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Weight Loss Forum / Low Carb / May 2006delurk to say hello
I've met some of you on the alt.support.diabetes group, but I wanted to tell a.s.d.l-c that I've been hanging around a couple weeks and appreciate the posts. I was diagnosed as a T2 diabetic about three weeks ago and my life has changed drastically since then. Oh, potato chips, parting is such sweet sorrow! :) For me, going low-carb is a 'do or die' proposition. Or at least 'do or suffer some really rotten consequences'. I just dove in head-first and for the first few days after my diagnosis I was living on boiled chicken and romaine lettuce, afraid to eat much else! Happily reading this group and the diabetes one has helped my diet out considerably. :) I'm not sure exactly how "low carb" is defined, but my food journal says my average over the last 11 days (since I've been keeping the journal) are 1115 calories 33.8% fat 21.2% carb (that's an average of 59 carbs per day) 41.6% protein 12g fiber My 'carbiest' day was 95g when I had a Fibar and some pasta sauce in the same day (Dreamfields spaghetti). The only bread-like item I am currently eating is Wasa Crisp Bread which I happen to like, so I'm in luck there, but I think my fiber content could be better. I've read some of the add-ins that people use to up the fiber (fiber pills, flax seed etc) and will try those out. I've also cut out diet sodas. I used to drink sometimes 6 cans a day. I'm down to one a day max, and sometimes I don't have any at all. I am currently keeping Dasani brand water in business all by myself, I think! :D I got a new treadmill yesterday and what did I promptly do? Fell down some steps at a friend's house and bruised my heel so I'm limping around the house and can't use it yet! Hopefully I'll be better tomorrow or the next day and can get cracking at that. I know the equasion isn't complete with exercise. I also wanted to say that at first I was TOTALLY AGHAST at the idea of a low-carb diet. I think I was suffering from "LC backlash" - I had heard "fad diet, fad diet" so many times that I just dismissed it as belonging to the same category as the Grapefruit Diet, the Peanut Butter Diet and the Pig Out 6 Days A Week and Fast One Day diet. Of course I didn't take into account the 4,637 times in my life I've tried "legitimate" low-fat diets and yo-yo'ed up to being obese, while being RAVENOUS the entire time. I have to admit that since I've started LC, I have not been hungry except perhaps while preparing dinner. But it's not that "oh my god, I have to eat something, anything!" kind of hunger, but more like "wow, can't wait until dinner is done, I'm really looking forward to eating!" Anyway, I just wanted to say hi, I'm here and reading and hopefully will be able to contribute something one day soon. Be well. Leigh -- Consequences, shmonsequences, as long as I'm rich. - D. Duck Hi Leigh, welcome to the group. I wish you success. :-) -- Cheri Leigh Melton wrote in message ... >I've met some of you on the alt.support.diabetes group, but I wanted >to tell a.s.d.l-c that I've been hanging around a couple weeks and [quoted text clipped - 67 lines] >-- >Consequences, shmonsequences, as long as I'm rich. - D. Duck > Anyway, I just wanted to say hi, I'm here and reading and hopefully > will be able to contribute something one day soon. Hi Leigh, welcome to the group! It IS a culture shock to go low-carb, but after a while you'll marvel at why you ate HIGH-carb all those years when the benefits of eating LOW-carb hit home :-)  SignatureSaffire 205/140/135-140 (aka JUST RIGHT!) Atkins since 6/14/03 Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333 *** This post originated in alt.support.diet.low-carb -- its appearance in any other forum is deceptive and unauthorized. *** :: I was diagnosed as a T2 diabetic about three weeks ago and my life :: has changed drastically since then. Oh, potato chips, parting is :: such sweet sorrow! :) snip :: 1115 calories :: 33.8% fat :: 21.2% carb (that's an average of 59 carbs per day) :: 41.6% protein :: 12g fiber How's this working with your BG levels, Leigh? >:: I was diagnosed as a T2 diabetic about three weeks ago and my life >:: has changed drastically since then. Oh, potato chips, parting is [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >How's this working with your BG levels, Leigh? So far so good, I think. Just as a reference point, my first (at home) fasting blood sugar was 222 on May 3. This morning it was 153. Meal spikes last week were usually 30+ points, and now are 20+ points, 2 hours postprandial. I know those numbers are still quite high and sometimes I feel myself getting frustrated but then I remember my fbg was 311 on the day the bloodwork revealed the diabetes. It's just hard to remember the context, sometimes. :) Do you think I should adjust my diet in some way? I kept the 1200 calories per day recommendation from the nutritional counselor but ditched the exchange diet idea. Aside from the diabetes, I need to lose a significant amount of weight. I've tried for years using low-fat and just couldn't stick to it for more than a few months of being hungry all the time. When I saw the exchange diet, warning bells went off in my head. It just seemed too similar to what had not worked for