High readings

[gands88]

Hi my hubby has D2 and we are trying to keep his fasting sugar readings around 6 -7 (which sem to be his normal) but lately the thace been 8 -9.5, now we know that he has had high sugar intake for a couple of days as he is rather partial to aldi mince pies which we know put it up but the las couple of days they have still been up even though he hasn't eaten anything that we feel would raise his reading if anything would lower it ie greek yoghurt and blueberries for breakfast (he doesn't like a big breakfast) then pot noodle no bread for lunch and tea was home made shepherd's pie with mince, oats celery, carrots, peas, edamame beans, swede and potato mash (trying to lower potato intake gradually) and a little cheddar sprinkled on top , then a couple of apples during the day and another greek yoghurt with blueberries. And his reading this morning was 8.4. He walked the dog 3 times and went on the exercise bike for 20 mins 3 times during the day. He didn't drink much water as he finds it hard to drink more when it's cold . Any help would be appreciated to help understand what we are doing wrong tia x

 

[Leadinglights]

Welcome to the forum. Looking at the type of foods he is having there are some quite high carb things among them.
Pot Noodles are high carb, your additions to the shepherd's pie, potatoes, oats, peas, are making it high carb, and apples are adding to the daily total of carbs.
Trying to keep to less than 130g per day Total carbs is where many people need to be, and that would include drinks. As you have a monitor then he could test the effect of his meals by testing before he eats and after 2 hours where the aim is to keep the increase to less than 3mmol/l or below 8 -8.5 mmol/l.
I would suspect the carbs in the food you posted would push it more than that.
Portion size is also important, so less of the shepherd's pie but with some green veg like broccoli or cabbage or salad may well be fine.
This link may give you some meal ideas and help modify what he is having.

Freshwell Low Carb Project - Home

lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk

The full fat Greek yoghurt and blueberries are a good choice. There are also protein yoghurts or Kvarg deserts for a change or sugarfree jelly with berries with cream for pudding which are options.

 

[Loobyloo]

I agree with @Leadinglights that these meals are quite high carb and the apples not great either carb wise. I gave up pot noodles and limit my fruit to berries mainly. Potaoes, rice and noodles are all high carb. There is a good book Carbs and Cals which i found very helpful when i was first diagnosed. To begin with i tried to keep to around 100 carbs a day until i lost weight and got my sugars under control. But 130 or under is a good target.

 

[Inka]

Welcome @gands88 🙂 It sounds like he’s only testing in the morning? He’d find it very useful to do some before and 2hrs after meal readings so he can see how foods affect him and adjust his diet if needed. Is he on any meds for the diabetes?

The Pot Noodle probably had 60g+ of carbs. A sandwich would have had less carbs, and something like a salad or soup plus protein would have had less than that.

 

[Leadinglights]

I made a corned beef hash last night using leeks, butternut squash, green beans, mixed peppers topped off with grated cheese which we had with a salad.
Very tasty and low carb.
Homemade soups for lunch, my favourites are brocolli and stilton, squash, red pepper and tomato, courgette and brie, celery, leek and pea. Almost anything without potato is a good option. Bought soups often have high carb additives like potato starch or even sugar so are less suitable.

Forgot to say I added a bit of celeriac to the hash.

 

[helli]

@gands88 I am not sure if it is clear from the comments above that the concern is all carbohydrates not just sugar. The reason for this is that "complex carbs" all break down into "simple carbs" (sugar) when we digest them. So only worrying about the sugar us diabetics eat is only part of the problem - we also have to be aware of oats and potatoes and noodles and pasta and bread and most "under the ground" vegetables like carrots and parsnips as well as fruit, cake, mince pies, chocolate, etc.
I have intentionally written "be aware of" rather than "avoid" because we all tolerate these differently so we have to work out for ourselves what our own bodies tolerate. The best way to do this is to test before and after eating as @Inka mentioned.
At the moment, there is a two week free trial of the Libre available from their website. If your husband has a phone with NFC, he may find this helpful to get an insight into what his body tolerates best

