Quick question?

Type 2
41

I have heard of it but didn’t know anything about it. I just googled it and read a few of the hits that came up. Since my pancreas is functioning normally and my main problem is that I am insulin resistant, it appears that the ingredient in Glucator2 that would help me the most is the cinnamon.

Any supplements that I might take are secondary to my two main tools which are diet and exercise. I was very overweight at dx. I now weigh exactly what I think is perfect. I too had trouble stopping the weight loss and struggled with adding calories that wouldn’t push my BS or cholesterol up.

I changed my diet…again…and I changed my level of exercise. It worked and I am no longer loosing weight.

On a different note…when I was first dx, my dr said that I should aim for a 115 to 130 bs level one hour after eating and that is exactly what I did until I educated myself. I believe that because the range that I was aiming for was high, I routinely found myself with numbers higher than 140. After all that I have learned about diabetes, my body and what specific foods will do to me I have a hard time understanding why a person who’s disease is in the early stages should not aim for non-diabetic levels. My goal is non-diabetic levels and for me that means very tight control through carefully monitored carb intake.

For whatever it is worth…I think you are doing exactly what you should be doing…conducting tests to see how your body and bs reacts to specific foods. I believe this information is required before knowledgeable decisions can be made when developing a health (life) plan that gives control back to us rather than letting the D control us. The only suggestion that I would offer is to change your goal range…shoot for non-diabetic levels. I say this because I believe if your disease is in the early stages and you have no other underlying health conditions, aiming for non-diabetic levels may help to make sure your disease is not a degenerative disease…effectively preventing the life altering conditions that diabetes causes.

Warm Regards and Good Luck!

42

Paul, I read your statement about what you ate for breakfast. It appears that every thing you ate were carbs. You may want to add some protein to your breakfast. If your cholesterol is in an acceptable range,try some eggs.Also consider what Joe-h suggested. Let me know how it works out. Good luck. Pete

43

Hi Gerriann,

Thank you for your comments… I think I am slowly starting to understand what is happening with the different foods I am eating (after many finger pricks) but I still think I have a lot to learn about diabetes.

When you say you are aiming for non-diabetic numbers 1 hour after a meal what would that be? I thought if it was approx. 120-130, 1-2 hours after then that is a non-diabetic number? I could be wrong?

Thanks again, Paul

44

Hi Peter,

Yes, I have been told this before so I am going to give this a try. Did you mean eggs with the cereal? Or just the eggs on their own?

I have have had eggs, ham and a couple of pieces of fruit for breakfast and my numbers were very good…

Thanks, Paul

45

>I know I’m rambling a little here

That’s what we are here for :slight_smile:

> I had a Caesar salad to start and then a burger and yes, fries… I was only going to have a couple but >ended up eating about half of them. I only had half of the whole wheat bun also. When we got home I >tested myself at the hour mark and I thought I would be over the top but I was 130. Its amazing that 1 cup >of Special K with 1 cup of soy milk sends me to about 175 but the burger and fries 130…

You may have done this, and simply not mentioned it, but what was your BG level before the dinner, and before the Special K? If you don’t know where you were, you don’t know what the food did to your BG levels. I know in my case, sometimes, my BG isn’t where I think it is due to stress, or failure to exercise enough, so its not possible to compare two different meals, unless you can say how many points each one added to your BG level. Plus, time of day can have an effect as well.

So many things to learn and remember, my brain is about to burst and I have only been at this since July :slight_smile: I am learning to make notes not only of my levels, but of “how many points does this meal add to my numbers, at what time of day?” because as I think I said somewhere around here, if I test before dinner, and I am say, 85, I intend to eat and get full, whereas if I am higher than that, I will have to take a few things out of the menu, or risk spiking over 140, so basically, its more a matter of (making this part up) my dinner will push my numbers up 35 points, so where am I, and do I have that much headroom at the moment? Most would call that “eating to your meter” Seems the logical way to go, to me.

I also think that in my case, and maybe yours as well, the partial whole wheat roll slows down the release of the carbs/sugars into your system which can help you stay low, just takes longer to get all the way back to normal.

Hope that makes sense. The actual numbers vary for everyone, but knowing what a granola bar will add, can tell you if you can have a granola bar or not. If I have one in the AM, wow, I am in trouble. Late in the day, I can get away with it as a snack.

