One of my favorites!!
Me, too. I learned about the value of low carb eating and how to dose insulin for fat and protein. I learned that it was possible to produce relatively flat CGM curves and that I could do it, too. I’ve learned more from my online peers than from any medical professional. I’ve been participating here for ten years now, the first year just lurking. I’ve deeply enjoyed sharing some of what I know with others, especially those more recently diagnosed. It has been time well spent!
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I know I’ve been absent on this thread, but I can say I finally figured out 100% what foods work and don’t work for me and my control! I cannot eat meat. Even with higher fiber, etc. I just can’t eat it as I don’t digest it properly. I’ve switched back to my vegetarian eating, and haven’t had any issues since. I’m coasting most days, around 100, and any spikes I have is usually explained by indulging in a little too much greasy food or sweets. That, and I have also gotten my Tresiba dosed fully figured out (yay, finally!). Just goes to show how different we all are! 
Thanks for keeping this thread going! I’m glad we can help each other out!
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Do you eat dairy?
Pizza is my nemesis! I can eat one slice of thin crust pizza but what’s the fun in that?
I average 80-100g of carbohydrates per day. For me the quality of the carb counts…processed carbs cause spikes and a bounce a few hours later. Sticking to foods that haven’t been over processed and closer to their original form help keep things on a more even keel. I always eat a lot of protein as well and never eat carbs just by themselves.
If I’ve had a rough couple days I just cut carbs down to a minimum for a couple of days which seems to help.
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I concur with everyone saying low-carb makes control much easier than eating normal amounts of carbs and counting and calculating your dose.
My Achilles Heel is snacking - although low-carb helps there too because of the generally high satiety inherent in proteins and fats.
Low carb, low-GI here. I describe it this way as we dont limit our options to high-fat or high-protein – open to both, as long as it results in a low-GI that matches the curve of “R” insulin we use. We do sway towards high-protein, though, most of the time. We get quite excellent control – low std deviation and mostly within range of 70 - 120. Colds, flu, growth spurts are a problem as usual, but due to low-carb, there isnt a huge jump when it happens (almost never over 200), and we can get it under control quickly. A1c ranges from 4.8 - 5.1, and no dangerous lows or highs.
I have tried every diet under the sun. What I’ve finally settled on, and is working well for me (good control and satisfied) is:
Weekdays:
“breakfast”: Grande Americano (black) with 2 Splendas
lunch: leftovers from the night before (minus the salad and fruit)
dinner: protein, vegetables and small portion of potatoes or squash (topped w or cooked in butter), side salad (w homemade dressing) and fresh fruit for desert.
I don’t usually snack, but if I feel like one it’s usually a hard boiled egg or some nuts.
Weekends:
“breakfast”: (same)
my lunches are usually soups and raw veggies with hummus and dinners are either similar to my weekday dinners or some kind of fancy low carb dish (ie: almond flour pizza, cauliflower rice sushi, breakfast casserole, taco salad, etc.) and some dark chocolate.
If I’m working out after dinner I usually don’t have to bolus or I’ll need a very small bolus. Lunch I need anywhere from 2-3 units.
I spend a lot of money at Starbucks… 
Not mentioned was LCHP (low-carb, high protein)… I understand the implied “etc”, but was curious if you had tried that. I define our diet (my son is T1) as LCLGI (low-carb, low-GI – by which I include the options of LCHP, LCHF, and LC high fiber meals). We use “R” insulin, so low-GI is a match for the relatively slow insulin activity (compared to rapid analog insulins). WE do lean toward LCHP mostly as we have a growing boy, but snacks may be LCHF and the occasional high fiber snack or meal.
We have a week to two weeks of very stable numbers… growth spurts and/or colds pose a challenge, as for everyone, but we almost never have anything over 200 and not often lows below 65. Our boy is 11 and almost as tall as mom. No issues there, and no complications. Our Doc has told us she has never seen such tight control in a child and seems impressed.
