Hi there

[Evie2211]

Hi everyone, been type 2 as a result of polycystic ovary syndrome for about 5 years. Struggling with keeping my carbs under 200g since the pandemic and lockdown. Also struggling with anxiety about my health, bit of a vicious circle. Looking for some support to help me get back on the right track.
Thanks x

 

[Inka]

Welcome @Evie2211 🙂 Are you on any medication for the diabetes? A good way to assess and reduce your carbs is to keep a food diary for a few days. You can then look through and see the obvious places where you could reduce carbs. Cutting down carb portions on your plate and replacing them with veg or a side salad is an easy start.

 

[SB2015]

Struggling with keeping my carbs under 200g since the pandemic and lockdown

I have also found that there was a ‘change in my carb intake’ over the past year, and somehow my clothes have shrunk whilst in the cupboard!!

This past year has been difficult in so many ways. I remember being told ‘Diabetes has no memory’. Tomorrow is another day so try not to worry about what has gone past and focus on your next steps. You could focus on one small aspect of what you want to change.
Small steps make a difference as they add up.

Keep in touch on here and ask any questions that you have. There is plenty of help to tap into.

 

[Evie2211]

I have also found that there was a ‘change in my carb intake’ over the past year, and somehow my clothes have shrunk whilst in the cupboard!!

This past year has been difficult in so many ways. I remember being told ‘Diabetes has no memory’. Tomorrow is another day so try not to worry about what has gone past and focus on your next steps. You could focus on one small aspect of what you want to change.
Small steps make a difference as they add up.

Keep in touch on here and ask any questions that you have. There is plenty of help to tap into.

Thanks that’s made me feel better. When I was first diagnosed I got a really good handle on it. I’m not a bad eater and it upsets me when type 2 is portrayed in the media as simply being a consequence of lifestyle. I was diagnosed with polycystic in my early 30s and all they told me was try lose some weight and come back to us if you want to get pregnant ‍♀️ I have two step kids so that wasn’t in my plan. By age 38 I had type 2. I’m not hugely overweight or a bad eater more than any other average person. I don’t drink much or smoke and I’ve always had what used to be described as a ‘healthy’ appetite. But I also know I could probably improve my blood sugar a lot tbh. Thanks I’m glad I’m not alone in sometimes getting it wrong because at the moment I’m doing a heck of a lot of beating myself up! And you’re absolutely right, small steps focus on one day at a time!

 

[Evie2211]

Welcome @Evie2211 🙂 Are you on any medication for the diabetes? A good way to assess and reduce your carbs is to keep a food diary for a few days. You can then look through and see the obvious places where you could reduce carbs. Cutting down carb portions on your plate and replacing them with veg or a side salad is an easy start.

Hiya, yep I’m on Metformin. I’ve always ‘craved’ carbs such as bread and potatoes. I think it’s connected to hormones, but there are others I’m not that fussy over. I’ve always been a brown bread eater and if having potatoes go for skin on new potatoes. I’ve learned a lot about carbs but my biggest problem is my appetite, I’ve always had a big appetite and also when there are even carbs in an apple it gets you down because that’s a healthy choice! I don’t really want to go down the high protein high fat route because I’d worry about my cholesterol. I think you’re right about the diary though, I did that before and it helps you understand where those extra carbs might sneak in! Thank you

 

[adrian1der]

Trying lowering your portion of carbs. Two potatoes rather than three, one serving spoon or rice rather than two. Compensate with more of the tasty bit - extra spoon of curry etc. I've got a better and more varied diet since diagnosis. I really enjoy food and cooking.

 

[rebrascora]

It doesn't have to be high fat. It just has to be what used to be normal fat.... blue top milk, cheese, whole milk natural yoghurt, marbled meat without all the fat trimmed off it etc.
The lack of that fat is partly why you are hungry and consequently eating more food (mostly carbs) than you need to. It is also a fallacy that eating fat increases your cholesterol. Most of the cholesterol in your blood is manufactured by the body. It is a much more complicated system than we have been lead to believe and fat is not the evil we have been conditioned to believe all our lives. I understand how difficult it is to go against the low fat advice but many of us eating more fat and less carbs, no longer feel hungry or crave carbs anymore which is a real revelation for me as I loved bread (like you, almost always wholemeal or granary) and potatoes with the skin whenever possible. I was also a sugar addict. I love the fact that I now have control of my diet and don't need any significant willpower to maintain it. I love that I am back to the size and shape I was in my 20s, I feel healthier and fitter and stronger than I have for 20+ years and my joints no longer complain when I walk or even run down hill..... and I no longer suffer the debilitating migraines I used to or in fact any migraines at all since I went low carb, even if I drink red wine which was my main known trigger.

Basically, don't reject the idea of eating more fat purely on the grounds of worries about cholesterol. Your diabetes is more of a threat to your health in my opinion.

