Good evening

[chef]

First post to introduce myself, my names dom i am or was a chef and was diagnosed as Type 2 at the end of May. I had a HbA1c of 105 and i tested 19 on the glucose test. Since then ive followed a low carb diet and lost 9.5 kg.
Im angry at myself, as a chef i feel i should have, could have managed my diet better, im 51 now and over the last thirty years have catered at all different levels and taught many other younger chefs. i never really understood the relationship between carbs and sugar until now and i guess thats where the anger comes from as if anyone shoud have known better it should have been me(or thats how i feel). Hoping to learn a lot from being here.

 

[Toucan]

Hello @chef
Welcome to the forum
Being diagnosed as type 2 can be difficult to come to terms with, but as you have already taken on board, there is a great deal you can do to help yourself to reduce your blood glucose levels.

Well done on a great initial weight loss, and I hope as time goes on you may be able to share some cheffy low-carb food ideas with us! 🙂

Do you have a glucose meter? Many of us find this helpful, not just for measuring progress with lowering blood glucose levels, but for measuring the effect of different foods, and arriving at a personal list of foods that are good to include in our diet . More information is available if this is of interest.

I hope you find some useful information on the forum, and there are also some useful items on the 'Learning Zone' Link.

 

[Vonny]

Hi @chef and welcome to the forum. I was very cross with myself for not understanding that carbs turn to glucose...I never thought I'd be diabetic because I've never eaten much sweet stuff...we live and learn!

Great weight loss. Are you finding low carbs easy? I thought it would be nightmarish, but it's not too bad is it. However, it must be especially difficult working with food all day in fact I don't think I could see all those scrummy dishes without dipping into them.

Are you on any medication? And do you monitor your blood sugars?

 

[chef]

Thanks for the welcome. I'm monitoring blood sugar with the agamatrix jazz, before and after meals to note the level changes.
My last head chef job went at the end of march when we all went into lockdown, and I'm okay with that as i think it would have been difficult to monitor my diet if i was still working with food.
To be honest I'm loving low carb cooking its reignited a love for food that i thought i had lost, I'm enjoying cooking from a different aspect learning new methods and in some ways re-educating myself about food and my relationship with it.
To be honest ive always had a love for sweet things and that is something i struggle with, ive found myself wanting to sneak off to the shop for chocolate and even thought of hiding the wrappers so no one would know😱 that i find to be more worrying than anything else.
Im happy to share any chef related knowledge that may be useful for people, ive even started already on a collection of favourite low carb meals.

 

[Toucan]

ive found myself wanting to sneak off to the shop for chocolate and even thought of hiding the wrappers so no one would know😱

Yes, chocolate can cause problems! In days gone by I did such things as eating my children's Easter eggs and then going out to buy replacements before they noticed, and removing the bits they had already eaten.
Some people can get by with having chocolate in the house and just eating a little at at time. This has never worked for me, if it is in the house it keeps shouting out 'eat me'😛!
My solution was to go 'cold turkey' on chocolate, and I no longer have the cravings that I used to (but there are still lapses!).

There are challenges in learning to live with Diabetes, but it is 100% worth the effort. I now feel so much healthier, have more energy, and enjoy life much more.

So good to hear that you are enjoying low carb cooking, and look forward to hearing more about what you create.
There is a string where some of us share our eating habits in Food/carb queries + recipes ' What did you eat yesterday?

 

[MAC2020]

To be honest ive always had a love for sweet things and that is something i struggle with, ive found myself wanting to sneak off to the shop for chocolate and even thought of hiding the wrappers so no one would know😱 that i find to be more worrying than anything else.
Im happy to share any chef related knowledge that may be useful for people, ive even started already on a collection of favourite low carb meals.

Hi Dom,

A "bitter sweet" welcome from me (excuse the pun!). Bitter because it's a surprising frightening diagnosis and not a condition for which one would volunteer, and sweet because this is a great community to find, get support, encouragement and ideas from, and to share your journey with. So welcome aboard.

Like you, I am/was a bit of a secret eater hiding wrappers, and share a sweet tooth which can evolve into carb rich processed treats, certain chocs, biscuits, crisps etc all those naughty foods. And there was no such thing as "Oh, I'll just have one...". It's important to be honest with oneself or find someone you can be honest with who keeps you accountable.

I've found I make these poor choices when I am stressed, so I try to be aware when this happens and instead of reaching for instant gratification which I later regret, I drink water or eat some tart fruit like berries or a Granny Smith Apple or go for a walk [but not to the shops] to stem the tide. HenryBennett advised not to keep junk food or snacks at home (I would add in the car or at the office) so no temptation.
I have a doctor friend whose mantra is "bitter is better, and sour is power" relating to food choices.

