Reducing carbs but such a fussy eater

[MarkGeordie]

I wondered if anyone had ideas for reducing carbs when your such a fussy eater like myself.

It’s mainly my evening meal where it tends to be carb heavy, I was always brought up with the have something and combine it with potato based products and I think that’s why I always go wrong.

Im not exactly a vegetarian because I do eat meat but I’m not a huge meat fan and hate most meats apart from chicken.

Can you share what you tend to eat so I can try some alternatives?

 

[trophywench]

Last night we had chilli con carne with rice, tonight what was left of it with jacket spuds which get halved, the flesh criss crossed with a knife, a small dab of butter, sandwiched back together then turned over, opened out again, chilli on top of them and grated cheese on top of the chilli.

You don't have to use any carne in the chilli - have chilli sin carne instead!

Tesco do own brand Red kidney beans in chilli sauce so you briefly brown some sliced onion (and the mince if using it) chuck a tin of chopped tomatoes and the tin of saucy beans in a saucepan, add a packet of Colman's chilli mix (Schwarz do one too, but the spices taste raw to me in theirs, I mean when using whole and or raw spices, you normally have to dry fry them first to avoid that happening, so anyway I don't like the Schwarz one) add the onions (and meat if using) and bring slowly to the boil, stir well and let it simmer for a bit while you cook the rice, spuds, chips, whatever.

 

[Eddy Edson]

At the moment my evening meal is usally something like a bowl with avocado, edamame, leaves, snowpeas, half a slice of pumpernickel, maybe a couple of dates, maybe a little bit of chicken, maybe some peanuts, lots of lemon juice. But I'm a weird eater - I like mainly raw & simple 🙂

 

[Inka]

Are you reducing carbs to lose weight? How many carbs a day do you generally eat?

I’m a pescatarian so eat lots of veggie and vegan meals. All I do is have the normal accompaniments - pasta, rice, potatoes, tacos, etc - but watch my portions with things like takeaways that can be carb-heavy eg I rarely eat a full large pizza.

Perhaps you could post a few meals that you have and we can make suggestions? Remember Type 1s don’t have to watch their carbs as strictly as many Type 2s do. We can eat carbs, we just need to be aware of dosing and not overdo things for everyday meals. I think there might be some veggie meal suggestions on the info pages of this website so that’s worth a look.

 

[MarkGeordie]

I think for me it is about weight and also the thinking behind it is obviously the less carbs I eat hopefully the less insulin I am going to be injecting.

For some bizarre reason when I was younger and diagnosed I was on a mixed insulin with two injections daily and that was the case until last year when they said carb counting would benefit me better and changed me to multiple daily injections.

The bizarre bit for me is though ever since changing I seem to have put on two stone in weight.

 

[Inka]

I used two injections a day too when I was first diagnosed @MarkGeordie I did carb count with them though as I was given a food plan eg 50g carbs at breakfast, etc. I can’t remember for sure if I put weight on when I swapped to MDI and four injections a day but I don’t think I did. I seem to remember losing a few pounds, which I put down to not having to feed the insulin. I definitely didn’t have a big weight change like you’ve described.

Were you underweight on the two injections? Did you have high sugars and consequently not use all the food you ate and so stay underweight in relation to the amount of food you ate?

Are you on Lantus? There’s anecdotal evidence of that causing weight gain for some people.

I’m a big fan of food diaries. Write down everything you eat for a week. Often we forget the little snacks and bits that we eat, so writing it all down allows us to see the true picture. It also makes it easier to see where you can make small changes. I’d do that first to ‘clean up’ my diet and remove any unnecessary extras. Even small changes can have a big effect over the weeks.

Then I’d plan out some healthy meals and eat those, along with making sure I got plenty of exercise. So, as an example, if you like pasta and a sauce, still have that meal but reduce the amount of pasta and substitute those carbs with green veg and/or a side salad. The same with potatoes: reduce the amount and bulk up on the veg (and maybe the protein too). Did not try to make huge changes at once. It’s much easier to keep up gradual, small changes and they’re not so much of an imposition on you - just little adjustments.

 

[Giulia]

Hello! I have a similar issue, and to keep myself motivated I have started a little blog where I list ideas for low-carb meals that are not just salad or boiled veggies: http://type1foodies.com/. This keeps me inspired to try new recipes instead of just having pasta every night 🙂 I'm going to try chili con carne tomorrow, as @trophywench suggests! Any feedback very welcome.

 

[NotWorriedAtAll]

There's a thread called "What did you eat yesterday?" on this forum and there are loads of great ideas and recipes in there.

Oh and I forgot - so I've edited to add - I have a link in my signature under here to my Facebook page where I have tons of recipes and alternatives for carb food.

 

[Drummer]

Do you eat fish? A huge salad with salmon or tuna is usually one of my meals each day in the hot weather.