- Messages
- 1,966
- Type of diabetes
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
.....eat even a tiny amount of carbohydrate such as a spoonful of rice, one small potato, one slice of bread or a few strands of spaghetti.
Eating foods such as these is not just about BS control. For me it is also about controlling a very overwhelming carb addiction, loosing weight and therefor improving my insulin resistance.
I did a lot of testing in the early days. A jacket potato with butter and cheese raised my postprandial readings almost to double figures. The same potato with stir-fried non-root vegetables kept my BS in non-diabetic levels. I ate a small eton mess two nights ago on a girls night out for a rare pud treat. The only sugar was in the berries and the bit of meringue. I then spent the journey home almost in tears, arguing with myself about how I was/was not going to go to my local 24 hour Tescos for a very large bar of Cadburys Caramel. The craving for more food is overwhelming and something I have little control over. Addiction is a nasty thing.
If I eat any carbs, I often eat a larger portion than if they are eliminated. And before you can say 'willpower' think; if that's the case and all it took was willpower, we would all be non-smokers, social drinkers, monogamous and slim.
Over the years (and it has now been over three) I have discovered that my weight will simply not reduce AT ALL if I eat anything other than protein, dairy, non-root vegetables and fat. Too many nuts and the scales don't shift at all. Fine and dandy if I was of a normal weight but I'm not. I started at 19 stones, lost 4 within six months and the rest, up and down, over the rest of the time. I'm now 13 stones, 9 pounds, still too much for my 5' 10" frame even considering the excess skin that will obviously not go without surgery. Thankfully, I'm not the vain type so it will stay, wobbling in the wind.
How I would love to eat two chips, 30grams of cereal or my favourite, porridge. How I love porridge but I'm ruthlessly hungry within an hour and it leads to a downward spiral for days, and yep, that was experimented with too, nuts, seeds, berries etc it made not one jot of difference.
I accept that the diet I eat I will have to continue with for the rest of my life. I miss so much of the stuff I used to eat. Nothing can replace a bacon or chip buttie, my favourite chocolate or fluffy, creamy mashed potato with grated cheese. Pasta is a distant and mourned memory.
What I eat now is simply not what I ate before. I liken it to living in a remote foreign country with no access to 'western' food. I can cook and I eat a variety of amazing and delicious food. Even my taste buds have completely changed. I couldn't tolerate anything hot or peppery and the smell of coconut made me heave. The only hot drink I loved was Earl Grey tea. I now love my pepper pot, have a new appreciation for spices and I love coconut. The tea is gone and now it's coffee with cream, I HATED coffee before!
This little story is about me and my diabetes. I'm an educated HCP and, as I do in my working life, use the research and evidence as a GUIDELINE to support decisions, not back up my decisions by trying to find evidence to support them. IYSWIM.
wiflib
Eating foods such as these is not just about BS control. For me it is also about controlling a very overwhelming carb addiction, loosing weight and therefor improving my insulin resistance.
I did a lot of testing in the early days. A jacket potato with butter and cheese raised my postprandial readings almost to double figures. The same potato with stir-fried non-root vegetables kept my BS in non-diabetic levels. I ate a small eton mess two nights ago on a girls night out for a rare pud treat. The only sugar was in the berries and the bit of meringue. I then spent the journey home almost in tears, arguing with myself about how I was/was not going to go to my local 24 hour Tescos for a very large bar of Cadburys Caramel. The craving for more food is overwhelming and something I have little control over. Addiction is a nasty thing.
If I eat any carbs, I often eat a larger portion than if they are eliminated. And before you can say 'willpower' think; if that's the case and all it took was willpower, we would all be non-smokers, social drinkers, monogamous and slim.
Over the years (and it has now been over three) I have discovered that my weight will simply not reduce AT ALL if I eat anything other than protein, dairy, non-root vegetables and fat. Too many nuts and the scales don't shift at all. Fine and dandy if I was of a normal weight but I'm not. I started at 19 stones, lost 4 within six months and the rest, up and down, over the rest of the time. I'm now 13 stones, 9 pounds, still too much for my 5' 10" frame even considering the excess skin that will obviously not go without surgery. Thankfully, I'm not the vain type so it will stay, wobbling in the wind.
How I would love to eat two chips, 30grams of cereal or my favourite, porridge. How I love porridge but I'm ruthlessly hungry within an hour and it leads to a downward spiral for days, and yep, that was experimented with too, nuts, seeds, berries etc it made not one jot of difference.
I accept that the diet I eat I will have to continue with for the rest of my life. I miss so much of the stuff I used to eat. Nothing can replace a bacon or chip buttie, my favourite chocolate or fluffy, creamy mashed potato with grated cheese. Pasta is a distant and mourned memory.
What I eat now is simply not what I ate before. I liken it to living in a remote foreign country with no access to 'western' food. I can cook and I eat a variety of amazing and delicious food. Even my taste buds have completely changed. I couldn't tolerate anything hot or peppery and the smell of coconut made me heave. The only hot drink I loved was Earl Grey tea. I now love my pepper pot, have a new appreciation for spices and I love coconut. The tea is gone and now it's coffee with cream, I HATED coffee before!
This little story is about me and my diabetes. I'm an educated HCP and, as I do in my working life, use the research and evidence as a GUIDELINE to support decisions, not back up my decisions by trying to find evidence to support them. IYSWIM.
wiflib