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Hello all, Brian here, 105kg and determined

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Brianversion1

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Just pickeD up a book that recommends low carb (obvs) and interestingly intermittent fasting. Any tips anyone and how on earth can I avoid bread? For background im retired and swim at least three times a week.
 
Hi Brian and welcome

It is best to start by cutting down on portion size rather than cutting out carbs like bread altogether. So have just one slice instead of two and try a seeded loaf or other lower carb bread option.
I know my mind boggled at the prospect of managing to eat without bread because it is a carrier for so many foods, even without taking into account that we enjoy it, just the logistics of having meals without it seems impossible.
Amazingly though, 2 years down the line and I don't miss it at all. It just takes a bit of getting used to. Cutting back on it and other carbs slowly will be less of a shock to your system as well as enable you to get used to the concept of less bread. Dropping your Blood Glucose levels too quickly can have a damaging impact on fine blood vessels particularly in the eyes, so making slow, steady and sustainable changes to your diet is preferable all round.

Intermittent fasting works for some people and not for others. I tend to eat when I am hungry and skip meals if I am not.... basically listening to my body, but your body may crave carbs initially when you start cutting down, so do be alert to that rather than actual hunger. Eating low carb, higher protein and fat snacks like a boiled egg with a spoon of (full fat) mayonnaise or some nuts or cooked meat with coleslaw (again full fat) when you feel peckish helps to tide you over those initial cravings.

Swimming is great. If you can fit in a walk at least on the days you don't swim or daily if you can, that will help enormously too.

Good luck with your diabetes journey and feel free to ask any questions which crop up.
 
There are low carb breads to buy, or you can make them yourself, or there is 'fat head' dough for making pizza and it does a good job with sausage rolls and pastry-like enclosures.
Cheese waffles aka chaffles are very useful - they can be used as a base for all sorts, or wrapped around sausages or bacon.
 
There are low carb breads to buy, or you can make them yourself, or there is 'fat head' dough for making pizza and it does a good job with sausage rolls and pastry-like enclosures.
Cheese waffles aka chaffles are very useful - they can be used as a base for all sorts, or wrapped around sausages or bacon.
Well @Drummer I have, at long last. after 2 years, been tempted to experiment with making a chaffle (I'm terribly slow I know 🙄) and I am quite impressed. I made it more like a pancake than a waffle as I could never see much point in waffles and don't have an iron anyway but it has actually turned out like a very thin but quite firm omelette and would definitely hold up to making a sandwich or wrap. I just used the bit of Red Leicester cheese I had left in the fridge, but thinking about it, the block of halloumi I have may work better for my next experiment. I added some ground almonds with the cheese and eggs and a little psyllium husk and the flavour is almost cheese scone which is something I particularly miss since going low carb. I can envisage it making a very tasty ploughman's sandwich. Can't understand why I didn't try this sooner as you have mentioned it often enough.
Of course it helps that I have dozens of eggs to use up because the girls are in peak production at the moment!!
 
Well @Drummer I have, at long last. after 2 years, been tempted to experiment with making a chaffle (I'm terribly slow I know 🙄) and I am quite impressed. I made it more like a pancake than a waffle as I could never see much point in waffles and don't have an iron anyway but it has actually turned out like a very thin but quite firm omelette and would definitely hold up to making a sandwich or wrap. I just used the bit of Red Leicester cheese I had left in the fridge, but thinking about it, the block of halloumi I have may work better for my next experiment. I added some ground almonds with the cheese and eggs and a little psyllium husk and the flavour is almost cheese scone which is something I particularly miss since going low carb. I can envisage it making a very tasty ploughman's sandwich. Can't understand why I didn't try this sooner as you have mentioned it often enough.
Of course it helps that I have dozens of eggs to use up because the girls are in peak production at the moment!!
Glad you like them - I must go and buy eggs - I haven't had any in the house for a week and things keep happening to prevent me going to the shops. We always used to have hens when I was young - it was my job to find the eggs and there were always a lot of them to bring in.
Red Leicester is one of my favourite cheeses.
I do get up some rather more elaborate dishes and recipes than I mention on here - I like to keep things simple as I think that once the first few experiments are made people are bound to start to improvise and get into adapting - no sense in typing out something with an hour of preparations and five of cooking - eyes will glaze over....
 
Well, I used my chaffle to make a sandwich tonight... the first sandwich I have had in almost 2 years and it was delicious. I had a slice of black pudding fried with ,mayonnaise and pea shoot salad and a cherry tomato sliced. My chaffle held together better than any bread and I REALLY enjoyed the whole things. Definitely something to repeat in the near future. Washed it down with a glass of rose wine and I am a very happy girl tonight!
Why am I so reluctant to try new things and experiment. I have really enjoyed both experimental meals I have thrown together today and they were so quick and easy!.... Off to the "What did you eat yesterday?" thread to document my day's successes!
 
Hi Brianversion1,

We've got an active thread going re bread which has some good recommendations for alternatives https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/bread-wraps.93180/page-3#post-1074126.

Some people find the low carb bread options work for them and others just replace bread altogether. It really depends on you and the impact that these foods have on you.

Worth a try to pick the most appealing option and then test your BS after for a couple of days so that you can see the impact that it's having.
 
Welcome to the forum @Brianversion1

As @Cherrelle DUK says, it can really help to have a BG meter to check your individual reaction to foods (these vary surprising amounts from person to person), so before you avoid bread altogether it would be worth checking to see how much of a rise you get between immediately before and 2hrs after eating. Then trying portion reduction as @rebrascora suggests.

If you need to self fund your BG meter, the most affordable meters members here have found are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 - which both have test strips at around £8 for 50

Good luck, and let us know how you get on 🙂
 
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