Vegan, Type 1 and my numbers

[Marie20]

@Helmut I agree probably lower is probably better, we all know the doctors are paranoid about lows and you really can bend stats to whatever result you want out of it.

I just think that someone that is within the 6.5-7.0% range might be okay in the scheme of things and that if they are happy with that range and it keeps them out of hypo’s that they can be okay with that. And most doctors will tell their patients to aim for under 7%.

But for those that can and still keep good control, lower is probably better.

[CJ114]

@Marie20

I just think that someone that is within the 6.5-7.0% range might be okay

A1C for most diabetics is just a number. It does not reflect the highs and lows that got them there and unless they are having their A1C performed by a lab that has their equipment regularly tested and certified, the A1C these patients are getting is only accurate within .5%. If a person is on a Dexcom CGM, comparing Glucose Management Indicator, although not perfect either, will be a much more accurate comparison to another patient also on a Dexcom. Then there is the Standard Deviation which is just as important.

[Helmut]

@Marie20, I have no idea whether 6.5-7.0% is ok for everybody else. It was definitely not ok for me. I don’t fault doctors for being paranoid about lows. I am trying to go as low as I can while minimizing severe lows. How did I come up with a number? I figured that I wanted to stay 2 standard deviations away from a severe low. My SD is 20. 55+2 *20=95. Thus I am shooting for an average BG of 95 and I am right there. When I was on MDI without CGM my SD was 50. It would have been irresponsible to attempt 95 at that time. 55+2*50=155. I ran my A1C much lower than that and had quite a lot of severe lows.

[Marie20]

It’s good for people to hear what wasn’t okay for them and what standard deviation even is. I didn’t have a clue about what it was before my first CGM.

[Jen]

I’m glad your diet is working so well for you. Thanks for posting!

I am not vegan, but my diet is fairly close out of necessity, as I can’t eat dairy or eggs, can’t eat most processed meat, and choose not to eat much red meat. So I eat chicken and fish and otherwise vegan (I do eat things like gelatin on occasion).

I am still striving for control as good as yours!

[Marie20]

Just wanted to add the last couple of weeks.

And of course I prefer the more 100% graph I keep on my phone to look at, it always makes me happier! But it is for 65-160 daytime range versus the 65-140 that’s above.

!

[Marie20]

Whoo Hoo!!!~~~

My A1C was 5.1% on 11/6!

I knew it would be lower, but I was expecting the 5.7-5.9% range. A combo of lower or no DP for the last few months. Although it can’t make up it’s mind completely!

[Helmut]

Fantastic. I had a feeling that the many 100% days would translate into a good A1C.

[Marilyn6]

That is great Marie!! Good for you!

[Marie20]

I had my endo appointment today!

I took her my reports. All the Clarity reports of 14 days which she requests, but I also took her 30 and 90 day summaries to show I’ve been at 99% in range of 65-160 during the day and 65-180 at night! Less than 1% of any high or lows combined. I did not want her to question my 5.1% A1C.

The first thing she said was well I see you are lower and she looked at my reports sitting there and on the first page I had the summary of 99% time in range. And she said it looks like it belongs on the cover of a magazine. You have really good control.
This is very good! It looks like a normal persons!

Happy!

[Marilyn6]

So great Marie!! This vegan had an A1c run this morning and it was 5.2. We rock this way of eating!

[Rwaz]

BTeach me your ways! My BGs and insulin sensitivity definitely benefit from this WOE, but I struggle with finding meal options and keeping weight up since this WOE is generally lower calorie than others.

I’d appreciate any tips!

[Marilyn6]

Rwaz, not sure if you are asking Marie or me, but since you have really increased your insulin sensitivity I assume you are eating very low fat. Both ways of eating are very good, but I will tell you the kinds of foods I eat. Most everything I eat is made from scratch with unprocessed organic foods.

