Not being concerned about weight, then it's just a matter of Knowing How many carbs it has for me
If I know how many Carbs it has? Gimmie One or 2!
If I don't know the Carbs? I don't eat it..
That is the Only way I know to help avoid my going thru the roof and ruining a Good day..
as for Goals? Is nice, but Fact is? Our Goals are Pre Set for us... BG Goals that is...
Got to do the best we can to Have <6% A1c's until better Insulins and Tools come along to get us 5% A1c's....
Mostly, I say no. I doubt there are very many who can honestly say that they say no to every high carb or high calorie food they are offered or tempted with as they are served or are given choices.
Personally, I rely almost too much on the calorie king book. If I can't find something in there, I don't eat it. If I cannot determine, within a reasonable guess, the amount of carbs to cover for a bolus, I am far better off leaving the food on the tray, and not putting it into my stomach. I don't want the problem of correction boluses, and the added temptation of eating things I shouldn't because I can cover it with insulin. Prior to getting my pump, I was out of control for years. The pump was life-changing. I like my life now. I don't want to go back.
Sometimes being diabetic is good.
Unless i'm at like 250 I'll never give up the cake. If I dont know the carbs in something, I just SWAG it. (Scientific Wild @$$ Guess lol) After a while, I've gotten decent at it.
As someone who has had diabetes for 15 years, I do say no. Sometimes I take a bite of whatever my husband is having, or I take a small nibble and then spit it out - I want the taste, but not the carbs piling up.
For me, it's the awful feeling I get after eating something sweet. I don't take insulin, so I can't compensate using meds. I can run more, or drink more green tea, but it's not usually enough to comfortably bring me down from a big spike. Of course, I'm not really a Type 1, just a really weird Type 2, so it might be different for me. Sorry, though, I really wanted to answer this question!
Andrea, does green tea LOWER your BG? That's really interesting, because it RAISES mine! A true case of YMMV if I ever heard one! :-)
No way, really! I've only ever had it lower my sugar. It's really effective. Is that because I'm a Type 2? My sister and I both find it to be a great let-down (in a good way) when we have elevated sugars.
Fascinating! I tested pure green tea with absolutely nothing added, and it raised my BG 30 mg/dl. I suspect it was the caffeine, but don't really know. I don't THINK it has anything to do with type, but don't really know.
But, hey, if it works for you, go for it! :-)
I've heard differing theories on caffeine with regards to diabetics - does coffee have the same effect on you?
I love to bake and have been doing so since I was about 10 yrs old. I am 38 yrs old and have been in the accounting profession since I was 21 yrs. old. I went back to school in 2009 to become a pastry chef and have been working part time on and off at bakeries since then. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in Jan of 2010. To answer your question, I don't say no to the cake. I always taste what I make and have even taken a couple of culinary classes where I cook different types of food and I taste everything that I make. But like you, I taste and eat a lot less than I did before I was diagnosed. I know that if I didn't have diabetes, I would be eating a lot more. Now I also work out a lot more often and follow a healthier lifestyle than I did before my diagnosis. I am more aware of my weight and even though I don't usually feel guilty about what or how much I eat, I always think twice before eating something that I know is not healthy for me. I am checking my weight 4 or 5 times a week to make sure that I am not gaining but in fact that I am losing weight or at least maintaining it where I want it to be. I know that everyone is different, but personally, I think that you should enjoy life and try not to restrict yourself, but at the same time, know your limits and know yourself as far as what is and is not good for you.
Pregnancy cured me of the fear of large boluses. In the last few months one unit of insulin only covered one gram of carbs at lunch and dinner, so even a low carb meal needed more insulin than I used to take in an entire day. And mornings were even worse; one particularly bad morning, it was 18 units of insulin for some zero-carb bratwurst!
Well, that's ONE way to do it, but at age 63, I just sorta don't think it's gonna work for me, LOL!! But I'm still waiting on tenterhooks to find out about YOUR little squirming bundle of joy (and other things) when he or she arrives! :-)
I dont take notes and it's a very small sample size, of one person so a book wouldn't have that much credibility.I guess I could stop being so lazy and start?
I dont say no all of the time but I dont say yes all of the time either. Luckily, I'm no foodie and its never been a problem for me to portion control. Before diabetes, I would barely eat three meals a day. Now I eat three meals a day because the consistency is important for BG control. If I have a dessert during a meal, it's because my BG numbers allow it, period.
