-
Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
Help and support needed
- Thread starter kkma0706
- Start date
- Status
Drummer
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
If you are looking to eat lower carb, Lidl has had some huge packs of chicken thighs recently - like 1.8kg.
I cook them in my Tefal air fryer, but they do just as well on a rack - the skins go all crispy.
They also had some silicon perforated lids to put on bowls - preserves the crispy skins - stops things smelling stale, I find.
You will need to watch your levels a lot, of course, but eating carbs is a sure way to be hungry in a few hours. I regularly have humungous salads and 2 or 3 chicken thighs if I am going to need to eat out of the house. If you add in enough carbs to stay legal for driving then it is going to be more nutritious than bread or other high carb but low nutrient foods - not to mention the envious looks from anyone who has not been to Lidl. I also get pork or beef steaks and after cooking I cut them into strips to fit into small steel bowls more easily. After a few days of eating higher grade foods a corned beef sandwich can be a bit of a let down.
I cook them in my Tefal air fryer, but they do just as well on a rack - the skins go all crispy.
They also had some silicon perforated lids to put on bowls - preserves the crispy skins - stops things smelling stale, I find.
You will need to watch your levels a lot, of course, but eating carbs is a sure way to be hungry in a few hours. I regularly have humungous salads and 2 or 3 chicken thighs if I am going to need to eat out of the house. If you add in enough carbs to stay legal for driving then it is going to be more nutritious than bread or other high carb but low nutrient foods - not to mention the envious looks from anyone who has not been to Lidl. I also get pork or beef steaks and after cooking I cut them into strips to fit into small steel bowls more easily. After a few days of eating higher grade foods a corned beef sandwich can be a bit of a let down.
trophywench
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Total brand Greek yog is great, but doesn't come near actual Greek yog made with sheep's milk, but then that is a bit tangy for some palates. Anyway - look for a brand name that looks like 'Fage' - it isn't Fage cos it's Greek letters that just look like Fage LOL Anyway, they now make cow's milk yog too.
Dunno if they still do cos we haven't been in Tesco's since March (daughter won't let us out) but Tesco used to stock a Brand , think it was Rebecca's?? who did great big pots amongst which was one with Raspberries in it - blooming lovely. Ah - Rachel's ! Don't seem to do the raspberry now. Shame.
Dunno if they still do cos we haven't been in Tesco's since March (daughter won't let us out) but Tesco used to stock a Brand , think it was Rebecca's?? who did great big pots amongst which was one with Raspberries in it - blooming lovely. Ah - Rachel's ! Don't seem to do the raspberry now. Shame.
Good morning everyone, thank you so much for all your replies, I had a great day yesterday except I started to feel hypo symptoms in the evening and my blood sugar had dropped to 4.0 (very low for me!); my blood sugar was 9.0 2 hours after lunch, 7.1 when I left work (and walked to the car about 15 minutes!) and then 6.0 when I got home (I was starving but didn't stop and buy anything which was a massive achievement for me!), I cooked a chicken kiev (home made by my Mum) and broccoli cheese for dinner and had a sugar free jelly for pudding (around 5.30), then dropped to 4.0 about 8pm so I know I overestimated the carbs, I then went a bit crazy and went up to 12, was 12 when I woke up this morning (which is about normal for me) but then I had some cheese with ham rolled around it for breakfast and when I got to work I had gone up to 16? It's slowly coming down now but still starting the day too high and feels like I am fighting a losing battle every morning to get it down. Do you think the Lantus needs increasing-also I have always had my Lantus dose (24 units) at night but should I split it? And I always tale my metformin (2g) at night but again would it be better at a different time? Thanks again.
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hi and well done on the fantastic progress you made yesterday! It sounds like you made some really good choices and you just need to get better at figuring out how much to reduce your insulin to match those healthier choices. It will come with practice and hopefully at some point you will get to a stage where you don't have to think about insulin because you no longer need it.... I love having meals where I don't need to think about how many carbs I am eating and how much insulin I need for it without it just being nice not to have that extra injection.
Shame about going up to 12 but easy to over treat a hypo .... I am guessing that is what happened when you "went crazy"?? We all know how compelling that hunger can be with a hypo. I have little bags of 3 jelly babies stashed in different places so that I only take the required amount. All too easy to just grab a handful and then another handful...
The other thing I would say is if you are starving, have something low carb, because if you continue to feel hungry you are likely to lose control and binge at some point... at least that is what happened to me. Having low carb treats/snacks was really important in tiding me over the initial cravings until my body adjusted.
Anyway, keep on doing what you are doing and build on that fantastic first day! You can do it!
