Protein Bars, Slimfast & Complain, Flapjacks - Help!

[tasty_morsel]

Hello.

This is looooooong, sorry. Background is important.

I posted last month or so, having been diagnosed with what I now know is type 2 diabetes.

My situation is complicated and stressful because of a combination of disabilities affecting mobility, and eating disorders affecting what I can or will eat.

The nurse is wonderful and understanding. She gets my explanation for how things have reached this point.

I ran out of time with her and don't see her again until December. In the mean time, I'm trying to think of how to up my protein. My diet so far consists of:

• Weetabix (often with more sugar than recommended)

• apricot wheats cereal

• heavily tomato-based chilli/ curry/ random creations (with a mix of veg, meat and veggie or vegan stuff ie tofu, soya)

• cheese, ie babybels

• cup a soups

• wholemeal seedy breads, with or without some Pure spread, or homemade low sugar jams, or marmite

• ready salted crisps

• cadburys chocolate

• various chewy or soft sweets

• fajitas

• chicken & chorizo style stew (sometimes veggie, always tomato based)

• diet coke (have switched to full fat and less often)

• bottle green organic ginger and lemongrass squash (allergic to normal squashes)

• lactofree skimmed or semi skimmed milk

I've already swapped white breads, rice, pasta etc for wholemeal. I don't often eat pasta. My eating patterns involve fixating on one food for ages and eating it so frequently that eventually I can't even look at it anymore and move onto something else.

I try hard not to bulk on carbs, but several of my conditions cause severe chronic fatigue, and studies have shown our genes have modified to cause us to crave carbs for energy, which we then can't physically burn off.

I binge on sweets and chocolate, sometimes just on whatever I can get my hands on, or, I don't eat much or at all.

Before I became so disabled I ended up needing a wheelchair, I over exercised and restricted food, making myself ill through the weightloss. I am now morbidly obese at 110kg at 5'4". I'd do anything to have my health and mobility back. I feel disgusting physically, as well as finding it hard to love what I see in the mirror.

So. Getting to the food part. I don't eat breakfast and often skip lunch. But this is causing my body to live in starvation mode. What can I eat first thing, to help combat this?

I've found some protein bars which taste like their souls have been sucked out. My dad makes super low sugar flapjack. Sometimes when I'm struggling to eat full stop I make a Slimfast shake. Are any of these things actually ok for diabetic folk?

Having things which come in individual packets is also useful as I try and get out as much as possible and can't afford to buy food out, often.

Nuts are problematic in that I volunteer with kids at least three days a week and each group has kids with nut allergies.

I don't touch eggs and fish and shellfish.

Are there any premade, pre packaged things I can keep on my person, or eat at breakfast?

 

[Drummer]

The obvious answer is meat.
I'm just looking at the problem through a lens of simplicity,
I will be roasting a chicken tomorrow, a large one, and that will be handy for several days.
I avoid grain so no cereal or bread, no matter what colour as they are all high in carbs.
I make curries and have chopped cauliflower rather than rice.
No crisps or sweets, so high carb
No milk, but cream for coffee. Green gunpowder menthos tea, or fizzy water with lime juice. Sugar free flavoured fizzy water once in a while.
Any hard cheese is good, but sometimes carby things are added.
These days I eat at 12 hour intervals, in the morning I often have meat with a stirfry and then I don't need to eat for 12 hours.
If you can replace the carbs with something more nutritious - even (especially) if it contains natural fats then there is a good chance of changing from craving carbs to burning fat, which is a lot more efficient as fuel for the metabolism. Please try to change over to more natural foods, not processed stuff or slimming drinks.
I was pushed to eat a diet low in fat and high in carbs and it was like being able to come to the surface for air when I could eat a more normal diet again.

