"What have you eaten" Parallel Chat

[Annb]

There's still a small portion of the pasta and veg left so I'll have that for breakfast.

2nd meal I am planning to make some stuffed cabbage leaves with a stuffing of chickpea rice and some veg bits and pieces.

 

[RosemaryJackson]

I was pleased to see a post from Antje. I was going to ask where she was, I hadn't seen a post from her for a while.

 

[Antje77]

I was pleased to see a post from Antje. I was going to ask where she was, I hadn't seen a post from her for a while.

Thanks!
I'm still around, reading everything and replying to various threads.
Still eating mostly low carb, still swimming outside on most days, still trying to work out what job I want and still trying to find the perfect date.

So all is going pretty much well aroud here, although I wouldn't complain if the water gets a little warmer. Swimming in snow and ice is all good and well for the novelty of it but I'd like to be able to swim a bit longer than only a couple of minutes before the cold starts hurting my feet.

Today I woke up to wonderful sunny winter weather and I wanted to go sailing. So I called the place where I rent a boat to see if they had a sailing boat available. They had, but there was too much ice to get out on the lake so no sailing today.

My task for today is to adjust a duvet cover. My aunt wants to give me a really large birthday present, worth at least 3 years of birthday presents because chances are she won't be here anymore next year.
I chose a goose down duvet which is currently being made to my specifications. It will be a little longer than my current one so I'll need to do some sewing.
Very much looking forward to sleeping under my new duvet which will be a hug from my aunt at the same time!
A hug from my best friend as well, she made me a duvet cover twice, one with dragons and one with whales. Cool covers only come in narrow sizes so she took two and made them into one. There is no way I'll give up those covers just because my new duvet is a little longer so there's work to do.

 

[MrsA2]

Skipped breakfast as off to exercise class followed by coffee.
L: cheeses, 2 cherry tomatoes, a small handful keto crackers (last of an Xmas present, highly processed, wouldn't buy for myself). Ff greek with 2 sq 85% chocolate and 6 pecans
Dentists, all OK
D: out at pub, monthly girls night. Chicken curry with veg. 1/3rd bottle of wine. When home, hm lc tiramisu left from yesterday.

Local Facebook shows we have a major water burst in our village. Lots of homes without water . Not trying ours to conerve what we've got. Huge hole in major road so expecting jams tomorrow .

And I'd promised our neighbour use of my washing machine tomorrow as hers is broken.... think it won't happen.

 

[RosemaryJackson]

Just glad you are ok Antje. Been missing your adventures.

 

[RosemaryJackson]

Yesterday I took grandson out for lunch. He had fish and chips and I had a ham and mushroom omelette with salad. Felt very virtuous! Took grandson to nearby town to be picked up to go to Heathrow. it will feel funny without him.

 

[shelley262]

I'm using a Libre sensor at the moment - not used one for a while and it's confirming yet again that with me it's not the food but the stress and related cortisol which can raise my bloods to impressive heights. I tend to wake up when have a good night at 3 or 4 and my l o w carb food max high 5s but wow stress is a different story. Had only black coffee, four boiled eggs and some nuts during the day. My day was supervising my adult sons new boiler installation whilst George looked after him at our house. As there all day took opportunity to decorate his bathroom which has been developing mould - so a day of cleaning and then applying anti mould paint.did a good job and pleased with result with mould no longer visible but my bloods stayed around 8.5 all day. On waking to alarm (early start) at 6 I went from 4.5 to 8 in half an hour with my anxiety about the day no food involved!
Now after relaxing, low carb meal and glass of wine I'm back to 4.5. Shows how personal it is and how even if you get the food right other stuff can get in the way of good numbers! I need to work on my stress management.

 

[MrsA2]

so a day of cleaning and then applying anti mould paint.did a good job and pleased with result with mould no longer visible but my bloods stayed around 8.5 all day.

I'm not sure that's a stress result, more a natural response as the body pushes glucose to the muscles where it was needed for the prolonged activity. Just your body doing what it needs, imho.

