Lanny
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
I have been a Type 2 diabetic for 17 years: diagnosed at 29 & I’m now 46. I was on tablets for 11 years & have been on insulin the last 6 years. At first, when diagnosed, I researched as much as possible & made a lot of changes very quickly. I halved my long term sugar readings at my first diabetic clinic at the hospital 6 months after diagnosis. In hindsight, that was bit of a panicked reaction & I couldn’t sustain those changes. Over the years my blood sugar readings, eating habits etc. have all slipped along with my health: more medications for high blood pressure & cholesterol. I’m a new Diabetes UK member introducing myself before getting onto the subject of my post. So, my apologies for taking so long to get to the point.
I, like a lot of you I’m sure, switched sugar for Artificial Sweeteners: Canderal then Splenda. My use of these & sugar free food & drinks steadily increased over the years. So, too did my weight as I ate bigger meals & more food during the day. I was 8.5 stone in weight at diagnosis after losing half a stone in 6 months when I kept getting a cold every few weeks. I regained that half stone & was my then normal weight of 9 stone again within the first few weeks after diagnosis. But, the weight gain didn’t stop there & I’ve battled with it over the years: fluctuating & 13.5 stone at my worst; after switching to insulin. The switch to insulin made that battle worse as my weight went up so much: from 12.5 stone to 13.5 stone. It took me a while to stabilise my weight at 11.75 stone Sept. 2015 to May 2017.
My health took a sudden downturn when I was hospitalised for asthma: had it as a child, grew out of it & it returned. Although my asthma was quite quickly managed by taking an inhaler every day, the effect on my diabetes was a slower & longer recovery: still monitoring & checking in by phone every 6 weeks. My insulin, Levemir & Novorapid, doses had to be increased a few times as my blood sugars were so high. My weight went from 11.75 stone to 12.5 stone & stayed that way.
About Sept. 2017 the doctors at my health centre posted a news item on their facebook page about Artificial Sweeteners. They confuse the brain as it expects a certain amount of calories, because of the sweetness, & when it doesn’t get it; it tells you to eat more to make up the deficit. The more you have; the greater the deficit & the more you need to eat. I read that & a metaphorical lightbulb went off in my head; ah ha!
I immediately dumped all of my Splenda & anything with Artificial Sweeteners in it, sugar free drinks etc. I changed to full sugar drinks & using natural honey, the kind that sets over time: processed does not, instead of Splenda.
The effects of having the extra sugar were not apparent at first as my blood sugars were high anyway & I was still eating the same amount of food. But, I did slowly start to eat less over time: so slowly that I didn’t notice. My blood sugars evened out at around 9 across the day, no matter when I took the readings around Nov. 2017 when my insulin doses had reached its peak (Levemir 33 units Novorapid 8, 13 & 7 units with meals) & started to fall steadily after Xmas 2017.
Then, around the end of Jan. 2018 I had a hypo, my blood sugars had been high for so long I’d forgotten what that was like. I had another one a few days later. After my 3rd. one in a week I checked in by phone with my diabetic nurse. I lowered my Levemir to 31 units & my breakfast dose of Novorapid to 7 units. It was Monday & the start of a trying week when I had a hypo everyday &, after checking with the nurse, lowering doses of Novorapid. My blood sugars were swinging wildly too as a hyper inevitably follows a hypo.
That fortnight, last week of Jan. & 1st. of Feb. 2018, I had 8 hypos in 10 days. I was trying to figure out why. I remembered my GP’s facebook post & actually thought about how much I was eating now & how much I used to eat. I was eating roughly half of what I used to & not just that. I was eating a lot less carbohydrates. I stopped having hypos & I almost halved the amount of Novorapid I was taking. My insulin is now Levemir 31 units, Novorapid 7, 5 & 4 units. My blood sugars were swinging a little bit but, that’s evening out too, now. I have also started to lose weight this week. I was still 12.5 stone on Mon. 05/03/18 but, I am now 12.25 stone Sat. 10/03/18.
I kept track of meals the last few days & the calories using an app on iPhone Glucose Buddy (tracks everything to do with diabetes from blood sugars, diet, meds & exercise). Compared to what I typically used to eat over the day, I’m now eating a lot less calories.
Meals 1400/day average 1300-1500 cal.
10/03/18
14:40 Dinner
1 serving rice vermicelli mama
95g prawns tesco
2tbsp concentrated curry paste
150ml shloer rose
11:30 Lunch
3 beef sandwiches
1 cup tea twinings breakfast (1 teabag of each in teapot)
1 cup tea twinings soothing honey camomile
50ml semi skimmed milk asda
15g honey rowse (2tsp)
06:30 Breakfast.
1 serving My veg soup
2 slices toast
150ml shleor rose
Recipe for My veg soup (3 servings)
128g carrots
128g leeks
32g celery
32g parsley
65g unsmoked pancetta tesco
128g potatoes
2 oxo cubes vegetable
1200ml water
10 grinds of black pepper
09/03/18
17:00 Dinner
2 ham sandwiches
1 cup tea twinings breakfast (1 teabag of each in teapot)
1 cup tea twinings soothing honey camomile
50ml semi skimmed milk asda
15g honey rowse (2tsp)
13:30 Snack? 2nd. Lunch?
