a good idea when i see what their calorific value is or how many carbs they have, but I'm slowly learning. I have to watch how much yoghurt I eat. I love plain yoghurt, but it has calories and carbs and even too much of a healthy thing will make you put on weight. The same with the famed avocado. I read that people on a low carb high fat diet cook everything in butter and have lashings of cream, I can't do that - it would make me put on weight. I thought I could eat lots of meat, but my body then turned the protein into sugar and my BS went high, plus it has lots of calories so I'll put on weight.

What I'm trying to say with this long diatribe (sorry!!) is that you can change things. I have now lost half a stone in 5 weeks. It's slow, but down is down. I feel great. I'm not hungry on low carbs. I'm not really craving sweet things. I love having my cooked breakfast of bacon and some form of egg, sometimes with mushrooms or tomatoes - that easily keeps me going until lunchtime. Like I said -I'm honestly not getting hungry on this diet. Yes, there's loads to learn, yes, it's a huge lifestyle change, but it can be done and there are some lovely, knowledgeable folks on here who will be only too willing to help you.

I wish you both all the best.

I like this so much RosieLKH..
I agree with everything you say. I also identify with much of your experience. I have well controlled blood glucose, but still have to lose a lot of weight, so the high fat advice doesn't really work for me. Low carb does though.

 

[cold ethyl]

I'm with you both. high fat isn't my thing .. Never used to put spread on my bread , don't like full fat milk ( used to buy skimmed UHT even though we were dairy farmers ) and cream used to make me feel sick, so I've stuck with my low fat versions of stuff and reduced carbs. I do like cheese so being able to have that is great but as I could so easily eat a pound of it, I mostly ration myself to a small prepacked portion at bedtime and still use low fat versions to cook with. I've stopped buying shop bought low fat dressings though and now enjoy a homemade salad dressing with extra virgin olive oil which can be bought cheaply on my salads. I think it's all about doing what works for you whilst keeping carbs low and a weather eye on calories. Sometimes the advice go eat till you are full is only good if we recognise when we are full and that can take some time although carb cutting and Metformin help so I have been aiming to be be at around 1200 cals a day. Since cutting the carbs out I do find I don't want to snack , my portions have shrunk( like Rosie I ate healthily before but had no portion control) and sometimes I'm just not hungry at all and have to make myself eat to keep BG levels stable.

 

[donnellysdogs]

I don't think it's necessary to have high fat, just higher fat than you normally would have ate.

I haven't got weight issues, but adding extra fat in to my diet (from reading this forum because without knowing it, I was low carb too...) I have significantly reduced pain ( and off all medication) in my legs from statins, and got off all medication with a problem stomach.

Probably higher fat, not necessarily high fat, as you still need to make sure that you do not have excess calories.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[Pipp]

I'm with you both. high fat isn't my thing .. Never used to put spread on my bread , don't like full fat milk ( used to buy skimmed UHT even though we were dairy farmers ) and cream used to make me feel sick, so I've stuck with my low fat versions of stuff and reduced carbs. I do like cheese so being able to have that is great but as I could so easily eat a pound of it, I mostly ration myself to a small prepacked portion at bedtime and still use low fat versions to cook with. I've stopped buying shop bought low fat dressings though and now enjoy a homemade salad dressing with extra virgin olive oil which can be bought cheaply on my salads. I think it's all about doing what works for you whilst keeping carbs low and a weather eye on calories. Sometimes the advice go eat till you are full is only good if we recognise when we are full and that can take some time although carb cutting and Metformin help so I have been aiming to be be at around 1200 cals a day. Since cutting the carbs out I do find I don't want to snack , my portions have shrunk( like Rosie I ate healthily before but had no portion control) and sometimes I'm just not hungry at all and have to make myself eat to keep BG levels stable.

Well that is a relief. I thought it was just me. I am happy that there are at least two others. I have tried the high fat low carb for nearly a fortnight, and it just doesn't do it for me. Gained 3kg in 2 weeks.
I think if you have a lot of weight to lose, (i am looking at about 5 st) it is important not to overdo the calorie intake. I have followed the diet doctor advice others have recommended. I don't like cream and lots of butter etc, but I am guessing my downfall has been nuts and seeds. Healthy fat but too much fat in my case.
Will include some olive oil, as some fat is needed for the digestion of the fat-soluble vitamins. For optimum weight loss I will have to go easy on the fat, so bread, pasta, spuds, rice are off my menu. Veg, eggs, milk, yogurt, cheese, (in moderation) fish and meat, with small amount of fruit are on.

 

[Pipp]

I don't think it's necessary to have high fat, just higher fat than you normally would have ate.

I haven't got weight issues, but adding extra fat in to my diet (from reading this forum because without knowing it, I was low carb too...) I have significantly reduced pain ( and off all medication) in my legs from statins, and got off all medication with a problem stomach.

Probably higher fat, not necessarily high fat, as you still need to make sure that you do not have excess calories.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

Thanks DD. I notice you are T1 and not overweight. So maybe the higher fat low carb is best for you. I don't know anything about T1, but as T2, obese, but bg controlled, I have to lose a lot of weight to make sure I keep blood glucose in safe levels.
It can be difficult finding the right combination of food, exercise medication etc to suit each individual. I find the info and opinions on here so helpful.
Best wishes
Pipp

I like your avatar pic too. Is that a labrador?

 

[cold ethyl]

I think it's about getting enough fat to keep you full and off the carb snack wagon. Tonight I had a large salad with a sirloin steak and mushrooms and onions. I used an olive oil dressing and added a bit of diced Emmental to the leaves and that filled me up nicely without being too fattening or going overboard on the fats. Nuts are ok, but a handful is surprisingly high in calories and seems like nothing, so I've only had them when I've been out and needed a post walk snack. It is a juggling act but one that pays enormous rewards when we get it right. I only wish I'd paid as much attention to my eating, other than shovelling it in, before now.

 

[this is too difficult]

I go low carb and enough fat to make me feel well while still losing weight. Have been holding weight for a while now as I don't want my skin to go baggy(That may be an old wives tale.) Will start trying to lose more when we get back from holiday in 2 weeks.