 

[MrsA2]

We still had water this morning yay! So did mange to help out neighbour with her washing.
Had a chunk of cheese
Then a pleasant stroll with friends for an hour followed by lunch.
I had a spicy celeriac starter dish and a small caesar salad with an egg. Tasty but not very filling. Drank only mint tea.

Mid afternoon snack when home, nuts and a hm lc hot chocolate with double cream

D: 4 chipolatas with carrots cabbage and a sprinkle of stilton. An lc jelly. A spiced rum

 

[shelley262]

I'm not sure that's a stress result, more a natural response as the body pushes glucose to the muscles where it was needed for the prolonged activity. Just your body doing what it needs, imho.

Hear what you are saying and agree for sure that high energy jobs and cardio work up blood sugars to help get energy but if I'm hiking quite hard with hills etc but feeling relaxed and enjoying it my bloods would be 5 or 6. Today has been a very very anxious day with our son and wanting to keep him safe and managing him having to be out of his own place for much of the day - usually hard to get him out even for a short while because of his autism and mental health issues so I'm certain for me that a sustained day long 8.5 was caused by anxiety and stress. So not only was I doing the work but keeping in close contact with situation at home. Clearly it's personal but I do have issues with stress and anxiety and it's something for me to be mindful of - I'm certainly not comfortable with a day of higher than normal for me bgs if I can look at ways of mitigating it like I do with low carb eating.

 

[Antje77]

I'm using a Libre sensor at the moment - not used one for a while and it's confirming yet again that with me it's not the food but the stress and related cortisol which can raise my bloods to impressive heights. I tend to wake up when have a good night at 3 or 4 and my l o w carb food max high 5s but wow stress is a different story. Had only black coffee, four boiled eggs and some nuts during the day. My day was supervising my adult sons new boiler installation whilst George looked after him at our house. As there all day took opportunity to decorate his bathroom which has been developing mould - so a day of cleaning and then applying anti mould paint.did a good job and pleased with result with mould no longer visible but my bloods stayed around 8.5 all day. On waking to alarm (early start) at 6 I went from 4.5 to 8 in half an hour with my anxiety about the day no food involved!
Now after relaxing, low carb meal and glass of wine I'm back to 4.5. Shows how personal it is and how even if you get the food right other stuff can get in the way of good numbers! I need to work on my stress management.

Hear what you are saying and agree for sure that high energy jobs and cardio work up blood sugars to help get energy but if I'm hiking quite hard with hills etc but feeling relaxed and enjoying it my bloods would be 5 or 6. Today has been a very very anxious day with our son and wanting to keep him safe and managing him having to be out of his own place for much of the day - usually hard to get him out even for a short while because of his autism and mental health issues so I'm certain for me that a sustained day long 8.5 was caused by anxiety and stress. So not only was I doing the work but keeping in close contact with situation at home. Clearly it's personal but I do have issues with stress and anxiety and it's something for me to be mindful of - I'm certainly not comfortable with a day of higher than normal for me bgs if I can look at ways of mitigating it like I do with low carb eating.

This sounds very similar to the recent experiences of @JoKalsbeek with a Libre sensor. Must be so very frustrating!

 

[MommaE]

I'm using a Libre sensor at the moment - not used one for a while and it's confirming yet again that with me it's not the food but the stress and related cortisol which can raise my bloods to impressive heights. I tend to wake up when have a good night at 3 or 4 and my l o w carb food max high 5s but wow stress is a different story. Had only black coffee, four boiled eggs and some nuts during the day. My day was supervising my adult sons new boiler installation whilst George looked after him at our house. As there all day took opportunity to decorate his bathroom which has been developing mould - so a day of cleaning and then applying anti mould paint.did a good job and pleased with result with mould no longer visible but my bloods stayed around 8.5 all day. On waking to alarm (early start) at 6 I went from 4.5 to 8 in half an hour with my anxiety about the day no food involved!
Now after relaxing, low carb meal and glass of wine I'm back to 4.5. Shows how personal it is and how even if you get the food right other stuff can get in the way of good numbers! I need to work on my stress management.

