Where did I go wrong?

[Charisma_1630]

I'm going to attempt to incorporate low carb into several meals as I do this for breakfast with smoothies n have good results.

Today for lunch I had a tuna salad. In this salad I had lettuce, spinach, cucumber, avocado, tiny bit of sweet corn, little bit of hard boiled egg, tuna and I put a little dollop of Mayo on to mix it in! My blood sugar was 7.2 before hand. It wasn't a large salad just a normal bowl size so I figured the carbs in everything wouldn't add up to much so I had 1 unit for the meal (ratio 1.5 to 10 grams) and I had 1 unit to correct me back down to 5 ish. After one hour it was 9.4 then after 2 hours it was 9.2 still. Any idea what I could have done wrong??

 

[shedges]

Test after 4 hours and see what you level is - should get a better idea of what's going on.

Have you done anything different today to other days? I.e. been less active?

 

[Charisma_1630]

No nothing different! I actually had a ryvita and a couple of units after 2.5 hours so I'll try again tomorrow with my chicken salad!

 

[Lynn_L]

Test after 4 hours and see what you level is - should get a better idea of what's going on.

Have you done anything different today to other days? I.e. been less active?

Hi Shedges,

Wonder if you could explain "Test after 4 hours...." as I at times does get very high readings (~10) even after 2.5 hours and it drops btwn 5.5~6.5 after 3.5~4hrs. Does it mean that it is ok?

 

[shedges]

Hi Shedges,

Wonder if you could explain "Test after 4 hours...." as I at times does get very high readings (~10) even after 2.5 hours and it drops btwn 5.5~6.5 after 3.5~4hrs. Does it mean that it is ok?

Hi Lynn - depending on how you manage your diabetes, the scenario you described above could be perfectly normal. If I'm eating a balanced, fairly carb-rich, NHS-suggested meal, then yes, 10 after a couple of hours, going back down to 5-6 after 4 hours is normal. But that's just my experience.

If I eat a low carb, high fat/protein (proportionally) meal, I expect a pretty level curve with no readings above 7 or 8.

Everyone is different, but if that 10 is under the conditions I described first, it's quite expected. Of course, you'll get different profiles if you pump insulin or if you're on MDI - another factor to add into the equation.

 

[Charisma_1630]

I don't understand this low carbing still! I try and follow people's daily diary page and I've been lowering carbs and upping salad and cheeses etc. I am left feeling soo hungry from it! How do people manage on such small amounts and still feel satisfied? My mid afternoon I'm starved!

 

[Bluetit1802]

I don't understand this low carbing still! I try and follow people's daily diary page and I've been lowering carbs and upping salad and cheeses etc. I am left feeling soo hungry from it! How do people manage on such small amounts and still feel satisfied? My mid afternoon I'm starved!

Are you balancing your low carb with enough fat? It doesn't sound like it. Fat will stop the hunger. How much fat are you eating?

 

[Charisma_1630]

I'm not sure I don't really understand all these percentages I see people post. I eat a lot of cream cheese Greek yog n fruit and I add avocados in my salad etc

 

[Bluetit1802]

What about cooking? Do you cook with butter or olive oil or good rapeseed oil? Do you add a knob of butter to your veggies? Are you eating enough veggies? What about eggs? Eggs are a wonderful source of fat and protein plus other good nutrients. Oily fish is another good source (if you eat fish) and a few nuts and seeds. (I use ground flaxseed. plenty of fat and fibre in that).

There is no reason to be hungry if you are eating enough

 

[Charisma_1630]

I cook with olive oil. I don't eat many eggs but last week made banana pancakes for the first time (with 2 eggs) for lunch. I eat more green salad than veg but I didn't think to add butter it feels so naughty lol. Also I swapped from marg to spreadable butter. Or does it need to be blocks of butter? I don't eat fish! I brought flax seed for the first time the other day I add a tiny sprinkle toy morning smoothie as it gives it a weird taste

 

[Bluetit1802]

It does feel naughty adding butter to things. Naughty but nice.

I add Linwoods milled flaxseed to my morning yogurt. 2 heaped tbsp. which is about 20g. It can be added to soups. I find it tasteless once you get used to the grittiness. Have you read the label on your spreadable butter to see if it contains sugar/carbs? Kerrygold real butter is supposed to be the best choice as it is from grass fed cows most of the year. Banana pancakes? Proper banana pancakes? What did they do to your BS levels?