Rambling mode off. Sounds like you are doing really well with this. Persevere.

And someone please tell me about oatmeal? What are you eating? Instant, or some concoction that you have to whip up? I never ate it in my life but I can tell by looking at the boxes in the store, its not for me due to carbs, but maybe I am overlooking something or some brand?

John

46

Non-Diabetic range is between 70 and 100. A non-diabetic or non-prediabetic would never go as high as 120.
I have never been lower than 70 and when I am below 90 it is only before meals or first thing in the morning. At one hour after eating, I want to see my bs right around 100. If it is higher than 115, I check again in 30 minutes, if it is still higher than 115 I either get on my exercise bike or take a brisk walk.
I hope your experiment with oatmeal works out for you. Like I said I had to cut it out. I thought that it couldn’t be bad for me because it is inherently good. I was wrong…when I started testing everything I ate so I could build a knowledge base, oatmeal surprised me.

47

John…I’ve eaten instant as well as the old fashioned kind that you have to completely cook that comes in the round box. As I stated in other posts, it sent my bs really high and because it is high-fiber, my bs stayed high for 3 or 4 hours.

48

Hi John,

I didn’t think about the numbers before (too concerned about the spikes) so I went back and had a look. The Special K was 75 and went to 167 = 100 spike and the burger was 64 and went to 133 = 69 spike. I think I’m a little discouraged now? Is a spike of 69 ok? Even though it was still under 140? Or, should I be shooting for much lower than that?

I guess eating mostly vegetables is just something I’m going to have to get used to because they are one of few things that don’t spike my numbers :frowning:

maybe I should be going for a 1/2 hour brisk walk right after breakfast? Here is a quick question. If I did eat the cereal in the AM and then went for a 1/2 hour brisk walk right after and took my reading at 1 hour and it was 120 (ish) would this be ok?

I’ll get the hang of it… Its still only been 3 months for me…Thanks for your comment, Paul

49

Hi Gerriann,

Thanks, I guess I should be shooting for lower numbers then. Here I was thinking if it was 130, 1 hour after a meal then that was ok. You seem to be concerned when its over 115…

It looks like eggs and deli meat will be my morning meals from now on because anything with carbs in it are just spiking my numbers too high. I just cant cook a greasy sausage or bacon every morning so the deli meat makes it easier. I wish I could have a piece of toast but that seems to spike it also…

Hmmmm… Some days I feel down and some days I feel like I can handle this… Its tough but I have to get it under control…

Thanks again, Paul

50

Hi Gerriann,

Oh well, I guess the Oatmeal test wasn’t very good. Fasting was 95 and I was 144 at the 1 hour and 142 at the 2 hour time (this also included a 1/2 hour brisk walk after 1 hour)… So it seems that, like you the fiber has kept it high because I’m usually down by the 2 hours… I didn’t really like it that much anyway, it wasn’t as good as a bowl of Cheerios :(…

I think I will be sticking to eggs, meat and a few cut pieces of fruit for breakfast. Are you worried about the higher levels of cholesterol in the eggs/meat etc?

Thanks, Paul

51

My favorite breakfast is eggs, meat and a slice of toast, usually low carb. A single slice of toast, even regular bread is 15g of carbs. If you count your carbs precisely, you would likely find that at most each gram of carbs will raise your blood sugar perhaps 5 mg/dl, hence 15g of carbs would raise you at most 75 mg/dl. If the carbs are low glycemic, or complex, or if you eat the carbs mixed with protein and fat, the blood sugar effect will be blunted. If you are a type 2, you will have some insulin response and you won’t spike as much. If you eat a cup of oatmeal alone, it has perhaps 40-50g of carbs and could raise your blood sugar 200-250 mg/dl. You obviously did not see that high a spike, but you see the point. Your blood sugar will rise proportionally with the dietary carbs that you eat.

But keep this in mind. Eliminating all carbs is not necessarily the answer, limiting the carbs is the key. Have a piece of toast with breakfast, just don’t go overboard. The fruit is fine. Perhaps having steel cut oatmeal and limiting it to a half cup will be ok. You do want some insulin response, it is what channels the nutrients into you body, you just don’t want to overwhelm things.

