I m doing pretty well on a low carb diet. It is fantastic for my BG control, and I dont really miss things like white bread, pasta or sweet drinks.
The one thing I am really mourning is cake and chocolate and cookies.
I am from germany, and Germans LOVE cake. A piece of chocolate cake with a fresh cup of coffee,, oohhhh...
As of yet, I require very little bolus, so I m not prepared to inject 2 units for my normal meal but 5 units because I have a piece of cake.
Maybe once I m fully insulin dependent that might change.
But until then, does anybody have any suggestions how I could fill that void?
I ve tried low carb chocolates, but I have REAL trouble digesting them, not worth it. I also baked some "low carb muffins" once, with a baking mix I ordered on line...AWFUL.
So if anybody knows some secrets, would be grateful to hear them...:-)
hi julez! i have the same problem. i dont mind the no bread/pasta/rice lifestyle, either. i dont even really think of those kinds of foods anymore. well, not very much, anyway.
i also really miss sweet stuff. i basically eat all my carbs in the form of yogurt, fruit and dark chocolate.
i saw these cream cheese pancakes somewhere on the forum and have tried them and theyre pretty good. ive put a bit of jam on them and also tried some fake "safe for diabetics" nutella-tasted like a mix of charcoal and tree bark. the pancakes take some practice to make! http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2012/01/cream-cheese-pancakes.html.
i also eat crunchy peanut butter and whereas i used to be able to eat loads, its not as easy now. pancreas dying more quickly now...
when i go to america i eat cool whip right out of the container-dont know if they have it in germany. there is also a brand here in spain called bicentury. i dont know if they have it in germany but they make these things called sacialis bars-cookie/cereal-ish bars covered in dark chocolate...12 gr of carbs.
Nah not really I am afraid.
All the low carb, flax seed muffin, stevia type cakes I have tasted I wouldn't give to my dog. But this may have more to do with my baking skills than the recipes themselves ha.
These days about once a month on a Friday after work, I have something I have been craving, be it cheese cake, ice cream, strudel and just bolus for it.. My insulin to carb ratios are pretty good and I can still almost flat line over the two hours using the extended bolus feature on my pump.
I have found that many of the premade low carb "sweet things" are highly processed and made with sugar alcohols. And I'm also not a big fan of the Bisquick substitutes that are so often the key to making flourless baked goods. And as others have said, I have worked hard to break my addiction to carbs and sweet flavors. But that doesn't mean that you cannot have a treat. I have a low carb cheesecake in the fridge. Instead, I like the recipes that are in Ginny's Low Carb Kitchen and Linda's Low Carb. I bet if you look through there, you can find recipes that will keep you sweeted out for many days.
A couple thoughts: one is enjoying the things you like in a much smaller portion. For example, I will often end a meal with just one Hershey kiss, so I end up with the mouthfeel of a dessert but it's only 3g of carbs.
You also might experiment with your favorite recipes a bit. Most of my old muffin recipes do just fine with subbing out whole wheat flour for the regular (which at least slows the spike a little) and reducing the sugar by 2/3 or even less. And when I use the batter to make 18 muffins instead of the dozen it called for, the portion size is more manageable with my blood sugars. The whole wheat flour works pretty good in heartier cookies like oatmeal, so you might try that and make them very small. (No, I'm not munching on carbs all day, I'm just figuring out how to feed my non-D family fun stuff that won't kill me in the process.....) Obviously, these suggestions might not work with you low-carbing it, but sometimes the occasional healthy treat seems worth working into the day.
A last thought - have you tried chia pudding? It's my current favorite healthy dessert. Chia seeds are low in carbs, ok in protein, and high in fiber. When they're soaked with any liquid, they become the consistency of tapioca. So a little chia with beverage of choice (I use soymilk), cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, sometimes unsweetened cocoa, and a bit of sweetener of choice (I use a couple drops of honey or maple, but I've read that stevia and agave work fine) - and it's a lowish-carb pudding! Even with my using a bit of real sweetener, a good serving is usually 10 carbs, 6 protein, which I usually counts as even less carbs because it doesn't spike me much at all. There's some in the fridge right now to have with lunch!
I got these Emerald brand Cocoa Roast almonds that are quite chocolaty but 6G of carb/ serving, pretty much identical to the normal almonds so I don't think they have any sugar, just a dusting of dark cocoa powder. The main drawback is that they are so tasty, it's easy to eat too many of them and end up with an almond OD tummy ache.
Other than that, I'm not a huge dessert fan but will toss a 20-30G of carbs extra if dessert is in order. Probably the main place I eat it is at family events and I think it tends to be a consequence of overstacking appetizer/ dinner boluses and ending up at like 90 w/ 5-6U of insulin on board and then I'll have some dessert. For a while, I'd use white chocolate/ macadamia cookies before long runs but sort of backed off of that.
HI julez- I still have a sweet tooth even after 14 years as a T-1. I do love dark chocolate so that is my sweet treat. At least 72% cocoa. I also love ice cream, but I don't like the "fake ice cream" so I eat a 1/4c of a lower carb flavor. Usually fruit flavors have less carbs. You shouldn't totally deprive yourself of sweets or you are likely to binge on something. We all have this problem, but you cannot spend your life feeling totally deprived.
I eat little squares of 70% chocolate at least a couple of times per day. Each is about 2gm of carb. I also eat fruit - mostly apples and berries - to satisfy my sweet tooth but that would require some insulin.
Some cookies are pretty low carb - around 5gm per cookie for the ones I sometimes eat - and one can be worked into a meal without too much extra insulin.
Small is beautiful when thinking about sweets.
