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IrvineHimself said:
I keep thinking about this 20g carbs/meal, and the more I think about it, the more I see potentially serious health problems. All plants contain carbs, and, unless you are eating an Eskimo diet, (and even they eat plant based food,) you need to eat vegetable matter for essential vitamins, roughage and whole host of minerals. For example a carrot contains 10g of carb per 100 grams.
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20g carbs per meal or 60g per day is perfectly sustainable once you get your head around it. Carrots don't often feature in my diet except maybe a little grated on a salad and occasionally a couple of roasted ones or some in a soup but there are many lower carb vegetables which bulk my meals out, provide all the nutrients I need and I certainly don't go hungry.
Your 75g carbs per meal seems like a massive amount to me, even for a non diabetic, so it really comes down to perspective. I certainly don't feel like my diet is lacking in any nutrients although I have come out of the winter this year with a vitamin D deficiency, probably because I haven't been eating any eggs all winter with my hens not laying and there has been a distinct lack of sunlight and lots of dull, damp days. Other than that I am fit and healthy. Lots of salad and I absolutely love savoy cabbage with a knob of butter or tossed in bacon fat or with chopped salami. I love cauliflower and halloumi curry, but I may have it on a bed of green beans or shredded cabbage or broccoli or maybe some Konjac rice.
Aubergine is another low carb veg which makes a lovely curry with tomatoes onions and garlic and soaks up lots of oil to provide energy as are mushrooms. I eat a lot of olives with cheese. A 2-3 egg omlette for breakfast with whatever veggies need using up and cheese and any left over meat, with a large side salad and a big dollop of cheese coleslaw will keep me going all day without any need for lunch and is almost certainly less than 20g carbs and I will probably only need a light snack like some olives and cheese in the evening if I start the day with that. There are plenty of low carb options which don't involve solely or even mostly eating meat.
 
rebrascora said:
20g carbs per meal or 60g per day is perfectly sustainable once you get your head around it. Carrots don't often feature in my diet except maybe a little grated on a salad and occasionally a couple of roasted ones or some in a soup but there are many lower carb vegetables which bulk my meals out, provide all the nutrients I need and I certainly don't go hungry.
Your 75g carbs per meal seems like a massive amount to me, even for a non diabetic, so it really comes down to perspective. I certainly don't feel like my diet is lacking in any nutrients although I have come out of the winter this year with a vitamin D deficiency, probably because I haven't been eating any eggs all winter with my hens not laying and there has been a distinct lack of sunlight and lots of dull, damp days. Other than that I am fit and healthy. Lots of salad and I absolutely love savoy cabbage with a knob of butter or tossed in bacon fat or with chopped salami. I love cauliflower and halloumi curry, but I may have it on a bed of green beans or shredded cabbage or broccoli or maybe some Konjac rice.
Aubergine is another low carb veg which makes a lovely curry with tomatoes onions and garlic and soaks up lots of oil to provide energy as are mushrooms. I eat a lot of olives with cheese. A 2-3 egg omlette for breakfast with whatever veggies need using up and cheese and any left over meat, with a large side salad and a big dollop of cheese coleslaw will keep me going all day without any need for lunch and is almost certainly less than 20g carbs and I will probably only need a light snack like some olives and cheese in the evening if I start the day with that. There are plenty of low carb options which don't involve solely or even mostly eating meat.
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Very helpful. I mainly eat chicken or fish but love cheese
 
Jenni49 said:
Very helpful. I mainly eat chicken or fish but love cheese
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Once you make a start on discovering what you can eat the menu might get longer.
For instance, last night I started with tuna, I mixed in coleslaw, added some green salad, grated cheese and a couple of sticks of celery. I had intended to have some yoghurt and berries, but forgot as there was so much to eat so I did feel a bit hungry some time later, but it was too late to eat.
This morning I ate a tomato and some Mozzarella cheese, drank coffee with cream and felt fine.
Tonight I will do chops and stirfry - Lidl have some nice frozen 'themed' stirfry. I find it best to let it thaw before cooking and keep it warm longer than the advised cooking time as it is not easy to get all of it cooked right through
 
@Drummer I got some of those frozen stir fry on your recommendation but the water than came out of them on cooking just meant that everything was mushy and boiled rather than stir fried. It does recommend cooking from frozen but I did think it might be much better thawed and drained and then less cooking time. I was on ages trying to boil off all the liquid in the pan and ended with a mush! I wasn't impressed! 🙄 Maybe they had been in the freezer too long.
 
