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What am I doing wrong

Finncity

Member
Messages
24
Hi all. I introduced the but not sure if i clicked send so here I am again.

Newly diagnosed on Monday with type 2.

I have been so good with food ever since but begining to wonder if Im doing it wrong still. Could I be eating too little? Im on metaformin but after research it may take time to kick in and help at all. Im so low and feeling overwhelmed.

My blood sugar after dinner was 11.5 …this was my menu today.

One slice sourdough toast with butter, small!
100 greek plain yoghurt
1 crackerbread with cottage cheese.
6 almonds
Two small greek chicken wraps, wholemeal tortilla with tomato and cucumber.

Is it too much carb still? Or not enough food overall? 960 calories.
 
Hello @Finncity You are certainly choosing high carb foods, so maybe consider to switching to more meat, fish and seafood, eggs, cheese - the yoghurt was probably OK and the cheese, almonds and chicken, tomato and cucumber, but there is nothing really to be gained on the blood glucose levels by eating low calorie.
As you can test then checking after eating gives a good reflection of how you are coping with your food choices.
 
I didnt think I was but when I saw it all written down I could see what you see……

I think because Im overweight im trying to do to much too quickly. Lesson learned. Tomorrow is another day!
 
I was just the same two months ago. It really does gets easier. I stopped thinking of calories and concentrated on my carb intake. Never thought I’d get through a day without bread or some sort of potato dish. So much good advice on here. I get so many ideas from here and the DietDoctor website.
 
@Finncity you may well find that eating fewer carbohydrates will lower your weight very effectively.
I lost over 50lb after burning the high carb diet sheets provided by and insisted upon by my GP and going back to eating the Atkins diet. I was eating meat, seafood, eggs cheese, having full fat yoghurt and double cream but only 50 gm of carbs a day. I wasn't even trying to lose weight.
 
 
Wow, amazed at how well you have both done! I think this site is brilliant, you help people more than you realise. Definitely boosted my mood. As you know its a daunting diagnosis, now made a lil easier. Thank you !
 
@Finncity The problem with cutting calories as well as cutting carbs is that's partially self defeating. If you cut down on carbs enough then its very likely you will lose weight. I lost over 15% of my weight in 5 months even though I only started out at 2;bs overweight and so was not really trying to lose weight at all!
Why does cutting calories hurt ? Because our bodies like to keep things stable (including our weight), so when we eat fewer calories we have less energy because our Resting Metabolic Rate slows, which even affects our body temperature (colder) and our thinking (brain uses up a lot of calories).
This means that then need fewer calories to maintain our weight and only a few more will make us gain weight - even if this amount would have kept our weight stable before we reduced our metabolic rate. This is why crash dieting usually turns into Yo-Yo dieting and failure in the longer term. Ending up fatter, colder, tired and miserable.
But it's your choice if you think you can beat the odds!
 
@Finncity , the food you posted certainly doesn't look like a lot of food to me; if anything, it looks like possibly too little.
Some people here may tell you there are too many carbs. There are a good many, but I would not necessarily say "too many." We have to eat something, after all. I might suggest adding more meat to your diet, if you eat meat and it doesn't mess with your cholesterol. Maybe some fish. I small piece of toast is a tiny breakfast! And I find that if I eat only carbs at breakfast I am hungry again all too soon. It's like eating carbs MAKES me hungry.

Good luck with your eating. Your dog is beautiful! Is s/he a Tervuren?
 
Imho, too many carbs, possibly not enough food. I recommend eating at maintenance calories and very low carbs until your BG is under control. Then slowly pull fats and focusing on protein. Keep testing and removing foods that cause spikes
 
No need to count calories if you cut the carbs. No more sourdough, crackerbread, nor tortilla, though there are low carb versions available of the latter if you look for them... Which could also be an option. More eggs, meat, fish, poultry. Full fat greek yoghurt'd be good, cream and cheeses too, maybe some berries, more above ground/leafy greens? Might want to have bigger, proper meals that fill you rather than small meals and snacks in between. (A 3 to 4 egg omelette with bacon, ham, roast beef and goat's cheese will keep me running for most of the day!). No need to go hungry!
 
