Carb help!!
iowa911mom04
Posts: 11 Member
My name is Kellie and I am new here. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes about a year ago. I am currently taking Metformin and Tradjenta both, but my fasting blood sugar is still high. I know carbs are my problem. It's so hard to stop eating the foods I like the most. Has anybody been through this? What do you do to get past the addiction? I want to move forward and be healthy. I have looked around at this group and found a lot of good idea and recipes, but just need suggestions on what to do when I get those cravings. Sometimes it seems like it controls me. 
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I think everybody has been through this and the only real answer is not to give in to them. It can be super tough for the first couple of weeks but once you're Keto-adapted they will be much much rarer and you'll barely feel hungry. Unfortunately every time you give in to cravings you set yourself back and make the moment you are properly Keto-adapted harder work to get to.
When you are craving carbs, make sure you have some good Keto food ready in the fridge - eggs, cheese, sliced meat, butter, pork scratchings. Go eat a good dose of protein and fat. Even if you don't feel like that and all you want is the treat in your mind, make yourself fill up on good healthy foods and the craving will pass. You don't need carbs, cravings are just your mind playing tricks, you know the truth and can choose not to give in. It's hard, but is it as hard as being unwell?6 -
Has anybody been through this?
Lol, just about everyone on this forum has been through it to one degree or another.What do you do to get past the addiction?
Get it out of the house, for starters. Get over the idea that you're "wasting it" if that's an issue for you. If it's unopened and makes you feel better, donate it. Otherwise, it belongs in the trash. As far as you're concerned, that stuff isn't food anymore.
At the store, take a list and stick to it. Shop the perimeter to make it easier, and only go into the aisles if you specifically need something. If it's made with wheat or vegetable oils, particularly as a primary ingredient, it's not human food.
Eat plenty of fat. Don't worry about calories right now. Dropping carbs and keeping calories low during the transition period makes for a miserable combination. Just worry about macros, let your body determine calories for right now. You can tweak calories later. Giving yourself enough fat, especially, will help keep the carb and sugar cravings away and help your body correct its signals.
Check out the Launch Pad. There is a ton of information there.6 -
Dragonwolf wrote: »Has anybody been through this?
Lol, just about everyone on this forum has been through it to one degree or another.What do you do to get past the addiction?
Get it out of the house, for starters. Get over the idea that you're "wasting it" if that's an issue for you. If it's unopened and makes you feel better, donate it. Otherwise, it belongs in the trash. As far as you're concerned, that stuff isn't food anymore.
At the store, take a list and stick to it. Shop the perimeter to make it easier, and only go into the aisles if you specifically need something. If it's made with wheat or vegetable oils, particularly as a primary ingredient, it's not human food.
Eat plenty of fat. Don't worry about calories right now. Dropping carbs and keeping calories low during the transition period makes for a miserable combination. Just worry about macros, let your body determine calories for right now. You can tweak calories later. Giving yourself enough fat, especially, will help keep the carb and sugar cravings away and help your body correct its signals.
Check out the Launch Pad. There is a ton of information there.
1000% this!
Every last word of it!
I was a hard core sugar addict like no other! I just went cold turkey and used the addiction mentality to help me be strong against any possible caving in. Think of someone you know or love that may have battled some kind of addiction. What would you hope they would choose to do when faced with falling off the wagon? Make sure you say those words to yourself if you have to talk yourself down. I like to say I had to kick my own *kitten* along the way! And we really do, because in our case, no one understands this kind of addiction and will very quickly tell us it's ok to "have just a little". If having just a little wasn't a problem for us, we wouldn't have gotten fat! We can't do just a little! And should a heroin addict have "just a little". Maybe the smoker should just have one cigarette? Doesn't make sense does it?
Those foods aren't for me. I see them the same as I see any other, edible non-food item. Like dog food. It's not for me. Just because it can be eaten, doesn't mean it should be eaten.
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Thank you everyone! You have given me a new way of looking at my problem. I have just always felt so helpless and like I have no power over the cravings. I have compared my addiction to that of a heroine addict, but now I can see that I am stronger than the addiction. All of your advice has helped to open my eyes. I will read and re-read those words when I'm in doubt. I did get out and walked a half of a mile which helped with the cravings. Thanks so much !4
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If you are craving certain textures or foods find an alternative. I remember someone posting about putting the word Keto in front of what you are looking for in your search engine and you are likely to find it.
I always crave crunchy. So pork rinds are my go to. I've got to get bbq flavor otherwise I can't stomach them!
Sweets? Check out cheesecake and fat bombs.
Cake like items? Experiment with some Keto muffin in mug recipes. Although be careful with these and the ingredients, I've had them kick me right out of ketosis on occasion. If I have one i make it as a breakfast item so I can exercise it off during the day.1 -
I will warn about trying to satisfy carb cravings with "Keto-fied" foods. If you can do it without them, it could make really getting over the control those desires have on you. I will admit that I made some Keto desserts and used sugar free coffee syrups for several months. Though I started gaining weight upon making the desserts (around holidays and would eat the entire thing in 24 hours, then make more for another "get together") the hardest part was it reignited the sweet cravings big time for me and I felt like I had to go through it again. I kept trying to reduce coffee sweetener just a little more each day but it would always seem to start getting sweeter again. I got all mad at myself for losing control and stopped sweetening coffee entirely because of it. Lol
I'm not saying you'd have as many issues with sweets as I did but just be aware when using Keto substitutes using artificial sweeteners and special flours. Those carbs did have an effect on me.0 -
I'm right there with you @Sunny_Bunny_ . I know I'll have a problem when I look at a recipe (Cheesecake Fluff on the other thread) and start calculating calories in the whole batch. And I've never been satisfied with just 1 mug cake. On the other hand I guess low carb/keto stuff is better than the alternative to get us over the hump.1
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I agree with everything above. The thing about cravings is that if we don't "feed the beast", then the beast comes less and less often. We just have to let the beast know the answer is NO. No carbs. It took me about two weeks to begin to feel craving free. On two occasions, I "treated" myself to a carb meal. This kicked me out of ketosis and my symptoms of cravings came back right away big time. After my second foray into carb feeding, I knew that I couldn't do that to myself again.
Do you have Ketostix to check on whether you are in ketosis? That was helpful for me to see the stick starting to turn color after a few days. It helped motivate me to stick with my healthy LCHF meal plan. Now I am always "Large" when I check it.
Coming back here and reading when cravings hit helps, too. There are always threads that are interesting to read and learn from.
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I really do have to treat it as an addiction. Like an alcoholic is 1 drink away from a "drunk", I'm one bite away from a binge. I'll just have 1. That's stinkin' thinkin'.2
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I agree with everything already offered above!! This woe can change your life!
Another pitfall I had to learn to overcome was the feelings of "deserving". Thoughts would surface with every new low on the scale that since I had done so well I "deserved" (insert favorite food here) a treat. This goes back to the addiction mentality! I'm so fortunate to be here, with all of these wonderful people that through posting of their own experiences, I've been able to keep this power over food! I learned to turn that "deserving" feeling into thoughts of "deserving" success instead!4 -
Yup! All of the above! To me, the hardest part was just getting started. It's a mind game. You want ice cream or cake or chips... You don't want to say good bye to your old "friends" who have been your comfort. Just remember, they are not your friends! Think of them as poison because that is exactly what they are. Wheat and sugar are highly addictive. They affect your brain chemistry and it is REAL!!!
You will feel like crap for a few days no doubt, but you have a lifetime of feeling amazing ahead of you once you just let all the toxic junk go.
You can do this!!!
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