Erythritol is a "good" sugar alcohol. I use it on cereal, with plain yoghurt or cottage cheese if I want something nice and sweet.
To simulate a chocolate cake I would suggest chocolate peanut pancakes:
1/4 cup peanut flour
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1-3 tablespoons erythritol/sugar/other sweetener
zest from 1 orange
enough juice from above orange to fully moisten the mixture
fry on a non-stick pan on medium heat
you can spray with oil or add a tablespoon on oil to the recipie or both
flip when brown - don't cook all the way through
you want the middle nice and moist
The result is a delicious chocolatey orangey peanuty delight :)
They are good with some butter and sugar free syrup. For a more cake-like you can use that dr oetker low calorie mousse. Let the pancakes cool then use the mousse like icing and stack up a few pancakes to make it like a cake.
You can also dice a banana and fold it into the mousse for extra-goodness.
It may be a lot of work but the end result is very low carb and quite good.
Edit: You can also skip the chocolate and do these pancakes with some cinnamon, vanilla and milk/water/club soda instead of the orange juice.
To me the answer is obvious: eat them once in a while - perhaps once every month. Try to eat the thing you like the most. Try to guess the carbs and inject insulin for it. If you fail then use this knowledge next time. Step by step you will learn how to handle it right. With the experience that it is possible your attitude will change. You will think less in cravings for forbidden food but in the price you will eventually have to pay for eating that what you carve for. If someone is offering me a nice piece of cake I think about it rationally: is it worth to eventually have to stay awake into the night for insulin corrections? Most of the time I think no. But sometimes I can not resist and will allow me this luxury. If this backfires with a small spike of 200 mg/dl at the 2 hour mark I am fine with it. If it turns out evil I will have learned another lesson. We can not be perfect all the time but we can try our best to handle our blood glucose - against the odds of life.
omg, i had these at my moms in sc this summer and had the stomachache (not to mention a 200+ bs)of a lifetime. i couldnt move off the couch for the afternoon! i just didnt buy them this xmas-too moreish!
i will def be trying this! thanks!
The absolute best low carb chocolate that tastes like expensive chocolate is ChocoPerfection. No nasty sugar alcohols either to upset your stomach. Expensive, but worth at 3 carbs a bar for the dark chocolate variety. I order from netrition.com.
Easy to make your own LC chocolate by melting baker's chocolate, adding butter or virgin coconut oil, vanilla extract & sweetener. You can also add extracts for different flavors.
To die for decadent LC desserts: http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/ & http://healthyindulgences.blogspot.com Another great one http://mariahealth.blogspot.com/
With you on this one Holger!
hi buckley, may I ask about this extended bolus feature on your pump? I m a pen-injector so i dont know what that means. Would that just mean injecting a regular bolus for me when I have a pc of cheesecake?
When u are having that very special friday, may I ask what works best for you? Something with fruit rather than chocolate? If you can totally go flat with bolusing for it, may I ask why you don't do it more often...like once...a day? ;)
Sorry i m still quite new to all of this
Sure,
Most pumps these days have the following types of bolus as a feature.
"A standard bolus is an infusion of insulin pumped completely at the onset of the bolus. It is most similar to an injection. By pumping with a "spike" shape, the expected action is the fastest possible bolus for that type of insulin. The standard bolus is most appropriate when eating high carb low protein low fat meals because it will return blood sugar to normal levels quickly.
An extended bolus is a slow infusion of insulin spread out over time. By pumping with a "square wave" shape, the bolus avoids a high initial dose of insulin that may enter the blood and cause low blood sugar before digestion can facilitate sugar entering the blood. The extended bolus also extends the action of insulin well beyond that of the insulin alone. The extended bolus is appropriate when covering high fat high protein meals such as steak, which will be raising blood sugar for many hours past the onset of the bolus. The extended bolus is also useful for those with slow digestion (such as with gastroparesis or Coeliac disease).
A combination bolus/multiwave bolus is the combination of a standard bolus spike with an extended bolus square wave. This shape provides a large dose of insulin up front, and then also extends the tail of the insulin action. The combination bolus is appropriate for high carb high fat meals such as pizza, pasta with heavy cream sauce, and chocolate cake.
A super bolus is a method of increasing the spike of the standard bolus. Since the action of the bolus insulin in the blood stream will extend for several hours, the basal insulin could be stopped or reduced during this time. This facilitates the "borrowing" of the basal insulin and including it into the bolus spike to deliver the same total insulin with faster action than can be achieved with spike and basal rate together. The super bolus is useful for certain foods (like sugary breakfast cereals) which cause a large post-prandial peak of blood sugar. It attacks the blood sugar peak with the fastest delivery of insulin that can be practically achieved by pumping."
As for type of food...
I personally find that fruit sends my sugar higher chocolate, dark chocolate, cheesecake type desserts.
I choose to do it once a month or so, because if I was to eat it every day I would no doubt crave it more often and end up eating more. My total daily insulin dose would also go up markedly as would my waist line I imagine :)
Also I like to keep my diet, clean and simple as it just makes life easier for me.
I try to keep between 50-100g a day of carbs and keep my insulin needs as low as possible.
I do this mostly to assist with insulin sensitivity, I also believe that insulin can promote fat storage, generally the less insulin I am on per day the better, as Dr Beinstein said "Big inputs make big mistakes; small inputs make small mistakes"
Hope this helps.
Excellent post Holger! That is what I do as well.
I agree with everyone who said a piece of dark chocolate usually satisfies that craving. But to make it that much more satisfying and not taste bitter if you're not used to dark chocolate, if you eliminate all sugar completely for a few days and THEN have a piece of dark chocolate... HEAVEN! :)