me in the past weight-wise, and the idea of eating corn, potatoes and frosted cake as a diabetic scared me, to be honest. Not knocking it for those who find it works for them! Leigh -- Consequences, shmonsequences, as long as I'm rich. - D. Duck Hi Leigh, :: On Mon, 8 May 2006 08:02:28 -0400, "Roger Zoul" :: <rogerzoul2@hotmail.com> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] :: Meal spikes last week were usually 30+ points, and now are 20+ :: points, 2 hours postprandial. Progress is progress. :: I know those numbers are still quite high and sometimes I feel myself :: getting frustrated but then I remember my fbg was 311 on the day the :: bloodwork revealed the diabetes. It's just hard to remember the :: context, sometimes. :) :: :: Do you think I should adjust my diet in some way? Perhaps. Have you found Jennifer's advice on ASD yet? A typical LC diet is higher in fat and lower in carbs and protein percentwise. That doesn't mean that what you're doing won't work, though. If you can keep calories low without too much pain, then you may yet be okay. I think I'd make getting those BG levels how my first priority, then you can work on weight loss. You might trying shifting the protein cals to fat cals, to see if that helps get the BG better, sooner. That's about 115g of protein....some would consider that maybe a bit high....and protein converts to glucose at a rate of 58%, but that may or may not be a problem. I kept the 1200 :: calories per day recommendation from the nutritional counselor but :: ditched the exchange diet idea. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] :: :: Not knocking it for those who find it works for them! Well, over here we don't do exchanges, so you don't need to apologize! :) Many of us here us LC & exercise to get and keep good control of our blood glucose. So welcome. |You might trying shifting the protein cals to fat cals, to see if that helps |get the BG better, sooner. That's about 115g of protein....some would |consider that maybe a bit high....and protein converts to glucose at a rate |of 58%, but that may or may not be a problem. = My thoughts exactly. Half the protein and increase the fat intake. > So far so good, I think. Just as a reference point, my first (at > home) fasting blood sugar was 222 on May 3. This morning it was 153. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > bloodwork revealed the diabetes. It's just hard to remember the > context, sometimes. :) Yeah, I know the feeling. My fbg runs 120-140 and my postprandial numbers run 140-160. Not the greatest numbers, but then I've been diabetic almost 2 decades, so... But... it beats the heck out of not low-carbing. I can run my bg up over 300 easy. > Do you think I should adjust my diet in some way? I kept the 1200 > calories per day recommendation from the nutritional counselor but > ditched the exchange diet idea. Research the notion of "Dawn Phenomenon" and try all the stuff they suggest for that. I know Bernstein addresses it. If any of those things work for you, then you'll get your fbg down a bit more. > Aside from the diabetes, I need to lose a significant amount of > weight. I've tried for years using low-fat and just couldn't stick to [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Not knocking it for those who find it works for them! Weight loss works better when your bg is down more, generally. My suggestion is to figure out a reasonable diet and exercise plan you can live with for the long term. Focus more on the bg than the weight, cause the bg is a long-term thing to deal with and hopefully the weight won't be. Figure out the minimum number of carbs that can keep you happy (for me that's around 40-50g/day), the needed protein to maintain your lean body mass - the Eades have a formula for calculating that, or many websites too (for me it's around 100g/day) and then limit protein to that amount (since excess protein can convert to glucose) and fill in the rest of your diet with fat to the number of kilocalories you think is reasonable (for me 1400-1500 kcal works). Try to use more good fats that not, flax oil, fish oil, olive oil, etc. - but again, the main thing is to build a plan you can live with for the long term (I eat a *lot* of dairy myself). Figure out a diet that works for you, *really* works for you, then just stick with it for a few months. Give your body time to recover from the carbs and adjust to it's better inputs. You mentioned needing to lose weight, but I dunno how much. If you're really overweight, like 100 lb or more, you may not be up for much exercise just yet as hauling around the weight is a lot of exercise in itself. But if you're more in the 20-50 lb overweight range, definetly start exercising. Pick something you will stick with as your main exercise (something fun) and add some weight-training in (lowers bg, builds muscle mass with burns calories, etc - it's just too good to not do). You can get lots of great ideas here: http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/ Keep in mind that it's not primarily about weight loss, but about bg control. Weight loss is a temporary thing, whereas bg control is something you need to do permanently. So don't build some insanely ambitious plan, but a regular day-to-day plan you can live with for the long