1.72 servings My veg soup
75g smokey bacon crisps
10:45 early Lunch (eating out)
Irish stew asda
1 cup mint tea
07:00 Breakfast
1 cup tea twinings breakfast (1 teabag of each in teapot)
1 cup tea twinings soothing honey camomile
50ml semi skimmed milk asda
15g honey rowse (2tsp)
4 slices toast
08/03/18
20:30 Snack After dinner
50g crisps smokey bacon
17:30 Dinner
1 serving rice vermicelli mama
95g of prawns tesco
2tbsp concentrated curry paste
7.05g pear apple grape juice blend
12:30 Lunch
0.8 serving vegetable broth asda
1 ham sandwich
2 slices toast
150ml shloer rose
06:00 Breakfast
4 slices toast
2 cups tea twinings breakfast
50ml semi skimmed milk tesco
15g honey rowse
07/03/18
22:00 Snack Before bed
25g tayto crisps smokey bacon
18:30 Dinner
1 serving rice vermicelli mama
95g prawns tesco
2tbsp concentrated curry paste
150ml shloer rose
14:30 Lunch
1.6 serving chicken vegetable broth asda
2 slices of toast
1 ham sandwich
150ml shloer rose
5:30 Breakfast
2 ham sandwiches
1 cup tea twinings breakfast (1 teabag of each in teapot)
1 cup tea twinings soothing honey camomile
50ml semi skimmed milk tesco
15g honey rowse (2tsp)
Typical meals before cutting out artificial sugars
2800-3800 cal/day
Breakfast
3 cups tea twinings breakfast
75ml semi skimmed milk
3tsp Splenda
3 sandwiches (ham, beef or mix)
Lunch
2 baked potatoes
2 pots of prawn cocktail asda or tesco
500ml coke zero
Dinner
1 bag of golden veg. rice birds eye (2 in pack)
300g sauté potatoes asda or tesco
4tbsp concentrated curry paste
500ml coke zero
Plus Various Snacks/day
500ml coke zero (can’t remember how much I drank/day)
200g tayto smokey bacon crisps (4x25g multipack bags at once)
4 shortbread biscuits (at once)
1x20g bag (3 servings) of microwave popcorn (at once)
I think that word has now gotten out there about Artificial Sweeteners as I’m now seeing a preponderance of products with so called natural Sweeteners that have calories but, a lot less than sugar. I’m considering trying them as I would like to lower my sugar intake a bit. But, would the lesser calories make me eat more again? Just when I’m finally starting to lose weight & my insulin is less: less sugar versus more calories?
I, like a lot of you I’m sure, switched sugar for Artificial Sweeteners: Canderal then Splenda. My use of these & sugar free food & drinks steadily increased over the years. So, too did my weight as I ate bigger meals & more food during the day. I was 8.5 stone in weight at diagnosis after losing half a stone in 6 months when I kept getting a cold every few weeks. I regained that half stone & was my then normal weight of 9 stone again within the first few weeks after diagnosis. But, the weight gain didn’t stop there & I’ve battled with it over the years: fluctuating & 13.5 stone at my worst; after switching to insulin. The switch to insulin made that battle worse as my weight went up so much: from 12.5 stone to 13.5 stone. It took me a while to stabilise my weight at 11.75 stone Sept. 2015 to May 2017.
My health took a sudden downturn when I was hospitalised for asthma: had it as a child, grew out of it & it returned. Although my asthma was quite quickly managed by taking an inhaler every day, the effect on my diabetes was a slower & longer recovery: still monitoring & checking in by phone every 6 weeks. My insulin, Levemir & Novorapid, doses had to be increased a few times as my blood sugars were so high. My weight went from 11.75 stone to 12.5 stone & stayed that way.
About Sept. 2017 the doctors at my health centre posted a news item on their facebook page about Artificial Sweeteners. They confuse the brain as it expects a certain amount of calories, because of the sweetness, & when it doesn’t get it; it tells you to eat more to make up the deficit. The more you have; the greater the deficit & the more you need to eat. I read that & a metaphorical lightbulb went off in my head; ah ha!
I immediately dumped all of my Splenda & anything with Artificial Sweeteners in it, sugar free drinks etc. I changed to full sugar drinks & using natural honey, the kind that sets over time: processed does not, instead of Splenda.
The effects of having the extra sugar were not apparent at first as my blood sugars were high anyway & I was still eating the same amount of food. But, I did slowly start to eat less over time: so slowly that I didn’t notice. My blood sugars evened out at around 9 across the day, no matter when I took the readings around Nov. 2017 when my insulin doses had reached its peak (Levemir 33 units Novorapid 8, 13 & 7 units with meals) & started to fall steadily after Xmas 2017.
