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What have you eaten today? (Low carb forum)

Hello all, not feeling too well today - might be a bit of keto flu as my ketones are over 1 for the first time in ages, or it might be actual flu which is doing the rounds at the moment. Hope it's the former!

I had 3 slices of bacon and 3 hardboiled eggs for breakfast, but I'm really not sure what to have for tea. I was going to make something with beef mince but not sure if I feel up to it. I'm having a couple of montezuma's 100% buttons to cheer myself up and might have some cheese or something later.
 
How do you measure ketones, and what should the level be? That's something I've had no information on and no knowledge. Never thought it important because I have no means of measuring it. Should my medics have told me about this? Does it make a difference on a carnivore diet, even if only temporarily?
 
jpscloud said:
Hello all, not feeling too well today - might be a bit of keto flu as my ketones are over 1 for the first time in ages, or it might be actual flu which is doing the rounds at the moment. Hope it's the former!

I had 3 slices of bacon and 3 hardboiled eggs for breakfast, but I'm really not sure what to have for tea. I was going to make something with beef mince but not sure if I feel up to it. I'm having a couple of montezuma's 100% buttons to cheer myself up and might have some cheese or something later.
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Sorry you're not feeling so good. Let's hope it's just a temporary blip and that you get over it soon.
 
What a lovely day - managed quite a lot outdoors which always lifts my spirits.
Brunch kefir then a small salad with some sauerkraut plus celery, two small tomatoes and one spring onion, 20g of nuts then pieces of comte and stilton cheese and six LC seeded crackers then spoon of hm rhubarb and yoghurt.
Dinner shared a wonderful large piece of wild salmon that bought in a flash sale before Easter and froze it - so defrosted it and then cooked in a baking parchment parcel with lemon, dried dill and butter
IMG_20240405_151952 (2024-04-05T17_59_52.000)_kindlephoto-54589107.jpg
Served it with green beans and two new potato chips from freezer ( I had previously par boiled and frozen in chip shapes) and glass of dry white wine. Pudding - had LC berry crumble with spoon of hm yoghurt.
 
Annb said:
How do you measure ketones, and what should the level be? That's something I've had no information on and no knowledge. Never thought it important because I have no means of measuring it. Should my medics have told me about this? Does it make a difference on a carnivore diet, even if only temporarily?
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I measure ketones by using special strips on my bg monitor the monitor is called Care Sens duo from spirit healthcare

CareSens Dual – Spirit Healthcare

shop.spirit-health.co.uk shop.spirit-health.co.uk
But blood ketones strips are expensive so it's only something I do occasionally. I use it for my blood glucose testing daily though it's just ketones strips that I restrict! I have to fund my own but wonder if as an insulin user you could get a ketones testing meter from your surgery or is this wishful thinking? Ketones in blood when sugars are low is nutritional ketosis and desirable - however ketones in blood when sugars high can be a sign of ketoacidosis. I've had ketones in the past quite high but with very low bgs now it's more commonly 0.5 to 1 when I test.
 
Annb said:
How do you measure ketones, and what should the level be? That's something I've had no information on and no knowledge. Never thought it important because I have no means of measuring it. Should my medics have told me about this? Does it make a difference on a carnivore diet, even if only temporarily?
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For what it's worth, I've never owned a meter or even pee strips to test for ketones.
I think the question is, why do you want to test for them?
On a keto/carnivore diet, chances are you'll have ketones, which is fine.

For myself, as long as my BG is well and I'm not ill, I don't see a reason to fear DKA so no need for testing.
There is a small chance I'll regret this at some point should I get very ill, but I'm well aware of the symptoms of DKA and I expect I won't ignore them or write them off as a tummy bug.

None of my HCP's ever mentioned ketones to me.
 
Annb said:
How do you measure ketones, and what should the level be? That's something I've had no information on and no knowledge. Never thought it important because I have no means of measuring it. Should my medics have told me about this? Does it make a difference on a carnivore diet, even if only temporarily?
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Hi @Annb, @shelley262 summed it up perfectly. Ketones are what the Ketogenic diet is named after, when the body doesn't get carbohydrates it switches over to burning fat (hooray for weight loss) and ketones are the product which show in your blood. If you have a lot of body fat like me, you don't need to eat quite so much dietary fat as a lean person would during ketosis, although it is important for satiety and nutrition when no carbs are coming in.

It's explained here: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/in-depth/nutritional-ketosis-vs-dka/
 
Antje77 said:
For what it's worth, I've never owned a meter or even pee strips to test for ketones.
I think the question is, why do you want to test for them?
On a keto/carnivore diet, chances are you'll have ketones, which is fine.

For myself, as long as my BG is well and I'm not ill, I don't see a reason to fear DKA so no need for testing.
There is a small chance I'll regret this at some point should I get very ill, but I'm well aware of the symptoms of DKA and I expect I won't ignore them or write them off as a tummy bug.

None of my HCP's ever mentioned ketones to me.
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It's motivation for me. I measure ketones because I'm a serial relapser with carb addiction and seeing a good level of nutritional ketosis is reassuring that I am burning body fat and I then think twice about chucking it in. It is silly expensive so I keep it to a minimum but if it stops me going off the rails I'm willing to pay the price. I monitor blood sugar throughout the day, too, and that works for motivation as well when I relapse and see a huge spike.