run. Then just stick with the diet and exercise for a few months, let your body heal up as much as it's going to on your new plan. After a couple months, take all your daily readings for a week or so and see where you are then. You'll likely have lost weight too, but really, focus on the bg primarily. If you can't get it down to your goals with diet and exercise alone, you might try asking for a script for Metformin, which will not only lower your insulin resistance and get your bg numbers down, but has a side-effect of helping with the weight loss too. SAMPLE DIET Note this is what I made for *me*, it contains all my favorite foods and the stuff I like best, so it doesn't feel like a "diet" at all. I only include the stuff I like, and exclue things I don't care for (fish!) You have to make one for you. THROUGHOUT DAY 1 quart Crystal Light mixed with 1/2 tsp calcium ascorbate & 1/8 tsp Lite salt 2 quarts filtered well water 16 oz coffee, 1 oz heavy cream & 2 packets Equal BREAKFAST hot cereal: nuke 2/3 cup water, 3 TB flaxmeal, 3 TB milk-based protein powder, 1 TB soy lecithin, dash of cinnamon, then stir in 1 oz heavy cream 3/4 cup yogurt, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/4 cup ricotta or 2 TB cream cheese 1/2 cup whole fresh strawberries or cranberries, 1/4 cup thawed frozed unsweetened strawberries, 1/8 medium cantalope, 1/16 medium honeydew, 1/64 medium watermelon) up to 2 TB DaVinci sugar-free syrup (I put this together differently, might be yogurt mixed with popped cranberries and strawberry syrup, might be cottage cheese with melon on the side) LUNCH salad: 1 cup butterhead lettuce & raddichio, 1/2 medium tomato, 1/4 medium cucumber, 1/4 medium onion, 1 oz cheddar, colby or monterey jack cheese, 1 roasted garlic clove with 2 TB ranch dressing 1 hard boiled egg (this is almost always the same - sometimes might use romaine, sometimes might add sprouts, sometimes might make egg salad instead of eating a plain egg) DINNER 4 oz meat (75% or better hamburger, round roast or steak, chuck roast or steak, eye of round, pork sirloin roast or chop, ham, bacon, white or dark chicken, white or dark turkey, Polish, Italian or smoked sausage, bologna or salami) 8 oz cooked veggies (bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, green beans, kale, leeks, mushrooms, mustard greens, peas, okra, onions, red bell peppers, scallions, shallots, summer squash, zucchini) 2 TB herbs of choice 1/2 TB butter or olive oil (Or dinner can be replaced by a big bowl of Italian sausage soup! Love that stuff.) AVERAGE TOTALS: 47g CHO, 82g PRO, 1380 kcal >Keep in mind that it's not primarily about weight loss, but about bg >control. Weight loss is a temporary thing, whereas bg control is >something you need to do permanently. So don't build some insanely >ambitious plan, but a regular day-to-day plan you can live with for the >long run. Yes, you're completely right. I'm trying to keep that in mind. I've been diagnosed for less than a month so I am still flailing around a little bit trying to find what works for me. The BG is the most important part though. >If you can't get it down to your goals with diet and exercise alone, >you might try asking for a script for Metformin, which will not only >lower your insulin resistance and get your bg numbers down, but has a >side-effect of helping with the weight loss too. I started on Metformin and unfortunately my body cannot handle it. Right now I take Glipizide twice a day, and the endo has mentioned Byetta as a possibility for me at my next visit in June. I'm not crazy about sticking myself more than I do now with just testing, but hey - ya gotta do what ya gotta do! :) Thanks for the post, I really appreciate it! Leigh -- Consequences, shmonsequences, as long as I'm rich. - D. Duck > I started on Metformin and unfortunately my body cannot handle it. > Right now I take Glipizide twice a day, and the endo has mentioned > Byetta as a possibility for me at my next visit in June. I'm not > crazy about sticking myself more than I do now with just testing, but > hey - ya gotta do what ya gotta do! :) Yeah, I got sick on metformin twice, which is why I've just been tolerating higher bg than the ideal lately. Folks here have convinced me to try it a third time, so I'm gonna do that soon. What the heck. Mebbe third time is the charm. ;) > Yeah, I got sick on metformin twice, which is why I've just been > tolerating higher bg than the ideal lately. > > Folks here have convinced me to try it a third time, so I'm gonna do > that soon. What the heck. Mebbe third time is the charm. ;) I got sick on it twice, too. Then this last time, VOILA! No mattress hugging fatigue, sleepiness, headache, nothing. I never got gastric symptoms, but I've read that taking it in the middle of a meal can help, along with slowly titrating the dose upward. Hope your third time is as lucky for you as mine was for me! Susan >Yeah, I got sick on metformin twice, which is why I've just been >tolerating higher bg than the ideal lately. > >Folks here have convinced me to try it a third time, so I'm gonna do >that soon. What the heck. Mebbe third time is the charm. ;) I hope it works out well for you! Leigh -- Consequences, shmonsequences, as long as I'm rich. - D. Duck |
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