I am adjusting to cutting carbs and sugars from my diet. I wasn’t a big sweet eater before, preferred savory foods really, but a small bowl of ice cream was a treat every now and then, or maybe 2 cookies with a cup of decaf black tea as I watched an evening tv show. Or popcorn, air popped with butter is my favorite. On ocassions, I’d add some grand marnier to my tea. None of this was regular but I’d do one of them 2-3 nights a week.
Since changing my diet, I’ve been really hungry, but that is shifting a bit. However, nearly every evening, I find myself wanting something sweet, which is new for me. And I cannot think of anything satisfying to allow myself to have.
Also, I think I read in some discussion that eating after dinner is problematic. Is that accurate? Do many of you finish dinner at 6pm or so and not eat anything until breakfast the next morning? What does a snack in the evening do?
The one evening treat I really miss is popcorn. I’ve read that 3 cups is ok to eat… but again, what is the impact of eating it in the evening, after dinner, as a movie treat?
There is Jenny’s comment of letting your meter deceide what you can eat and what you cant not the ADA. You could try different evening snacks and see what happens during the night and in the morning. Not sure that low carb high fat works because it may cause a lot of glucose to be stored in the liver and spewed out in the morning.
The Grand Marnier in the tea sounds the best option although it may have a lot of sugar the alcohol is ok. Popcorn is pure blood sugar but then again get a balance and weight everything it could be that the amount you eat is inconsequential.
If you can, do not eat anything after 6 pm that would be best for the diabetes. For moral and sleep I am not so sure.
I have taught myself not to be able to fall asleep without eating, a very bad idea since it will give you high sugars all night and into the next day
Corn starch once it hits the saliva in the mouth will turn into glucose immediately. People here dont like the omega 6 fatty acid that corn oil has a lot of.
Depending on your digestion, it’s best to eat dinner 4-5 hours before you go to sleep.
Some people have better morning fasting numbers if they eat a high protein/low carb snack before bed. Something like a small piece of cheese, nuts, peanut butter. Doesn’t help if you want something sweet:) For those with dawn phenonmenon, eating slowly digesting protein can keep them from going low which causes the liver to dump glucose.
You can make low carb cookies using golden flaxseed meal, almond meal or coconut flour with an artificial sweetner or stevia. You can also make your own low carb ice-cream using heavy cream, just don’t eat too much.
You can try eating popcorn & keep testing to see what it does to your BG. If you use a lot of butter, that will slow down the digestion of it, but it will hit your blood sooner or later. Grains are pure carbs.
Grand Marnier (yum) is pure sugar, like any liqueur. Distilled alcohol has zero carbs.
Everyone has a lot of good comments on here for you.
My thrust here is that your own body will tell you after you test - after you eat (and keep a record of it). Examples: I only get hungry in the evening when I’m low in relation to what I’ve been during the evening, so 5 grams of pnut butter on one cracker pulls it out of the 80s, where my hunger starts. I reset my hunger-start-point from 65 by never letting it get down there. That also lowers my stress before bedtime.
I can take up to 1/4 cup of plain cooked popcorn, but then I test 135 in the morning! So that’s too high for me. When I sit with others eating popcorn, I get a 1/4 cup measure and fill it half way. Or I get up and get out of the room til I’ve controlled my urge. I know I won’t be happy in the morning.
I think each person has to treat themselves, write down in a book with the date the amount one ate and what test resulted an hour later, and then decide if that’s a useful food for that time of day. One can put one’s target at 100-120 and keep it there only by a lot of these kinds of tests and decisions about other actions to take.
Another example I’ve had is that I took a 1/2 apple before bedtime (at 80) and I went to 69 during the night! I’ve done that repetitively. Fruit in the evening is not for me. I wake up at 69. 15 grams fruit doesn’t hold me as much as one 2 gm cracker.
Of course other factors are at work all the time! You can’t control them all, and I’ve sure tried to control variables before testing.
With a cracker of course, I have to fold up the top of the inside bag and put a clip on it inside the box and put it in the cupboard and close the door before starting to put on the pnut butter. I slow the routine. A triscuit puts me up 24 mmdL, good for the night. It’s enough to put the thought of food out of my mind.
I rarely eat dinner before 7pm, and sometimes as late as 9pm. Lots of times if I do my 2-hour post-dinner blood test and it’s OK I have a little snack, like one small cookie (10 grams carbs or less) before bed. I haven’t ever noticed any change in my morning numbers that I can trace beck to when I eat dinner or whether or not I have a snack. But everyone’s different… I echo what Anthony says, “eat to your meter.” Have your popcorn one night early enough to check your BS two hours after you eat it, and see if it causes any problems. Then check in the morning again. If your numbers are OK, it’s fine!
If you enjoy ice cream, try some no-sugar-added cool whip sometime. Just stick it in the freezer and let it set up into something that’s kinda like ice cream. I like that for when I’m looking for something sweet, since it tastes good and isn’t loaded like ice cream. Just watch the portion sizes and you’ll be fine.
For me 3 cups of popcorn would be the equivalent of a meal’s worth of carbs. For a snack try 1.5 cups and make sure to eat some protein with it.
I do eat before bed, but I am limited on what I can eat. I eat 15 grams worth of triscuits with 10 grams of protein (reduced fat cheese or unsweetened soymilk) - that seems to work best for me. If I don’t eat a small snack before bed I always wake up in the night and can’t get back to sleep.
Everything may change for me soon though because I start insulin next week. The most important things I’ve learned so far is the value of combining protein and fat with carbs and portion size. I think that will still hold true after next week.
Oh and - on the questions of sweets - I have always had a sweet tooth! I now consider most sweets completely off limits. I’ve found if I eat many traditional sweets (even in small portions) I tend to crave more. A few things I like are bittersweet chocolate morsels with smoked almonds and unsweetened soy milk or apple with peanut butter and sharp cheddar cheese. If I do eat regular sweets like ice cream etc I tend to have to make it part of a meal where it is my main source of carbs along with something low carb and bulky like brocoli. Hope this is helpful!
Hi Michelle. I get the evening munchies to and for me popcorn has never been a problem. I eat at least six cups a night and it does not affect my sugars in the morning to the least. You have to really try things and find out what works for you. Best of luck!
Wow! There is a lot of advise on here. Great replies. I am not sure if this was mentioned but I noticed you said you just changed your diet. If you ate a lot of carbs prior to your Dx’d your body will crave them until it gets use to your new diet. Be strong and don’t give in to that sweet tooth. Try an apple, peanut butter or cheese…protein tends to stay with you a lot longer and doesn’t spike your bg’s.
As for dinner I don’t have a set time. If I eat later in the evening I’ll eat a low carb meal. If not I’ll have issues with the Dawn Phenomenon.
