Gerri, wow, so many wonderful ideas and suggestions here—thank you so much. I am familiar with Yves and I need to start buying it more often, it’s really good stuff. And I’m really intrigued by the cauliflower fried “rice” and Miracle Noodles (love the name!), can’t wait to try them. Most of my meals are currently about 15 carb grams, which freaked me out (as way too high) when I read Dr. B’s recommendations, but I just can’t imagine going lower and losing even more weight. Interesting that you noticed that you couldn’t half the basal dose, I will keep that in mind as I experiment. I suspect that my metabolism is similar to yours. Thanks again for all the great info; much appreciated.
Hi there, Julie! As always, you make an excellent point, and I agree that a wait-it-out approach may not make the most sense. It sounds like Dr. B’s whole thing (and admittedly I haven’t yet finished the book) is that the fewer carbs one eats, the longer he or she can preserve beta cells. But when I looked at the 6-12-12 breakdown (as well as my diminishing waistline), it really bummed me out. That’s very useful to know that your endo says short-acting insulin may extend pancreas function, it really does make good sense. You’ve given me hope that, if I can manage to get the bolus/carb ratio right, I can eat more carbs, hopefully gain weight, and STILL stay within a healthy BG range.
That’s so interesting, Libby, that my endo started me on Levemir (but no short-acting insulin) and your GP started you on Novolog (but no basal). The bolus/basal combo certainly seems to be the way to go. I haven’t had corn, potatoes, or artisan bread since I was diagnosed, and they all sound pretty darn amazing!
Glad to be of some help. Not all the Yves are particularly low-carb, but my store doesn’t carry a lot of their products. What other Yves do you like? I need to try more.
Of course I’m a newbie like you, but I think there’s some wiggle room in Dr. B’s recommendations given people’s different metabolic needs. Just my uneducated two cents, but 15 carbs a meal seems quite reasonable. I’d be in a bad state if I ate this much for breakfast, but I’m petite. And to think that you can do this without taking insulin is really something–bravo! The suggestions of the others about taking rapid acting is sound advice. You certainly wouldn’t need to take much.
How many units of basal do you take & which one? Just curious.
Like others who’ve posted here, I’ve found that small amounts of red wine do lower my BG some when taken with a meal. A good way to sneak in a few extra carbs. I tried experimenting by drinking some wine (like 3-4 oz) with cheese before going to sleep to help with the dawn phenonmenon. Some mornings it helped, some mornings it didn’t.
Do you feel that your energy level is good? Low carb hasn’t made me feel tired at all. In fact, when I look back & I remember falling asleep on the sofa after my many previous high carb vegetarian meals.
Hey Dino, thanks for that…after the way I’ve been feeling lately it’s hard to imagine anyone being remotely jealous of me! Guess my quick metabolism was a blessing before I was diagnosed, but now that I’m eating so few carbs, I’m know as Bony McSkinnyville among friends. Honestly, I was apprehensive about doing any physical activity for fear that I’d be burning even more calories, but I guess resistance training would be fine if I increase the protein intake, huh? I will look into the protein shakes…guess I always assumed they’d also contain a good deal of carbs, but I’ve never really investigated. I’m grateful for your feedback, Dino, and thanks very much for the encouragement, it’s truly appreciated.
Some protein powders do have a lot of carbs, artificial sweeteners & all kinds of other ingredients. I use NOW Whey Protein Isolate (unflavored) protein shake powder. If you go with a whey product, the isolate form is preferable. My family has thyroid problems, so I avoid most soy products.
NOW only has 2 carbs per 1/3 cup. It dissolves easily. Of course, depends what you add to it. I add cream, almond milk & peanut butter, vanilla extract & sometimes iced coffee. Really low carb if you omit the peanut butter. My health food store carries it in bulk & cheaper than I’ve found on-line with shipping costs.
I found that I had to add fat (hence, the heavy cream) to keep it from getting into my bloodstream too quickly. Imagine it was the protein that would hit me fast & the added fat gave me more calories & seems to slow down the protein surge. Guess the fast-acting protein is what the body builders like & need, but I like the shakes as a quick meal.
Some people use whey protein powder for baking with almond flour. I’ve never tried this–who has time to bake!
Speaking of almond flour, it’s a great thing to use to bread chicken & fish. Dip whatever in a raw beaten egg, then in almond flour (add pepper & some dried herbs) & fry. A variation–use a combo of almond flour & unsweetened grated coconut. I use unsweetened coconut with spices as a breading for coconut shrimp. Delicious!
Oops, correction. The NOW whey powder has 1 carb per 1/3 cup serving, not 2 carbs.
Unfortunately much of the media mixes up ketosis which is harmless and ketoacidosis which is dangerous. Very low carb diets can put you into ketosis but, it isn’t dangerous and not all low carb diets are ketogenic. One other thing the media tends to swist the fact on are most low carb diets are high fat and not high protein. If you have kidney disease, you need to watch out for high protein diets. However, high protein diets do not cause kidney disease.
~Danielle