Shame about going up to 12 but easy to over treat a hypo .... I am guessing that is what happened when you "went crazy"?? We all know how compelling that hunger can be with a hypo. I have little bags of 3 jelly babies stashed in different places so that I only take the required amount. All too easy to just grab a handful and then another handful...
The other thing I would say is if you are starving, have something low carb, because if you continue to feel hungry you are likely to lose control and binge at some point... at least that is what happened to me. Having low carb treats/snacks was really important in tiding me over the initial cravings until my body adjusted.
Anyway, keep on doing what you are doing and build on that fantastic first day! You can do it!
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Hi everyone, well I had another good day yesterday in terms of eating and walking but dropped again in the evening to 4.9 (I know this isn't technically a hypo but I feel symptoms below 5; I had wholemeal spaghetti with smoked salmon and green veg (about half the portion i would normally have) and reduced my bolus a lot but clearly not enough. I didn't over treat this time, had a cup of tea with a piece of wholemeal toast and nut butter but woke in the night feeling very nauseous and had gone up to 13? My fasting this morning was 9.8 which is the first time it has been under 10 in ages!! I also weighed myself, which was a bit stupid as it has only been a few days but I have lost 2lbs already. I am so proud of myself for driving straight home from work 3 days straight now which sounds trivial but to think what I was consuming it's a real achievement!
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Fantastic news! Well done!!
Pasta and particularly wholemeal pasta can be slow to release glucose, so it may be that your insulin hit your system before all the carbs were released from your meal, causing you to drop low and then bounce back up through the night. Some people split their dose for things like pasta and pizza and have half before eating and half afterwards to prevent that problem. Alternatively you could get some courgette and make courgetti with a spiraliser to have instead of pasta, or "Bare Naked Noodles" which are available in most large supermarkets and are pretty much carb free and use those instead of spaghetti or noodles. You would then probably need to dial your bolus insulin right down as that would be very low carb.
If your levels are usually running a bit higher than the normal range, it is not surprising that you feel a bit hypo when you are still above the 4 threshold. We often suggest people have a low carb snack to treat it rather than a full 15g hypo treatment. Something like a chunk of cheese with a single multigrain cracker would be a good option or a digestive biscuit. That would be about 5-10g carbs instead of the 15g carbs you had with a slice of toast and would have helped to keep you more in range.
On the whole you are making great progress though. Looking forward to tomorrow's report!
Pasta and particularly wholemeal pasta can be slow to release glucose, so it may be that your insulin hit your system before all the carbs were released from your meal, causing you to drop low and then bounce back up through the night. Some people split their dose for things like pasta and pizza and have half before eating and half afterwards to prevent that problem. Alternatively you could get some courgette and make courgetti with a spiraliser to have instead of pasta, or "Bare Naked Noodles" which are available in most large supermarkets and are pretty much carb free and use those instead of spaghetti or noodles. You would then probably need to dial your bolus insulin right down as that would be very low carb.
If your levels are usually running a bit higher than the normal range, it is not surprising that you feel a bit hypo when you are still above the 4 threshold. We often suggest people have a low carb snack to treat it rather than a full 15g hypo treatment. Something like a chunk of cheese with a single multigrain cracker would be a good option or a digestive biscuit. That would be about 5-10g carbs instead of the 15g carbs you had with a slice of toast and would have helped to keep you more in range.
On the whole you are making great progress though. Looking forward to tomorrow's report!
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Glad to hear you’ve had a few good days @kkma0706
Yes some people do find pasta to be extremely slow release (it can depend very much person to person, and also can change over the years or even - ridiculously - with the shape of the pasta). Split doses can work wonders if this happens often when you try pasta.
It’s all a matter of personal experimentation and trying to look for patterns so it can be really helpful to find a way of keeping notes - certainly in the early years, but also whenever things seem to be behaving unusually or particularly erratically.
Some members find that smartphone apps are helpful for keeping records of BGs along with notes about doses, food, activity, emotions etc, because it allows searching and many provide fancy graphs and various averages/totals. There are free options, and some that you need to pay for. Others just use good old fashioned pen and paper!
Yes some people do find pasta to be extremely slow release (it can depend very much person to person, and also can change over the years or even - ridiculously - with the shape of the pasta). Split doses can work wonders if this happens often when you try pasta.
It’s all a matter of personal experimentation and trying to look for patterns so it can be really helpful to find a way of keeping notes - certainly in the early years, but also whenever things seem to be behaving unusually or particularly erratically.
Some members find that smartphone apps are helpful for keeping records of BGs along with notes about doses, food, activity, emotions etc, because it allows searching and many provide fancy graphs and various averages/totals. There are free options, and some that you need to pay for. Others just use good old fashioned pen and paper!
- Status