Hi All,
I signed up for Seattle Sutton;s Heathy Eating this week. The idea of fixed meals already made for me seemed ideal.
I'm liking it so far, Day 4 but I'm noticing that the simple carbs are a bit high. Anyone else experience this? Do you use a different system for home deliveries?
Thanks,
Tony
I don’t know anything about that service, but I’m assuming it is for weight loss? In general, pre-packaged meals whether for weight loss or just convenience, are not geared to diabetics. Read the package information and see what the carb counts are? You want to stay away from simple carbs, but also avoid meals high in “so-called healthy carbs” as well. You might want to decide what kind of daily carb amount is workable for you and then see if these fixed meals fit into that range. In general the lower the carbs the better for your weight loss as well as your diabetes. As a diabetic it’s easy to get drawn into “healthy eating” that is not necessarily healthy for a diabetic. When I got diagnosed I told my diabetic educator I already ate very healthy and didn’t need to change much. (How arrogant is that when I knew almost nothing about diabetes!). I DID eat healthy, especially compared to your average American: vegetarian, no sugar at all, all fresh and natural foods. But…I ate a lot of pasta rice and bread making my diet not at all healthy for a diabetic! It’s definitely a learning process. Bottom line might be the blood sugar tests you do two hours after these meals. If you are in target, all well and good, if not, then it isn’t a good diet plan for you,
I checked out their web site & their two meals plans. The 1200 calorie plan is 175 carbs. The 2000 calorie plan is 272 carbs. Both are high carb meals for a diabetic.
Thanks. Yes. I kind of figured when I had 2 cookies with lunch and ravioli and garlic bread for dinner. I’ll keep looking.
Tony
Your healthiest choice is cooking for yourself. Tons of great low carb recipe web sites.
Ah but Gerri. There is rub. But you are so correct. Guess I’m looking for a jump start.
Tony
Here’s some inspiration. Most are quick, easy & very good.
I haven’t seen any delivered foods good for us & worth the money.
www.lowcarbcafe.com
www.lowcarbluxury.com
www.lowcarbfriends.com
http://healthyindulgences.blogspot.com/ (the most decadent low carb desserts!)
http://genaw.com/lowcarb/index.html
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/recipes/Low_Carb_Recipes.htm
www.foodnetwork.com (you can search their site for low carb recipes)
Hand hubby a spatula & a recipe. No matter how it turns out, tell him it’s the best thing you’ve ever tasted.
Out here, my next door neighbor uses Scwhan’s (http://www.schwans.com/). They seem to be better than most delivery places, cus you can pick and choose what to get (from some specific entrees, or just the meat, the sides, the veggies, whatever), so you can be more in control of your own carb counts than places who already have a pre-made dinner for you. All that stuff just seems so pricey to me, though… I hate it, but I cook all our meals from scratch.
hehehe that’s about me… except i do frozen veggies. out here they have stir fry veggie only kits for cheap (1.40 a bag), and sometimes veggie only kits with a couple of pieces of pasta in it (that won’t make me spike) for like1.40 a bag, too… lol Toss some chicken in there, and cheese, and I’m golden. hahaha
Thanks TDWQ - It looks worth checking out.
I have that recipe, too… from the Today Show, somewhere… lol
This looks promising.
http://www.schwans.com/liveSmart/diabetesFriendly/diabetesMealPlan.aspx
BTW I just want to thank everyone for responding. I’m a single dad of 4, 2 are in college and 2 in high school. I recently got a little extra money and wanted to treat myself. I’ve been in denial with myu diabetesw for too long. I do kn ow I’m tired of being tired all the time. So I intend to be more involved here.
I’m a vey kinetic learner so I can read something 10 times and not “get it” until I walk through it. This is why lists and menus and task work well for me. Can anyone point me to a “list” of what I should be doing everyday. Such as - How often do I do blood sugar readings, how much exercise? etc.
Thanks for your support.
Tony
i definitely understand the appeal of these systems. I regularly fantasize about having a personal chef who will devise a meal plan for me, make me healthy meals and just tell me how many carbs are in it so I know how much to bolus.
Fact of the matter is, at different points in our lives, cooking everything from scratch can be anything from a joy to unrealistic to a complete burden.I think most everyone knows that cooking from scratch is generally the healthiest and most economical way to eat. I used to love cooking,and am actually pretty good, but now I have 2 jobs, 2 small kids, and a terminally ill father and my time is at a premium. The last thing I want to do is spend hours cooking each week, when I could be spending time with my little ones.