Then, around the end of Jan. 2018 I had a hypo, my blood sugars had been high for so long I’d forgotten what that was like. I had another one a few days later. After my 3rd. one in a week I checked in by phone with my diabetic nurse. I lowered my Levemir to 31 units & my breakfast dose of Novorapid to 7 units. It was Monday & the start of a trying week when I had a hypo everyday &, after checking with the nurse, lowering doses of Novorapid. My blood sugars were swinging wildly too as a hyper inevitably follows a hypo.
That fortnight, last week of Jan. & 1st. of Feb. 2018, I had 8 hypos in 10 days. I was trying to figure out why. I remembered my GP’s facebook post & actually thought about how much I was eating now & how much I used to eat. I was eating roughly half of what I used to & not just that. I was eating a lot less carbohydrates. I stopped having hypos & I almost halved the amount of Novorapid I was taking. My insulin is now Levemir 31 units, Novorapid 7, 5 & 4 units. My blood sugars were swinging a little bit but, that’s evening out too, now. I have also started to lose weight this week. I was still 12.5 stone on Mon. 05/03/18 but, I am now 12.25 stone Sat. 10/03/18.
I kept track of meals the last few days & the calories using an app on iPhone Glucose Buddy (tracks everything to do with diabetes from blood sugars, diet, meds & exercise). Compared to what I typically used to eat over the day, I’m now eating a lot less calories.
Meals 1400/day average 1300-1500 cal.
10/03/18
14:40 Dinner
1 serving rice vermicelli mama
95g prawns tesco
2tbsp concentrated curry paste
150ml shloer rose
11:30 Lunch
3 beef sandwiches
1 cup tea twinings breakfast (1 teabag of each in teapot)
1 cup tea twinings soothing honey camomile
50ml semi skimmed milk asda
15g honey rowse (2tsp)
06:30 Breakfast.
1 serving My veg soup
2 slices toast
150ml shleor rose
Recipe for My veg soup (3 servings)
128g carrots
128g leeks
32g celery
32g parsley
65g unsmoked pancetta tesco
128g potatoes
2 oxo cubes vegetable
1200ml water
10 grinds of black pepper
09/03/18
17:00 Dinner
2 ham sandwiches
1 cup tea twinings breakfast (1 teabag of each in teapot)
1 cup tea twinings soothing honey camomile
50ml semi skimmed milk asda
15g honey rowse (2tsp)
13:30 Snack? 2nd. Lunch?
1.72 servings My veg soup
75g smokey bacon crisps
10:45 early Lunch (eating out)
Irish stew asda
1 cup mint tea
07:00 Breakfast
1 cup tea twinings breakfast (1 teabag of each in teapot)
1 cup tea twinings soothing honey camomile
50ml semi skimmed milk asda
15g honey rowse (2tsp)
4 slices toast
08/03/18
20:30 Snack After dinner
50g crisps smokey bacon
17:30 Dinner
1 serving rice vermicelli mama
95g of prawns tesco
2tbsp concentrated curry paste
7.05g pear apple grape juice blend
12:30 Lunch
0.8 serving vegetable broth asda
1 ham sandwich
2 slices toast
150ml shloer rose
06:00 Breakfast
4 slices toast
2 cups tea twinings breakfast
50ml semi skimmed milk tesco
15g honey rowse
07/03/18
22:00 Snack Before bed
25g tayto crisps smokey bacon
18:30 Dinner
1 serving rice vermicelli mama
95g prawns tesco
2tbsp concentrated curry paste
150ml shloer rose
14:30 Lunch
1.6 serving chicken vegetable broth asda
2 slices of toast
1 ham sandwich
150ml shloer rose
5:30 Breakfast
2 ham sandwiches
1 cup tea twinings breakfast (1 teabag of each in teapot)
1 cup tea twinings soothing honey camomile
50ml semi skimmed milk tesco
15g honey rowse (2tsp)
Typical meals before cutting out artificial sugars
2800-3800 cal/day
Breakfast
3 cups tea twinings breakfast
75ml semi skimmed milk
3tsp Splenda
3 sandwiches (ham, beef or mix)
Lunch
2 baked potatoes
2 pots of prawn cocktail asda or tesco
500ml coke zero
Dinner
1 bag of golden veg. rice birds eye (2 in pack)
300g sauté potatoes asda or tesco
4tbsp concentrated curry paste
500ml coke zero
Plus Various Snacks/day
500ml coke zero (can’t remember how much I drank/day)
200g tayto smokey bacon crisps (4x25g multipack bags at once)
4 shortbread biscuits (at once)
1x20g bag (3 servings) of microwave popcorn (at once)
I think that word has now gotten out there about Artificial Sweeteners as I’m now seeing a preponderance of products with so called natural Sweeteners that have calories but, a lot less than sugar. I’m considering trying them as I would like to lower my sugar intake a bit. But, would the lesser calories make me eat more again? Just when I’m finally starting to lose weight & my insulin is less: less sugar versus more calories?
