Honest Discussion and ideas - Low Carb

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MarkGeordie

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
I am trying to get better at this but I am a very picky eater.

I’ve started walking around 6000-7000 steps a day and want to increase this to the 10000 ready for July to start the 1 million step challenge.

I tend to eat -

Breakfast -
1 or 2 Hard Boiled eggs, with a few pork sausages and a very small slice of whole meal bread which is 9g carbs for the slice.

Lunch -
Tends to be a tin of tuna, mixed with some salad leaves, grated cheese, and some cherry tomatoes. So my version of a salad.

Dinner -
This is where I struggle as I crave the potatoes here.

I either have a fish cake, or haddock, or chicken southern fried and some veg.

Has anyone any recommendations?

Drinks and snacks -
Water
Tea, with a splash of full fat milk
Diet Pepsi

Few grapes, strawberries or raspberries
Handful of peanuts
Few slices of cheese
Few slices of cooked chicken meat slices

What I don’t like?
To be honest most meat, unless it’s chicken or pork sausages. I hate bacon too.

Mushrooms and cooked tomatoes I dislike also.

Does anyone have any further idea? Okay
 
I'm a type 2 so have nothing like the balancing act you have to cope with, but if you are seriously going for low carb I suggest more eggs, maybe have them scrambled or fry them, for variety and rather than bread have a stir fry - far tastier and more nutritious,

I avoid the cherry tomatoes as they are so sweet - but I have a half a pack of mixed salad, plus coleslaw, salad tomato celery, beetroot, radish - basically empty out the fridge and have a bit of everything.

Potatoes are fairly easy to replace.
I have been cooking quite a lot of swede in a pressure cooker as it cuts cooking time considerably. I use cauliflower, courgette and aubergine as potato substitutes if they are suitable. If there is any swede left from the day before I add egg, and make bubble and squeak with left over veges, or along with the egg mix in grated cheese, put it in a dish and add more cheese on top and then bake it - you can make cauliflower cheese with cream cheese any herb or spice, then grated cheese on top, all in a warm dish over almost cooked cauliflower and heat in a medium oven until the cheese starts to get a light tan.
I find grapes and peanuts too high in carbs.
 
MarkGeordie said:
I am trying to get better at this but I am a very picky eater.

I’ve started walking around 6000-7000 steps a day and want to increase this to the 10000 ready for July to start the 1 million step challenge.

I tend to eat -

Breakfast -
1 or 2 Hard Boiled eggs, with a few pork sausages and a very small slice of whole meal bread which is 9g carbs for the slice.

Lunch -
Tends to be a tin of tuna, mixed with some salad leaves, grated cheese, and some cherry tomatoes. So my version of a salad.

Dinner -
This is where I struggle as I crave the potatoes here.

I either have a fish cake, or haddock, or chicken southern fried and some veg.

Has anyone any recommendations?

Drinks and snacks -
Water
Tea, with a splash of full fat milk
Diet Pepsi

Few grapes, strawberries or raspberries
Handful of peanuts
Few slices of cheese
Few slices of cooked chicken meat slices

What I don’t like?
To be honest most meat, unless it’s chicken or pork sausages. I hate bacon too.

Mushrooms and cooked tomatoes I dislike also.

Does anyone have any further idea? Okay
Click to expand...
I think you are being a bit hard on yourself as it sounds as if you are trying to achieve NO carb rather than low carb.
How about omelettes, you can add veg and cheese to make a filing meal or cauliflower or broccoli with a cheese sauce.
to have with high meat content sausages.
You can get what they call lightly dusted haddock or cod fillets from some supermarkets.

For snacks Nature Valley, KIND nut and chocolate protein bars or shop own are all less than 10g carb per bar.
I just noticed you are Type 1 so do you need to be having so little carbs.?
 
I think I don’t want no carb just low carb.

I think I was trying to reduce a lot to help with weight loss.

Maybe I can still have some potatoes for dinner.

I just run out of ideas.

Someone said to me try not eat as much cheese as can put weight on.
 
MarkGeordie said:
I think I don’t want no carb just low carb.

I think I was trying to reduce a lot to help with weight loss.

Maybe I can still have some potatoes for dinner.

I just run out of ideas.

Someone said to me try not eat as much cheese as can put weight on.
Click to expand...
Sorry I'm a bit confused as surely you are balancing your insulin dose for the carbs you have for your meals so you could have potatoes or other carbs and adjust your insulin accordingly. The fat in the cheese may affect how your meal is digested however.
@rebrascora follows low carb and has full fat yoghurt, etc.
 
I don’t think there’s any confusion, course I adjust accordingly and can inject for the correct carbs, that’s not in dispute.

The dilemma is, I had wanted to reduce my carbs therefore bringing down my overall insulin intake too.

Yes I can have carbs which means more insulin but that defeats the aim for me.
 
What on earth is the medical necessity for a T1 to limit the amount of insulin their body needs?
 
trophywench said:
What on earth is the medical necessity for a T1 to limit the amount of insulin their body needs?
Click to expand...
I limit my carbs, not drastically, but it smooths out the peaks and troughs and makes my insulin/carb balance so much easier to manage. I'd rather have a token helping of potato, and a couple of squares of dark choc with some nuts for pud, than squander all the calories on the boring bit of the meal.
 
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trophywench said:
What on earth is the medical necessity for a T1 to limit the amount of insulin their body needs?
Click to expand...
I don’t think I said there was. That’s slightly abrupt tone too, not appreciated.
 
