Hi all!
I'm in the process of trying to find a diet that is low card, in order for me to loose weight and will go well with my diabetes,
My sugar levels are always high, so I am hoping this will reduce them.
Has anybody had any luck with anything like this?
Any examples of diets would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Kelly. Did you visit Bloodsugar101.com ? It is a fabulous site where you can discover how to "eat to your meter". This has really helped me. Cheers! Joanne
There's quite a few people that do "low carb" in the 30-70G of carb range, and get very good results. I am a bit over that but have had a decent run of ok A1Cs and feel pretty good much of the time in the 100-130G range these days. Eggs for breakfast are an easy way to cut out stray carbs, smaller servings of lower carb bread at lunch and then go to the meat store to get some meat for dinner? I think there's groups here too.
There's a group: http://www.tudiabetes.org/group/drbernstein too. I read Dr. Bernstein's book and admire his story however I don't do it. There's quite a few people out there doing it.
Many PWD's stay on a low carb diet when compared to someone with a perfectly
good pancreas.
I eat between 90 and 120 grams of carbs and my BG numbers are probably as good
as one could expect and I use a pump and CGMS so it's much easier for me to keep
track of my carb intake and insulin usage.
The low carb diet alone dose not help me loose weight, it takes exercise and reduced
calories.
Try (Calorie King) http://www.calorieking.com.au
Well, I have lots of good things to say about low carb diets, and I think they can be really effective for blood sugar control and weight loss. But they are only part of the story.
Let me ask you. Do you really feel like you have done everything with your insulin regime? Do you carb count and dose your insulin at meals well? Do you have your basal doses set properly? Do you test and correct when you have high blood sugars.
So please, as a first step, think about whether your insulin regime needs some work. And remember this key advice. If you are not carb counting and using fixed doses, you will risk hypos switching to a low carb diet.
Ok, now that I gave you insulin grief. Here is my suggestion. The Atkins Diet, it has worked for thousands, if not millions. It has been studied quite extensively (altho pretty much just in non-diabetics). And best of all, it has lots of resources for what to eat and recipes.
10 or so years ago, I lost 40 lbs eating low carb, and I've kept it off. These days I eat around 30 carbs a day and am happy with my BG and A1C.
I agree, eggs for breakfast, meat for dinner. I make a large pan of egg casserole with cheese, meat, sometimes peppers, etc. that lasts 4-5 days so I don't have to cook every morning.
That casserole idea sounds good jrtpup!
Hi, Kelly,
Check out the Bernstein group on here.
I have found out by eating one item and testing at one and two hours what that item did to my blood sugar and to what extent insulin could handle it, I could gauge whether it was low carb enough for me. Some starches and cereals create such spikes that I have simply dropped them from my diet. Don't be surprised if doing that takes longer than you expect. Our food habits are a real part of our inner workings.
Other items such as veggies have been great: squashes, broccoli, carrots/celery sticks with dip, proteins of all sorts (tilapia, salmon, eggs, ham slices, salads with grilled chicken. I have learned that putting protein with each meal takes away desire for snacking. If you can find a low calorie bread in your area, that helps with sandwiches. If not, a half sandwich reduces carbs and with protein, you'll have plenty of energy.
Go into it as researching your own body's reaction to specific foods, keep a written little book of what happened, and write down what food you'll investigate for the next day. I also found that amounts of certain food, if curtailed sometimes to only 1/4 cup, could be taken, but 1/2 cup was not able to be handled by insulin well.
I have found that all lettuce/tomato salads are at least 18 grams, and I was surprised by that.
Try searching and you'll find snacks, too, that are low carb.
I don’t eat especially low carb (probably somewhere in the range of 150-200,all sourced from whole grains, fruit, veggies and dairy) and my blood sugar is fairly stable. BUT, when I was eating virtually no carbs, maybe 20 or so a day, I literally went weeks without taking insulin and my blood sugar was never greater than 150. The extreme low carb diet doesn’t work for me, because I don’t do well with a lot of dairy and meat but I do recommend it, if you like those types of foods.
Make sure to include lots of exercise too!
As usual, a lot of good advice here.
I have done very well with LC (100 or so per day) There are indeed a lot of great resources for ideas ans recipes here and elsewhere. I would highly recommend that you take some time to research and understand the concepts and foods that make up the low carb menu. Once you have some basic understanding of the concepts you will find it much easier to shop, prepare meals and even eat at restaurants.
Another thing that will be very helpful is if you do not go on a diet. In reality, you want to make a life style change, to become more informed and aware of what you eat. This will help you manage your D, loose weight and more importantly keep it off. Because, in the end, you will be living your life differently and there is no diet that come to an end. In the process you will determine what level of carb intake works best for you. The weight will come off. Maybe not as quickly as you like at times, but it will and best of all it will stay off because you have taken control.
I must also say that low carb is not no carb and is actually a very satisfying way to eat.It truly is not as limiting as you may think. I think most people who have been LC for any length of time would agree that most of the "can't live without it" foods from their past are not even on the radar any longer. Frankly, for me, most of them are very disappointing when I give in and have that bight or two now days.
Good luck and keep up the fight. It is well worth it.
According to the list I have, Leo, raw vegies are 5 carbs per cup. Since the salad bowl I use holds around 2 cups, I always count salads (without any higher carb touches like croutons or garbanzo beans) as 10 carbs and it works right. I also think carbs can get added in from some bottled salad dressings which have sugar. I always use just oil and vinegar at home.
Try mixing blue cheese crumbles into Greek yogurt (3 to 1 mayo if you like) and thin to taste with a little buttermilk. Salt and pepper to taste. S o easy and SO tasty.Great dip or dressing. The yogurt, mayo and buttermilk make an easy base for anything else you can think of (chipotle, dill, ??)
I know we always get bogged down in definitions like this, but I think when most people refer to "low carb" they mean Bernstein which is 30 grams a day. I also eat around 100, which I consider "moderate low". 30 grams is a lot more stringent than 100, and a lot harder, imho. Though I agree with you, Randy, that it is really a question of getting used to a change, as well as past the addictive nature of many carbs.
I have gone back to the low carb approach (about 90-120g per day). I am pretty active and this definitely resulted in some weight loss. It also resulted in (obviously) less insulin each day, and this cut down my huge swings in BG levels. Overall, I just feel better when I stick to a diet that is under 130g carbs per day. Anything over that and I start having larger swings in BG.
I've been D for 5 years and have done varying levels of carbs. What works best for me is 30 carbs per day. It has allowed my body to find it natural weight range which I have maintained for more than 2 days. I am still able to eat tons of calories and enjoy cookies, muffins and even chocolate fudge, all made low carb. My bgs are great too, usually around 100 or below. I use Dr Bernstein's diet as a framework but do what works for me. I started by giveing up classes of foods. I started giving up all boxed cereals, then oatmeal. I then gave up wheat products which cut out a lot of carby foods. I started to use almond flour which opened up a whole new world of recipes for me.