I'm looking for cookbook and meal recommendations for low carb, wheat free, or Paleo. It would be great to have numerous "go to" meal ideas and suggestions. This way, I would have a big bag of "tricks" - some foods and meal ideas that I can "automatically" rely on and turn to when I eat.
Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and grapefruits work well. They don't tend to raise my BG too much. Are there other fruits that tend not to raise BG too much?
If you can give me an idea of what you eat in a day, it would help give me some ideas, maybe generate new ones. I don't want to be too limited and develop some unhealthy attitude toward eating. Because this is all still pretty new (eating and dosing insulin based on the laws of small numbers), I have not developed "variety" or "depth" in what I eat.
I checked your profile. You have no idea what Type of Diabetes you have? You're kidding!?
You don't need special cookbooks. Just limit your carbs to <25 total grams or so per meal.
* Bolus 30 - 45 mins before you eat if your BS is >80 and you have no "on-board" insulin
* Eat complex carbs when you can. No white bread, packaged potatoes, rice, etc
* Test BS a minimum of 8X per day (preferably 10-12) if you can afford the strips.
Are you with me so far? You must be really new to this :(
Yes I am new to this- everything, diabetes, what to eat, insulin injections. I tested positive for one of the anti bodies for LADA. The endocrinologist has not "typed" me as anything except, yeah, you have to use insulin, oral meds probably wouldn't work on you.
Bolus 30-45 min before you eat would work if you know what you'll be eating, and how much. I'm still figuring out/weighing food before I eat. (I often must eat out because of professional/social engagements) Thus far, I tend to bolus at the time I eat, or sometimes as I finish my meal- this way I don't overdose on insulin. From what I've read for better BG control, it is more effective to bolus before the meal. However, to be conservative, I bolus at or after meal. Any suggestions about tactics and strategies would be greatly appreciated.
Okay, you are technically what they call a Type 1.5. However, in reality you are a Type 1.
I heartily recommend skipping the cook book for now. Spend the money first and get the book called: Think Like a Pancreas - By Gary Scheiner. That will walk you through the steps on how to figure out how much insulin and carbs to take based on your weight, etc. This is well worth the $15+ shipping from Amazon, link below. Read the entire book. It is well written for newcomers like you.
Also, go to another doctor if you can. You need to see an Endocrinologist who specializes in Diabetes. General practitioners don't know anything about diabetes. Finally, look to see if there are any CDE's (Certified Diabetic Educators) at some medical centers near you. Most are 10X more knowledgeable than General Practitioners on how to treat/manage diabetes.
Eating out is very difficult for an experienced diabetic to manage BS let alone a new diabetic. I always have to take a lot more insulin when eating out. Eat smaller meals when doing that, less carbs, more protein.
I would totally skip the fruits. They are almost totally devoid of nutrition and basically just contain carbs. My "goto" low carb snacks include things like jerky, pickles, cheese and deli meat.
Yes, currently reading Scheiner's book. Based on my total daily insulin dosage ~ 4 - 7, my insulin sensitivity may be "off the chart". Thus far, the highest reading that I've caught was 253/292 (253 was the first reading and I rechecked. I am annoyed because I recall that One Touch stated that 20% error was acceptable - just venting here) when we celebrated my niece's birthday and I ate a slice of chocolate cake with one small scoop of coffee gelato (I know,...not low carb).
I initially only injected 1 unit Novolog to cover the cake and gelato, and two hours later...whammo 253/292. I corrected with 1 unit of novolog which brought me BG down to 152 2 hours after the correction, and then 4 hours after the correction: 113. Do I correctly infer that my insulin sensitivity factor, or correction factor is 1 unit insulin for 150 mg/dl?
Unfortunately you cannot properly infer a correction factor in this way because your remaining insulin production and insulin on board may well mess up the calculation. Even rapid insulin can last for up to 5 hours. It is unlikely that your correction factor is 150:1.
A better way to determine your correction factor is to see how you react to insulin when you are high and it has been more than 4-5 hours since your last meal/injection. Even that can be prone to error if your basal is a bit too high or low. Scheiner has a good way of "estimating" your correction factor but it generally applies only to patients in his "norm."
My goal is to never have to correct. With very low carb that works out pretty well except I have a wicked case of Darn Phenomenon and need to correct almost every morning. And I am very insulin resistant in the morning so all bets are off.
When you took the 1 unit for the cake and gelato, did you check to see what your BS was before you ate it? If so, what was it? What is your insulin to carb ratio anyway? Mine for example is 1 unit per 11 grams of carbs. I weigh 175 pounds. All of this has to do with how much you weigh too. So, without getting too personal...are you a "normal" weight? or over weight?
I'm so glad that you asked! Without boring everyone with TMI, it was one of those days of visiting the in laws where they practice grazing, eating almost incessantly wreaking havoc with any diabetic's BG, not to mention very bad on oral hygiene( the makings of cavities, and probably other health issues, digestive system, but I'm digressing). Yes, BG was 133 @ 6pm, before dinner for which I bolused 2 units novolog (this is after an entire afternoon of grazing, of which I ate about 16g carbs (1/8 of a mooncake and < 1/2 grapefruit). At this point, I am "guesstimating" at best because it was dinner out at a restaurant where I ate a small section of scallion pancake (deep fried - similar in concept to a zeppole in that it is fried and made with flour, except salty), limited amount of noodle. I did have my trial Dexcom G4 and recalled that the reading was close to the fingerstick.
7:30 pm - Back home for more food: cake and gelato. The Dexcom reading was about 140. I did not verify with a glucometer. I bolused 1 unit, knowing that I have 2 units IOB from 6pm and figuring that the cake and gelato was more than 15g. And then 9:30 pm : BG 253/292. At 9:30, I bolused 1 unit for correction. In my inexperienced mind, I am considering that I have altogether 4 units (2,1,1) at various stages of activity, and a 50 minute drive back to my home.
11:30 pm BG 152
1:30 AM BG 113
next morning fasting 128
The insulin carb ratio that was recommended was 1:15. It seems to work (except when 1. eating out 2. visiting the in laws, 3. eating something aside from the current "bag of tricks" food - such as a chocolate croissant.) Only recently, have I purchased a scale.
I weigh 94 pounds, just shy of 5 feet. I've actually considered seeing a pediatric endocrinologist. The endocrinologist (past and present) seem to be at a loss as to what to do with me. I've made all the suggestions, many of which came from this group, about half unit dosing, LADA testing, c peptide....etc. Sigh....
