I love “what I eat in a day” posts…it’s especially interesting to me to read what my fellow people with Diabetes eat in a day!
I’ll start:
water & black coffee (I’m giving intermittent fasting a try)
lunch (will be): 2 hard boiled eggs, raw veggies, strawberries, Spread’em Carrot & Chili cashew dip, cashew butter and dark chocolate
dinner (will be): homemade crockpot no bean beef chili
dessert (will be): SF jello with whip cream
I’m trying to keep my calories around 1600 at the advice of my personal trainer, but it’s just a starting point…she is going to increase or decrease once she sees how my body handles that. I’m trying to lose about 30 lbs.
I actually don’t. Instead, I try to fill most of my plate with salat and veggies, then proteins & fat, then carbs. I’m not saying that is strictly low carb - but with this combination, I get full easily, and yet won’t eat so many calories. All that fiber, combined with the protein and fat, keeps me satiated for a long time.
I love that you are posting about food. I was thinking about posting to get advice about my diet. I am pretty new at all this. I eat the same thing almost every day because it helps to keep my numbers down. I eat an omelette with turkey sausage. A salad with ranch for lunch and a protein with a salad or veggie for dinner. I only have to do long acting insulin in the morning but I am thinking this diet isn’t balanced enough. Which is worse, no fruit or more insulin?
Today’s meals
Combo of regular coffee and herbal coffee
1/4 oatmeal, 1/2 banana, flax, chia seeds, cinnamon, 2/3 cup blueberries, 1 medjool date
Couple of walnuts
Bowl of lentils and white beans topped with kale.
2 garbanzo bean carob cookies
Decaf reg coffee with herbal coffee
A large plate filled with a combo of lentils, green beans, peas, corn, carrots, mashed potatoes, garlic, broth topped with pumpkin seed kernels and nutritional yeast
3 garbanzo bean carob cookies
Decaf tea
I don’t count calories, probably close to 250 carbs. I haven’t counted carbs lately. If I drop low I usually eat dried fruit.
I weigh 105 total insulin used 23 units
A1c 5.2
I added these details to show that a low fat plant based diet greatly reduces insulin resistance.
I try not to eat processed food, I almost NEVER go off my diet. I am 69 and have had type 1 for 61 yrs. I have eaten every way possible over the years from everything I want with rollercoaster bloodsugars especially when urine testing to the way I eat now. I have two heart stents, but my dad and grandad both had heart attacks. I have no other diabetic complications and at this late age, I don’t want any. I have kept my A1c’s in the non diabetic range for the last 20 yrs to help me stay complication free.
I was originally taught the “exchange” system to balance meals, and to this day follow that mindset of portions for carbs vs proteins vs “free” (fat/low carbs) foods. I tend to use “sugar surfing” techniques rather than strict carb counting, and with CGM trend add more bolus as needed, or set lower temp hasal if I over bolused. So no, I don’t track calories or carbs. Today I had eggs/sausage for breakfast, salad for lunch and chicken plus veggies for dinner.
Yesterday
Coffee with soy milk in the am. A rarity but I needed the wake me up
Fake Chicken wings with dressing and pineapple
Fresh Coconut Water in a coconut at the Farmer’s Market
Huge Salad with Fake bacon on top
Dark chocolate
HU dark chocolate covered almonds ( a latest favorite right now)
Today
Fresh Pineapple late am
Salad with Stir Fry
Chocolate Covered coconut Ice Cream Bar
Snacked on pineapple throughout the day
Fake Turkey Salad
Soymilk
Dark Chocolate
I never went above 130 except after the Fake Turkey Salad which was high fat and high protein I went to 142 because I never get dosing right on it, I got on my bike to ride it off. It works well for that because I usually get my 10 miles in without dropping too much.
Intermittent fasting is awesome! I’ve lost over 15 pounds from it… and then I stalled out. So, I started counting calories (using MyFitnessPal) and I’m slowly continuing to drop - still doing IF though, because otherwise I’ll think about food ALL DAY!
Yesterday I had nothing for breakfast, some chocolate for lunch (from my manager’s desk), and Pizza Hut for dinner. Not the best choices, but let’s be honest - people like to share when they are doing well but not always when they eat junk
Yes, I’m excited about it! It’s a little challenging in the mornings during my fasting window, but I’m so satisfied after eating a big lunch and dinner with way more calories to play with.
I’m hoping to see some results also! Congrats on the 15lb weight loss!
When I’m eating low carb I have to be careful to get enough calories (I aim for 1000-1200), but I don’t count as strictly now as I used to do.
Today -
B: About an ounce of nuts, coffee w/Splenda
L: Sliced roast beef, raw baby carrots and full-fat ranch for dipping
D: Chicken legs, raw cauliflower and broccoli, probably some type of dressing for dipping
The nuts and salad dressings help my calorie counts stay up.
