I left this post on the Type 2 forum and got no response at all, so I decided to post it here. I am Type 2 on oral meds.
I did the low-carb thing a few years ago, with the intention of losing weight. True to every diet I’ve ever been on, I lost my usual 5 pounds and then stopped, but I continued on it for a year because my blood sugars were so wonderful on it. But when I moved in with the man I married a year later, I gave it up because it just seemed too complicated when I wasn’t mostly just planning and preparing my own meals. And while my sugars rose some it wasn’t so bad it alarmed me.
But I’ve struggled the past year, and reading this forum and others linked to it have convinced me I need to go back to low-carbs (I had the ADA type diet down pat and had mostly eaten it since I cooked for my diabetic mother years ago). My husband is supportive if clueless, and I feel I need to go at this gradually so I can figure out ways to make it work for my lifetime, but I would appreciate any hints, ideas, links, etc. any of you can give.
I know what you mean. I have been in and out of a low-carb diet since Manuel got diagnosed… He stays there, but my son and I sometimes just slide out of it, and then come back. I am not specially proud of my lack of constant commitment, but I will not give up.
I have found that it is a lot easier to prepare the same food for the 3 of us, but the problem is to have my son to eat veggies… he is good with fruits and protein, but to have a healthy low-carb diet, you just have to eat lots and lots of veggies… I am still working on that, so we keep it constant. It is the best for everybody in our family, with or without diabetes.
The Zone Diet works wonders for us. Manuel’s numbers are perfect under the zone diet, and I manage to keep those extra 5 pounds off. I am sure it is the best for Santi too.
TIPS: My chalenge it is always time…
Cook some protein on the weekend, so I can use it for quick salads on weekdays.
Pre-wash veggies to it is faster to fix lunch on weekdays.
Have a very light dinner, like salad, a a smoothie (whey protein) or fruit and cheese.
I do low carb which took me a while to realize that this was the thing to do to control my BG better. For me I pretty much gave up bread, pasta rice and potato. I still eat these foods but I eat small portions and not that often. I eat more salad and vegi’s along with lean protein. I have lost 12 pounds which was primarily from pumping insulin and eating more than I really needed. Now I use 10-12 units less insulin a day and my A1c is 5.5.
Andreina’s comments are right on. I would try to reduce items in your diet that are high in carbs. 1 slice of bread is 21 grams of carbs or 1 serving of pasta is 42 grams which is a lot. After a day of eating these foods you start to notice that you can eat something different that does not have all these carbs while filling you up. Whoever eats only 1 serving of pasta anyways-it is so small.
Weigh and portion your food so you can start to identify what you are eating and how much. If you have a steak or a piece of grilled chicken for dinner have a small mixed green salad instead of rice, pasta or potato. Your meal that would have been in the 60-70 grams of carbs is now probably in the 20-30 range because you didn’t eat the starchy high carb food.
Some of the people over on the diabetic newsgroups have found that many types of low-carb diets work better for controlling both your blood sugar and your weight than the low-fat diet ADA recommends, at least for type 2 diabetes and probably for other types that include insulin resistance.
Some sources I’ve found for low-carb recipes include:
If you already know how to access newsgroups (explanation of how takes a while), you might also want to try low-carb recipes from these newsgroups (but you might want to wait for objections to those that don’t qualify as low-carb first)
I am a low carb person:) I tried the exchange when I was first DX’d back in 2004 but it didn’t work for me.
Low carb is so much easier:) I have been Eating a lot more carbs than needed but I am slowly cutting back. I use to only eat about 100 carb per day but I think I burnt myself out. The rewards were much better and I kept my A1C under 6. My Husband was in Iraq and it was a lot easier to maintain the low carb diet.
It is a lot harder to watch and maintain your diet when you are cooking for others. I know it’s harder for me because I have to cook for my Husband and daughter. You’ll find your balance.
I follow low CHO diet whenever I want to reduce my weight.It is steamed vegetables,mixed with fresh salad,few boiled pasta,chicken cubes.This boild pasta 2 spoons satisfy me. It is quick to cook and sprinkle of olive oil is great.
Like you David I learned after a number of years with T1 diabetes that a lower carb diet in the 20-30 gram (or less) per meal range was the way to go not only for better BS control, but also because it lowered my insulin requirements, especially pre-meal insulin bolus amounts. This minimized the # of wide blood sugar swings and lows resulting from over-correcting.
Sohair, thanks for the great idea. I do love pasta, and I could keep some cooked and ready and just throw a few pieces into my noontime salad.
Thanks for the support from others, also. I am gradually getting into this starting today, but using up the other foods I have in the house that I am the only one that has eaten, such as the flavored yogurts, for example, and the fresh fruits. When they are gone in a few days I will go to plain yogurt, and berries to replace them. And I will start substituting tomato juice for my morning oj. I am not going to make huge changes to dinner, at least for now, as that is the meal I share with my husband, but will start going very light on the carb part of the meals.
And I am going, starting today, to keep track of all the carbs in each meal and snack, now when I’m finishing up “old” foods and as I switch to the “new ones.” I also know that I don’t want to feel “deprived forever” of the higher carb things I love, so I plan to once in a while allow a treat, but keep track of the carbs and what it did to my readings so I’ll know what it “cost” me.
And gradually I’ll look for lower-carb dinner ideas as well. Going into this gradually, but for a lifetime. And with eyes wide open for new ideas. This is my plan so far. I know I’ll have lots of more questions for those of you who are veterans at this.
Hi, Judith,
Just when I had all the low-carb cooking down, I got hit with a curve ball. I had some allergy testing done and turns out I have antibodies to all the grains: (rice, wheat, oats, etc.), plus cocoa beans, corn and whey. I was fine with the grains, don’t eat much anyway, but corn is difficult- it’s in EVERYTHING- and whey means no dairy. All the dairy substitutes seem to have something I can’t eat- such as mono-glycerides, xanthum gum or maltodextrin (which are all derived from corn). I have found a recipe for Amaretti cookies, that has just nut flours, apricot kernels and egg whites. I’m hoping that once I remove all the allergens for a month or so, I may be able to add back some foods, though I’m guessing gluten grains and corn will be permanently out of my life. It will be worth it to have an improvement in my other autoimmune conditions, and seems to have already improved my BG.
Just discovered something cool! I have been gradually getting into this, and gradually using up my higher-carb foods I have in the house, and I had on that list some “Cup-a-Soup” packages I had gotten. Went to use one up today, and found that the chicken noodle soup (but not the tomato) is only 9 carbs a serving! (My current goal is to eventually keep whatever item I eat in the single digits of carbs.) I added a can of chicken breast and it made a very hearty soup, and also gave me some (albeit tiny) noodles, and I do love pasta.