I often find that my morning coffee spikes my blood sugar. I read an article that it is related to the caffeine and our bodies adrenaline response to it. Decaf doesn’t have the same effect on me. Might be worth testing both while you have the sensor.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

I'm using a Libre sensor at the moment - not used one for a while and it's confirming yet again that with me it's not the food but the stress and related cortisol which can raise my bloods to impressive heights. I tend to wake up when have a good night at 3 or 4 and my l o w carb food max high 5s but wow stress is a different story. Had only black coffee, four boiled eggs and some nuts during the day. My day was supervising my adult sons new boiler installation whilst George looked after him at our house. As there all day took opportunity to decorate his bathroom which has been developing mould - so a day of cleaning and then applying anti mould paint.did a good job and pleased with result with mould no longer visible but my bloods stayed around 8.5 all day. On waking to alarm (early start) at 6 I went from 4.5 to 8 in half an hour with my anxiety about the day no food involved!
Now after relaxing, low carb meal and glass of wine I'm back to 4.5. Shows how personal it is and how even if you get the food right other stuff can get in the way of good numbers! I need to work on my stress management.

Like @Antje77 said, I noticed the same thing... I have nightmares every night, and sure enough, I'm higher than I'd expected to be, throughout. Appointment, combined with social anxiety? Up I go. I'd be best off just isolating myself at home with the doorbell disconnected, probably wrapped in bubble wrap and the phone uncharged. Stack a few cats on me and my blood glucose might just be perfect. And it's gotten quite a bit worse with menopause in the mix as well. Though admittedly, since I got my AuDHD diagnosis and got a few tools to cope better with going outside and dealing with people, I've tried doing that more. And while I outwardly seem to cope better, my stress levels on the inside pay no mind to whatever my therapist told me and will drive blood sugars up. Coping mechanisms don't do jack for BS. So as much as I've tried to move towards a more normal life, the more I find my body won't let me, even if my mind is putting up slightly fewer roadblocks.

I can't change anything about the stresses I experience, but I can tackle foods, throw in some fasting... I just do what I can, and try to let go of the rest. It's pretty much out of my hands, and I can't avoid people entirely. It gets too damned lonely. (Even with a lovely husband.)

Hang in there eh.
Jo

 

[shelley262]

I often find that my morning coffee spikes my blood sugar. I read an article that it is related to the caffeine and our bodies adrenaline response to it. Decaf doesn’t have the same effect on me. Might be worth testing both while you have the sensor.

I've not noticed normal black coffee having that effect on me before and this more normal morning I'm back to my normal morning bgs - I do drink it most days but maybe will try out taking decaffeinated coffee out on a stressy day to see if it helps thank you for suggesting it any levers I can pull will help manage the more stressy days.

 

[shelley262]

Like @Antje77 said, I noticed the same thing... I have nightmares every night, and sure enough, I'm higher than I'd expected to be, throughout. Appointment, combined with social anxiety? Up I go. I'd be best off just isolating myself at home with the doorbell disconnected, probably wrapped in bubble wrap and the phone uncharged. Stack a few cats on me and my blood glucose might just be perfect. And it's gotten quite a bit worse with menopause in the mix as well. Though admittedly, since I got my AuDHD diagnosis and got a few tools to cope better with going outside and dealing with people, I've tried doing that more. And while I outwardly seem to cope better, my stress levels on the inside pay no mind to whatever my therapist told me and will drive blood sugars up. Coping mechanisms don't do jack for BS. So as much as I've tried to move towards a more normal life, the more I find my body won't let me, even if my mind is putting up slightly fewer roadblocks.

