Well I have to admit this short trip is taking a lot of prep work and thinking but I feel ready to take the challenge. I did make a batch of the almond cookies and they are OK. So greasy from the butter. I also packed celery, broccoli, celery and cheese and slim jims and blue cheese dip. Oh my, a weight watchers nightmare indeed. Im not used to all of this fat in my diet. I gained 2 lbs this week. CRAZY. I am taking tuna in the pouch but I just started eating it so I have little concern of mercury at this point but thanks for the warning. I will watch my portions.
So many questions. Tuna comes from many sources. I believe light tuna is primarily skipjack, but may include bigeye, yellowfin, and tongol. The albacore tuna in “white tuna” are larger and older fish and hence have had more time to accumulate mercury.
So many questions Gerri. Doesn’t your head hurt sometimes?
Have I asked you many questions? Just curious what makes canned tuna different. Don’t know what you mean about my head hurting. Not sure how to take that statement.
Gosh golly geez Gerri. You know I am sometimes a big goof. And you also know that asking me questions can often lead to more than you want to know about something.
Hi all. I just wanted to let you know how I did on my little trip. I did NOT go off the low carb die,t however I hated staying true to it. It was like the whole world was against me. I did not have a hot meat meal the entire time. Tuna, cheese, boiled eggs, slimjims, veggies and dip. The one time I went to drive through the chicken ( if it was chicken) was cold and gross. So i am very happy to be home. I should go out and celebrate with a ice cream cone! JK! Thanks for the tips.
You can look up carb counts on an on-line calculator. One cup of almond flour has 20.6 grams of carbs & 11.6 grams of fiber. I don’t subtract out fiber unless a food has a lot in relation to the number of carbs. I do subtract fiber for almond flour, so 1 cup=9 carbs.
Remember that diabetes is a battle of individual will. Nobody can do the things that you consider important. I look at my diet as the result of 60 years of eating what I wanted. It is payback time I don’t mind it all when my wife eats a little Debbies cake or the grandsons come over and she whips out a batch of sugar cookies.
I would see if your doctor will consider Victoza. I am on my third week and loving it. I believe that I have reduced my portions by 75%. I have lost 4 lbs since 7-21 this is slower than some but I am very pleased with it.
I never heard of Victoza. What is it?
Victoza is a new drug in the GLP-1 analog class. The first drug in the class was Byetta. These drugs help improve the secretion of insulin in response to eating. They also help decrease appetite, primarily by delaying stomach emptying making you full. Dr. B actually thinks highly of Victoza (watch the series http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VaNJO7KMgg&feature=related) (Thanks to Paula). I will probably switch to Victoza from Byetta in a few weeks.
I googled the word and the information said that it is for type 2, I am type 1. I tried Symlin for months and it did nothing for me so is this worth trying?
Isn’t increased insulin production part of the problem in Type 2? Obviously no one wants high bgs but coaxing more insulin out of your beta cells just seems like pressing your luck to me. I might be misunderstanding the problem though.
So here is the story. Byetta (and Victoza) have two effects, improving insulin secretion AND decreasing appetite. Byetta (and presumably Victoza) have been prescribed off-label for use by T1s to decrease appetite, I Byetta or Victoza is probably not advisable for a T1.
The GLP-1 analogs don’t directly stimulate the pancreas like a sulfonylurea, they amplify the existing signaling that tells the pancreas to secrete when you eat.
Thanks for the info. I go to my endro tomorrow and I will ask her out about this. She does not even know I went low carb yet. I’m hoping to have a great a1c and when she asks how, I will fill her in. By the way, I have only lost 5 lbs on Dr. B’s diet and that’s since 6/10. Is this normal?