So now I cook, as does my husband, but I wish I didn’t have too. BTW, when he cooks my meals often end up too carb heavy, as he tries but is just not used to thinking this way for himself “nondiabetic privilege” I call it. He has always been able to eat what he wants without thought, and so even when it tries to cook “diabetic” he makes it about halfway.
My husband travels for work for months of the year. When he does and I am alone I eat 4 things
Wow, single father of 4…impressive! Since your kids are high school and college age, maybe they can be included in a project to help dad eat diabetic healthy and improve their own diets/health/weight at the same time! Maybe you can all work together to learn about carb counting and healthy alternatives, rotate the shopping and cooking and maybe even make it a game with a competition for the tastiest low carb menus! I’m a gourmet cook who is mostly retired and have no children so if these ideas are incredibly naive feel free to ROFL.
Well, Tony, the rub of Diabetes is that we are ALL so different in how we respond to food. So, learning how food affects you is going to be your biggest weapon against this disease. You should be picking at least one meal every day, to test pre and postprandially (that is, before eating and 2 hours after eating). You can rotate which meal it is, every day. You can keep a diary, or even an excell spreadsheet if that works better, of what you ate, and about how many grams of carbohydrates, or even exchanges, you ate, and how many blood glucose points the meal made you rise. If a meal spikes you too much, cut back on your portion of carbohydrate… or completely remove that meal as an option if it’s completely undoable. Exercise is a really, really good thing… but you don’t have to start running marathons right away. Simply, an evening walk after dinner is fine. I, for example, walk for a few blocks (casually) in the morning, before breakfast, to get my morning numbers down, and right before bed (also to help keep my morning numbers down). You should also test before bed, and as soon as you wake up… and you can rotate that, too, along with the meal testing… Like say, one day you tested before bed and at rising, one day you tested before and after you ate breakfast, one day you tested before and after lunch, and one day you tested before and after dinner… etc. Other times when it’s appropriate to test: When you feel sick, and off… and when you’re exercising if you are concerned with going too low or too high (especially if you are on insulin, or oral medications.) Then, the other thing to do is DESTRESS! Find ways to wind down, and have fun with the family… meditate, or relax.
So, to summarize:
Do a favorite hobby, or watch a favorite movie, or read a favorite book… or combine a favorite physical activity with “me” time, like biking…
That’s the most basic things… As long as you make some things a routine, they become pretty ingrained habits. And ask any questions you want, in here.
Sunny,
This is a wonderful, very low carb chocolate cake recipe I make all the time. Super easy, too.
CHOCOLATE CAKE–8 slices, 4 carbs each (8.7 carbs minus 4.7 grams fiber)
2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 stick butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup erythritol
Artificial sweetener equivalent to 1 cup sugar (I use zero carb liquid Splenda)
1/2 cup water
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 8 or 9" round or square pan.
Mix dry ingredients together. Mix together liquid ingredients.
Add the wet ingredients to dry & blend well.
Pour into pan and bake for about 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
I don’t blame you…taking care of diabetes takes so much mental energy. I often wish i could eat every few days…having to eat multiple times per day can be really annoying. The thing about the meal delivery is that you don’t have to THINK about it. Your meals are just there, and calorically contained. No planning, no cooking , no clean-up. Yay!
I would look online, read reviews and call places to ask about carb counts. I am sure there is probably a low carb delivery service out there, although who knows about the taste. If you find one that you like, let me know, I hope to do one next summer!
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for all your input! Just wanted to give you an update.
I’ve really enjoyed the prepared meals idea. The strucutre has helped me alot. No more grazing and only a couple small slip ups. Seattle Sutton’s tastes very good but TDWQ was right. WAY TO MANY CARBS and not enough protein. I’m still ini the mode of doing this as I came into a small amount of money and could spend it all on my debt but I choose to do something for me. Next stop. BistroMD.com Their meal plans vary and seem to be diabetic friendly. I talked to their diatecian as the 1200 calorie mark was too low for me and she offered some very easy additions to their plan. It’s a little more expensive but like I said, I’ doing this for me for at least one week. I might do 7 days with snacks, then 7 without snacks then 5 etc.
I won’t get the meals until nexrt Wednesday so I’ll post more then.
Thanks again!
Tony