Breakfast Cereal

[pm133]

True but being t2 and only 7 weeks since diagnoses (at 143) my body still likes/tolerates high carb (slowly coming down) and 45g (recommended portion size on the pack) is about 4 spoons full and that is so small.
Sigh what a pita this d is.

I had to use the smaller bowls in my cupboard when I first started weighing food out.
Like you, I was used to eating probably around 80g of cereal.
I have Bran Flakes though so 50g of that still does a good job of filling the bowl which I then top up with 50g of grapes befor adding semi-skimmed milk. Your cereal will be heavier than that so 45g will contain fewer pieces.

You say your blood levels only go up 1.5 after eating that which is great but what was your starting level?

 

[Deleted member 21371]

You were lucky as 80g is nearly twice the suggested portion and would be some people's total carb allowance for the day if not on insulin.

80g carb allowance?
Many of us eat above that
As you can see, we all have different responses, so it's all good.
.

 

[rebrascora]

@pm133 Probably not a good example to a Type 2 diabetic looking to lower carbs to mention that you have grapes which are renowned for being quite a high carb fruit. Bran flakes can also be quite high carb depending upon brand. As a Type 1 you can inject insulin to cover those carb rich foods.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Part of the problem with the increase in obesity and diabetes in our modern world is that we have lost sight of what a normal portion is. You are right that 45g looks piddly when you weight it out and put it in a bowl but it is important to acknowledge that you are used to eating too much and work towards that portion size being your goal. I find it helps to have creamy Greek natural yoghurt and a few berries and mixed seeds to bulk that portion size out (rather than watery milk) without adding too much to the carb content or as @Leadinglights does, I just have a sprinkle of low carb granola on the top of my yoghurt with berries and seeds.



Don't kid yourself that your body is tolerating these carbs at the moment. With an HbA1c that high it is certainly not tolerating them and could already be doing damage which is not yet apparent... that is the nature of diabetes complications, they sneak up on you. It is however important to bring your levels down slowly to reduce the risk/impact of damage to the fine blood vessels in your eyes particularly and choosing a lower carb granola is a good first step. Making slow steady changes is important. You may find that creamy natural yoghurt or whole (blue top) milk is more filling with it and also lower carb than your semi skimmed milk option so perhaps think about that as your next step.

If increasing portion size is an issue, surely it's better to retrain your body down to the portion size, than simply bulking the portion up to an even bigger size again?
If you train your body to keep eating, it perpetuates the problem surely?

 

[pm133]

@pm133 Probably not a good example to a Type 2 diabetic looking to lower carbs to mention that you have grapes which are renowned for being quite a high carb fruit. Bran flakes can also be quite high carb depending upon brand. As a Type 1 you can inject insulin to cover those carb rich foods.

Good point although I was getting at portion size rather than carb count.

 

[rebrascora]

@pm133 I appreciate that but just wanted to highlight for the benefit of the OP that grapes would not be a good choice to bulk his breakfast out with.

 

[pm133]

@pm133 I appreciate that but just wanted to highlight for the benefit of the OP that grapes would not be a good choice to bulk his breakfast out with.

Oh I agree with that.
Sometimes I forget what help I am trying to provide and can muddy things without meaning to. 🙂

 

[rebrascora]

@pm133 A small bowl is a tactic that works for me too and using a teaspoon rather than a dessert spoon.... it helps that my yoghurt is thicker than milk and therefore lends itself to being eaten with a teaspoon better.

 

[pm133]

@pm133 A small bowl is a tactic that works for me too and using a teaspoon rather than a dessert spoon.... it helps that my yoghurt is thicker than milk and therefore lends itself to being eaten with a teaspoon better.

I do the teaspoon thing with puddings to kid myself on that it lasts longer and I'm therefore getting more cake.
It's childish nonsense of course but psychologically it works. 🙂 And now I've got the whole family doing it.

 

[Inka]

I don’t think it’s our fault re the bowls. It’s the manufacturers. I always used to have my cereal in what I called a cereal bowl, but now the sets of plates, bowls, etc mainly have the larger, taller style of bowl. I find it much harder to judge portion size in that - so much so that I’ve bought some cheap bowls in the ‘old style’ specifically for cereal and desserts.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

40g of porridge, with skimmed milk and a handful of blueberries this morning.
Quite often I just use water instead of milk.

 

[Stuvart]

Part of the problem with the increase in obesity and diabetes in our modern world is that we have lost sight of what a normal portion is. You are right that 45g looks piddly when you weight it out and put it in a bowl but it is important to acknowledge that you are used to eating too much and work towards that portion size being your goal. I find it helps to have creamy Greek natural yoghurt and a few berries and mixed seeds to bulk that portion size out (rather than watery milk) without adding too much to the carb content or as @Leadinglights does, I just have a sprinkle of low carb granola on the top of my yoghurt with berries and seeds.



