Jacket Potatoes

[Lynne888]

I'm new to watching carbs.. for over a month I've avoided potatoes but today decided to do a small jacket potato with tuna.. put 25g of cheese on top too.. had salad of cucumber, lettuce leaves and a small beetroot. Whilst my BG has been up and down by about 2 since I've been cutting back, for the first time ever today, it was 8.5 and I've not left it 2 hours since eating yet! I really thought that despite potatoes being high in carb, a small potato now and again wouldn't matter - and maybe it doesn't. I'm running out of ideas for meals and I'm sick of salad and tuna if I'm honest! I'm not a lover of sweet potato and I know carbs in them are as high, but are they better to eat than normal potatoes? Does anyone's BG spike higher than normal after eating them?
Ps… just tested again and back to normal so a short lived spike and no doubt nothing to feel concerned about

 

[Leadinglights]

With things like potatoes it is a good idea to weigh them as it can be deceptive just how much a small potato weighs.
I like butternut squash as a potato substitute and some people like celeriac or swede. You can have any meat or fish with most vegetables, just watch the portion size of things like peas, broad beans but most green veg are good.
If you like curries or chilli they are good. High meat content sausages or omelettes with mushrooms or any veg or meat in as filling.

 

[Lynne888]

I do weigh everything. It was 150g so I guess medium but it seemed quite small! I had 55g of tuna, half a fridge pot. The whole dinner was 420 calories. Thanks for the heads up about butternut squash. I never thought to try those. I do have celeriac but again not as a jacket potato substitute. Yes I love curries usually with rice so I will have to substitute that! Had stir fries the last few nights. Never usually have them but they’ve been quite enjoyable.

 

[Inka]

I find sweet potatoes kinder to blood sugar than white ones. I’m Type 1 but I find that I can take slightly less insulin than suggested for a sweet potato compared to a white potato. It would be worth a try. You could find one of the same weight to do a proper comparison.

 

[Drummer]

I use roughly chopped cauliflower instead of rice for curries, mashed swede instead of potato, I make bubble and squeak with swede, or mix in cheese and bake it in the oven.
I alternate eggs and cheese in salad with tuna , and I have a lot of stir fries - about half the time fresh, but Lidl do some nice frozen ones.

 

[Lynne888]

I use roughly chopped cauliflower instead of rice for curries, mashed swede instead of potato, I make bubble and squeak with swede, or mix in cheese and bake it in the oven.
I alternate eggs and cheese in salad with tuna , and I have a lot of stir fries - about half the time fresh, but Lidl do some nice frozen ones.

I’ve been making stir fries but the sauces are quite high in calorie. I was going to try and make my own. I’ll have a look at Lidl. Never thought to look! I will also give the chopped cauliflower instead of the riced cauli a try.. I’m not so keen. I like swede.. I used to buy carrot and swede mash from M&S but I guess that’s almost as high as potato!

 

[Leadinglights]

I do weigh everything. It was 150g so I guess medium but it seemed quite small! I had 55g of tuna, half a fridge pot. The whole dinner was 420 calories. Thanks for the heads up about butternut squash. I never thought to try those. I do have celeriac but again not as a jacket potato substitute. Yes I love curries usually with rice so I will have to substitute that! Had stir fries the last few nights. Never usually have them but they’ve been quite enjoyable.

Your jacket potato would have been a substantial 32g carb, that amount of butternut squash would have been about 12g carb.
I am concerned you are thinking of calories rather than carbohydrates which is the important thing when it comes to blood glucose.

 

[Lynne888]

I find sweet potatoes kinder to blood sugar than white ones. I’m Type 1 but I find that I can take slightly less insulin than suggested for a sweet potato compared to a white potato. It would be worth a try. You could find one of the same weight to do a proper comparison.

Good idea! I will do just that!

 

[Deleted member 21371]

What was your BG at two hours?

 

[Leadinglights]

I’ve been making stir fries but the sauces are quite high in calorie. I was going to try and make my own. I’ll have a look at Lidl. Never thought to look! I will also give the chopped cauliflower instead of the riced cauli a try.. I’m not so keen. I like swede.. I used to buy carrot and swede mash from M&S but I guess that’s almost as high as potato!