My husband and I cook large pots of food and eat them for several nights. Examples of what we eat are recipes like

1. Sweet Potato Dal
2. Chana Saag- A North Indian spinach dish with chickpeas.
3. Skillet Refried Beans- no fat with rice
4. Indian Spiced Chickpeas and Kale

Those dishes are from Everyday Happy Herbivore

1. Minestrone Soup/Stew with potatoes and pasta.
2. Pumpkin Chili
3. Potato Leek Soup
4. Sweet Potato Squash and Black Bean Enchiladas

These are from Thug Kitchen Eat Like You Give a - - - -.

My husband can’t digest beans well so he eats a lot of sweet potatoes since he really likes them and of course salads , vegetables and fruit.

We use no oils of any kind. We do use flavored balsamic vinegars.

I eat several Garbanzo Bean Chocolate Cookies every day. If interested I will post the recipe.

There are lots of good vegan cookbooks out now. Most use more fat than I like, but it is easy to substitute broth for oil to cook vegetables for example.

In the summer we eat large salads with beans etc.

If you are losing too much weight you might not be eating enough. I lost 10 lbs at first, but stay right where I should weigh most of the time. You can eat a lot of food with this woe.

Recently I have added a few walnuts to my bowl of oats grouts and fruit in the morning. I also have started eating a few low fat rice crackers and half of a low fat pita once in a while.

My husband likes to freeze bananas and flavorings and put them in the blender to make a bowl of ice cream.

We use a lot of nutritional yeast, pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed kernels.

Hope this helps a little bit.

[Marie20]

Hi @Rwaz I eat what I want. But I am retired so I don’t actually eat a lot.

A newer site I really like that has some easy and delicious recipes!
Sign up for her free e-mails to get new recipes every week.
https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/recipes/
(The toasted tofu cubes coated in nutritional yeast and then baked is really good and easy! Great to snack on or add to dishes)

To stop weight loss you have to add more calories of course. If you are not low fat, it’s easier with some fats. Avocados, nuts (guacamole, pates etc). The other way to add more calories is adding extra shakes, make sure they are extra and not a substitute for eating, they can be nutrient dense.

I do a lot of veggie bowls. I like easy, so I will take a bag of frozen mixed veggies and add either seitan, tofu, tempeh or a fake meat. Then I will add either gravy, parmegan (nuts and nutritional yeast powder) Braggs aminos, vegan cheese etc to change it up. What I don’t finish makes a great easy grab snack.

Today I had a large veggie bowl, pineapple and a cookie, some crackers with vegan herb cream cheese, soymilk and cashews. Yesterday I had Baked Beans with fake hot dogs, A fake bologna sandwich on an english muffin with some leftover stir fried veggies. I already spotted the veggie meatballs in the freezer and will probably have those with spaghetti tomorrow. I also have some fresh green beans and asparagus to cook from the farmers market and another pineapple to cut up.

I seem to thrive on my mixed veggie bowls and I love the fake meats, Gardein, Beyond Meat, Sweet Earth, Tofurky, Yves etc. Whether it be mixed in with a dish, deli slices for a sandwich or stand alone as a snack.

As for controlling my BG’s. It’s all in the dosing.

Regular meals I do half my dose a half hour before I eat and the rest when I eat. That way if I don’t finish or add I can adjust the second dose. If it’s a higher fat item I have a tendency to take a dose when I eat and the other half a half hour later. But you have to learn which foods you need to do what with. Some foods could even be 1/3, 1/3, 1/3. Like my veggie pizza.

Prebolus timing is the first big key to keeping my numbers even and not spiking too high…

The second huge thing is my CGM, I have a Dexcom and I tightened my parameters of alerts. I have mine set at 80-130. 80 lets me know I am dropping to much for me and I usually grab a couple of chunks of pineapple or some lemonade, oj etc to level out. A small amount so I don’t turn around and go too high. The 130 allows me to get on my exercise bike to stall a rise until my insulin kicks in enough. Proper dosing though means I usually stay under 140.

