ive got a question f0r all y0u nutriti0n buffs 0ut there. i was diagnosed ab0ut 6 m0nths ag0 and f0und this site a c0uple 0f weeks ag0. i live in spain and see my s0me0ne fr0m my diabetic team every c0uple 0f m0nths. my end0 is an abs0lute din0saur and 0f c0urse her dietician gave me a 200 carb/day diet t0 f0ll0w.
i threw it away immediately and have been d0ing a m0derately l0w carb (70 t0 90 carbs a day) diet since the beginning. s0me f00ds i have pretty much given up in fav0ur 0f 0thers. i basically get all 0f my carbs fr0m milk (in c0ffee), y0gurt, fruit and 2 t0 4 squares 0f ch0c0late a day. the dietician 0f c0urse is h0rrified at the am0unt and types 0f carbs i am eating. i live in spain and she keeps pushing me t0 eat bread, a f00d that spaniards h0ld sacred.
my questi0n is, d0 0ther diabetics d0 this t00, c0mpletely eliminate s0me f00ds s0 that they can enj0y 0thers? id way rather have 200 grams 0f strawberries than 20 grams 0f bread. i mean, i miss pasta and rice and stuff, and s0metimes i d0 eat it, but i cant imagine a meal with0ut fruit 0r ch0c0late, and l0w carbing means i have t0 ch00se.
h0w unhealthy is this really? my bg is g00d. i am still h0neym00ning i think as im 0nly 0n 4 units 0f levemir and my I:C rati0 is 1:20/30, depending 0n time 0f day. my weight is stable and i feel g00d but they are really insistent that i eat rice, p0tat0 and bread.
0pini0ns?
Hi,
I also eat fruit, chocolate and yogurt every day although I also include some bread and legumes as well. Rice, bread and potatoes don't add anything to your diet that you can't get from other sources and I certainly wouldn't consider a diet that eliminates them to be unhealthy on its face.
Maurie
Is there a problem with your "o" key? It's a bit hard to ready when you use zero for o. Anyway,your dieticians are, as it seems you realized, totally wrong. they "insist that I eat rice, potato and bread..." WHY?? It sounds like your diet is working well for you in terms of blood sugar and weight. And you are happy with your food choices. If you can manage to balance the happy part and the important results than, imho, it's all good!!
I think we all make choices to both manage our blood sugar but keep us happy food-wise. If yours work for you, then why would you change? It's not like they are urging you to eat more healthy choices - rice, potato and bread have little nutritional value. Your management may change when your honeymoon ends, but you can worry about that when you get there.
I would say you are on the right track. Rice, bread and potatoes are not foods that work well for me or for most PWD. Yes, there are foods that I no longer eat (or even want to eat) and some that I only eat rarely and in small amounts. You need to find the foods that both work for you and satisfy your taste. I eat about 100 carbs per day. Like you I narrowed my food choices to gain control. I have gradually experimented and added back in more foods as I found how they affect my BG. One thing that has worked well for me is a small amount of sweet potato at some meals. I try to eat in a way that lets me use the least amount of insulin each day. The starchy foods you are being advised to eat would make it much harder to control your BG.
Thanks so much for your replies! ive learned so much frm this site, and it has also made me pose so many more questions regarding diabetes and all the craziness of it. my diet is so samey but im enjoying it and its second nature now to eat like this.
the only thing i miss desperately is chocolate cereal. i often wander down the cereal aisle with a nostalgia for food maybe only experienced by diabetics and gluten free peeps. i really hope theres a cure while im alive because i will spend that first week eating pizza and sugary chocolatey goodness in all its forms! so tedious all this self control on the chocky front.... :/
and yeah, zoe, must get this "o" fixed. c0pying and pasting it is a pain!!
thanks again!
I am a T2 not on insulin so my situation is somewhat different than yours. I follow the "eat to your meter" system which means I initially tested frequently and eliminated the foods that caused me to go over my target of <140(7.8). I have completely eliminated all grains, potatoes, legumes(except peanuts in small quantities) and fruit (except Berries. Lots of people around here follow a similar diet with no ill effects and I've been on it 2.75 years and feel fine. For chocolate I stick to one or two squares of 70% or greater which has a minimal effect on my blood sugar. I once did a quick internet survey to see if there were any nutrients I could only get from grain and found none as long as I included veggies especially green leafy ones, meat, fish, and nuts, so I think it's safe to ignore the advice about bread, rice etc. Good luck I think you are on the right track.
thanks sally! i get loads of green and colourful veg as my lunch and dinner is almost always a massive salad. samey, samey... im really a newbie and maybe this is a dumb question, but do you actually bolus f0r salads?
Yes, I bolus for salads. I generally bolus for 10 carbs for a nice size but not huge salad (2 cups of raw vegies).
The only time I run into lows is when I bolus for lots of cooked vegies, like say a stir fry (I'm a vegetarian so other than tofu and maybe nuts that's all that is in the stir fry). I always accurately do carb counts for either a single dinner or stew type things made ahead in larger amounts. I count 5 per cup for raw and 10 per cup for cooked. But as I say at times with lots of vegies the bolus seems to be too much. (Probably because I measure before I cook and some vegies shrink more)
it sounds like when i get out of the honeym00n im g0nna have t0 b0lus f0r everything...really afraid 0f the clinical phase, would just like to stay in the comfy honeymoon bit. i wish i knew how crazy it was gonna get...
if you cook the veg d0 you measure it before or after? i weigh things.
It will definitely be an adjustment, but hopefully you will get used to the new I:C ratios that work for you.
Personally I measure my vegies before I cook, just for convenience. But I think doing it after is probably more accurate. If I'm making a large batch of something that is only vegies, I tend to just reduce the count of each a bit, especially the kind of vegies that shrink a lot like eggplants and mushrooms. Not very scientific, I know. A lot of people say weighing is more accurate, but to me that's more of a pita and when you are using carb counts from lists or labels you have to translate, so I stick with measuring. I think whatever system you use, as long as you are consistent, your I:C ratio will have been adjusted for it.