Here's a surprising benefit I have learnt. Since having to test my BG before, 1hr and 2hrs after a meal (I'm quite new to this so I test on the hour too), I have noticed I'm less inclined to snack between meals. I think this is because I don't want to have to test myself and prick my fingers for a snack when I don't need to. So on some level I find I want to reduce the number of unnecessary times I prick myself. Consequently, I have hardly had snacks in between meals and I can have quite long fasting times (18:6) or two meals or just one meal a day!😉

Hope that helps?!

So glad you are putting together a collection of low carb meals. My added challenge is that I am vegan and so far have a limited repertoire of low carb vegan meals apart from salads, stirfrys, veg stews, veg soups, miso soups and tofu dishes, so any help from your extensive culinary skills would be appreciated!

 

[chef]

Hi Dom,

A "bitter sweet" welcome from me (excuse the pun!). Bitter because it's a surprising frightening diagnosis and not a condition for which one would volunteer, and sweet because this is a great community to find, get support, encouragement and ideas from, and to share your journey with. So welcome aboard.

Like you, I am/was a bit of a secret eater hiding wrappers, and share a sweet tooth which can evolve into carb rich processed treats, certain chocs, biscuits, crisps etc all those naughty foods. And there was no such thing as "Oh, I'll just have one...". It's important to be honest with oneself or find someone you can be honest with who keeps you accountable.

I've found I make these poor choices when I am stressed, so I try to be aware when this happens and instead of reaching for instant gratification which I later regret, I drink water or eat some tart fruit like berries or a Granny Smith Apple or go for a walk [but not to the shops] to stem the tide. HenryBennett advised not to keep junk food or snacks at home (I would add in the car or at the office) so no temptation.
I have a doctor friend whose mantra is "bitter is better, and sour is power" relating to food choices.

Here's a surprising benefit I have learnt. Since having to test my BG before, 1hr and 2hrs after a meal (I'm quite new to this so I test on the hour too), I have noticed I'm less inclined to snack between meals. I think this is because I don't want to have to test myself and prick my fingers for a snack when I don't need to. So on some level I find I want to reduce the number of unnecessary times I prick myself. Consequently, I have hardly had snacks in between meals and I can have quite long fasting times (18:6) or two meals or just one meal a day!😉

Hope that helps?!

So glad you are putting together a collection of low carb meals. My added challenge is that I am vegan and so far have a limited repertoire of low carb vegan meals apart from salads, stirfrys, veg stews, veg soups, miso soups and tofu dishes, so any help from your extensive culinary skills would be appreciated!

I worked with a boxing trainer a couple of years ago and two of his fighters were on a pure plant based Vegan diet with some interesting results ill dig out some of the recipies if i can find them and send them over to you, i also think your right there is no such thing as only one and im also better not keeping temptation in the house or car.

 

[MAC2020]

I worked with a boxing trainer a couple of years ago and two of his fighters were on a pure plant based Vegan diet with some interesting results ill dig out some of the recipies if i can find them and send them over to you,..

Yes, please do. Looking forward to them! Cheers.😎

What were the "interesting results"? I'm sure I can guess 😉

 

[chef]

Yes, please do. Looking forward to them! Cheers.😎

What were the "interesting results"? I'm sure I can guess 😉

Hey Mac2020
Interesting results as regards to energy output, both fighters were amazed at how much longer/intense they could workout.
As for vegan recipies i found another diabetes forumn (i didnt realise that there were two, one blue, one read) anyway they have a reference section of free cookbooks that you can download and yes there is a vegan one be interested in what you think. My other reference would be diet doctor they have a lot of interesting and different vegan recipies, you can get so many as a non member but they also offer a month free trial which would give you full access to all their meal planners etc. Hope that helps and if i come across interesting ones ill let you know.

 

[Ditto]

Hello @chef and welcome to the forum. 🙂

I think it would make it harder being a chef, surrounded by delicious food all the time and able to make scrumptious meals. I wouldn't be so hard on yourself.

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @chef
You have already had loads of useful advice above, so I will just encourage you to ask any questions that you have. Nothing is considered silly on here.

 

[MAC2020]

Hey Mac2020
Interesting results as regards to energy output, both fighters were amazed at how much longer/intense they could workout.

Hey Chef,

I knew it!! There's a Netflix film/documentary called "The Game Changers" I saw last year or the year before which says as much. It stars Arnold Schwartzenegger and a bunch of other athletes confirming how their bodies perform so much better on a plant based diet. So not just anecdotal then. I must admit I do feel quite well on it, and with the carbs being removed plus consistent daily walking, I can see and feel the changes in my body quite quickly. Still a long way to go to get to that 25" waist (LOL!!) but with persistence, a wing and a prayer, anything is possible!!

Thanks for the tips on where to find vegan lo-carb, no-carb meals and recipes. I'll take a look around. You're so kind and helpful.
Cheers!