52

Hi bsc,

Thanks… What kind of toast would you consider low carb? Is it a certain brand or do you mean rye as opposed to whole wheat?

Just lately it seems that whatever carbs I consume spike my numbers to the 120-150. Now I’m reading that 115 is possibly too high?

I’m going to try a piece of toast with peanut butter on it… As someone commented the protein helped reduce their spike… But I know this may not work for me…

Thanks for your comments, Paul

53

that’s the really annoying thing about diabetes what works for me may not work for you (in fact some days what works for me doesn’t always work for me) it’s a lot of trial and error and adapting to what is going w/ your sugar levels

54

Paul…I completely understand how you feel. After you have your knowledge base of foods built, you will be better equipped to manage the D. Hopefully, it will help you feel less down and more in control. It’s important to keep in mind that there will be days where your bs will have a mind of its own…you will have done everything right and still it goes high. When that happens to me, I look at the day to try to determine what might have happened…there are lots of things other than food that affects bs. Then if my schedule permits, I get on my bike or take a brisk walk…that will always bring my sugar down. Then I move on and forget it.

I am concerned about the higher levels of cholesterol, so I limit myself to two whole eggs per week. I will use one whole egg combined with more egg whites. Most mornings I eat Special K Protein Plus cereal (I don’t drink the milk that remains in the bowl), one cup of coffee with half and half and a protein drink. If I have some fruit, I limit it to about 1/2 of an apple or a small amount of berries (blue or strawberries). Watermelon is good too. I love bananas, they don’t like me. If you really want the cheerios, work them into your menu and plan to exercise immediately after eating. TEST it and see if you can make it work. If your like me and insulin resistant, the exercise helps to unlock your cells and allows the glucose in.

The protein drink I use is the Jay Robb Whey Protein. It is sweetened with stevia so it has just 1 gram of carbs. I make it with just ice water in the blender. I’ve tried the chocolate (I like this the best) and Tropical Dreamsicle. I’ll add just a little bit of Sorbee’s Sugar Free Chocolate Flavored Syrup so the chocolate flavor doesn’t seem quite so thin. The protein drink is not what I would have chosen if I was not diabetic…but I am diabetic and the drink works for me.

I eat less meat and more fresh fish. Fish will actually help to lower cholesterol. I eat hamburgers and will skip the bun or just eat half the bun. I also eat french fries, I won’t order them for myself…my husband or son will share with me…this way I don’t eat too many. I like potato chips and I can now handle a handful…not half a bag like pre D. I didn’t begin experimenting with high-carb foods like french fries and buns until after I had tight control for several months. Once your body is used to the lower carb diet, you may find that you can occasionally splurge a little bit without horribly high spikes. I never…ever…eat sweets that are not sugar free…never.

A word of caution…low carb diets are not for everyone and I recommend that you read as much as you can about it. There is a lot of good information on this website as well as on the diabetes 101 website. When I started my low-carb life change I lost a lot of hair and I would occasionally have dizzy spells. Since I was counting carb grams and not calories, I believe I wasn’t getting enough calories. I was always making adjustments and still do. What I have settled on that seems to have stopped the hair loss, dizzy spells and weight loss is this: I try to keep my carb intake around 15 grams at any one meal. However, between meals I will have snacks (mostly nutritious, not always) with 5 to 10 grams of carbs each so my total carb intake over the course of the day can be between 60 and 100 grams. This way there isn’t a large concentration of carbs at any one time. It works for me and I get the calories that I need.

In my opinion, your doing the right things. Continue to learn while refining your plan of attack and test, test, test and test some more.

55

No. 115 is NOT too high. Remember that everyone’s system is different. If you eat and end up staying under 140, you are doing just fine. If you want to eat veggies all day long, you can probably stay under 100, but you will be miserable, and are starving your body of nutrients that it needs. We need carbs. The “experts” report that we need at least 120 carbs per day for proper brain function. Frankly, I think they are a bit low on carbs full time :slight_smile: but the reality is, we need to eat carbohydrates or we will suffer.

Its hard to admit, but sometimes, you will hit 150. If you eat something and a scary number comes up on the meter, relax. Its not going to be the end of your kidneys. Check it in an hour, exercise a bit, and if it goes back down within the hour, call it good, and have one less bite or spoonful next time. Remember that stress adds to your BG levels, so keep things within reality. If someone can eat all the nutrients they need for the day, and stay under 120, that is good. For them. You have to find what works for you.

