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Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
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- Thread starter Tango
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rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hi and welcome from me too.
I probably average about 60g carbs a day and most importantly, I enjoy my diet. When I think about how many carbs I used to eat I wonder how I wasn't 20+ stone! I was a sugar addict (I ate masses of sweets chocolate and dried fruit) as well as eating large amounts of starchy carbs. I cut the sweet stuff as soon as I suspected I was diabetic.... I became symptomatic overnight, so this brought it home to me the seriousness of it and helped me to cut the sugar. Reducing the other stuff was a slower process as I needed to find alternative foods to eat. It seemed impossible to live without bread, but surprisingly I don't even miss it now. It is the convenience of it more than anything which I miss..... a sandwich is such an easy grab and go meal.... so planning is much more important with low carb eating.
I find it helps to know what you can eat, rather than focus on the things you need to avoid. Eggs are wonderful because they are so versatile and a two egg omelette is one of my staple breakfasts..... sets me up for the day and I usually only need a snack of nuts or cheese or olives at lunchtime after one. I have it with mushrooms/onions/courgette/aubergine/peppers/ham/cheese and a large side salad so it is a huge plateful. If I need a grab and go breakfast, Nature Valley Protein Bars are just under 10g carbs per bar and they are tasty. There are 3 varieties... Salted Caramel, Peanut and Chocolate or Coconut and White Choc. I also have Ella Nutty Granola which is just under 50g carbs per 100g so I have 30g of that with a spoonful of frozen raspberries and a couple of spoons of creamy natural Greek yoghurt... Lidl do one labelled Milbona in a big litre tub which is only 3.2g carbs per 100g. This breakfast works out at about 25g carbs and is tasty and filling.
Lunch can be a salad with eggs, cheese, meat or fish or a bowl of homemade soup...homemade cream of mushroom is a good option.
In the evening I have a proper meal with meat or fish and a very small portion of potatoes or sweet potatoes and lets of veg. Last night I had a Basa fillet pan fried in butter with aubergines, broccoli, leeks with a dollop of cream cheese mixed in, cabbage with a knob of butter, a piece of potato and 2 small pieces of sweet potato which had been cooked previously and reheated... this process can sometimes reduce the blood glucose spike you get from starchy items like potatoes and pasta and when you are eating such small portions, it makes sense to cook a pan full and reheat the leftovers as and when you need them.
Hopefully that gives you a few ideas of what you can eat. Good luck
PS. I know that you will be thinking that is a lot of full fat dairy products but if you are not lactose intolerant or vegan, dairy can be good for a diabetic. If you are not getting your calories (and energy) from carbohydrates then you need to provide another source and fats are the main solution. If you need to lose weight then limiting fats will force your body to burn off it's stored fat but a low fat, low carb diet is not really sustainable/enjoyable, so treat yourself to a little full fat dairy produce and buy yourself a bottle of good quality olive oil and don't be frightened to use it and when you get to your target weight, then increase your fat intake to stabilise your weight. There is a school of thought that the low fat diet which has been promoted all our lives, has in fact lead to the diabetes epidemic which we are now experiencing and that the research which linked high fat diet to cardio vascular problems may have been flawed. It is also now thought that dietary fat has no direct link to high cholesterol and many people who follow a low carb, high fat diet find that their cholesterol readings very surprisingly improve.
I probably average about 60g carbs a day and most importantly, I enjoy my diet. When I think about how many carbs I used to eat I wonder how I wasn't 20+ stone! I was a sugar addict (I ate masses of sweets chocolate and dried fruit) as well as eating large amounts of starchy carbs. I cut the sweet stuff as soon as I suspected I was diabetic.... I became symptomatic overnight, so this brought it home to me the seriousness of it and helped me to cut the sugar. Reducing the other stuff was a slower process as I needed to find alternative foods to eat. It seemed impossible to live without bread, but surprisingly I don't even miss it now. It is the convenience of it more than anything which I miss..... a sandwich is such an easy grab and go meal.... so planning is much more important with low carb eating.
I find it helps to know what you can eat, rather than focus on the things you need to avoid. Eggs are wonderful because they are so versatile and a two egg omelette is one of my staple breakfasts..... sets me up for the day and I usually only need a snack of nuts or cheese or olives at lunchtime after one. I have it with mushrooms/onions/courgette/aubergine/peppers/ham/cheese and a large side salad so it is a huge plateful. If I need a grab and go breakfast, Nature Valley Protein Bars are just under 10g carbs per bar and they are tasty. There are 3 varieties... Salted Caramel, Peanut and Chocolate or Coconut and White Choc. I also have Ella Nutty Granola which is just under 50g carbs per 100g so I have 30g of that with a spoonful of frozen raspberries and a couple of spoons of creamy natural Greek yoghurt... Lidl do one labelled Milbona in a big litre tub which is only 3.2g carbs per 100g. This breakfast works out at about 25g carbs and is tasty and filling.
Lunch can be a salad with eggs, cheese, meat or fish or a bowl of homemade soup...homemade cream of mushroom is a good option.
In the evening I have a proper meal with meat or fish and a very small portion of potatoes or sweet potatoes and lets of veg. Last night I had a Basa fillet pan fried in butter with aubergines, broccoli, leeks with a dollop of cream cheese mixed in, cabbage with a knob of butter, a piece of potato and 2 small pieces of sweet potato which had been cooked previously and reheated... this process can sometimes reduce the blood glucose spike you get from starchy items like potatoes and pasta and when you are eating such small portions, it makes sense to cook a pan full and reheat the leftovers as and when you need them.
Hopefully that gives you a few ideas of what you can eat. Good luck
PS. I know that you will be thinking that is a lot of full fat dairy products but if you are not lactose intolerant or vegan, dairy can be good for a diabetic. If you are not getting your calories (and energy) from carbohydrates then you need to provide another source and fats are the main solution. If you need to lose weight then limiting fats will force your body to burn off it's stored fat but a low fat, low carb diet is not really sustainable/enjoyable, so treat yourself to a little full fat dairy produce and buy yourself a bottle of good quality olive oil and don't be frightened to use it and when you get to your target weight, then increase your fat intake to stabilise your weight. There is a school of thought that the low fat diet which has been promoted all our lives, has in fact lead to the diabetes epidemic which we are now experiencing and that the research which linked high fat diet to cardio vascular problems may have been flawed. It is also now thought that dietary fat has no direct link to high cholesterol and many people who follow a low carb, high fat diet find that their cholesterol readings very surprisingly improve.
Hannah.amelia
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi welcome!!
- Status