Don't kid yourself that your body is tolerating these carbs at the moment. With an HbA1c that high it is certainly not tolerating them and could already be doing damage which is not yet apparent... that is the nature of diabetes complications, they sneak up on you. It is however important to bring your levels down slowly to reduce the risk/impact of damage to the fine blood vessels in your eyes particularly and choosing a lower carb granola is a good first step. Making slow steady changes is important. You may find that creamy natural yoghurt or whole (blue top) milk is more filling with it and also lower carb than your semi skimmed milk option so perhaps think about that as your next step.

Oh I'm not kidding myself as that portion size is about half of pre diagnosis, the bummer is im only 12st 5lb and near 6foot tall so a heathly bmi plus cycling 12 mile (6 there 6 back)to and from work 5 days a week keeps me fit, which is why I tend to trial new stuff at the weekends where the cycling won't dump extra glucose into my system.
As to figures 4 weeks after diagnosis my hba was 120 and my finger tests are around 7 pre and 8/9 post depending on what I've had. As you say slow reduction is the way (at least that's what I've been advised).

 

[Drummer]

@pm133 A small bowl is a tactic that works for me too and using a teaspoon rather than a dessert spoon.... it helps that my yoghurt is thicker than milk and therefore lends itself to being eaten with a teaspoon better.

For the first 6 months this was my bowl for desserts.

 

[ChrissieMM]

Sometimes I have two VERY thin slices of toasted (from frozen) rye bread, sour dough or Low GI bread from Booths supermarket with scraping of peanut butter without butter or scraping butter with marmite or a very small amount of lower sugar jam/marmalade. (I just dip knife in pot!) Other times I have 125g Greek yoghurt, usually but not always full fat plus a few berries or 10g Lizzy’s treacle and pecan granola or about 10g of M&S luxury lemon and lime yoghurt or The Collective passion fruit yoghurt sort of rippled In. Very little effect on blood sugar levels. I find the yoghurt more satiating than toast but I do love my toast!

 

[Drummer]

Sometimes I have two VERY thin slices of toasted (from frozen) rye bread, sour dough or Low GI bread from Booths supermarket with scraping of peanut butter without butter or scraping butter with marmite or a very small amount of lower sugar jam/marmalade. (I just dip knife in pot!) Other times I have 125g Greek yoghurt, usually but not always full fat plus a few berries or 10g Lizzy’s treacle and pecan granola or about 10g of M&S luxury lemon and lime yoghurt or The Collective passion fruit yoghurt sort of rippled In. Very little effect on blood sugar levels. I find the yoghurt more satiating than toast but I do love my toast!

Why are you limiting things unlikely to be a problem? Butter and marmite, peanut butter, being low carb, don't really need to be limited, but although you love toast - I suspect it isn't mutual.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Sometimes I have two VERY thin slices of toasted (from frozen) rye bread, sour dough or Low GI bread from Booths supermarket with scraping of peanut butter without butter or scraping butter with marmite or a very small amount of lower sugar jam/marmalade. (I just dip knife in pot!) Other times I have 125g Greek yoghurt, usually but not always full fat plus a few berries or 10g Lizzy’s treacle and pecan granola or about 10g of M&S luxury lemon and lime yoghurt or The Collective passion fruit yoghurt sort of rippled In. Very little effect on blood sugar levels. I find the yoghurt more satiating than toast but I do love my toast!

I like a slice or rye bread, or sour dough in preference to wholemeal now.
I haven't buttered toast at all for years, if I have anything else on it.
Just found some very nice fat free blueberry yoghurts from Morrison's as well.

 

[Inka]

Both rye bread and sourdough work better for my blood sugar than normal bread. They taste a lot nicer too!

 

[Nigel R]

The best cereal for me is Rude Health, Puffed oats Carbs 10.6 grams per serving and near the same is Puffed Spelt Carbs 11.2 grams per serving.
Some Waitrose stock it but they also have a online shop.

 

[rebrascora]

The best cereal for me is Rude Health, Puffed oats Carbs 10.6 grams per serving and near the same is Puffed Spelt Carbs 11.2 grams per serving.
Some Waitrose stock it but they also have a online shop.

Looking at the online info, a "serving" is only 17g though which is pretty small. I like that they are whole oats and no other ingredients. I am guessing that being "puffed" makes the portion look bigger.

 

[Leadinglights]

Looking at the online info, a "serving" is only 17g though which is pretty small. I like that they are whole oats and no other ingredients. I am guessing that being "puffed" makes the portion look bigger.

A bit like puffed wheat (the non sugarcoated form of sugarpuffs) the box is the same size as other cereals but only half the weight so full of air.