Over eating

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Carolyn74d

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi everyone. I’m wondering if anyone here struggles with overeating? I have tried diabetic psychology but that hasn’t helped. It’s really getting me down and I’m really overweight. So, I really need to try and get this under control and get my blood sugar lower. And lose weight.
Thank you x
 
Hello @Carolyn74d welcome to the forum.
For me the key to losing weight has always been cutting down on carbohydrate foods and simply having foods I can eat in the fridge or freezer.
These days, after eating low carb for some years I am only eating one meal a day most days as I really am not hungry.
Have you been diagnosed for long?
Do you know your HbA1c?
Do you test your blood glucose levels after meals - and what sort of things do you eat?
The answers will, with any luck, help people give the most appropriate advice from their own experience
 
Thank you for taking the time to reply to me and for the advice. I’ve been type 2 for about 15 years now. In the last couple of years, I’ve been counting carbs and dosing my novo rapid as per carb count and correction for each meal, but don’t stick to a set amount of carbs daily. I have a freestyle libre device. I’m mostly vegetarian and hate cooking. I’ve been on rybelsus since January and have managed to lose almost 2 stone. And rybelsus has also reduced my appetite. But I can’t help binging on crisps. My evening meal is usually just cereal as I don’t have an appetite then. Breakfast can be either just whole grain toast or bacon and eggs. Lunch is usually a sandwich. I don’t eat much fruit or veg and I also have IBS so suffer badly from constipation as a result of my diet. I do no exercise. Recently told I have osteoarthritis in knees, feet and hands. But I’ve just signed up for a chair yoga class!
Hope this helps. Thank you x
 
We are react differently to various foods, but I can second @Drummer's comments on the carbs. I used to be permanently hungry, and would look forward from one carb laden meal to the next, never quite feeling full. Within a couple of weeks of significantly reducing my carb intake, I suddenly stopped craving them and feel quite full after meals now. I cut out all starchy carbs completely, but this can sometimes damage nerves in the eyes, so it's considered sensible to reduce them gradually.
It was really tough for the first 2 weeks: I just had to take one day at a time or I could never have done it. Now I consider it quite normal to have broccoli and green beans with my chilli instead of rice!
Very best of luck
 
Vonny

Thank you for your message! I know I eat too much carbs, especially bread. And I’m sure that’s what flares up my IBS. I need to try different things for lunch. I also have depression. I used to enjoy cooking and making soups but not so much now. I need to try and fall in love with vegetables again!
Thank you for your advice x
 
Since I have cut bread rice and pasta and eat alot more protein and fats with green veg I'm not hungry in-between meals and my levels are average 6 or 7 so I'm happy with that and hopefully this will allow me to loose weight.
 
Carolyn74d said:
Hi everyone. I’m wondering if anyone here struggles with overeating? I have tried diabetic psychology but that hasn’t helped. It’s really getting me down and I’m really overweight. So, I really need to try and get this under control and get my blood sugar lower. And lose weight.
Thank you x
Click to expand...
Hi counselling and cbt has really helped me get to the route cause of my depression and triggers for over eating, it’s been key in fact, I still get bad spells and eating high carb then really messes with my head. Have you read the diabetes distress information on the website?
 
Sorry to hear you have been struggling with overeating @Carolyn74d :(

Are you aware of any triggers or motivations that seem to precede periods of overeating?

Are there foods you are drawn to in particular? Would it help to not have these in the house so that they aren’t available?

Can you treat yourself to something non-food based after a period when you are able to resist the temptation (like a facial or manicure if you go a week without overeating)?

I have no idea whether any of those would be helpful!
 
Carolyn74d said:
. My evening meal is usually just cereal as I don’t have an appetite then.
Click to expand...
Cereal really is a poor choice and if you have no appetite then you would be far better off not eating anything. There is no reason why you have to eat 3 meals a day. If you don't feel hungry in the evening, then don't eat, or cook some vegetable soup for the next day's lunch instead. Obviously, if you don't have any evening meal, then you don't inject any NovoRapid.

I was a sugar addict pre-diagnosis and comfort eater, but I went low carb and like others here, I found the first few weeks tough getting my head around life without bread particularly because it is a carrier for so many foods and just so quick and convenient as is cereal of course, but if you want to feel better, then you need to make changes and the fact that you have been so open and honest here suggests that you do want to change, so that alone is a big step. Try to change just one thing. I have found breakfast probably the easiest meal to change because most of us have the same breakfast every morning, so forming a new breakfast habit is relatively easy and can make a more significant difference to your day than any other meal. Many of us here have creamy Greek style natural yoghurt with some mixed seeds and a few berries and perhaps a small sprinkle of low sugar granola and I am talking no more than 10g of the granola. If you feel hungry after that then have some cheese or a boiled egg. I tend to boil 10 at a time so there are always eggs available to peel and eat with a teaspoon of full fat mayonnaise, if I do get hungry. Eating more fibre is also important for gut/bowel health and I use a mixture of chia seeds and psyllium husk mixed into a glass of water with a dash of CV and balsamic to fill my stomach up and provide a bulk of soluble fibre which passes through my digestive system and makes my daily toilet visit the most comfortable and healthy it has been for pretty much my whole life. Going low carb had improved my gut health, stopped my chronic and acute migraine problem that I had suffered for more than 20 years, improved my joint pain and my skin condition. I feel fitter and healthier now at 59 than I did 10 years ago and I am fitter than most other people my age, whereas before my change of diet I was hobbling down hills worrying that I was soon going to need knee replacements and regularly having problems with my back and sciatica. Now I can run or skip down the hills and my joint pain is significantly reduced and despite doing a lot of heavy work with my back, it doesn't give me grief anymore. It really has made an enormous difference to my physical and mental health. It wasn't easy but it gets easier with every day, as I become more motivated and find new foods or recipes that I like.
Obviously, if you are using insulin, then you need to reduce your doses as you reduce the carbs in your meals or when you skip meals. Eating more fat stops you from feeling hungry and makes eating low carb more enjoyable and sustainable.