When I started with my CGM I just had it set for too high or too low. Meaning once it alerted it was already too late. I figured out that setting the alerts in time for adjustments worked out better, and then the next thing I did is too tighten up those alerts. So say my first settings were 65 or 180, next I changed to 65 to 70 or 75 and then to 80. My 180 got changed to 170 then 160 , 150, 140, 130. That slower change also allowed me to get used to the narrower settings.

The third help is my pump, it allows me to give those small adjustments that I just wasn’t as likely to do before as easily.

I use about 50-55 units total insulin, about 25 is basal and 25-30 bolus for the day. That’s a huge change from when I was on MDI.

[Terry4]

@Marie20

I did not want her to question my 5.1% A1C.

It’s unfortunate that we, as people with diabetes, need to remain conscious of this vulnerability to the idea held by many clinicians that a normal A1c means undue risk of severe hypoglycemia. I was happy to read that your doctor did not adopt this stance. I agree that the obvious and visible data you presented provides a much-needed presence in these situations.

Congrats on your success!

[Jimi63]

Congratulations @Marie20

Your happiness is well deserved - wear it with a big

[Marcia3]

Do you eat grains or bread? Or high fat foods like peanut butter? I tried low fat, vegan and it didn’t agree with me but I think vegan with some fat would be a way I would enjoy eating.

[Edward2]

Marcia, fat is a neccessary macro nutrient, don’t be scared of it, the lies of the 80s fat is bad carbs are good made everyone fat and unhealthy. One of Insulins main functions is it stores carbohydrate as fat, not fat as fat.

[Marie20]

@Marcia I literally eat whatever I want. I know @Marilyn is more insulin sensitive than me with a low fat diet, I use about 50-55 units of insulin a day and she uses less than 30 I believe. But in general I don’t eat a lot since being retired although I never limit whatever or even whenever I eat, the whenever is the most controlled factor as I always want to prebolus, but I will say to heck with it when I want to.

So yes I eat grains, breads etc, it’s usually sprouted bread, whole wheat pasta for the most part, but if I want regular pasta I eat it. As long as it’s strictly vegan for me.

So over the last week I’ve had things like fake mac and cheese, lasagna, fake turkey salad on whole wheat bread, almond butter on toast, lentil soup, veggie bowls with seitan, tofu etc, veggie stir fries, fruits, blueberry muffins, apple raisin muffins ( I have a girlfriend that just sent me a box full of homemade vegan muffins of a mixed variety) and even some cookies and always some dark chocolate!

I have found it boils down to timing and control of when you are going to eat. I prebolus on my normal foods half a half hour before I eat and the other half when I eat. The higher fat items are trickier or higher carb with a little more fat. I usually set a timer for either 20-30 minutes on my phone so I don’t forget to fix my meal or eat so the timing is right.

Learning the fat timing is trickier, usually if it’s high fat I will bolus half when I eat and the other half a half hour after. My insulin pump and CGM are extremely helpful for this. Because I keep an eye on my BG after I eat, especially if it’s fatty foods in case it looks like I need more later. Some foods I have down, like a piece of chocolate I just bolus for it when I eat it and I get no spike.

And I keep an eye out anyway, because how much I ate and what carb content there is can be close guesses? So those muffins I got sent? She makes them with agave and/or raw sugar and halves the amount because she knows I like them less sweet, they are cupcake size and I usually only eat half of one at a time. But she also will randomly change the recipe to “better” it. So how many carbs lol??? I’m guessing about 15 for the half and that seems to be working for the most part.

So the simple answer is yes I eat grains and pasta, fats as long as it’s always vegan for me.

[blizzard2014]

You can eat a lot of ow carb sweets and still be vegan. You can use almond flour to make cookies and cakes with cocoa. You can cut carbs where you can. I know fruits are not carb friendly, but they are really good for you. I have been having digestion problems so I ate a salad the other night along with 5 apples. I used 30 units of insulin to correct the BG spike from the apples and I finally went to the bathroom the next day. The skins of the apple are good for you. Also, a vegan diet really protects from heart disease. That is why I despise the Keto diet. How can people say an apple or a banana is not good for you. So many good foods. I hope you get your numbers under better control.