 

[Cherrelle DUK]

Hi Evie2211, welcome to the forum.

Struggling with anxiety when you have diabetes is common so don't feel alone. It's natural to worry about the health of your body, hopefully with time and the right management plan, you'll be put at ease.

Are you able to share what a typical days menu is like for you? Sometimes, it's the hidden carbs that impact us just as much as sugar does.

Finding something you can snack on when you want to snack on something can be very useful. It might be worth having some pre prepped snacks that do not elevate your blood sugar levels to see off the cravings.

 

[Inka]

Hiya, yep I’m on Metformin. I’ve always ‘craved’ carbs such as bread and potatoes. I think it’s connected to hormones, but there are others I’m not that fussy over. I’ve always been a brown bread eater and if having potatoes go for skin on new potatoes. I’ve learned a lot about carbs but my biggest problem is my appetite, I’ve always had a big appetite and also when there are even carbs in an apple it gets you down because that’s a healthy choice! I don’t really want to go down the high protein high fat route because I’d worry about my cholesterol. I think you’re right about the diary though, I did that before and it helps you understand where those extra carbs might sneak in! Thank you

Don’t let the incorrect stereotypes about diabetes get to you. They’re largely due to ignorance not malice.

There are loads of foods that suit big appetites - vegetables! And no, I’m not trying to be funny or trite. Most vegetables really are the answer. You can fill up on them for very few carbs, and you also benefit from getting a good dose of all the phytonutrients they contain.

I have Type 1 not Type 2 so don’t need to watch my carbs so closely, but some days I have a mega salad for lunch for the nutrients, and I find I automatically have less carbs and am nice and full 🙂

There are some fantastic veg-full recipes around. Forget boring old lettuce, tomato and cucumber! I have kale, broccoli, green beans, berries, nuts, avocado, herbs, pulses.....

So perhaps you could look at your normal meals and tweak them to reduce the carbs and up the veg. That would be simple and hopefully pretty painless.

 

[PattiEvans]

Some time ago, along with a number of knowledgeable people I did quite a lot of research on Cholesterol. It comes as a surprise to a lot of people that carbohydrate ingestion can have more affect on your cholesterol than natural fats. You might find this page and it's links interesting.

 

[Leadinglights]

Even doctors are beginning to realise that the years of low fat, carbs with every meal is responsible for their patients having little success at getting their blood glucose levels reduced or losing weight.
I have just dug out a book which has an interesting explanation of the whole insulin resistance theory and diet, where the traditional way, drip feeds carbs into the body which sets up a continuous cycle increasing insulin resistance.
The book if anybody is interested is The Diabetes Code, prevent and reverse Type 2 diabetes naturally by Dr Jason Fung.

 

[Inka]

I don’t really want to go down the high protein high fat route because I’d worry about my cholesterol

That’s understandable. Fung is LCHF. So if you want to avoid that, you could look at Joel Fuhrman or Neal Barnard, both of whom have books about diabetes (The End of Diabetes and Reversing Diabetes respectively). Fuhrman also has a number of other health books and cookbooks.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Evie2211

I think the important thing is that you find, and grow, and develop and continue to adapt an approach which works for you long-term, and which gives you the results you are after. Being hungry all the time, and struggling to keep your carbs at a level where your BG is in target sound like things you should try to address, maybe by trying some new strategies that you wouldn’t have gone for before?

As you can see there are many different approaches used by members of the forum, and there’s no ‘one size fits all’ answer that will work for everyone.

I’m a great believer in moderation in all things, and in not demonising or over emphasising any one part of my diet. Like you I had (have) concerns about eating large quantities of fat... but increasingly I also have concerns over eating punitively low quantities of fat - which seems to be the pop-culture and food-industry approach where all fat is bad and even Coca Cola (which contains no fat AT ALL) is described as being ‘full fat’ if it is the sugary (‘bad’/fattening) version.

So over the past 10 years I have been relaxing my attitude to fats generally, and choosing ‘good fats’ (nuts, seeds, oily fish) in preference to processed low fat versions. And do you know what? My cholesterol levels are completely unchanged.

 

[rebrascora]

So over the past 10 years I have been relaxing my attitude to fats generally, and choosing ‘good fats’ (nuts, seeds, oily fish) in preference to processed low fat versions. And do you know what? My cholesterol levels are completely unchanged

Over the past 2 years I have eaten significantly higher amounts of natural fats including quite a lot of saturated fats ... fatty meat, eggs, cheese and cream.... as well as nuts and seeds and olives and avocado and my cholesterol has actually decreased ever so slightly. I have also significantly reduced my carbohydrate intake and I am sure that is as much of a factor.

 

[Leadinglights]

I think the word should be moderation in what you do as it is easy to overdo it. A colleague who got obsessed in the name of research on probiotic drinks and was having 2 litres a day, he became so ill he nearly died. There is a place for them but that was way way over the top.