 

[Charisma_1630]

i haven't checked butter... I just assumed they all had no carbs?! The pancake was 1 banana and 2 eggs. I melted abit of butter on to give it taste and added a dollop of Greek yog. I went from 6.3 to around 9 I think. I noticed that the peak lasted longer than usual though I thought it may be the protein? I eat one of these at 12 though and by half 2 - 3 o'clock I start flagging and feel like I need food for energy! I'm not that imaginative in the kitchen so I struggle to come up with ideas. Especially as I have a 2 year old to feed at the same time.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I think the culprit with your pancake was the banana (very high carb and instant release of glucose so you would have been very high at an hour afterwards), also the flour in your pancake? Was it a pancake mix or did you make your own? If a mix, you must check the labels for total carb content. This is essential. Anything made with flour is high carb and bad news for us I'm afraid. I would ditch these pancakes and try something else for lunch. No wonder you are flagging by mid afternoon. The carbs are making you tired and hungry.

What about making your own soup? You can make a big pan full, divide into separate containers and freeze them for future use. Avoid adding potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and use tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, peppers, other veggies. No flour for thickening. There are loads of vegetarian ideas on the forum. Have you found the "What have you eaten today" thread? It's very useful.

For lunch I sometimes have 2 boiled eggs with Hellman's real mayonnaise, about 60g hard cheese, a pickled onion, cherry tomatoes, and salad leaves. Sometimes I have 2 poached eggs on one slice of Hovis Wholemeal Seed Sensations toast and some cheese to dip in the yolk. With a mug of tea or two I am never hungry and last about 6 hours till tea time.

 

[Charisma_1630]

There was no flour in the pancake just eggs and banana. Weird I know but I saw the recipe the other day n thought I'd try it!

I'm not much of a soup person without a bread roll but I'll give it a try making my own!

How many carbs are in the seeded sensations bread? I eat hovis wholemeal and its 15 per slice but I usually have 2 slices with some pb. Obviously trying to find other alternatives. I do follow the what you ate today thread it's where I pick up some ideas. Made some cauli cheese the other day. I have been wondering though on low carb, do you add the carbs of every single thing? Say I add a couple cherry tomatoes in my salad they're really low but would you still count things like that?

 

[Bluetit1802]

There are 14g carbs in a slice of the Seed Sensations, but much more fibre. I love it, but 2 slices would be far too much for my levels. One slice is OK.

Oh yes, you must add up all the carbs you eat, no matter what the food, including fruit and milk. I usually have 4 cherry toms which is about 2g carbs. A whole tomato is about 4g carbs.

You will get there, but do try to eat a bit more fat. You don't need to go overboard with it, just enough to stop you getting tired and hungry.

 

[phil1966]

I'm type 2 so things might be slightly different, but I found I was always hungry when I started low carbing, but after a fortnight that went away and I find that I don't really feel hungry now and very rarely feel the need to snack. If I do want a snack, I'll eat a couple of pitted olives in chilli oil

I count the carbs in absolutely everything (otherwise those little amounts can add up!)

The only "bread" I eat now is carbzone low carb tortillas (4g carbs per tortilla - I get them from Amazon), I eat no potatoes, rice or pasta, and drink black coffee. My total carb consumption is between 15g and 25g per day.

Here's my menu for today to give you an idea of how you can have varied food without carbs

Breakfast
1 rasher of bacon
1 Fried egg
50g mushrooms fried in butter

Lunch
Low carb tortilla wrap filled with Tuna Mayo and salad

Dinner
Roast Pork
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Dwarf green beans
Leeks
Courgettes
splash of gravy (I use an Aldi gravy mix that has 1g of carbs in 40ml)

Dessert
Home made low carb ice cream (no sugar and heavy on the cream - 2.5g carbs per 100g)

Total carbs for day: 16 - the vast majority of which comes from the vegetables I have with my dinner

 

[modesty007]

One of the best sites for learning LCHF, www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

 

[modesty007]

The key is adding good fat, butter not spreads (they usually contain vegetable oil which you should avoid), coconut oil, lard, tallow and a little olive oil. Fullf-at diaries like double cream etc.

 

[Charisma_1630]

One of the best sites for learning LCHF, www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

Thank you that link is very helpful! I understand alot more now about what to eat and what to avoid!