I hope that you can find a way to gain some control of your disordered eating and find a way that works for you. You are certainly not alone with this problem. It is extremely common and it takes a bit of effort to break the cycle but once you have, it does slowly become easier.
 
rebrascora said:
Cereal really is a poor choice and if you have no appetite then you would be far better off not eating anything. There is no reason why you have to eat 3 meals a day. If you don't feel hungry in the evening, then don't eat, or cook some vegetable soup for the next day's lunch instead. Obviously, if you don't have any evening meal, then you don't inject any NovoRapid.

I was a sugar addict pre-diagnosis and comfort eater, but I went low carb and like others here, I found the first few weeks tough getting my head around life without bread particularly because it is a carrier for so many foods and just so quick and convenient as is cereal of course, but if you want to feel better, then you need to make changes and the fact that you have been so open and honest here suggests that you do want to change, so that alone is a big step. Try to change just one thing. I have found breakfast probably the easiest meal to change because most of us have the same breakfast every morning, so forming a new breakfast habit is relatively easy and can make a more significant difference to your day than any other meal. Many of us here have creamy Greek style natural yoghurt with some mixed seeds and a few berries and perhaps a small sprinkle of low sugar granola and I am talking no more than 10g of the granola. If you feel hungry after that then have some cheese or a boiled egg. I tend to boil 10 at a time so there are always eggs available to peel and eat with a teaspoon of full fat mayonnaise, if I do get hungry. Eating more fibre is also important for gut/bowel health and I use a mixture of chia seeds and psyllium husk mixed into a glass of water with a dash of CV and balsamic to fill my stomach up and provide a bulk of soluble fibre which passes through my digestive system and makes my daily toilet visit the most comfortable and healthy it has been for pretty much my whole life. Going low carb had improved my gut health, stopped my chronic and acute migraine problem that I had suffered for more than 20 years, improved my joint pain and my skin condition. I feel fitter and healthier now at 59 than I did 10 years ago and I am fitter than most other people my age, whereas before my change of diet I was hobbling down hills worrying that I was soon going to need knee replacements and regularly having problems with my back and sciatica. Now I can run or skip down the hills and my joint pain is significantly reduced and despite doing a lot of heavy work with my back, it doesn't give me grief anymore. It really has made an enormous difference to my physical and mental health. It wasn't easy but it gets easier with every day, as I become more motivated and find new foods or recipes that I like.
Obviously, if you are using insulin, then you need to reduce your doses as you reduce the carbs in your meals or when you skip meals. Eating more fat stops you from feeling hungry and makes eating low carb more enjoyable and sustainable.

I hope that you can find a way to gain some control of your disordered eating and find a way that works for you. You are certainly not alone with this problem. It is extremely common and it takes a bit of effort to break the cycle but once you have, it does slowly become easier.
Click to expand...
Just reading that is so similar to what my journey is with food and how brain washed from supermarket and promoting bad foods made me buy rubbish that my body does not need.

What I've found out is knowledge I have recently gained hopefully will make my life better and hopefully once my current issues have been looked at I can not repeatedly have further issues because my levels are now under control.
 
I have to say it dismays me how much food in the supermarkets is highly processed and addictive and deliberately made so, to tempt us to over consume and how much advertising there is pushing these processed foods at us. Even many of the vegetarian foods which are marketed as healthy and environmentally better, are highly processed. It really is hard to know right from wrong, but if you can buy more whole foods rather than processed foods and cook them from scratch it makes a big difference, but I know it takes a lot of effort to get into the right frame of mind to cook anything when you are struggling mentally, so I tend to have low carb foods I can pick at, like the boiled eggs or a pot of olives with feta, or I buy a head of broccoli and cook the florettes in the microwave for 3 mins and then have them with a sour cream and chive dip from the chilled counter (not the highly processed Doritos type in a jar) Or some mushroom, pepper and cucumber veggie sticks which I also have with the sour cream and chive dip. Omelettes are very quick and easy and you can vary the fillings for variety and unlike other eggs, they don't need bread to soak up a runny yolk or toast/bread to carry it. I have it with a salad and a large dollop of cheese coleslaw.
 
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