To worry or not?

[manji]

That dies explain my problems leading up to my diagnosis I suppose.

Yes it is confusing me as well, I feel fine but feel I'm missing out on stuff I could probably have. Not only confusing but annoying as well really, I'm worried about going out for anything to eat etc not knowing what may happen. There has to be more to this than living off your nerves, I know many who basically don't care and just crack on pretty much with everything as normal and genuinely don't seem any worse off.

I am going to try but something my diabetes nurse said in the longer follow up call. I was politely but firmly hitting her with a lot of questions quite a lot of them I’d picked up from here it was clear she wasn’t used to being challenged but she did say “ well you are the lower end I have a lot of patients that need more care than you, if you want you can just carry on as normal “ it wasn’t said in an aggressive way but it does stick in my head.
Again maybe I’m being delusional but from what I’ve learnt on here I feel with my changes like HECK sausages, moving to Lizis granola , cutting rind off bacon and so on. I reckon I will get my count down.
Getting a blood tester , buying an air fryer counting my carbs to precision just seems so dominating.
Again the stroke but particularly the last year I’m working successfully on that. Things were going fine.
I’ve mentioned this a couple of times the day of the first phone call I was pottering around in the garden ( surprisingly good exercise ) the sun was out and I stood there feeling remarkably well and thinking how far I’d come.
Then the unbelievably patronising phone call.

 

[manji]

Do you have scales to weigh the granola? You will likely find the recommended portion size of 40g is surprisingly small if you weigh it, and half of that (20g of the granola) will look positively miniscule. I think that was a big shock for many of us, to realise the recommended portion size of many cereals is much smaller than that which we were tipping into our bowl every morning, before we were diagnosed. I don't weigh my granola but I literally just have a sprinkle on the top of my berries and yoghurt and a sprinkle of cinnamon on top of that. Personally I prefer creamy full fat Greek style natural yoghurt. If you are cutting down on carbs you can afford to have full fat versions of dairy produce and the fat will keep you from feeling hungry but not impact your BG levels. Indeed fat can help to slow down the release of glucose from the granola, which may enable your body to cope with it better, but if you need to lose weight and you are not going very low carb, then you may be best sticking with low fat yoghurt at least until you reach your target weight.

I tend to choose a nutty granola that doesn't contain fruit because the raisins are quite high carb and you are going to have the granola with a few berries I imagine anyway, so no need to have dried fruit in the granola, it just adds sugar. Nuts are relatively low carb, raisins are higher carb, so it is about choosing the lower carb options. Seeds are also low carb. I buy a bag of mixed seeds and add a tablespoon of them to my breakfast bowl with the yoghurt, berries and sprinkle of granola. Again it bulks out my breakfast a bit more and provides fibre which is really important for a healthy gut, without increasing the carb content.

You mention tinned new potatoes as being OK. Potatoes are a high carb food, so you will still need to limit your portion size even with the tinned spuds.

I appreciate that you are not keen on cooking but just wondered if you have any ideas about how you can increase your vegetable intake. Low carb vegetables will help to fill you up and also provide fibre and nutrients.

Thanks but I’m really not weighing my food or for that matter blood testing all the time. This is just my opinion it may well be ideal for others. Dont forget I do exercise a lot.
What I’m going to do today is post and explain every meal I have including portions . They are not going to be perfect as I’m going to finish off some of the “ dodgy “ foods I already have.

 

[manji]

First meal brunch eaten about 10am bowl small amount of my old muesli about a handful , then a cup full of my evil Fuel Ganola ( don’t forget I’m going to change to Lizis ) with a bit of Almond milk ( again I’m going to make sure I getter a better version next time . I really can’t imagine even that is going to do a lot of harm @AndBreathe @Leadinglights @rebrascora @Diadenial1 Sorry to impinge but I reckon this will be very helpful @Ranger

 

[Ranger]

First meal brunch eaten about 10am bowl small amount of my old muesli about a handful , then a cup full of my evil Fuel Ganola ( don’t forget I’m going to change to Lizis ) with a bit of Almond milk ( again I’m going to make sure I getter a better version next time . I really can’t imagine even that is going to do a lot of harm @AndBreathe @Leadinglights @rebrascora @Diadenial1 Sorry to impinge but I reckon this will be very helpful @Ranger

Appreciate the info and sharing, I may even get inspiration from your menu lol.