 

[rebrascora]

Two apples in a day plus berries in the yoghurt is quite a lot. I tend to have half an apple with cheese each day and the other half the next day, plus a few berries in my yoghurt. The cheese with the apple helps me feel full and satisfied, provides slow release energy and slows down the glucose release from the carbs in the apple.
As others have said the pot noodle is a poor choice all round. You seem to realise that the mashed potato is a problem. I find mashed cauliflower on a cottage/shepherd's pie works well with a good dollop of full fat cream cheese mashed into it and a teaspoon of mustard and a liberal sprinkling or cheese on top. Green leafy veg like cabbage, kale and broccoli are better options than peas and carrots. Not saying he can't have peas and carrots but maybe one or the other with his meal rather than both on the same plate with potato. A knob of butter cooked with the cabbage/kale makes it so much tastier.
Can sympathize with the craving for a mince pie at this time of year. Maybe try half of one with plenty of cream to slow it down and/or have it when he has had a very low carb day and exercise after it, so perhaps at lunchtime instead of evening, but it needs to be an occasional treat and not consecutive days, tempting as it is.

 

[trophywench]

Unfortunately, I like a mince pie too. I say that because they really are far too high in carbohydrate to eat without giving it some thought. Each one, c. 35g carbohydrate, roughly the same as two slices of large medium sliced bread. But I usually add butter and sandwich fillings to the bread and make a sandwich so it's a meal - whereas the pie just isn't a meal!

 

[gands88]

@gands88 I am not sure if it is clear from the comments above that the concern is all carbohydrates not just sugar. The reason for this is that "complex carbs" all break down into "simple carbs" (sugar) when we digest them. So only worrying about the sugar us diabetics eat is only part of the problem - we also have to be aware of oats and potatoes and noodles and pasta and bread and most "under the ground" vegetables like carrots and parsnips as well as fruit, cake, mince pies, chocolate, etc.
I have intentionally written "be aware of" rather than "avoid" because we all tolerate these differently so we have to work out for ourselves what our own bodies tolerate. The best way to do this is to test before and after eating as @Inka mentioned.
At the moment, there is a two week free trial of the Libre available from their website. If your husband has a phone with NFC, he may find this helpful to get an insight into what his body tolerates best

Thanks for explaining about the carbs, I am try to convince him to check before or at least 2 hours after eating his food or to try the libra especially if it's free for a couple of weeks

 

[gands88]

Two apples in a day plus berries in the yoghurt is quite a lot. I tend to have half an apple with cheese each day and the other half the next day, plus a few berries in my yoghurt. The cheese with the apple helps me feel full and satisfied, provides slow release energy and slows down the glucose release from the carbs in the apple.
As others have said the pot noodle is a poor choice all round. You seem to realise that the mashed potato is a problem. I find mashed cauliflower on a cottage/shepherd's pie works well with a good dollop of full fat cream cheese mashed into it and a teaspoon of mustard and a liberal sprinkling or cheese on top. Green leafy veg like cabbage, kale and broccoli are better options than peas and carrots. Not saying he can't have peas and carrots but maybe one or the other with his meal rather than both on the same plate with potato. A knob of butter cooked with the cabbage/kale makes it so much tastier.
Can sympathize with the craving for a mince pie at this time of year. Maybe try half of one with plenty of cream to slow it down and/or have it when he has had a very low carb day and exercise after it, so perhaps at lunchtime instead of evening, but it needs to be an occasional treat and not consecutive days, tempting as it is.

Thanks for explaining about the carrots and peas also cheese with apples etc I will try to encourage him to try the suggestions

 

[Jenny65]

I had shepherds pie for lunch but a very small portion and had it with lots of veg, I love it, and this was my way of having it but keeping the carbs lower. Its hard as a mince pie is on my list to allow on Christmas day, but I will probably have it with a cup of tea instead as a meal, not good in some ways but it would tip my carbs over for the day otherwise, although a glass of wine instead of tea may help keep my liver occupied 🙂