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I hate cooking!

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jenpet

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At risk of diabetes
I hate cooking so tend to rely on eating out or convenience foods Is there a selection that would be safe to eat if suffering with diabetes? I do use Weight watchers soups, nimble bread, low fat spread. Stevia sweeteners (which I am now trying t o do without).

Is there a range of convenience foods for diabetics?
 
Basically - no.
For most type twos weight watchers is really bad news. The amount of carbs allowed is simply too high.
The good news is that by eating meat, fish, eggs, cheese and other delicious foods, along with fresh salads and veges type two diabetes can pretty much fade into insignificance.
Why are you trying to do without sweeteners?
Ditch the low fat spread and the bread if you want to do yourself a favour.
Check the carb count of the soups - they could be full of starches.
 
Thanks for the reply. Though sweeteners were bad. I have toast every morning as I don't know which cereals I can safely eat. I have no idea how to work our carbs, what they should & shouldn't be. All very new to this & am in panic/frenzy mode not knowing what I can & can't eat. No idea how to do a low carb diet. HELP needed please.
 
But toast - bread - flour - made from wheat, a grain.
Breakfast cereals are likewise made from grain - it is no improvement. It is about 2/3rds carbohydrate.
Sweeteners replace sugar - that is good.
Try to stick to foods which are not starchy or sugary - any meat or fish, any shellfish, eggs, cheese - lots of salad stuff, low carb veges - you can check on line, but be aware that US sites add in the fibre, which is indigestible to Humans. UK sites list the fibre separately. Note that US spells it fiber, usually a dead give away.
 
I have not been on here for a long time, but do slimming world without the bread/pasta/rice lost 5 st 3 1/2lb in a year and maintained the weight loss for a yr, my anniversary of a year this week . My BG is mid 30's now so reversed it. So mainly eat veg/meat and salad and eggs
 
Amazing weight loss Goosey. I am no good with food so have no idea what I ca neat. I only ever eat toast or cereal for breakfast & have no idea what the options are. I could not eat just eggs. I am finding this very depressing & sometimes not eating in case it is the wrong thing!
 
Hi @jenpet, you say you could not just eat eggs - what sort of foods do you like? Do you eat meat or cheese? I'm not much cop at cooking either, but there are lots of recipes out there. Have you read around the posts on this thread, or the What-did-you-eat-yesterday one?

Green leafy veggies are good, and rice or mash (bit fiddly) can be made from cauliflower. Dark chocolate is better than milk, so that can help with sweet cravings. And I have discovered that profiteroles or choc eclairs from M&S don't spike me very much 🙂 I do eat Burgen bread (when available - it's disappeared from Morrisons again...) or Hovis Nimble, and often have eggs (scrambled or fried)/bacon/mushrooms/a few tomatoes for breakfast. Good quality sausages, such as Heck, are good too.

I read the back of food labels when shopping, so that I know what's in it, and try and limit items to as low-carb as possible, ie no more than 10 carbs per item, but usually fewer than that.

There is a book called Carbs & Cals, which has pictures of lots of different food types with the carbs and calories listed by each pic, so you can tell at a glance what's good or not. There may be an app for it but I'm not sure as I don't use them.
 
Your basic shopping list, should you want one, should be meat, fish and shellfish, which I get either ready frozen or freeze when I get it home, then cheese and eggs for the fridge, along with fresh veges - I am sure there must be a list or two of the low carb ones already, frozen veges, which have the carb content listed on the back, and then frozen berries, either one sort or mixes. I buy tuna in brine - or other fish in tins once in a while - good to have in the cupboard for what might prove another long hot summer.
You basically avoid sugary stuff and starches - such as grain and potatoes.
It really works and you could just remove all impact of diabetes from your life, other than a few checks each year.
Preparing food seems really easy to me - I have some kitchen 'toys' which help - a Tefal Actifry for instance, worth it just to cook chicken thighs with crispy skin. Just remember to take the chicken out of the freezer and put it in the fridge, later you drop it into the device and set it going for 45 minutes. It is worth getting some mushrooms and - when you remove the chicken, put them in for a few minutes to mop up the juices from the chicken.
You really do miss so much flavour and variety in food if you get them in convenient form, and once you have got the hang of selecting all you are going to need early enough it really is a doddle.
 