 

[Vivi M]

Are we saying then that carbs and sugar are the same? I can easily work out carbs I guess.
I was wondering if I should be looking at sugar content as well Carbs and if so what was a starting point of how many grams of sugar a day.
Sorry for being an idiot but this is doing my nut in.

Carbs convert to sugar, some more slowly than others - so cutting right back hard on carbs is important. It is advised to try to cut down drastically on sugar (and any foods containing sugar) - whole fruits are okay as they contain the roughage, with some being better that others! We all react differently to different quantities and types of food/carbs/sugars so it is a learning process.

 

[s'nic]

Getting a blood tester , buying an air fryer counting my carbs to precision just seems so dominating.

Just focus on basics, recovery from the stoke did not happen overnight, and learning a new way of eating will not happen overnight.
I would view avoiding/reducing sugar, and practising basic cooking with equipment you are already using as a basic.
Also as a basic, keep looking at those carbs / sugars 'per 100g' and have a smaller portion of anything with a high carb number.

Do this things often enough and it will bed in and become a new way of dealing with foods. Any further changes you choose can be looked at once you become comfortable with what you are currently doing..

 

[manji]

Just focus on basics, recovery from the stoke did not happen overnight, and learning a new way of eating will not happen overnight.
I would view avoiding/reducing sugar, and practising basic cooking with equipment you are already using as a basic.
Also as a basic, keep looking at those carbs / sugars 'per 100g' and have a smaller portion of anything with a high carb number.

Do this things often enough and it will bed in and become a new way of dealing with foodsg. Any further changes you choose can be looked at once you become comfortable with what you are currently doing..

A very good point.The stroke enforced a different lifestyle took a long time to get used to it. As I keep mentioning my Physio is a genius. Multi disciplined. Wasn’t just about weirdo extremely painful exercises. He had a psychology degree. A lot of the rehab was mental literally rebooting the brain. A lot of the exercises at the beginning were complete trust.
Again.Im going on about it but he did things like pushing me off a step teaching me to fall over. Just had to go with it.
Of course as you mentioned in a lot of ways my diabetic journey is similar.

 

[manji]

Carbs convert to sugar, some more slowly than others - so cutting right back hard on carbs is important. It is advised to try to cut down drastically on sugar (and any foods containing sugar) - whole fruits are okay as they contain the roughage, with some being better that others! We all react differently to different quantities and types of food/carbs/sugars so it is a learning process.

Thanks hopefully you can see from the photos they are relatively small portions.

 

[manji]

Here’s second meal of day . Small layer of frozen blackberries topped with frozen raspberries. Defrost in morning and eat with yoghurt. The yoghurt I’m using is an improvement on before. Will drop down to low fat Greek over the next week.Again I’m not putting as much yoghurt as I did. In some way reduced portions is the difficult part.

 

[Lucyr]

Here’s second meal of day . Small layer of frozen blackberries topped with frozen raspberries. Defrost in morning and eat with yoghurt. The yoghurt I’m using is an improvement on before. Will drop down to low fat Greek over the next week.Again I’m not putting as much yoghurt as I did. In some way reduced portions is the difficult part.

If you check the label on the side of the yoghurt, it will say how many carbs per 100g. I expect it’s very low.

If its low in carbs then have whatever portion is going to fill you up enough, as that breakfast won’t have many calories so you might find yourself more hungry later on.

 

[rebrascora]

The thing to bear in mind is that you can have larger quantities of low carb foods but smaller quantities of high carb foods. The idea is that you fill up with the yoghurt which is the lowest carb part of your breakfast and just have a few berries and a sprinkle of granola rather than having mostly granola with berries and a bit of yoghurt. Make the yoghurt the main bit.

No idea what your point earlier was about cutting the rind off bacon. It doesn't contain any carbs so if you like the rind keep it on.

 

[JonathanGi]

As this started with drinks. Can't beat a proper pot of Lapsang Souchong black tea. Certainly no milk, sugar or sweetener. Smokey and delicious.