I can't change anything about the stresses I experience, but I can tackle foods, throw in some fasting... I just do what I can, and try to let go of the rest. It's pretty much out of my hands, and I can't avoid people entirely. It gets too damned lonely. (Even with a lovely husband.)

Hang in there eh.
Jo

Thank you for the hugs and thank you @Antje77 for tagging Jo - what a lovely supportive community we are it's really appreciated.
Really interesting Jo about your experience and how even using all your tools although you can change how you appear to cope outwardly and get out but that your biological markers like bgs are still affected.
I do generally manage well and as you say fasting and low carb eating are the most impactful tools - without those now ingrained habits I'd be where I was 10 years ago with hba1c of 97 and average bgs of 14+ .
Thankfully challenging days like yesterday are not every day. Even my fit bit had a message for me this morning that id been overdoing it recently and needed to do less cardio! So less busy restful day planned.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Thank you for the hugs and thank you @Antje77 for tagging Jo - what a lovely supportive community we are it's really appreciated.
Really interesting Jo about your experience and how even using all your tools although you can change how you appear to cope outwardly and get out but that your biological markers like bgs are still affected.
I do generally manage well and as you say fasting and low carb eating are the most impactful tools - without those now ingrained habits I'd be where I was 10 years ago with hba1c of 97 and average bgs of 14+ .
Thankfully challenging days like yesterday are not every day. Even my fit bit had a message for me this morning that id been overdoing it recently and needed to do less cardio! So less busy restful day planned.

Just goes to show... As much as you try to do everything right, there'll always be things that can get in the way some. Stuff we have no control over, no matter how much we'd like to.

Enjoy that restful day!
Jo

 

[Annb]

Had the last of an odd kind of chickpea rice "cake" with cheese melted onto it for breakfast. The cake was chickpea "rice" and vegetables left over and baked with eggs to make a kind of solid pudding. I don't think I'll do it that way again - too much egg for the amount of rice, but might experiment further some other time.

2nd meal will be a mixed veg stew. I've run out of meaty/fishy/eggy things and Neil doesn't feel up to going to town. One way or another I have to go tomorrow to get my legs done so hoping he'll feel more like it, then I can get some milk, eggs and maybe some kind of meat. There's stuff in the freezer, of course, but I forgot to take anything out. The veg will do though.

 

[shelley262]

Just goes to show... As much as you try to do everything right, there'll always be things that can get in the way some. Stuff we have no control over, no matter how much we'd like to.

Enjoy that restful day!
Jo

The restful day worked the only peak was a hot shower before breakfast - very temporary. Rest of day almost flat line despite proper coffee throughout morning and three low carb meals.

 

[Antje77]

Today I went out for dinner with a friend.
An Afghan resturant where I had a very good meal of large shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce, salad, I had a little of the rice and bread, and n Afghan yoghurt and cucumber drink. My friend had the vegetarian curries, which I had a taste from as well.





I went for a quick dip this afternoon (no swim because the ice was too thick).
Good thing I went in at the same spot yesterday, I could only get through the ice where I had already broken it yesterday. I had a try with the older ice but I couldn't break it.
I must have looked very funny: middle aged fat naked woman with black socks and gloves stomping on the ice until the hole was big enough to go in. I don't think anybody saw me though.

 

[Antje77]

Oh, and I meant to ask because @AndBreathe mentioned them in another thread (https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/gram-flour.208365/#post-2750469), does anyone ever make onion bhajis? I've never had one in my life but they look and sound amazing.
And they are made with gram flower. I've never had that before either, but hummus is an odd one with my diabetes, it needs much less insulin than you'd expect from the carb count. So maybe other things made from chick peas work well too, worth a try!

So before I use google to find a random recipe, would you be so kind to share favourite recipes? I'd rather have a go with a recipe others already use and like.

Onion bhajis are awesome
I probably have some insulin for them, but not a lot as there's generally not too much gram flour on them anyway (well unless they're really awesome and I have a lot )

@Rokaab , do you make them yourself? I want to make those really awesome ones!