Hi Marilyn…I have been reading your posts. Not sure if they are old or new. I’m not very tech savvy. I would love to be consistent with the Mastering Diabetes plan, I want to stick to it but fail so miserably all the time. I can’t just eat above ground vegs and meat…I don’t feel well nor satisfied doing that. But the roller coaster with the HCLF plant based eating is driving me nuts. AND I keep thinking I have to get protein from some animal source and omegas and calcium, as I have bone problems. Do you still do this way of eating?
Hi Stewey, I have been on the Mastering Diabetes way of eating for at least 5 yrs. I love all of the food, so I don’t have a problem with it at all. Protein is easy if you eat legumes which I do everyday. My protein levels are higher now than when I was eating low carb. I haven’t consumed any meat or dairy for years. My blood work comes out better eating this way. My cholesterol results are excellent.
Have you taken the training for the diet or bought the book? Both are extremely helpful. I am seldom on a roller coaster eating a HCLF diet, but I am really good at sticking to diet plans, so that makes it easier to stay on track. If I didn’t make cookies using foods I can eat, I would have more of a desire to cheat, because I do like desserts.
This is a very healthy way to eat, and since I have heart stents, because of time spent on the Bernstein diet, I feel I am doing everything I can to have a healthy heart.
I do take B 12, and a multi vitamin which does have calcium. I also take a prescribed form of fish oil for my heart because I cannot take statins.
Feel free to ask me specific questions and I will answer them if I can.
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I also do this diet for about a year. However, I am not quite so stringent on the low fat. I still eat small amounts of lean chicken and turkey.
They way I manage it, I feel good and my sugars are pretty good I’m usually in the 94% time in range and my last a1c was 6.1%
I also didn’t do it all at once. I just started little by little dropping a lot of the animal products and fatty things like nuts and avocado.
I eat soy for protein but I feel better with a small amount of chicken twice a week.
I eat this way mostly because I feel good eating like this not for any other reason. I found that it’s something I can stick to.
I also find myself eating vegan meals more often and I enjoy it and even prefer vegan restaurants.
If some animal products gets into my food in a regular restaurant, I do t care too much.
For me it’s a rule of thumb. But as I do it, I tend to move toward it a little more and more.
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Thx Marilyn for your response. I have the Mastering Diabetes book, and bought the Do it Yourself program. One of my biggest problem is being hungry a LOT and also the minimal intake of fat. Also the peaks after meals. I just had brown rice and red lentil stew made with split red lentil, tomato, butternut squash and curry powder.I used a spray of avocado oil to stir fry the vegs before. Tasted yum but my glucose shot up to 13.7 from 8.1. Grrr…
Anyway I do prefer to eat this way. So I’m going to make an increased effort again to cut way back on the fat as I really looooove avocados and nuts. These I have to cut way back, I know…
Thx for your response and I will update in a couple days. Thank you very much for the encouragement.
Thank you Timothy!!! Great A1C. I’m at an 8.1😒. Been around that for about a year. Before that 7.5 to 7.8…so you see I have to get this under control. I like your approach of easing in somewhat. That may be more manageable. Thank you for your input. I’ll be trying again and will post my progress.
Stewey, since you are hungry, I wonder if you are eating enough. I am almost never hungry, because I feel like I eat a lot of food.
I can see a few reasons why I would have had problems with the meal you ate. First of all, I can’t eat rice without it shooting my glucose levels up. You will find certain foods that just do that. You can always bolus enough pre meal insulin so that doesn’t happen, but I find it easier to just not eat that food. I would substitute with quinoa which I can easily handle.
Also I never use oil, but use broth to cook with. I am careful where I allow fat into my diet. Today I ate pumpkin seeds with dinner, and I had a couple of walnuts with my oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. Most foods including legumes and vegetables have some fat in them. If I eat avocado, I just eat a little and not half an avocado. The cookies I eat have a little fat.
I would have had a large bowl of the lentil stew, a bowl of salad with a homemade no fat salad dressing and maybe a teaspoon of pumpkin seeds. I would have a couple of garbanzo bean cookies or another homemade low fat dessert. To me that is a lot of food, but I am 71 yrs old and may not eat as much you do. Oh, I would also have had a low fat tortilla. I would need to bolus 3 1/2 units of Novolog with this meal and my glucose levels would probably not rise much at all.
After breakfast and lunch I usually ride my exercise bike for 30 minutes. I try to always prebolus to avoid rising very much after eating. I also try to figure out how much insulin I need for the food I am going to eat to avoid going too high after a meal.
I try to stay between 65 and 140. I am far from perfect. Today I didn’t prebolus for lunch and my glucose level went higher than I like after lunch. The other day my Tresiba just didn’t work and it took me hours to figure out what was going on. I was on a rollercoaster for about 24 hrs. Sometimes I do really, really well, and sometimes something comes up and I go either too high or too low.
Edit. Ok, I was looking at a conversion table. I almost never eat unless I am under 100 which I think is 5.6. If I eat when I am higher, I will spike after a meal unless I give a larger pre-meal injection.
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Wow Marilyn6, you eat a lot and only use 3.5 novolog…wow…I have an i:c ratio of 1:4
I would have to take so much insulin. I am 64 years old and type 1. I would love to eat as much as you without worry.
But thanks so much for breaking down my meal and giving me ideas. This is awesome. I’m really grateful.i feel armed to try again tomorrow. I should sign up for your class😊.
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I can usually eat 25-30 carbs per 1 unit. I can eat almost 10 times as many plant based carbs on this diet than when low carbing on the same amount of insulin.
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Are you taking insulin before meal? If so, how long between insulin and start of meal? Many wait 20-60 between injection/bolus, depending on BG at pre-meal time. If using insulin, some newer insulins kick in faster, so can reduce wait time.
That’s been my plan and advice to others.
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That’s great.
Hi MMI, I do take novorapid before meals. I do need to wait 15-20 minutes before eating Endo says, but sadly oftentimes I don’t…
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Stewey, if you wait the 20 minutes and wait to eat until you are under 100 you should see a great improvement in your after meal glucose numbers.
I often only wait around 10 minutes to begin eating after injecting insulin in order to not drop too low before the food I am eating causes a rise.
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Thx Marilyn6. This morning was much better. Took my usual bolus and waited 23 minutes as the trend started to go down. When i bolused i was at 10.5…now 90mins after and i am 7.8…yaaay…i hope this holds. Thx.
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I want to add this link from Alan Shandley’s blog on eating to your meter.
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Thx, I just read the blog. Very good info.
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That old 2006 post sums “eat to your meter” well.
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Haven’t heard that term mentioned in awhile, but absolutely works. Except now also, “Eat to your cgm, and let the pump help out” !!
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I basically follow the Keto diet and it makes everything far easier. I’m working on a website to show how I do it but in the interim happy to offer any suggestions that might help. I ingest about 20 digestible carbs/day and I don’t feel like I’m missing much tbh!
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