Family support

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wombat

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
At risk of diabetes
Hi there, new to this forum! Recently told by GP that I'm prediabetic - I'm committed to lifestyle changes to try and manage this. Finding it very hard though as this is completely different to how the rest of the family live! I know the answer is I just need to do it- but interested in how other people might have managed to do this?
 
I just have that same as my wife, but she adds bulk carbs. I add low carb alternatives. Kids do their own thing.

(Meals are usually meat/fish + veg)

When they have ‘pizza day’ I make my own dish. (I used to have pizza using ‘lo dough’ but they went out of business.)
 
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wombat said:
Hi there, new to this forum! Recently told by GP that I'm prediabetic - I'm committed to lifestyle changes to try and manage this. Finding it very hard though as this is completely different to how the rest of the family live! I know the answer is I just need to do it- but interested in how other people might have managed to do this?
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It depends on who you are also trying to cater for as well. My other half got on board with my low carb approach so essentially we have the same meals but he just as a few extras but not at meal times. What will be healthy for you will generally be healthy for others probably more so than what you are all having now.
I am following the principals in this link which as it is based on real food is more suited to family meals, you may need to pick and choose. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
 
Thanks all- all good advice and wil take a look at the link for some family meal ideas. I guess it's not just mealtimes but other things too e g. socialising being centred around drinking. But I can only control what I do, so just need to focus on that
 
wombat said:
Thanks all- all good advice and wil take a look at the link for some family meal ideas. I guess it's not just mealtimes but other things too e g. socialising being centred around drinking. But I can only control what I do, so just need to focus on that
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As long as you choose the better drinks, dry wines, spirits with diet mixers in moderation and avoid beers, cider, liqueurs, fruit juices you can still enjoy socialising.
 
I reduced my saturated fats back in November, less meat products, and increased the whole meal / whole wheat which now means we change what we buy, and buy both types of most things. For example 2 types of spaghetti, 2 types of pasta, bread, semi and skimmed milk or vegan milks if I am feeling fancy. I rarely eat beef, or pork now at all, for these things I have swapped to vegan. I am not doing low carb as that's not an issue for me, but this is an example of how it works for our family.
We generally eat the same meals but I will have a different ingredient in mine. So we do burgers, they have beef and I have vegan or vegan, they have cheese, and I low fat and thinner slices, and I will have extra salad no bacon on mine etc. Look at what you all generally eat now and improve what is on your plate. Spag bol, again mine is vegan mince. Pizza there isn't really an alternative, but having less slices is better and again get in your salad and veg etc in its place.
It seems like more cost at first, but it isn't as it all gets eaten in the end, 2 packets of pasta last the same amount of time, it is more dishes though so that's not fun but it can be done.
 
Leadinglights said:
As long as you choose the better drinks, dry wines, spirits with diet mixers in moderation and avoid beers, cider, liqueurs, fruit juices you can still enjoy socialising.
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Oh yes, and gin and diet tonic, is fine and vodka and diet mixers. There is alternatives. You will have to experiment.
 
Like @PhoebeC I simply swapped an ingredient in each of our regular family meals - mashed cauliflower or mashed celeriac instead of potatoes, celeriac chips instead of oven chips, riced cauliflower instead of long grain rice and a non-wheat pasta instead of wheat pasta - so that we still eat pretty much the same meals as before. Just 3 examples:-

Roast dinner - mine with cauli or celeriac mash, everyone else with roasties
Chilli Con Carne - mine with cauli rice, everyone else with long grain rice
Bolognese - mine with red lentil pasta (half portion), everyone else with spaghetti

Today we're having Tuna Pasta Bake, another family favourite, but my portion will be cooked in a separate dish on account of the pasta swap.
 
I think it is more common nowadays to have different dietary requirements in a household but that doesn't mean we have to cook two (or three or more) meals or give up on "family meal times".
There are often ways to tweak a dish to allow for variants such as cooking both rice and cauli rice for curry or extra meat in the roast for the person following a low carb diet and extra roasties for the one not. And sometimes, we can convince the "dietary unencumbered" to try our alternatives and realise how good they are.
My partner and I often have variations on a theme because he eats meat and I don't. He will add his ham to a pasta sauce after I have taken mine, he will have meat burgers and I will have veggie ones, he will have bacon with his fry up and I will have more mushrooms. But often he will have exactly the same as I do - he loves my risottos and quiches, for example.
 
Yeah my husband will have the Richmond vegan sausages with me, but still have bacon. I’ve stopped having the vegan stuff with breakfast as it’s not the same. Fine added into pasta etc but not on its own.

Roast dinner is great example actually, when my husband lost all the weight he needed to. He had carrot and parsnip mash rather than potatoes, and extra veg. There’s no replacement of roasties though, the king of potatoes
 
PhoebeC said:
Roast dinner is great example actually, when my husband lost all the weight he needed to. He had carrot and parsnip mash rather than potatoes, and extra veg. There’s no replacement of roasties though, the king of potatoes
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As a non meat eater, I love roasts. There is no need for any replacement (there are very few nut roasts which are moist enough for my taste buds) - I just love all of the veggies on one plate, especially the roasted ones. And, when eating out, it is often much cheaper although I may have to plead a little for the chef to allow me to miss out his pride and joy.
Thankfully, for me, there is no need to replace the roasties but (if you like it), maybe someone could try roasting celeriac as celeriac fried and a common alternative. They may require some additional basting to get the proper roastie crunch.
 
helli said:
As a non meat eater, I love roasts. There is no need for any replacement (there are very few nut roasts which are moist enough for my taste buds) - I just love all of the veggies on one plate, especially the roasted ones. And, when eating out, it is often much cheaper although I may have to plead a little for the chef to allow me to miss out his pride and joy.
Thankfully, for me, there is no need to replace the roasties but (if you like it), maybe someone could try roasting celeriac as celeriac fried and a common alternative. They may require some additional basting to get the proper roastie crunch.
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My daughter make a splendid nut roast and everybody likes it just as much as the meat for Xmas dinner.
 
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