I'll qualify my reply by saying that it is not unusual for me to eat over 300g of carbs a day. I've found that my BG control, insulin dosing, and meal plan depend a lot on my activity level. If I'm working out consistently, 3 to 5 times a week, my carb intake goes up and BG levels stay consistent. As I miss workouts and my activity level drops, I have to drop my carb intake. Under these conditions, it's not a stretch to drop in a 25g slice of cake or buttered roll. Holidays are not tough for me because of the amount of carbs, they are a nightmare because I can never maintain my workout schedule.
As always, YMMV.
Natalie, she arrived 5 1/2 weeks early on the 4th of December. Still somewhat shell-shocked!
hello, i just wanted to put my two cents in without reading all the posts, this has been popular, my son in 13 he was a healthy eater pre diab. and i did not really change how he eats except more consideration to fats and proteins, i would say he eats 'healthy'' 75% of the time, he is a teen and extremely compliant now do i want to add to his heavy burden of having diabetes or risking him totally falling off the wagon in a few years by restricting his diet, i don't think so, so he eats cake on birthdays cookies almost daily, usually homemade so not bad, and ice cream is actually a good bed time snack for keeping his numbers steady his control is overall good and he is taking things in stride for the most part. if i was the sweet police i think his attitude would be very different my attitude just like in my nondiabetic diet is everything in moderation. using extended boluses or a shot after a fatty meal say icecream out really helps. good luck with learning to live with your D the best you can! amy
I thought I would add my comment in. As a diabetic type 1 for 28 years I've gone through everything. I eat what I want and should eat. If I really really want a roll or piece of cake I make sure to adjust my insulin accordingly and to watch my sugars post meal as well. Sometimes things take a while to be processed by the body and you might end up high a bit later.
I have gone through life without restrictions. I will eat what I want - but that being said I will not go crazy and eat a whole cake. Small bits of really good things is best. I found it really hard to lose weight and I just make sure I watch what I eat.
I always take the smaller piece or share with my husband who isn't into cake so between the 2 of us we have enough out of one piece.
I rarely if ever say no!!!
I eat right and exercise religiously and the instances of sweets getting near me are rare but when they do I never say "no" Special occasions and treats are manageable and I never (or rarely) over due it. Moderation and knowing your carbs is what you need. Don't feel guilty, the rare piece of birthday cake or slice of fresh bread makes me happy and makes me feel normal. Again - moderation. My pump has helped a lot but I've really always followed this. For example, go for a birthday dinner, eat no carbs for dinner, factor carbs for a small piece of cake and scoop of ice cream (not a corner with all the frosting of course) and I am one happy camper!
Diabetes isn't a "what you eat" disease, it's a "blood glucose" disease. As long as you do whatever it takes to normalize your blood glucose, you should have minimal problems with eating all those delicious foods. Here's the rub - normalizing blood glucose can take some work! In a non-diabetic this happens automatically, but for us it's all about knowing what we eat, how our body will react and dosing insulin accordingly. I find it easier to keep my carbs on the lower side and eat in predictable ways so it's easier for me to know how my body will react. But I love tasty food, so when those non-planned delights come my way, I decide whether I'm willing to do the work necessary (carb counting, testing and dosing) in order keep my blood glucose as normal as possible. I found this much easier to do with a pump - taking another injection every time you want to eat a 10 carb cookie gets really old - but it can be done with MDI.
So, don't be afraid of eating. But do be willing to stay on top of it when you do.
(and be careful talking to type 2s, the ones I know will mess themselves up for days if they indulge in a big piece of cake - where I can correct just about anything within a few hours)
What's a birthday without cake?! I'm right there with you, Frankie. I have my list of foods that I know from experience will be extra hard to account for (pizza, chinese food, etc) and I tend to try to make those a special treat. I don't avoid them, but try to work them in conjunction with other food choices. Dessert is definitely included in my list of special treats! The way I see it, if I go out of my way to avoid something the more I'm going to want it.
The pump can be used to more closely approximate time varying physiologic insulin levels than MDI can....I know I really needed the pump just to hold things flat when not eating....my basal rates at night and in the morning are more than 2.2 x late afternoon/early evening levels. I couldn't do that easily with shots and always ended up too high at one time of day and too low at another. Starting from good basals makes boluses SO much easier.
I do eat a piece of cake or pie once in awhile, but not too often. I've been experimenting with various recipes in diabetic cookbooks . We made a low carb flourless chocolate cake a couple of days ago that tasted great and had only about 15 grams of carb for a slice that was 1/8 of the cake.