Thank you all again. The intention wasnt to cut calories I was just in a panic about over eating. Honestly i wasnt hungry at any point, I think the metaformin is taking away my appetite so the amount wasnt an issue. But I agree with all of you, it wasnt a healthy start. Will definitely do better today. Cheese omelette for breakfast to start.

Yes Saskia, he was a Tervuren, we lost his a few years ago but still miss him everyday. Gentle boy.
 
Oh, I feel for you! It's really not easy starting out and balancing all the conflicting advice. And not easy if you've already got food in stock that you don't want to waste - I came out of hospital with a diagnosis of T2 and straight into a well stocked kitchen full of fairly diabetic unfriendly food).

I've cut out bread, potatoes, rice and pasta and keep a close eye on carb content in all packaged foods.

I found that taking it slow really helped me. I planned out what I thought I'd eat the following day, and then looked at what carbs were in it and thought about how I could reduce / swap them out. Over time this got much easier for me and I've realised now that I don't even plan those carbs into meals. If I'm cooking for the family, I just add their carbs (rice, potatoes etc) on the side. I just have more veg / salad on the side and I'm rarely hungry.

If you use your meter, you will gradually be able to work out what level and type of carbs work for you in a meal. I've found that I can cope with 1 Weetabix for breakfast, for example, and slightly more carbs per meal in the evening for some reason - although it will vary from person to person.

There are some great low carb recipes and meal ideas on here (have a look at the 'What did you eat...' threads) and people are very generous about sharing recipes and giving support.

I've lost 8kg over the last 5 weeks (and who knows how much more in the first 5 weeks before I started weighing myself), not by counting calories but by cutting carbs

I would also say, be gentle on yourself. You are bound to make mistakes - we all do! - but it hopefully will get easier as you get used to it. And if you can make it work for you, you will be better set to sustain whatever works longer term.
 
I would say that it’s too many carbs and not enough food in general and fat in particular (to keep you feeling full).

Toast: carbs
Cracker-bread: carbs
Tortilla: carbs

BUT you are eating very little, 960 calories is very low and of course you would not even have that once you cut out the carbohydrates. So you need to eat more of other things?

Do you like eggs? Avocados? Full fat Greek yoghurt? Steak? Salmon? Pork chops? Green leafy vegetables?

Also, you don’t say in your post *when* after dinner. Two tortillas would probably spike me to 11.5 too, if it was within an hour or so of eating them.

Last night for dinner I had a (bun-less) double burger with pickles, onions, cheese, Mayo and bacon. It didn’t touch my blood sugar at all, at any point, because it didn’t have any carbs in it.
 
A lot of carbs in that for you. I can say that as your meter is already telling you that your system is not processing this level and type of carbs. For me, I'd cut the toast, crackerbread, and tortilla immediately. You might also need to look at the chicken, if it has been bought cooked - it often has sugar added. Doing your own cooking removes the possibility of carbs smuggled in via ready made foods.

I'd also question whether you're eating enough. Hunger is unnecessary with a low-carb approach and hunger itself might be counter-productive, as it can often result in your metabolism slowing. I've lost around 20kgs and six inches off my waist in under two years, through low-carb. Others have achieved much more.

You really need to rethink completely (I mean forget) the standard media and health service advice about healthy eating. It might perhaps be OK for some people but for Type 2 diabetics it guarantees continued and increasing problems, in my experience.

The "Six Things" entry might help.
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog/kennya.517579/

best of luck
 


Yes, I like all of the above luckily. Im not not a fussy eater so I will find a good plan like you all have. I had a particualarly dumb day. The intention wasnt to cut calories just a combination of not hungry, and thought it was less carbs than it was. I think we are all conditioned to think fat is bad and the enemy. I need to re-educate myself! Steak for dinner!

Thanks again
 


Remission is see!!! Well done you! Thats the goal……
 
Try carbzone wraps instead, you can get them online or from ocado. Only 4g a wrap for the smaller ones and I think they are really good. Doesn't make me miss normal ones at all. Then the fillings you can add are endless! Plus use them for enchiladas, fajitas etc.
 


Thats a great weightloss! I have dreamt of those kind of numbers for years. Now this is forcing my hand maybe it a good thing. Have to keep chin up and look at the positives for sure
 


Thanks I’ll look into them. I live in Norway so dont have access to somethings. But will definitely try.
 
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