 

[zuludog]

Welcome to the forum, and here are some assorted comments -

Generally, reduce the amount of carbohydrates, which means both starchy and sugary food like those you've listed - crisps, bread, even if it's brown/wholemeal, cereals, chocolate, sweets
Though you can have some chocolate; choose the high cocoa type, say 70% or more, and only have one or two squares in the evening. This will give you the chocolate taste and 'hit'; enjoy and savour what you can have and don't dwell on what you can't (yes, easier said than done I know)

Breakfast/brunch - bacon, mushrooms, small amount of baked beans, sausages, plain old fashioned bubble 'n' squeak, without the spuds

Increase the amount of veg & salads, both for the nutrition and to fill you up
Could make veg soups & stews from the usual stew veg and beans/lentils - there are several different types of canned and they're not that expensive
Make a batch in a large pan or a slow cooker and freeze portions
Have the veg sliced & diced, or make them smooth with a hand blender aka stick blender

In fact beans & lentils are a way of increasing the protein, in salads as well as cooked
Search YouTube for protein meals, chick pea salads & similar Follow the links & prompts and get some ideas

There are various diet schemes & protein powders in Boots & supermarkets and Online such as Optifast, Slimfast, Kee, Exante, and others
Complan is a meal substitute powder and Casilan is mostly milk protein, casein
They tend to be expensive, but Search the shelves and their websites and there will usually be offers & sales
On the other hand you won't be buying much other food and someone else has done the planning & preparation for you.
The schemes usually have various diet bars and meal substitutes - pancakes, dried & ready meals, puddings, and shakes of course
Have a browse round their websites and see if anything takes your fancy, or try an introductory pack.
So you could have a bar or a shake for breakfast or to take out with you
These schemes are OK for diabetics, a few of us on here have used them successfully; and their websites will usually have advice & suggestions for diabetics

Could also take food out in a container, a plastic tub - the plain old butty box! -- though it needn't be sandwiches, perhaps a salad
Search YT for 'Bento Box' - this is a posh Japanese sandwich box, but you could use a plain box
Some of the food will not be suitable as it contains rice and other carbs but it will give you some ideas, inspiration, and show what can be done - and, of course, there's nothing to stop you just eating the food at home, on a plate.

But don't forget this Forum - have a look at The Learning Zone, the red tab at the top of this page, and 'Living With Diabetes' on the Home Page of Diabetes UK; there are lots of ideas for meals

You might find these books & their diets interesting and useful. They both use a low calorie diet to control weight & diabetes. There are also YT Videos about them -
Life Without Diabetes by Professor Roy Taylor
The Fast 800 by Dr Michael Mosley

 

[zuludog]

I've split my reply so it's not too overwhelming

Fairly obviously exercise helps with diet; in fact diet & exercise together have a sort of combined or rolling effect where they work better in combination than treating each as separate schemes or approaches
And as you do it, the more you can do, and so on.
And as you see results you feel happier, brighter, and more motivated.

I do Tai Chi, and Canadian Airforce Exercises at a low level

Tai Chi is a martial art, but not as strenuous or aggressive as things like karate or judo, it's slower, and more to do with stretching and balance
And as a martial art there is also a motivation/mental aspect which you can ignore if you wish, or you might think - well, maybe.... and use it to help with your diet.
Canadian Airforce Exercises are a bit old hat now, but there's still nothing wrong with them, and you can choose an easy level to start then work up as much as you can manage

Search YouTube for Tai Chi and Indoor Exercises, there are loads of videos.
Also for Seated Tai Chi and Seated Exercises if you have problems with mobility

Walking is good exercise, and it doesn't need to be a serious all day hill walk - try just walking to the shops, around the park, or into the town centre, and build it up from there

I used to do a lot of hill walking and backpacking, but my legs & knees are no longer up to it, but I manage shorter, easier routes around my local area
I live in an old run down industrial town, but even there I can find interesting walks, old Victorian buildings, and the back lanes and footpaths that all towns & cities have

It's winter now so walking is not so easy, but there will be dryer, sunnier days, and you will have something to look forward to when it's spring
You don't need big boots or serious mountaineering gear, the trend now is to wear lighter, more comfortable clothing, almost casual, but trail shoes would be better than trainers in winter

Search YouTube for -

The Bald Explorer Walks - He used to do a lot of earlier videos about short easy walks mostly in Sussex, showing how you can enjoy and find interest even on easy short walks; though his recent videos are more general

Meannqueen Superscrimper - As the title implies, she started out with ideas on saving money, but again, she enjoys short easy walks.

