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What have you eaten today? (Low carb forum)

@ianpspurs

Hi Ian, I hope you read this and that you've had an enjoyable Christmas.

I understand exactly where you are coming from. As you know I have struggled with this WOE and have left the forum a couple of times because I felt I was failing and couldn't do what other people seemed to find so easy. I knew it would never become a natural and straightforward WOE for me. The last time was fairly recently and I was depressed because I couldn't reconcile the traditional low carb and my aversion to eating meat. I was forcing myself to eat it and felt pretty awful about it. I had a break and did some research and realised it was (just about) possible to go veggie (not vegan) while low carbing. I seem to naturally prioritise the veggie part of my diet above the low carb which is probably not the way round it should be but thats me and I have accepted that.

I think what I'm trying to say is that you need to change your low carb approach by adjusting it around your preferred foods rather than eat things that don't interest you or that you don't like or feel you can't eat for whatever reason. Its the only way to make this sustainable and stay sane.

T'other thing is.... the HbA1c isn't necessarily particularly accurate. I know GPs tell us it is 'the' important target - but my last HbA1c turned out to be a lot lower than it should have been and for no apparent reason. Now I know I hadn't been trying to keep my carbs down for the previous three months and my finger prick tests confirmed that. I have no idea why the HbA1c isn't accurate for all of us but I just know it definitely isn't for me. If you feel your meter might be at fault (which is what I originally thought) then you can go to a pharmacy and have them do a finger prick test with their meter - mine turned out to be just 0.2 different from theirs, so pretty accurate.

Best wishes to you, Julie and your family for a peaceful healthy New Year.

xx
 
@Chook

what a pain. Literally.
Very sorry to read all your trials and tribulations.

re my arthritis,

- Gluten (even v small amounts) affects many of my joints.
I weeded gluten out v strictly for a couple of years, and the gluten related gut problems improved tremendously.
So this summer I started testing my gluten boundaries again (gently), and discovered the guts were fine (ish) but my joints got worse and worse. Knees got so bad they sounded like firecrackers every step, and I’ve now got nhs xrays to track the future deterioration. Both knees hurt a lot. V crunchy, grindy, achy, weak and unstable.
Eventually went back to gluten free, and the joint improvements were fantastic. I am now pain free on left knee and significantly improved on right knee.

wish I had known about gluten and my joints 30 years ago. I would probably still have 2 good knees, if I had.

- Tomatoes and other nightshades (aubergine and potato) target my thumb joints. Apparently this is quite a widespread thing, and is regularly mentioned on arthritis sites.
Weird but true. On Xmas eve we had moussaka (special treat), I ate the aubergine, offloaded the potato onto Mr B, And there was a little tomato in the mince.
We are now on the 29th Dec and my thumb joints are still hurting.

Just not worth it, I have decided.
 
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@Chook and @Brunneria , I have had arthritis for the last 18 years or so, my joints are very much better since I went low carb for my type 2 diagnosis, and looking at Brunneria’s list of aggravating foods I realise that it could simply be from eating way less potato (one small roastie per week) and bread (just an occasional slice of LivLife). I did lose a shed load of weight so that may have helped my weight bearing joints but my neck and hands showed a large improvement too. I’ve never really thought of reactions to specific foods!
 

It doesn't matter that nobody turned up. What's important is that someone is there just in case. It is usually my nearest friend - another widow (horrid word) who does have the time and energy usually - she's an amazing person, working so hard for everyone else. Her family are scattered between Macao and Los Angeles with 2 in York and one of those hoping to go to Laos shortly. This Christmas many of them were gathered in England so it was an opportunity for a family reunion. I am so lucky to have my family close by.

My mother-in-law was a traditional Scot (from Glasgow and latterly Ayrshire) and, as you say, everything had to be done before midnight on New Year's Eve. No washing waiting to dry, or waiting to be washed, no ashes, no dust, no rubbish, no dishes waiting to be washed or dried, floors cleaned and carpets vacuumed, fire lit and coal neatly in a bucket to replenish it (surprised the coal bucket wasn't polished because all the brass was), table set with all the goodies. And nobody got to bed before all potential visitors had called.

Being from Kent, originally, I never could understand why Scottish housewives made life so hard for themselves. Still don't. Oddly enough, this same MIL used to reassure her daughters and me "don't fuss about the house - it'll be there when you're not".
 

i have heard of people (hearsay) with inflammatory responses to all sorts of foods, dairy, alcohol and sugar being fairly common. But gluten is def a biggie too. And the nightshades.

this link seems to associate the major food reactions with rheumatoid arthritis. Maybe I have osteo AND rheumatism? Quite likely. My body doesn’t do anything in moderation

https://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/healthissues/arthritis.html?limitstart=0
 

The last 3 times my HbA1c was checked, the results showed a diminishing level to the previous ones, which puzzled me because my everyday readings were higher than they ought to be. The DN suggested that my BG must go down during the night, probably to hypo levels so I should be very careful. But maybe that's not it. Maybe there's something a bit odd with the way HbA1c is calculated. Can't say that I take too much notice of the measure the DN records. I just go with my finger prick test, It says high. I believe it.
 
2 shredded wheat mainly to get loads of daily meds down 4 for diabetes 2 anti depressants vitamin b12 & magnesium Lunch was freshly cooked veg a small chicken & mushroom pie (with loads of yummy sprouts) a portion of yoghurt craving for chocholate but resisted so far
 

There are lots of conditions triggered by foods - many of them suffered by members of my late husband's family (2 Crohn's, 2 ceoliac, 3 ulcerative colitis, 1 lupus, 3 IBS), there are also members of the family with osteo and rheumatoid arthritis. Some have a mixture of conditions to put up with. There is, clearly, a genetic factor at play here but those who are able to adjust their diets have fared better than the others, at least keeping ill health within bounds. I am told that autoimmune problems play a major part. As you suggest, these people don't know what moderation is!