 

[Drummer]

Things got a bit difficult a few years ago when we were scammed out of my inheritance money. They are still calling trying to get more, but there isn't any.
To survive on my pension - my husband is a little younger than myself, I had to make changes.
I shop at lid, clothes are mostly home made now, as are most meals and drinks.
Fortunately the kitchen toys I bought in good times are still working - I have a Tefal Actifry which is probably old enough to vote, the big freezer is last century, from Bejam, the halogen oven is from the TV selling channel, and has a hinged lid, but when I need to replace something these days I look on Facebook marketplace and other on line groups. The mobility scooter would be £3000 new - I got mine for £300, delivered - yes it is a little battered, but it goes very well and I can get about even when my feet are not cooperating. Yes I did run it over my foot - I was demonstrating a jig and put my hand on the 'GO' lever. 🙄
One of the fridges stopped working last summer, I found one second hand and brought it home in a few hours from realising the problem. I think it was £30.
A combination of emergency calls to the GP surgery for antibiotics, keeping my feet and legs moving, massage with hot and cold water from the shower has got me through various problems which started getting serious after a rather bad reaction to the AZ jab but I seem to have managed to recover from all of them apart from one toe joint which has fused.
I have been described as indomitable.

 

[manji]

As this started with drinks. Can't beat a proper pot of Lapsang Souchong black tea. Certainly no milk, sugar or sweetener. Smokey and delicious.

Think I have messed the thread up a bit but that tea will be on my next shopping list. Thanks really what I’m looking for specific items

 

[manji]

Things got a bit difficult a few years ago when we were scammed out of my inheritance money. They are still calling trying to get more, but there isn't any.
To survive on my pension - my husband is a little younger than myself, I had to make changes.
I shop at lid, clothes are mostly home made now, as are most meals and drinks.
Fortunately the kitchen toys I bought in good times are still working - I have a Tefal Actifry which is probably old enough to vote, the big freezer is last century, from Bejam, the halogen oven is from the TV selling channel, and has a hinged lid, but when I need to replace something these days I look on Facebook marketplace and other on line groups. The mobility scooter would be £3000 new - I got mine for £300, delivered - yes it is a little battered, but it goes very well and I can get about even when my feet are not cooperating. Yes I did run it over my foot - I was demonstrating a jig and put my hand on the 'GO' lever. 🙄
One of the fridges stopped working last summer, I found one second hand and brought it home in a few hours from realising the problem. I think it was £30.
A combination of emergency calls to the GP surgery for antibiotics, keeping my feet and legs moving, massage with hot and cold water from the shower has got me through various problems which started getting serious after a rather bad reaction to the AZ jab but I seem to have managed to recover from all of them apart from one toe joint which has fused.
I have been described as indomitable.

Indomitable definitely. Again before the diabetes call I used to like soaking my feet before giving them a wash also softened my toenails making them easier to cut. It was a left hand stroke and I have found if I don’t exercise my feet as previously mentioned my left foot will puff up a bit. Ramp up feet exercises next day and the foot is fine . Clearly it’s part of the stroke recovery. The nurse told me not to soak feet, don’t use talcum powder I’m thinking “ what is she talking about ?” It’s like they are programmed for diabetes, anything else throws them.

 

[manji]

The thing to bear in mind is that you can have larger quantities of low carb foods but smaller quantities of high carb foods. The idea is that you fill up with the yoghurt which is the lowest carb part of your breakfast and just have a few berries and a sprinkle of granola rather than having mostly granola with berries and a bit of yoghurt. Make the yoghurt the main bit.

No idea what your point earlier was about cutting the rind off bacon. It doesn't contain any carbs so if you like the rind keep it on.

Again , anyone detecting a theme ? Told the nurse I like bacon. She told me to cut the rind off

 

[manji]

The thing to bear in mind is that you can have larger quantities of low carb foods but smaller quantities of high carb foods. The idea is that you fill up with the yoghurt which is the lowest carb part of your breakfast and just have a few berries and a sprinkle of granola rather than having mostly granola with berries and a bit of yoghurt. Make the yoghurt the main bit.

No idea what your point earlier was about cutting the rind off bacon. It doesn't contain any carbs so if you like the rind keep it on.

Right again thanks . Your point about yoghurt .

 

[manji]

Final meal of the day. 3 heck sausages , grilled. Half a pack of that rice ( I’m sure someone could advise me on a better product. Rice is microwave but it means I have to throw some away. Out of the freezer a few frozen Brussels Sprouts
That’s what I would call cooking a meal .

 

[manji]

Oh I might have an apple or small banana later .

 

[snowball12]

Again , anyone detecting a theme ? Told the nurse I like bacon. She told me to cut the rind off

It was probably from animal fat being generally not good for you.