You can make your own Satay sauce for stirfries with peanut butter, soy sauce and a bit of chilli powder

 

[Deleted member 21371]

And with the usual meter accuracy, that reading could be anything from 6.4 to 10

 

[Lynne888]

Your jacket potato would have been a substantial 32g carb, that amount of butternut squash would have been about 12g carb.
I am concerned you are thinking of calories rather than carbohydrates which is the important thing when it comes to blood glucose.

Yes I know but I have to lose weight too so I have to watch both. Just watching carbs doesn’t make me lose weight, I wish it did.. so for now I have to watch both.

 

[Lynne888]

And with the usual meter accuracy, that reading could be anything from 6.4 to 10

It went up to 9.. I normally don’t go out of the 7’s.. been low 8’s very few times so that was a shock!

 

[Lynne888]

You can make your own Satay sauce for stirfries with peanut butter, soy sauce and a bit of chilli powder

I did use a bit of soy sauce and ginger but it wasn’t great.. peanut butter is a new one on me! Never made a sauce with it !

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Yes I know but I have to lose weight too so I have to watch both. Just watching carbs doesn’t make me lose weight, I wish it did.. so for now I have to watch both.

A calorie is a calorie.
It doesn't matter where it comes from.
A few people on here aren't concerned about weight, it's purely focus on BG by diet control.
I cut the calories, I didn't worry about anything else, and it all fell into place.

 

[Lynne888]

A calorie is a calorie.
It doesn't matter where it comes from.
A few people on here aren't concerned about weight, it's purely focus on BG by diet control.
I cut the calories, I didn't worry about anything else, and it all fell into place.

Do you mean you watched calories but ate whatever food you wanted within your calories? BG readings came down?

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Do you mean you watched calories but ate whatever food you wanted within your calories? BG readings came down?

I reversed my diabetes on a low fat diet, then the shake based Newcastle diet by losing five stone.

 

[Drummer]

I’ve been making stir fries but the sauces are quite high in calorie. I was going to try and make my own. I’ll have a look at Lidl. Never thought to look! I will also give the chopped cauliflower instead of the riced cauli a try.. I’m not so keen. I like swede.. I used to buy carrot and swede mash from M&S but I guess that’s almost as high as potato!

Is that some ready made flavouring? I have never used that sort of thing to make a stir fry - or a curry either - never seen the need.
Swede and carrot are both lower carb than potatoes, so it should be fine.
The calories in a meal do not directly impact on blood glucose, so I have never given them a thought for quite some years now. My weight reduced without my even thinking about it, and my size and shape are still altering. My test results are usually normal - they went up after being ill, but no one told me until a year later when they were normal again.

 

[Lynne888]

Is that some ready made flavouring? I have never used that sort of thing to make a stir fry - or a curry either - never seen the need.
Swede and carrot are both lower carb than potatoes, so it should be fine.
The calories in a meal do not directly impact on blood glucose, so I have never given them a thought for quite some years now. My weight reduced without my even thinking about it, and my size and shape are still altering. My test results are usually normal - they went up after being ill, but no one told me until a year later when they were normal again.

I don’t usually use anything pre made but I’ve never been a fan of stir fry and didn’t really know what I was doing.. it looks like stir fry food is going to be a regular thing so I will experiment.. I have always made everything from scratch. Once I’ve lost some weight I’ll be less bothered about calories. At the moment, counting calories works for me and I want to give it a good go to lose weight before my next hba1c blood test.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

I don’t usually use anything pre made but I’ve never been a fan of stir fry and didn’t really know what I was doing.. it looks like stir fry food is going to be a regular thing so I will experiment.. I have always made everything from scratch. Once I’ve lost some weight I’ll be less bothered about calories. At the moment, counting calories works for me and I want to give it a good go to lose weight before my next hba1c blood test.

I ate a lot of stir fries initially.
I dry fried everything, it's surprising how calorific fat is.
The usual style of "Chinese stir fry" vegetables, and fish or chicken.
Dry spices and herbs, and soy sauce.
If the veg was frozen, that usually added enough liquid to the pan.