My family doesn't have the same medical history but I do have osteo arthritis which was much worse when I was eating a "normal" diet. I think there needs to be much more research done on the effects of food on susceptible individuals.
 
Evening all.

Early morning gym visit seemed to trigger hunger.

Lunch was air fried chicken wings marinated in olive oil, lime juice and zest and plenty of pink Himalayan salt. Followed up by a lazy ‘cheesecake’. M&S whipped creamy cheese added to melted 85% chocolate. Yum.

Dinner was carni pizza with wafer thin pepperoni and Polish sausage. Managed to get it nice and crispy.

@Chook sorry to hear you’re in so much pain. To add to the foods and arthritis conversation, having been practically vegetable free for a while (aside from grilled onions), liberal consumption of cruciferous veg over a week has triggered more pain in hands and knee. Not conclusive evidence as I’ve not noticed it before (but then I’ve tended to have the odd day eating veg rather than a whole week), and a shame as they’re the veggies I’d choose to eat given no other considerations. Hope you manage to find a solution.

 
Quick recording of today’s food now back home from York’s. I’ve read a few posts but there seems to be a lot to catch up on - will try my best. Meanwhile hoping all had a good holiday season though spotted some difficult times too for many on my quickscan - so hugs to those who need them too.
I’ve been hectic and stressed - as a result of which I’ve not been as strict with quantity as normal but tried to stay broadly low carb - figuring that should help. Stress impacts on my bgs I’ve activated a sensor today to check things and seems to be low 4s and - despite it usually reading low as compared to my bg strips - my bgs are clearly ok . prob relief of being at home- phew!
Breakfast boiled egg and coffee with frothed up lacto free whole milk
Lunch about 2oz of vintage cheddar, some prosciutto and halfstick celery followed by more coffee and lacto free milk
Dinner roast chicken - one leg and some breast meat, two chipolatas, sprouts cooked in pork fat and spoonful of braised celery and leek. Glass of dry white gavi wine. Not sure about pudding may do full fat Greek yoghurt and lc lemon pudding followed by coffee.
Good to be back and look forward to catching up.
 
Ate quite a lot today as I went for a long walk.
Breakfast: 2 slices Livlife bread and cheese
Lunch: Almond flour/seed crackers and vegan pate
Dinner: Chilli paneer
Had a snack today of Pulsin protein bar and Cheesies popped cheddar. Usually don't eat this much during term time as I'm too busy teaching to feel hungry- it's my first Xmas holiday since getting diagnosed with T2. I had my second HbA1C test on Friday, so am hoping my bg has gone down a bit further than last time.
I hope everyone had a good festive season.
 
Hi All
Welcome @shelley262 and take care, you do a lot for your family.
After another too high FBG after a very careful day yesterday I am a bit disappointed.
Today after cooking early breakfast for the boys off to football for the day I had one rasher and half a sausage with tea x2. Late lunch had a few cubes of different cheese and at 1700 BG at 5.0. Eating solo tonight which will be lamb chump chop and sprouts with butter. Having a gin & soda, maybe two.
 
Had my jewelled cauliflower "rice" - mixed the cauliflower with a little turmeric, paprika and salt and dried it in the oven, spread out on a tray. Fried off some small cut onion, red pepper and courgette then mixed the whole lot together. Pity cauli rice has such a severe effect on me because it was really very tasty. Actually, just drinking cold water to try and settle my stomach down - it's feeling kind of queasy and ready to burst - as can be seen from the pic below, it wasn't a very large portion.

I'm just wondering if I should try giving the veggies a miss for a while and just go carnivore - veggies often seem to upset me whether root, leafy or fruity. Does anyone else avoid both carbs and veg? How about vitamins - is a supplement needed?

 
Breakfast: my usual low carb coconut ‘porridge’ with strawberries and cream washed down with a black coffee.
Lunch: scrambled eggs with smoked salmon followed by LC Christmas pud with cream.
Mid afternoon: gingerbread Carb Killa bar and a black coffee.
Dinner: Babybels spread with paté, leafy salad, coleslaw and pork scratchings followed by Oppo lemon cheesecake with cream and LC chocolate granola.
 
Goonergal said:
I try to. Get distracted by high % chocolate and nuts. Have a read of this thread: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/carnivore-corner.164920/ and this is a useful blog: https://zerocarbzen.com/vitamin-c/
Click to expand...

Thanks Goonergal. I just read through them. Neil was also making the point that Innuit people have traditionally only eaten meat with a high fat content and seemed not to be vitamin deficient. It's a bit of a problem that doctors here don't approve of even low carbing, on the whole, so I can't really ask for advice on taking or reducing insulin. Very much on my own with this. I think I will give it a try though - a few weeks won't cause much in the way of vitamin deficiency.
 

Do you have vitamins and iron included in your annual panel, Ann?

I'm absolutely not a fan of supplementing, without a demonstrable need, but bearing in mind the proportion of the UK population thought likely ViTD deficient, coupled with where you live, I might be inclined to take some D3, plus K2 for bioavilability.

Those with struggling thyroids can often end up low in B12, ferritin and folate, so it'd be good to know where you are on those at least.

When my thyroid started to struggle, my Vit D dropped from a natural 108 to 29 in a few months. Just as an example.

If your panel wasn't recent, or didn't include these tests, would your GP support looking a them?
 
Hi Lotties, if you missing marmite, can mix a little in with mashed avocado. Works well.
 
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