If you are at 130 after an hour, you did good. Few if any meters are dead on accurate, and you can only do what you are capable of. Try, test, test, try test, and keep in mind the time of day, as well as other factors like when did you exercise, how long was your meal? Sometimes in a restaurant, we might eat very slowly, and take a long time to finish the meal. This can have an effect on your numbers. Not a lot, but it might, so consider it and never take one meal/set of tests, as something repeatable.

I often have a salad for breakfast. Pretty much zero carbs. Odd sounding, but who says you can’t have salad for breakfast?

FWIW, I have a George Foreman grill, and it is great for breakfast meats like bacon, sausage, and even bratwurst. Fairly clean, and simple to use. Its a smaller one, so I can’t load it up with too much bacon :slight_smile: Does 3 slices which is fine with me.

If you have a Walmart (doesn’t everyone anymore?) check the tortilla section. There is a brand around here that is 8 carbs. You can put cheese on it and microwave it, its not so bad to use for sandwiches instead of bread, and it wraps around brats and hot dogs pretty well. Don’t forget about canned chicken (like tuna) I like it with mayo. My friend gives me grief for eating mayo because of the fat and calories. Guess what? I am only human, and can only do the best that I can.

Be good to yourself, but don’t punish yourself if you bump your numbers a bit. Where you seem to be “living” is not too bad at all. Sure, the ideal would be to wake up every day at 75 and never go past 120 like a non-diabetic. Always shoot for the ideal, but realize its just the ideal. Reality says you can’t do that very often.

Can’t help but add that controlling your diabetes is not unlike having a child. There really is no specific manual that applies to every child, you learn as you go. Everyone raises their children differently, and most seem to turn out fine. By the time they are grown up, you have it all figured out, but by then, there is nothing you can do to change anything and what you did with your first child, doesn’t seem to work with your second or third. With diabetes, you figure it out as you go, and in the end, well, you get the point. :slight_smile:

56

As Joe notes, everyone is different and you may find that you are sensitive or insensitive to certain things. Some people are driven crazy by wheat. You need to keep things balanced. The advice from blood sugar 101 is and others suggest that you should keep your blood sugar below 140 mg/dl at all times. You really should not fret over the small stuff. Just worry about your number at 2 hours. Most breads are 10-20 g of carbs slice. You can choose a whole grain, high fiber, low carb and/or sprouted grain bread and you can should be able to find selections that are as low as 5-10g per slice. As you walk the bread aisle, pick up the packages and study the nutritional panel, that is your best guide.

57

Hey Paul…I don’t think 115 is too high… it is higher than I want to be and I actively work to lower it.

For me…115 is too high for a goal.

I like peanut butter on a small apple. Try to find peanut butter with no sugar added.

Keep in mind that lots of vegetables are high carb and all fruit has carbs…some more than others.

58

I can’t recall reading any posts in this discussion that advocated a no-carb diet. There is a lot written by so-called experts about how many carbs the body needs and the minimum will not be the same for everyone. So I would take any statement that advocates a hard number as the minimum with a healthy dose of skepticism.

If my bs is 130 after 1 hour, I would ask myself how much of that hour was spent over 140?

For me and me alone, 130 after 1 hour is not good or acceptable.

59

“You can choose a whole grain, high fiber, low carb and/or sprouted grain bread and you can should be able to find selections that are as low as 5-10g per slice”

If you find any, please let us all know where and what it is. Never seen a slice of bread under 13-15 carbs each. Would like to tho :slight_smile:

I am told Pepperidge Farm has some that is like 10 carbs, but cannot find that anywhere in the Salt Lake City area.

I would worry about my one hour reading, as well as two. Its not unusual to exceed 140 in the first hour, and be way below 140 in the second. That time spent above 140 may not show in the A1c, but it surely is showing up in your organs.

60

Are you on meds? Are you a T2 or T1? What is your latest A1c number? Just curious because if you can eat three meals and stay healthy, and never go higher than 115, you are very, very unique. Apparently, you never eat any carbs?

If you never exceed 115, your A1c should end up around 4.5. Nice going.