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Utterly confused by calories!

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R

Rifkah

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
so recently diagnosed type 2.
First appointment I get told no fat no carb and no sugar as a diet plan.
That was a car crash as you basically can’t eat food with those restrictions.
Second appointment today I get told 120g of carb a day?
Now I am on a lot of medication that slows metabolism so I generally eat around 600 calories a day.
I can’t figure out how I am meant to get 120g carb in my diet and all the other stuff I am meant to eat like oily fish and 5 portions of veggies? But still stay under the 600 calories that I need to maintain weight?
If I got with this plan I am going to pile weight on, it’s the equivalent of eating eight slices of bread with my evening meal? I struggle to cook so only eat once a day.

Have you guys any idea what I ought to be doing here?
 
No fat , no sugar and no carbs. Imo that’s an impossible diet.
Personally I don’t eat that many veggies /fruit either, Nor do I have that many carbs a day.

I know nothing about your digestive problems so I am loathe to advise you but I know others here fo Do suffer with slow emptying . Hopefully they will be along soon, sorry I can’t think who they are atm else I would tag them for you.

It might help if you gave us an idea of what you normally eat
 
Yeah so typically stews or curries homemade as I can sling ingredients in the slow cooker as the day goes on.
Be about 75g lean meat, and four portions of veg plus herb spices and what not?

I have a bowl full of that and a slotted spoon of rice....I’m guessing about 40g carb tops?
I’ve worked out a few of the recipes and they all hang around 500 - 600 calories.
During the day I drink coffee with low fat milk, so that’s another 15g of carbs or so.

To follow this diet I’d basically have to double my carb intake but also as I’m meant to loose weight lower my calorie intake.....that’s why I can’t add up the sums.
 
Tbh for me your usual diet doesn’t seem bad at all.
 
I’ve had to tweak things a lot because of the meds I’m on, they are horrific for weight gain.
So I am obese and could sure do to loose some weight.
I just haven’t been able to come up with a better eating plan than I’m on now.
I’m really scared to start messing with it as the weight gain can be really rapid, like 6kg in a week rapid?
I sometimes work away from home so have to eat out of hotels, I just end up living on scrambled egg as there are no good alternatives when away from home that doesn’t pile on weight.
She hasn’t given me a follow up apart from the three month check so I’d be really big by the time this weight gain got picked up.
I’ve had a read through some of the printed stuff she’s given me and it suggest cutting 100 per 2lb you want to loose....so that’s into calorie counting not carb counting.....then there are some other print outs that I can read all of but the first bit is on about glycemic indexing stuff. So I am now struggling to juggle 4 conflicting diet plans?! Honestly the more I look at this stuff the more confused I get.
 
Can't help with the idea of reducing calories to lose weight - I did it over and over at the command of doctors and it always failed to do anything beneficial. I did get to the point of collapse on a number of occasions, and then there was the increase in weight as my metabolism went through the floor, again.
I would not eat rice - any grain seems to prevent weightloss - I eat a maximum of 40 gm of carbs a day at the moment to try to lose fat - but it has to come from low carb foods.
 
Thanks drummer, the nurse has told me to up my carb in take.
She want me to double it at least.
It’s how to get those carbs in without increasing calories that I’m struggling with.
I’ve tried ditching the rice after the first nurse and it leaves me very low energy and low mood.
Nurse did give me some stuff on low GI, so I could switch rice for a small sweet potatoe?
I’m honestly loosing ideas, she has just got back to me now suggesting I need to cut between 500-1000 calories a day to loose weight......I don’t eat 1000 calories a day!
 
They don't seem to understand - carbs are the trigger for insulin release, and that causes weight gain.
No one needs to eat carbs - they are not an essential food group.
low GI is just nonsense - it makes no difference to me anyway. Sweet potato causes me to get higher BG levels than ordinary potato, so I eat neither.
I could not lose any weight at all on 'normal' diets - low calorie low fat etc.
I eat protein and fats and suddenly my clothes are all too big and my blood glucose levels are normal - and no calorie restriction at all. I do only eat twice a day, early and late, and 40 gm of carbs a day, split 10 and 30, because there are no essential carbs, they are just a waste of calories.
 