Sounds like you are working hard at your menu @MarkGeordie , but maybe you are feeling a bit uninspired and feeling like your choices are a bit repetitive?

How about some of these?
  • Roasted mediterranean veggies - so good!
  • Cauliflower (cauli rice is well known, but the other day I cooked some completely made-up tapas with spiced cauliflower ‘steaks’ which were amazingly successful!)... roasted... cauliflower cheese… battered bites…
  • Celeriac - worth trying as a lower carb alternative to potatoes, mashed, chipped, wedges, etc
  • Pulses - can give you a solid feeling to a meal
  • Leaves! We are coming into a season where you can make huge coleslaw style salads (dressed or undressed) with different cabbages, onion and carrot
  • Curries - there are so many amazing veggie non-meat curry options, sides and accompaniments
  • Tapas style mix-ups
Having said that… personally I haven’t found that balanced insulin doses with my menu are specifically is associated with weight gain for me - it’s more the amount of food I am eating. Like @Robin I’ve often found that moderate carbs are easier to balance than high carb (or sometimes low carb!) meals. My diabetes seems to like a fairly consistent carb load :D
 
Oops, sorry Mark. You said you wanted to reduce the overall amount of insulin you needed, so I just wondered for what reason you felt the need to do that, is all. The reason this piqued my interest is because you've chosen to go so seemingly mega low carb too, rather than cutting your carbs down a bit, even if you were formerly eating 'a ton' of carb a day.

It is true that Barbara has chosen to limit her carb intake more than a bit - but she's the only T1 on here that has. Hence, both of you are exceptions. I mean I ignore the 'fact' that the NHS reckons 'most people' consume c. 250g carb every day - because I've never, ever in my life either wanted or needed, to eat more than c. 80-ish g, but there again I'm not that big (5ft 1 and in proportion to my height) and always had a largely sedentary job, before I retired.
 
I think @Benny G may have also chosen a fairly low carb approach previously - not sure if that’s still the case?
 
trophywench said:
Oops, sorry Mark. You said you wanted to reduce the overall amount of insulin you needed, so I just wondered for what reason you felt the need to do that, is all. The reason this piqued my interest is because you've chosen to go so seemingly mega low carb too, rather than cutting your carbs down a bit, even if you were formerly eating 'a ton' of carb a day.

It is true that Barbara has chosen to limit her carb intake more than a bit - but she's the only T1 on here that has. Hence, both of you are exceptions. I mean I ignore the 'fact' that the NHS reckons 'most people' consume c. 250g carb every day - because I've never, ever in my life either wanted or needed, to eat more than c. 80-ish g, but there again I'm not that big (5ft 1 and in proportion to my height) and always had a largely sedentary job, before I retired.
Click to expand...
Sorry if my reply sounded harsh too, I’ve had a bad day. I do apologise. I can understand all that too.
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Sounds like you are working hard at your menu @MarkGeordie , but maybe you are feeling a bit uninspired and feeling like your choices are a bit repetitive?

How about some of these?
  • Roasted mediterranean veggies - so good!
  • Cauliflower (cauli rice is well known, but the other day I cooked some completely made-up tapas with spiced cauliflower ‘steaks’ which were amazingly successful!)... roasted... cauliflower cheese… battered bites…
  • Celeriac - worth trying as a lower carb alternative to potatoes, mashed, chipped, wedges, etc
  • Pulses - can give you a solid feeling to a meal
  • Leaves! We are coming into a season where you can make huge coleslaw style salads (dressed or undressed) with different cabbages, onion and carrot
  • Curries - there are so many amazing veggie non-meat curry options, sides and accompaniments
  • Tapas style mix-ups
Having said that… personally I haven’t found that balanced insulin doses with my menu are specifically is associated with weight gain for me - it’s more the amount of food I am eating. Like @Robin I’ve often found that moderate carbs are easier to balance than high carb (or sometimes low carb!) meals. My diabetes seems to like a fairly consistent carb load :D
Click to expand...
That’s amazing thanks I will have to try some of these.
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
I think @Benny G may have also chosen a fairly low carb approach previously - not sure if that’s still the case?
Click to expand...
trophywench said:
(snip) because I've never, ever in my life either wanted or needed, to eat more than c. 80-ish g, (snip)
Click to expand...
I do eat low carb, I just don't post about it very often.
Lower carb, <50g carb per day, seems to work for me, and at 80-ish g (per day?), seems to work for @trophywench too.

I usually eat one meal a day, occasionally two, and usually have a small snack before bedtime.

Low carb tends to be either high protein, or high fat, or a more difficult dolly mixture of both.

If you know you are a fussy eater then experiment with preparation and presentation.
You can cook chicken a dozen different ways, the same goes for eggs. The veg can also be fried, baked, grilled, boiled, steamed, barbecued, or eaten raw.

Sauces can make such a difference, and alter the look or taste of food.

I love omelettes, add anything from the fridge and instant magic.
Allow yourself to have a little of what you fancy, sometimes on a Sunday I will have a couple of Yorkshire puddings with dinner. Blood glucose always takes a bump, but going for a walk helps.

Below I include images of eggs, eggs, eggs, and Yorkshire puddings.

omelette and greens.jpgomelette and salad.jpgeggs bacon salad.jpgchicken yorks puddings.jpg
 
I've lost a lot of weight eating low carb since diagnosis. My waist is about 14 inches smaller now - I was almost spherical eating lots of 'healthy' carbs.
 
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