Meat and potatoes

[Billy65]

hi all recently been diagnosed as type 2 and have always been a meat and potatoes man never veg and fruit as I honestly don't like them , has anyone any ideas to help me out as I'm struggling with the diet side this . Although I am a great fan of pasta but I suppose that's a no no as well .

 

[AlisonM]

Oh dear Billy, you do have a problem. Bread, rice, pasta and spuds are all baddies for us diabetics in that they convert to glucose very quickly, one reason athletes use them for fast energy. Those of us on insulin can adjust for the carbs, but it's not so easy when you're on pills or diet and exercise, which is why adapting your diet is so important. Milk and milk products can be a problem was well because of the lactose, but there the fat content may slow the rise in BG levels.

You might try a few alternatives such as Bergen bread which some of our members swear by, and sweet potato which I love and has exactly the same 'comfort' factor as ordinary spuds but is lower carb. You can do everything with that last that you can do with a normal spud so it's really flexible too. There are pasta alternatives as well, but I'll leave it to one of the others to list those for you, I've never tried them and don't know what to recommend.

Any chance you can teach yourself to like veg?

 

[Billy65]

Lol veg will never happen it's a lifetime thing , just another small querie after reading you ur answer and other general blogs , I love strong tea is milk really that much of an issue ??? I also have just started eating breakfast and have porridge oats but obviously that has milk as well. I really appreciate your help and advice .

 

[Rosiecarmel]

Hi, welcome to the forum! Some people find that porridge doesn't have that much of an affect but it sends me sky high I second the sweet potato notion, it tastes gorgeous and is better for you! Meat isn't a problem as its protein. It's all a bit difficult to get your head round, I know! I drink milk and have found it doesn't do much to my blood sugars. It's all completely individual but the best thing in my opinion is to take it slowly. Don't try to change every single thing in your diet immediately as you'll start craving bad things! Do you like soups? It's always better to eat veg in whole form but if you can't, soup might be a good way to go about eating more veg?

I changed normal pasta to brown /whole grain pasta and found that it doesn't even taste much different but it is a positive small change.

 

[khskel]

Lol veg will never happen it's a lifetime thing , just another small querie after reading you ur answer and other general blogs , I love strong tea is milk really that much of an issue ??? I also have just started eating breakfast and have porridge oats but obviously that has milk as well. I really appreciate your help and advice .

A splash of milk in your tea is not a problem at all. Try making your porridge with unsweetend almond milk or with water and then stir a bit of cream in to serve. Both lower carb than making with milk. I'm a fan of burgen for toast and sandwiches.

 

[Billy65]

Thank you all , was struggling getting my head all round this so all this feedback is truly amazing and very helpful

 

[Vicsetter]

Once again Billy's problem highlights the need to test blood sugar changes for food intake. Your GP really should have referred you to a dietitian, perhaps this may happen in due course (whether this helps or not depends in the dietitian). It's not necessarily a problem that you don't like fruit as fruit as a lot of sugar. Meat and potatoes aren't necessarily bad, it depends on the quantity, you could reduce the number of potatoes in a serving. Again a serving of pasta can be reduced in size and by cooking it Al-dente will reduce it's impact.
You will find that we all react differently to different foods and it may be that you can tolerate some without problem, but you will need to get a meter and test strips to find out what is bad for you.

Do you need to reduce your weight? this may affect your diet and help your diabetes.

 

[AlisonM]

I've started making my oatmeal with almond milk as well. It took a bit of getting used to, but it's fine now. I don't have a problem with oatmeal, but huge issues with weetabix. It's a case of testing before and after you eat to see what happens. That way you learn how your body reacts to certain foods and can make informed decisions from there about what to eat. As @Rosiecarmel said, don't try to change everything at once. Take your time and make alterations when you're ready.

 

[Billy65]

Thank you all , was struggling getting my head all round this so all this feedback is truly amazing and very helpful

 

[Billy65]

As type 2 should I be testing my blood sugar levels as I will go out and get a sugar level test machine

 

[Lynn Davies]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Any chance you could be more creative with veggies rather than just plain boiled? Roasting them gives a different taste to most of them, but not cabbage!

 

[AlisonM]

Oh yes, indeed you should. All diabetics should be able to test, it's a vital tool in the battle for control. You can get a good budget meter here, the SD Codefree, it won't break the bank and it's reliable.

Once you have the meter, look at Alan Shanley's blog for advice on what to do with it.

 

[Lynn Davies]

I test Billy. Go to Amazon and find the SD Codefree. Make sure its the diabetic page for £12.99. The testing strips are the cheapest ones around.

You will at least have a clue how foods affect your BG.

 

[Billy65]

Have just ordered the sad code free from Amazon thanks again for the advice , and vic setter it's bad enough cutting out my favourite foods not portions as well lol I'm a big bloke so my portions might be the slightest bit on the large size but I am slowly trying to reduce sizes as I go along mate

 

[Mark Parrott]

All i can say is meat. You can eat as much meat as you like. Also, chips made from celeriac. Chop a celeriac into chip shapes, blanch in a pan of boiling water for 2 minutes, then shove in the oven. They take a while to Brown, but taste great and no carbs. Replace pasta with courgetti. Sounds stupid but it works. I've been diagnosed for 3 weeks now and I'm amazed how well I'm doing.

 

[khskel]

.....and if you feel you can't do without real spuds new potatoes unpeeled are better than mashed. Cubed sweet potato roast in a little oil sprinkled with cinnamon.

 

[Mark Parrott]

Sweet potato has very little effect I'm my BS. If you like curries, make a Bombay sweet potato. It's awesome!

 

[KookyCat]

How about brocolli or cauliflower cheese, it's filling and when coated in cheese barely feels like a vegetable at all 😉 I eat lots of veggies but you couldn't get me to eat a boiled vegetable, not even on pain of death, I'm very unbritish in my veg preferences.

On a more serious note, you won't know how you react to the foods you like until you've got the meter and can see the impact. You'll need to do a bit of experimenting to see what you can tolerate, and sweet potato mash is very nice, in fact you can cream almost any veg and make a very acceptable mashed potato alternative. I've just realised I sound like a member of the veg promotion council....😱...vegetables are your friend 😉

 

[Northerner]

Have just ordered the sad code free from Amazon thanks again for the advice , and vic setter it's bad enough cutting out my favourite foods not portions as well lol I'm a big bloke so my portions might be the slightest bit on the large size but I am slowly trying to reduce sizes as I go along mate

Billy, have a read of Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S to understand how to use your new meter and strips to work out how different meals affect you 🙂

 

[Billy65]

Cheers ,appreciated