English Village Walks - lots of videos with interest, and as they are usually on pavements & footpaths showing that walking doesn't have to be anything serious, or even right out in the country

You don't have to go to these areas, but they show you what can be done, and apply it to your town

For something a bit more adventurous Search YT for The London Loop.
Even if you don't live in London it shows how you can pick and find a walking route even in a city

As with anything on YT, there will be links & suggestions to give you ideas & motivation

There are schemes like Park Walks and Walks For Health; ask at your doctors or leisure centre

 

[tasty_morsel]

Thanks, both.

The biggest issues are with arfid - if I won't eat it, I actually cannot eat it. And with not being able to walk more than a couple of steps - I call it pottering but it's literally just a few steps between my bed or sofa and the loo - I am permanently in a chair outside of then.

I miss exercise. I also miss being more in control of what I can eat. Things were so much better when I was able to prepare meals myself, and also choose to bulk out everything with veg, I was a very happy vegetarian before meeting my current partner (carnivore, just can't make himself eat veg).

This year, my diet has been very unreasonable and I know why, but even when I've eaten alone I've felt shame for the kind of c**p I've been having. I wish I had someone to cook for me three times a day - I know I'd be having decent salads and healthier mains and such. My intake would also be more varied.

Since diagnosis I've hardly had any carbs. But I've still caved in and had sweets or chocolate during my hormonal week. They've got to go but I haven't been able to find substitutes I am happy with. It's in part a comfort thing, in part a textures and sensory thing, when I eat them. Hopefully when we've moved away from our current place, I'll be too busy to have time to think about eating those items.

My partner is urging me to get up and dressed so we can go out. He's mentioned eating out but again, that comes with the stress now of checking carbs and sugar. At least there's usually interesting salad options when out!

 

[42istheanswer]

Do you like dark chocolate? I still really feel that chocolate urge at a certain point of the month, but I have mostly been carefully measuring out a portion of higher cocoa dark chocolate then (a few buttons or 2-4 squares depending on carb content of the specific chocolate, and what else I'm eating around the same time) and having it straight after a meal. So I'm still getting that nice endorphin hit from the chocolate, but not eating so much (and as I've just eaten not feeling hungry which reduces the temptation to just go and get some more chocolate out - I try to put it away before eating my measured portion).

I know exactly what you mean about wishing someone else would cook me a lovely low carb meal sometimes! I've spent a lot more time cooking since diagnosis. If you can eat soups or stews, then if you cook a big batch then it can be portioned into tubs for the freezer and with a few different ones if you have a tough week then you can still eat different things. (I know sometimes they can be a no-go for people with arfid/sensory issues with food though.)

With regards to individual snack packets, if you can eat nuts then maybe salted chickpeas? Hopefully safe for the children you work with, and the texture is much the same as salted nuts (maybe closer to almond texture than peanut texture). They can come in individual snack packets so easy to carry one around.

 

[tasty_morsel]

It takes a lot for me to eat dark chocolate. I tend to shy away from things like that and have nothing at all. Which eventually just leads to me feeling sad and developing worse cravings when hormones hit.

I'm a natural problem solver and have looked into so much over the years, to understand diet and my own body and why this happens, why something makes me feel a certain way etc. As a child I was reminded frequently about eating the right things, my mum is pretty orthorexic and even now I have to ask her sternly not to speak about eating the way she does, round my kids or me.

It feels like my whole life has always been revolving round thinking about food. I hate it. I absolutely hate it. I also apologise to anyone reading this or my previous post the other month - I can try and sound positive and proactive, actually I am being very proactive but probably make it sound like I'm not. But only a couple of people in my life know about my diagnosis, and they aren't diabetic, and it's just easier to vent my feelings here I guess.

Love soups, but I'm serious about food prep - it's often beyond me due to severe carpal problems and fibro affecting my hands and fingers. Makes typing replies hard too, and drawing my artwork, gaming, cleaning... Very depressing!

When I'm occupied, ie someone employs me, it helps because I'm busy and focussed on other things. It's then easier for me to spend less time obsessing over food, weight, cooking. So cross all fingers for me and my employment chances when we've moved