I think people’s weight loss experience will vary on this diet. The studies have shown that low carb or low fat can reduce body weight the same. However, since each gram of glycogen binds with 2.7 grams of water you can lose some body weight by doing low carb like dr. B resulting in depleted or lower glycogen stores. Are you combining the diet with any form of exercise? I saw pretty immediate results but i think it was mostly water weight along with some honest weight reduction due to eating fewer calories by only eating three times a day and bring more satiated with the higher fat meals. I also exercise very intensely. At the end of the day i think it does amount to calories in and calories out. I am not a believer in metabolic advantage.
I’ve had to tred carefully in discussing diet with my doctors. Most doctors are ill-informed about nutrition. They will tell you that carbohydrates are an essential nutrient and that you are going to “die.” Tell your doctor that you are following a carb restricted diet and just don’t directly volunteer exactly how many carbs you are restricting it to.
Dr. B’s view of weight loss is that his diet will generally lead to a natural weight, but that you can adjust your weight up and down by changing the amount of protein in your diet. A 5 lb weight loss is actually great, tho from your post it is clear you had hoped for more. While many find a quick “swoosh” when moving to a low carb diet as Phishery notes, you also need to make sure you are eating “enough.” If you have shying away from fat, you may have severely restricted calories, and your body may be struggling against starvation. So free your mind, free your body, eat the fat.
So to help you do that, here is a cookie recipe:
Low Carb Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups Splenda
1-1/2 teaspoons dark molasses
2 large eggs
1 cup almond flour
1 cup vanilla whey protein powder
1/4 cup oat bran
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
12 ounces sugar free chocolate bar, chopped into small pieces
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat. Beat together butter, Splenda, and molasses until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. In a separate bowl, stir together ground almonds, vanilla whey protein powder, oat bran, baking soda and salt. Stir almond flour mixture into butter mixture until blended. Stir in nuts and chopped chocolate bars. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets. Flatten with palm of hand. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden. Allow to cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet then remove to wire racks to cool.
Makes about 25 cookies, 200 calories, 20g fat, 3g net carbs, 5g protein
ps. And I’ll not comment on the metabolic advantage thing, I’ll leave that discussion to Michael Eades and Anthony Colpo.
Byetta was approved by the FDA in 2005, I’ve been taking it for two years. It appears to be relatively safe (as medications go). Victoza was just approved this year. I feel a lot more comfortable taking Byetta compared to my Actos.
We always need to find a diet that works for us as individuals. If you are unbearably hungry, then eat, just make a good choice on what you eat. I have developed a portfolio of “snacks” I like. I eat a lot of protein. I like cottage cheese, nuts, dried meats (jerky), and canned sardines and herring. Most of which you can carry around anywhere (just keep the sardines in the can till you need them).
Thanks for the recipe I will give it a try. I went to the Dr today. My new A1c is 7.6 down from 8.1. I was happy to see it down but was hoping with all of the changes I made that it would be lower. My Dr could have cared less that I was on low carb. She asked how low and when i told her she had no response. She is leaving her medical group next month and moving to far for me to keep her so maybe she just didnt want to argue about it . Anyhow, now I have to find a new dr that knows how to work with the Minimed pump and will accept my insurance. NOT an easy thing to do but that is another group and discussion. Get this one, she told me to keep my A1c at 7. I said my goal was to get in the 6 area and she said not to! How can I stand it! I can’t say that I’m sad she is leaving only that it will be so hard to find a replacement that I can trust. Oh well, the hunt is on.
If you use liquid Splenda (I order Fiberfit from netrition.com) it has zero carbs, compared to granulated Splenda. It’s very concentrated. A little goes far. 1 TBS Fiberfit=1 cup sugar or 1 cup Splenda.
Check labels for whey protein powder because some have sweetener added.
Sugar-free chocolate bars usually have sugar alcohols. Sugar alcohols can be tricky. For some people, they can cause gastric upset. Some people aren’t bothered at all by a small amount, like in bsc’s recipe. Some people actually can metabolize sugar alcohols. For these people, sugar alcohols act just like sugar on BG.
That is my understanding.