It is not that I can't cook I just don't like it & eat out a lot. All the things I do eat will be 'no go' so I am totally confused what to do. I have searched on the internet today & cannot find a list of safe fruits & veg, where can I find this advice please?
As well as which dairy products are ok?
Can I no longer have toast or a sandwich, does that include wholemeal nimble at only 7.5 carbs per slice? I was under the impression that wholemeal products were ok as there are some suggestions on this website that mentions sandwiches etc?
I use 70% fat free salad cram which is low in carbs according to the label.
So the help I need please is where to find a list of all foods & drinks that are safe to eat please.
Eating out is going to be very difficult & I do this several times a week as really cannot cope with cooking.
This whole situation has made me completely depressed & I just have no appetite & don't know what to eat anyway.
 
The only sure way to find out what foods you can tolerate is to test with a blood glucose meter, but as you are 'at risk' there's probably no way your surgery will give you one! Lots of us type 2s here are not given a meter, so we've had to buy one - the cheapest is the SD Codefree from Amazon or Home Health.

Green leafy veg is good, cauliflower, cucumber, peppers, and so on. Root veg, ie potatoes and parsnips and (to some people) tomatoes are not so good. Some can tolerate sweet potatoes, some can't. Berries are usually tolerated, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries. More exotic fruits like mango are not so good. As with any food you need to test with a meter before eating and then again two hours after you start. This will give you the info you need about different foods.

Dairy is fine, cheese, cream, milk, butter, as are nuts (unless you want to lose weight). Good quality meat is fine. Fish is fine. Don't buy fat-free items because they often have added sugar. Wholemeal items can be a bit awkward - as I said upthread I have Burgen Soya & Linseed bread, or Hovis Nimble. They both have fewer carbs than most other breads.

If you drink alcohol, spirits are fine with sugarfree mixers, red wine is better than white, which is better than beer. Tea and coffee are usually fine unless you add quantities of sugar.

I'm afraid that eating out is going to be difficult and you will have to face up to this - for quite a while I only ordered fish & salad or roast veg if I was out. If you can buy a meter you can find out for yourself which foods are best for you.
 
jenpet said:
I hate cooking so tend to rely on eating out or convenience foods Is there a selection that would be safe to eat if suffering with diabetes? I do use Weight watchers soups, nimble bread, low fat spread. Stevia sweeteners (which I am now trying t o do without).

Is there a range of convenience foods for diabetics?
Click to expand...
Ah a kindred soul. I hate cooking as well.This diabetes is a nightmare . I have worked out a few meals with veg and salad which is ok. The major problem is I steam lots of veg (which is good) alas I have also burnt approx 4 pots in the process.I might just put in a bulk order at Tesco :D.
 
jenpet said:
Amazing weight loss Goosey. I am no good with food so have no idea what I ca neat. I only ever eat toast or cereal for breakfast & have no idea what the options are. I could not eat just eggs. I am finding this very depressing & sometimes not eating in case it is the wrong thing!
Click to expand...
How about greek yoghurt and mixed berries for breakfast? Quick and easy, much lower carb than toast or cereal, the full fat version will keep you satisfied for longer.
 
SkinnyLiz said:
How about greek yoghurt and mixed berries for breakfast? Quick and easy, much lower carb than toast or cereal, the full fat version will keep you satisfied for longer.
Click to expand...
That’s my choice, and I add different berries, and my own cereal made from quinoa flakes, along with loads of nuts that I roast. Delicious. At weekend I have homemade bread with a boiled egg, because that is what we have always done on Saturday, and ciabatta on Sunday with ‘yummy’ jam. I have managed the weekend spikes by timing the insulin delivery. Not so easy if not on insulin.
 
Thanks everybody for your wonderful advice. I have now been told my blood results are normal although towards the high end. From now on I watch will eat with caution. I wish you all well & you must be so proud of how you cope.
 
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