While cooking low-GI took some research and self-education, eating this way makes everything else so easy and less stressful. BG CANNOT move up very fast (low-GI diet) or down too fast (“R” insulin). I am culinary inclined, so cooking appropriate meals at home isnt such a big deal. I know not everyone is so inclined or has the time/schedule to accommodate such a routine. We are also very fortunate that we operate our own business, a food factory located next door, and are flexible with time… no commute. So yeah, I realize our situation is a bit unique.
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Why would you leave out the butter? I add a tablespoon to my coffee along with a tablespoon of coconut oil and a 1/4 cup of Heavy Whipping Cream.
I stay away from 99% of fruits. They contain fructose, a sugar that doesnt effect BG, but must be converted to fat and stored, before you can burn it off later. The rest of sucrose in the fruit raises BG thereby raising insulin, thereby shutting off fat burning and turning on fat storage. ergo… fruit makes you fat.
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Just dont snack. Snacking or even several meals a day, causes insulin to remain high most of the time, shutting off access to fat stores, making it nigh impossible to lose fat. High insulin is also the cause of heart disease, not fat. Those studies are now showing up. Some very interesting reading there. I would suggest with “The Obesity Code” by Dr Jason Fung. Its loaded with the science, and footnotes to the actual studies. I havn’t read his follow up book, “The Diabetes code”, but its next on my to read list.
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And some say eat only small meals–and that can be more than 3x a day, if they are small enough. I say do what works for you and don’t worry about what others are doing.
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Bob, sorry but I have to respond. I followed Dr Bernstein for several years before I had to get 2 heart stents. My A1c was 4.9 and I was taking 17 units of insulin. I am a type 1.
Now I eat a plant based vegan diet with plenty of fruit. I eat about 300 carbs a day and take 23 units of insulin. I weigh 106.
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Butter and lard and suet are “saturated” fats. Bad for arteries. Better are olive oil, peanut oil, and canola oil which are all “unsaturated” fats. Try poaching slowly an egg in some chicken broth or a splash of milk.
I don’t drink coffee now like I did in my youth. I am sixty years old. To treat all my various ills, I swallow more than 26 pills per day. Coffee is acidic.
I do not drink alcohol, nor use recreational drugs. I do not smoke tobacco. I cannot exercise because I have one broken left foot and a right foot whose Achilles tendon is in a boot because it is close to rupturing.
Treat your diabetes as you wish. A comedian (dont le nom m’echappe) once said that, while they criticise modern medicine as being ‘cookie cutter’, if you took my particular medicines, then you would die, and that I would surely die, if I were to take your medicines. It is cookie cutter, but highly individualized.
I’ve been able to manage my type 2 diabetes for 16 years without medications by following a program that a fellow diabetic using the Joslin Diabetes centre at Harvard University shared with me shortly after I was diagnosed,
First of all, it’s a proven fact that a high fat low carb diet is a major contributor to the biggest killer of diabetics, heart disease. As well a diet high in protein contributes to kidney failure, a major complication for some diabetics. So that was not an option for me. On the other hand, a vegetarian diet which easily becomes high carb was not attractive either, for obvious reasons.
So the program I settled for and followed religiously since I was diagnosed had the following components:
- Getting about 40 percent of my daily calories from carbohydrates BUT slavishly using the Glycemic Index to limit the type of carbs to those with a low GI rating. What that means is that the carbs are digested and processed slowly, allowing insulin and also exercise to take effect and burn them off. There is a lot of information available about the Glycemic Index which was developed at the University of Toronto in the 1980s in cooperation with the Heart and Stroke foundation of Canada who were very concerned about the high number of diabetics who were dying at an early age of heart disease, while following the usual low carb high fat diet common at the time. Typical examples of carbs low on the GI index and therefore better for diabetics than high GI ones, are barley (used instead of rice or pasta), rye bread, squash, Uncle Bens converted rice, green beans. At the other end of the GI scale, ie carbs that in effect are poison to a diabetic, are some dry cereals, in particular Kelloggs Corn Flakes, baked potatoes, white rice and pasta as well as white bread.