Jenni49 said:
Very helpful. I mainly eat chicken or fish but love cheese
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Any reason why you avoid red meats?
And eggs are really versatile and very low carb if you like them and so good for you and quick and easy to cook. I have had 3 scrambled the last few days with cheese and then had some pickled gherkins with them for some crunch and extra flavour and mushrooms work well with them too of course.

Tonight we are having belly pork with roasted veg (parsnip carrot and swede) and will do some roast potato for my partner and green beans, savoy cabbage and leeks microwaved with a knob of butter and then a dollop of cream cheese mixed into it, instead of a white sauce made with flour.

There are a couple of threads in the Food/carbs queries and recipes section which detail some of the things people eat on a low carb diet although others post higher carb meals, so you have to pick and choose. Some have photos to give you inspiration. I am quite a basic cook, so I tend to mostly modify normal meals biut I will experiment and try new recipes occasionally. I made some lovely wraps with eggs, cheese, ground almonds and psyllium husk once and they turned out a bit like crepes.... large thin and pliable.... and I filled them with salad leaves, mayonnaise, 2-3 chopped cherry tomatoes and fried black pudding (which I love) but could just as easily use bacon and make it a BLT. I really must try that again sometime, thinking about it. Not eating bread has just become normal now but in the early days it was a bit mind boggling as you are so used to bread being a convenient carrier for so many other foods.
Tuna mayonnaise wraps with iceberg lettuce work well and is probably the only good use for iceberg lettuce in my opinion 🙄 Not my favourite variety but the large leaves come in handy.
 
Jenni49 said:
Unfortunately I have not lost any weight yet which is frustrating. Getting active is also difficult as I am in my mid 70s with a dodgy knee. I seem to be collecting ailments
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You and me both my friend, you and me both. Up here in Scotland, we get a free bus pass, which is incredible useful and very helpful. The downside is that at 66/67 also with a dodgy knee and balance problems to boot, the temptation to just jump on a bus is almost irresistible.

However I do try to resist the temptation, and, since moving into the new place, try to make a point of walking along the badly polluted Water of Leith to the local super market. It's a pleasant 15 minute walk, though it takes me closer to half an hour.

As I pointed out, I had to organise my blood test earlier in the week, and, after reading your most recent post, I checked the results on-line. This time last year I was weighed 95kg and my hba1c was over 135mmol/mol. My results from Monday are weight = 71.5kg and my hba1c is now down to 38mmol/mol.😎

By the way, although tall, I am very lightly built. So, 71.5 kg is starting to get pretty close to my fighting weight.

Anyway, my most recent results show that it is possible to get things under control with light exercise and a strict low carb diet.

Jenni49 said:
I seem to be collecting ailments
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We could start a club!
 
rebrascora said:
@Drummer I got some of those frozen stir fry on your recommendation but the water than came out of them on cooking just meant that everything was mushy and boiled rather than stir fried. It does recommend cooking from frozen but I did think it might be much better thawed and drained and then less cooking time. I was on ages trying to boil off all the liquid in the pan and ended with a mush! I wasn't impressed! 🙄 Maybe they had been in the freezer too long.
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Apologies - my fault for not mentioning that I put the stirfry in a sieve or colander to defrost before cooking, putting it over a bowl or jug and then adding back only a little of the liquid if it looks dry.
I've been defrosting just about everything for some time now in an effort to reduce cooking times - which it has done, so it has become the new normal for me.
 
rebrascora said:
Your 75g carbs per meal seems like a massive amount to me, even for a non diabetic,
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I have always had a very high metabolism, it's one of the reasons why I find living with Diabetes so difficult. When I was younger, my typical daily diet was extremely high carb: multiple packets of chocolate biscuits, ditto crisps and tortillas, gallons of sugary soft drinks, ditto coffee with 4 teaspoons sugar, and that would just be snacks. In those day's, my typical breakfast, lunch and dinner would make a nutritionist blanch. Even after all that, I could never put on any weight. I mean, I was so skinny, people used to think I had worms or some kind of medical problem.
 
Jenni49 said:
Unfortunately I have not lost any weight yet which is frustrating. Getting active is also difficult as I am in my mid 70s with a dodgy knee. I seem to be collecting ailments
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Have you tried chair based exercises? You can find online classes or YouTube videos for chair based yoga and Pilates and more. They may be more achievable for you as won't put as much pressure on your knee. Alternatively some people find exercise in the water (e.g. aqua aerobics) can help as it provides some support to joints.
 
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