My wife is gluten intolerant. I am type 1 diabetic, with ?NO? beta cells left. We are on a more or less KETO meal plan. She has dropped 40 pounds over the last year. I have neither gained of lost. I begin my morning with 2 diet Mountain Dews. At noon I have 3 to 13 carbs with few veggies. At approximately 6:PM we have veggies and from 7 to 18 carbs. I also treat my lows with carbs: a 4 carb glucose tablet, or a 7 carb peanut butter and caramel or 15 carb crackers with either cheese or peanut butter, depending on how fast I am dropping, exercising, or how much insulin my CGM system says I still have in my body. My CGM shows BG is steady all night and begins to drop in the morning, so that around noon it is 80 to 90, then rises to 120 to 170 after my noon meal. Then after our evening meal it rises to 200 to 250, which is too high as far as I am concerned. I usually give myself an adjustment bolus which sometimes lowers my BG, other times not. I see my endocrinologist around the ides of March and will suggest changes to my regimen at that time. Once every 18 days or so we eat at a restaurant for the evening meal. Those meals ARE HIGH carb! 110 to 150 carbs. I hope this was fun reading for you, and may help in some sort of way. Remember WE humans are ALL different. What works for one (me) may not work for others (you).
I eat a low-carb, high-fat diet and also use intermittent fasting. I eat two meals and a snack each day but all within an 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. window.
First thing in the morning I have a cup of coffee with heavy cream. The cream technically violates my intermittent fasting eating window but it is almost all fat, without measurable carbs.
Yesterday, for my first meal, I ate a Starbucks cheddar, egg, and sausage sandwich but I didn’t eat the bread. I enjoyed my second and final cup of coffee for the day with steamed heavy cream.
Mid-day I ate about three ounces of mixed nuts that include cashews, pecans, macadamia nuts, and almonds.
My second meal was eight ounces of large curd full-fat cottage cheese with three ounces of organic raspberries. I sprinkle cinnamon and stevia on it.
On other days I do eat meat and veggies. My weight has been stable around 150 pounds at 5’ 8" tall. I don’t track calories and do not count carbs but generally consume under 30 grams per day. My blood glucose is well controlled with an A1c in the mid 5% range and a total daily dose of insulin around 30 units.
Good luck with your weight loss program. Do you feel hungry often?
Coffee with steamed heavy cream sounds delish! I am always hungry for crap food, but when I stick to very low carb my hunger goes away, but I eventually want fries or pie or something ridiculous (I think it’s more mental–the “want what you can’t have” mentality) and then it’s like carb binge central for me…
I don’t love to cook either, my poor husband (the vegetarian) is the cook in our place and we don’t eat anything alike
I eat a lot of simple meat + simple veg - chicken legs/quarters, beef or pork roast, a piece of salmon, etc. However, I also batch cook and freeze foods in individual portions. It is SO much easier to pull a container out of the freezer every day to take for lunch than it is to try to figure out what to eat and put it together every day! So for instance, today for lunch I’m having homemade chicken and vegetable soup I froze in a 16-oz. container a few months ago. Tonight I think I’ll make cauliflower chicken curry in my instant pot, eat a portion, keep two portions out for lunches this week and freeze the remaining portions for future weeks. Repeat with a LC meatloaf, turkey meatballs or whatever I’m feeling.
I ate as you do for the last 3 years. No fruit, grains or starches. I have always loved fruits and still limit myself. About once a week I will have some, I focus on the lower glycemic stuff like berries and make sure they are delicious.
I keep it a small portion and usually before exercise or to treat a low. That way I get my fix and still keep #’s in line.
Best advice I ever heard with regard to this topic: fruit is nature’s candy so treat it as such. Would you make a meal out of candy? Nope but I do enjoy small measured portions as a treat once in a while.
If you really would like to eat fruit see The Mastering Diabetes website. I eat a lot of all kinds of fruit and have an A1c of 5.2. and weigh 105. I have no working beta cells.
Thanks I will take a look at that. I doubt I’ll be eating fruit salads or smoothies for breakfast anymore but I am always open to new ways of tackling this pancreas free life we live.
I think you are right with KETO being the way to go. I appreciate your suggestion and comment about fruit being nature’s candy. I’m going to add a small amount of berries back into my diet. Thank you for your reply.
I can’t say strict keto all the time for me but I lean that way for sure. I’m only 4 years into this. Low carb & low intensity exercise seems to be the lynchpin and refining the rules around them seems to be required.
For instance there are some sweeteners that jack my blood sugar like monk fruit and most sugar alcohols except xylitol. I also specifically have to watch out for soluable fiber like inulin chicory and the like.
4 years with my a1c in the 5’s using finger sticks. cgm for 6 months shows In range 70-130 more than 80% of the time with a std deviation in the low 20’s. I use about 20-25 units a day with an omnipod & the loop