- So much for the diet part. The second part is essential to this program but one reason it doesn’t have many followers. To take advantage of the delay in release of carbs into the blood stream due to low GI, you need to be active for about 40 minutes after each meal. No you do not need to life weights or jog, simply walking at a normal pace will do the trick. In those 40 minutes of walking you will burn off the carbs you just ate, as energy, rather than having them floating around in the blood stream causing high glucose readings and eventually being stored as belly fat.
Some people find doing this three times a day, just after each meal, unrealistic. Personally I get immense enjoyment out of those walks and wouldn’t want to miss them for the world!
At the time of diagnosis I was borderline obese at 224 lbs, After six months of following the above rules I was down to 195 lbs and eventually plateaued at 180 lbs. (I am 6’ tall.)
At my last checkup with my cardiologist he said I could easily plan to live to 90 (I am now 68) as long as I stick to the program above.
I barely eat.
It’s the only way I can maintain any semblance of control. My sugars are so random that same food, same dose, same time on two different days can result in me being too high or too low.
Since I had my daughter my sugars are wildly unpredictable. I’ve lost two stone in 18 months and my bmi is now 18. My diabetes clinic don’t care because I’m not having hypos and my a1c is in the 40s.
I can’t remember the last time I sat and ate a meal with my family. If we go out for a meal I don’t eat. I have no idea how people with diabetes manage to eat whatever they want when I can eat virtually nothing.
Congrats on identifying and implementing a system that works well for you and has stood the test of time. While I don’t share some of the dietary conclusions you’ve made, I can’t argue with the obvious success you’ve enjoyed. Your dedication and persistence have really paid off for you!
I share your appreciation for the great benefits of daily walking. I don’t get out three times per day but I only eat twice per day. I started my daily walking six years ago and find it to be an excellent antidote to post-prandial glucose rises. I get out walking 1-2 times per day. I see walking as an under-appreciated and under-used tactic to help with blood sugar control.
While I limit my carbs to < 30 grams per day, none of those carbs are processed or grain-based. They come primarily from vegetables, berries and nuts.
Thanks for posting a detailed description of your successful regimen.
This sounds particularly stressful to me. Eating is not only for nutrition but also feeds the soul with social interaction.
As I’m sure you well know, high blood sugars often lead to low blood sugars and the infamous glucose roller coaster. Have you ever considered using your glucose meter to identify the foods that cause your blood glucose to skyrocket? That would entail checking your BG at mealtime and then 1-2 hours after eating. If you systematically check with your meter and keep written records you will soon see which foods are driving this blood sugar volatility. What I’m describing is often known as “eating to your meter.”
While eating to your meter does not cover all the factors that drive glucose, it can usefully identify the foods that adversely impact your quality of life. The beauty of eating to your meter is that it recognizes your unique metabolism and can identify the best selection of foods for your unique metabolism.
What do you think?
For those who do not have the time or willingness to invest 40 minutes after each meal, for me I have found that 15 minutes per day at elevated heart rate will have the same effect. Elevated heart rate % of max heart rate is different for each person depending on a lot of factors but the easy way to determine if you are gaining the benefit is that if you are sweating for 15 minutes of exercise, you are there. Warm up and cool down time does not count but can be fairly short. Treadmill is one of the easiest, although boring, way to do this year round. I am 70 years old, diabetic for 29 years. My weight fluctuates between 120 and 135 depending on season and exercise and I am 5’9" tall so certainly a different build from Vancouversailor.
I have a libre.
My problem is that I get wildly different results from one day to the next with the same foods. This makes it impossible to manage. Easier just to eliminate food as much as I possibly can.
This does make things more complicated. Have you been assessed for thyroid and/or adrenal function? We are hormone driven systems and it appears there is more going on in your body than the simple interaction between food and glucose levels. You may benefit from a doctor who is not only curious but persistent as well. I wish you the best!
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