I'm a morbidly obese, 60 year old very poorly type 2. Whatever helps me to regain just a little health is worth it.
 
jpscloud said:
It's motivation for me. I measure ketones because I'm a serial relapser with carb addiction and seeing a good level of nutritional ketosis is reassuring that I am burning body fat and I then think twice about chucking it in. It is silly expensive so I keep it to a minimum but if it stops me going off the rails I'm willing to pay the price. I monitor blood sugar throughout the day, too, and that works for motivation as well when I relapse and see a huge spike.

I'm a morbidly obese, 60 year old very poorly type 2. Whatever helps me to regain just a little health is worth it.
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I'm also morbidly obese and nearly 79. I can't exercise because I'm pretty well crippled with arthritis. Last time I spoke to my diabetes nurse (ages ago) she didn't want me to reduce my Bg level any further than 8 or 9 but I didn't think that was low enough and I wasn't losing any weight at all was actually still getting heavier and fatter so I went low carb, despite her objections. She thought I was too old even then (must have been about 75). I didn't bother asking her anything about carnivore. Her opinion is too predictable. So I'm doing this on my own. On low carb I was reducing BG most of the time but not weight. After 3 days of carnivore I lost 1.9 kilos. Slipped a bit yesterday but back on track today.
 
Annb said:
I'm also morbidly obese and nearly 79. I can't exercise because I'm pretty well crippled with arthritis. Last time I spoke to my diabetes nurse (ages ago) she didn't want me to reduce my Bg level any further than 8 or 9 but I didn't think that was low enough and I wasn't losing any weight at all was actually still getting heavier and fatter so I went low carb, despite her objections. She thought I was too old even then (must have been about 75). I didn't bother asking her anything about carnivore. Her opinion is too predictable. So I'm doing this on my own. On low carb I was reducing BG most of the time but not weight. After 3 days of carnivore I lost 1.9 kilos. Slipped a bit yesterday but back on track today.
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I don't believe we're ever too old to improve our wellbeing and quality of life x
 
Breakfast: my usual low carb coconut ‘porridge’ with strawberries washed down with a black coffee.
Late morning: black coffee and a carb killa bar.
Skipped lunch.
Mid afternoon: black coffee and a Aldi protein bar.
Dinner: salmon and cream cheese sandwiches made with low carb bread. Soft diet following dental work earlier today :confused:

2024-04-05 19.15.06.jpeg
 
jpscloud said:
I don't believe we're ever too old to improve our wellbeing and quality of life x
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Totally agree - my mum put her diabetes type 2 into remission in her 80s after seeing my results from low carb she did the same but with regular treats. Unfortunately her kidneys had been damaged in the previous twenty+ years of uncontrolled diabetes but for the last decade of her life her kidneys stayed at level 3 CKD she lost weight and she had a very active and enjoyable last decade. She did backtrack on the carbs in her nineties partly because of impact of covid isolation and died at 91 from a brain bleed and Kidney failure but had no disabilities or pain until the very last few weeks. She believed that improving her well being helped her to have a wonderful extra healthy decade and I feel it did too. Hard to know what would have happened if she hadn't changed her way of life but she had lots of fun and joy right to her last few weeks. I miss her joie de vie every day .
 
Superb hotel breakfast, cold buffet of turkey and Emmental ( Paul had fresh figs and a spoon of honeycomb, I was very envious) then eggs florentine without the muffin but with side of bacon and mushroom. This kept me full for most of the day.
Coastal walk then a few lengths of the pool. Lunch around 2pm was a gin and soda!!
4pm cup of tea and. dGF peanut butter egg.
D- at Rick Stein’s Fistral place: grilled haddock with watercress and spinach salad, Tartare sauce. Couple of glasses of Sauvignon blanc. IMG_1712347245.853330.jpg
 
DJC3 said:
Superb hotel breakfast, cold buffet of turkey and Emmental ( Paul had fresh figs and a spoon of honeycomb, I was very envious) then eggs florentine without the muffin but with side of bacon and mushroom. This kept me full for most of the day.
Coastal walk then a few lengths of the pool. Lunch around 2pm was a gin and soda!!
4pm cup of tea and. dGF peanut butter egg.
D- at Rick Stein’s Fistral place: grilled haddock with watercress and spinach salad, Tartare sauce. Couple of glasses of Sauvignon blanc. View attachment 67055
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Glad you are enjoying a lovely holiday, I hope Storm Kathleen isn't too bad there!
 
I still had lots of beef and onion stew because of the missed meal yesterday, so I skipped the cauliflower purée and had stew with half a slice of LC bread. Other half was on my plate as well but has been properly finished by the dogs when I was full. :hilarious:

Still a small portion of stew left over, so I'll try to remember to put it in my freezer before bed to use when I'm back from our family weekend on sunday evening.

1712348728963.png

I packed my bag for the weekend without making a list, and I'm genuinely looking forward to the weekend with very little anxiety.
My friend and I concluded I must have been abducted by aliens and replaced by someone else. :hilarious:
For now, I'm taking this new easier life as a holiday from a nasty chronic condition to save myself from disappointment if one morning things are back to my normal. And if it lasts longer, we'll reassess.

I also 'fixed' my car!
I was going to fiddle with the fuses (right word?) because this helped the last few times. But there was too much wind so I had to hold on to the hood with one hand.
Then I remembered the first thing to do with malfunctioning electrical appliances is to turn it off and back on again: disconnecting and reconnecting the battery was easy with one hand.

Et voilá, the car works again! :happy:

Now I'm going to try to go to sleep before midnight, and after that it will be chaos, food- diabetes- and activity-wise for two days!
 
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