Personally I wouldn't worry about trying to force yourself to 120g/day it can bring on other issues...... Like, um, diabetes😱 Try instead for a healthier way of eating, lots of fresh veggies (just not root veggies) & quality meats, fish, eggs & dairy.
 
@Rifkah - there are type 1s on here who don't eat as much as 120g of carbs a day, and we can inject insulin to cover our carbs and most of us aren't overweight! It sounds to me as though your nurse is talking nonsense - I'm not surprised you're confused, especially with all the conflicting advice she's given you. You can't up your carbs without also upping your calories.

If I were you I'd carry on eating what works for you - the slow-cooked meat with 4 veggies sounds ideal for a diabetic (though the rice less so)! You need either some fat or some carbs to give you energy though - if you can cut out carbs it should help you lose weight as well as being good for your diabetes, but if you can replace them with a little fat it should hopefully mean you don't end up feeling low in energy & mood. In theory you shouldn't put weight on if you replace your carbs with fats, but obviously I don't know what works with your medication so that would be something you'd have to work out. Nuts, for instance, might be good if you can tolerate them, or a bit of cheese.

Have a look at the food board for some ideas of recipes posted by other type 2s - there are a lot of people here on a fairly restricted diet.
 
I'm not really trying to complicate the picture here but just explain what worked for me....

I was given a target weight of 180lb from my (then) 230lb.... Quite unobtainable so I thought

Year 1 I brought my weight down to between 190-200lb by modifying my diet along more conventional lines, though I was testing frequently & ditching the foods that spiked me; as the year went on I found I was significantly reducing my carbs (no calorie counting)

Year 2 I decided to formally go Low Carb, my weight dropped from about 200lb (as I was then) to between 165-170lb very quickly

My strategy was to cut all major carb sources like Bread, Rice, Pasta, Cereals & starchy vegetables like Potatoes, instead replacing them with green leafy vegetables (grown above ground). The fat in my diet is animal based or Extra Virgin if plant based. I find it a very easy diet to follow & maintain, actually I prefer not to refer to it as a "diet" but a "Way of Eating".
I hear you about eating out; I used to travel a lot for work.... By making some replacements at the restaurant (e.g. requesting no potato & extra veggies) or have a curry, just with no rice it's easier to keep to this WoE rather than follow a formal diet.
To this day I still don't count calories & actually I'm only mindful of carbs (especially with new food) but I have been doing this for over 2 years now.

BTW my Fasting Blood Glucose is typically in the high 4's/low 5's & my A1c is in the normal range (5.something %, 5.9 last time but when I get it checked next week, probably low 5's)
 
Martin...I guess it really depends what it is that you are classing as a low carb diet? From what I understand from the reading I have done today the diet I am naturally following IS already low carb. General consensus seems to be this is less than 60g a day, which I am well under. From the experiment into doing a almost no carb diet for two months I get sick and actually had a modest 5kg weight gain, so I’m guessing that isn’t the way forward for me.
I would like to loose weight, I basically gained 30kg after starting the meds in a very short time frame two months or so...but I’ve had to cut my calories so severely just to maintain weight I don’t see much avalible movement. Typically folk on similar doses of meds are online talking about having a constant diet of one slice of toast per day in order to maintain weight.....so nutritionally I am at least doing a bit better than many in my boat!
I’m thinking it probably time to ask if the doc can prescribe a liquid diet now? How’s anyone tried this?
 
Hi Rifkah,

Like you I was confused at first and in my case, didn't get a lot of information from the nurse I was assigned so asked to go on the Diabetes Xpert Programme. https://www.xperthealth.org.uk/Programmes It does not cost the surgery or you anything as it's funded direct from the NHS but is the best thing that happened to me since being diagnosed. Am of the Gliclizde I was prescribed, and control everything with diet. Average BG levels of 4.1 - 5.5/5.7 daily.
Was 12st 8lbs down to 11st 4lbs in six weeks on a carb diet of not more than 30g.

Regards,
Brian.
 
ALL my life I have never dealt with Calories. Carbs are the thing to watch
 
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