Need help low carbing - especially from diabetics

Sugarbeat

Hi. I'm not exactly new to MFP but my user name is fairly new. Anyway I've been on and off for awhile. I'm a diabetic (have been for awhile) but I kind of carousel on the low carb thing. I start out doing it according to my dieticians recommendations but end up hungry, fatigued, and overly emotional. Then end up going back to the old ways because of it. Further, when I eat as close as I can to my recommended carb limit my calories are too low but in order to up them I need to add in more fat and protein, which I've been advised to be careful of. Does anyone else have similar issues? If so how have you handled them? I'm looking for some real world advice because while the dietician is very nice and has "read the book" I don't think she's ever really had to restrict calories. Its like me, who has never smoked, trying to tell a smoker how to quit, ya know? I've made my diary public and welcome feedback.

Juliane_

Don't be afraid of fat. It will fill you up and help with satisfaction. Make sure you eat the right kinds of fat. Since you are diabetic I would encourage you to read the book blood sugar 101 and Dr Bernsteins diabetics solution. The advice I read for diabetics is to "eat by your meter", meaning control your blood sugar levels by measuring what your carbohydrate tolerance is using your glucose monitor. blood sugar 101 explains how to do this safely. Basically you start out low carb. See how your blood sugars are affected 1 hour and 2 hours after eating a certain food. If your sugars go up too high you need to AVOID that food. If it keeps your blood sugars at a good level, then you can safely eat those foods. Eventually you add a few carbs to your meal little by little until you find the # of grams that bring your sugar levels no more than x number of mg per your glucose meter.

EricCowperthwaite

Hi Sugarbeat .... per my doctor I am a type II diabetic in remission. In Nov, 2011, I had a fasting glucose of 135. A year later, I had a HbA1C of 5.6 ... high normal! My A1C never got measured when originally diagnosed as borderline type II diabetic. I refused to take medication and my doctor did not prescribe meds for, allowing me several months to demonstrate I could make changes and have an impact on my body.

I moved my diet to one that would lead to ketosis so I could use dietary fat for energy, rather than glucose. I removed all carbs from my diet except those in green, leafy veggies or berries. I never allowed any serving of food to contain more than 5g net carbs. I pushed my fat intake up to 60% + of my daily calories and my protein to the moderate range at 25-30%. My severely restricted carbs generally ran about 5% daily, 25g net carbs, give or take.

No processed foods allowed, no potatoes, rice, pasta, no boxed food, nothing with sucrose, fructose, sweeteners. No artificial sweeteners, either. And nothing that was a "paleo substitute". The first couple months I got rid of alcohol, too. Now I allow myself a glass of wine or a vodka/soda. I find that if I do actually go and drink, after a few drinks I end up hypoglycemic. This isn't good because now I'm tipsy from the alcohol AND messed up from being hypoglycemic.

I also added in exercise. Started with walking and jogging, then running, then at home workouts like Power90, Insanity and Focus T25. Now I'm weightlifting, actually.

My diary is open, feel free to take a look at it.

Sugarbeat

Juliane - thanks for the book recommendations. I'll look those up at the library and/or my Nook.

Eric - I envy you being able to do that. I WANT to that but it makes me ill. Like not able to function as well ill. And yet too high carbs are making me ill as well. I like to walk on my breaks but 2 days of just lower carbing (no where near where I should be) and I'm too tired and weak feeling. What do you do for things like that? Also, we're going to the fair this evening. Any suggestions on what to eat (I haven't eaten the pizza on my diary yet, I was just calculating)? I've yet to find anything remotely healthy at the fair.

EricCowperthwaite

At the fair, what if you get a hamburger and don't eat much, or none, of the bun?

I was probably very fortunate to be at the beginning of lifestyle induced diabetes and able to correct it. If I had been well into it and on meds and all that good stuff, probably would have been much tougher. I was also very fortunate to have a wife and partner who agreed with me that medication was not the path we were going down (I was actually diagnosed hypertensive, high cholesterol and diabetic, all at once). She helped me immensely, keeping me on track with food, noticing when I was lacking energy or what have you.

It was really tough to get transitioned to low carbs. I think you need to find a nutritionist/dietician who has very specific knowledge about low carb diets for diabetics (assuming you are type II). My advice can only go so far, I highly recommend getting that input from someone who is really knowledgeable on the topic.

Also, feel free to friend me and ask questions any time.

Sugarbeat

Thanks and I will friend you. I'm going to the my first diabetes support group meeting tomorrow so I'll ask around about different dieticians. The one I'm seeing is covered fully by my insurance but it may be worth paying extra.

kiramaniac

Sorry - not diabetic, but... You bring up that you feel tired and ill when doing low carb. Are you supplementing key minerals, like sodium, potassium, and magnesium? Fatigue, headaches, even dizziness are all symptoms of sodium deficiency. Low Carbers excrete sodium, and need to supplement. A cup or two of salty chicken broth is recommended. Target 3-5 grams of sodium per day.

Good Luck!

EricCowperthwaite

Thanks for pointing that out Kira .... I definitely had to be very thoughtful about electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride and bicarbonate). The food/health industry has completely demonized salt as something horrifically unhealthy, sadly. It's so bad that foods that restore electrolytes have to refer them as electrolytes, when what they are really doing is providing a flavored saltwater to you.

Make sure you are using chicken broth, salt on your food, drinking things like PowerAde Zero.

Binkie1955

Use this website to determine your mix http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/ of carbs, protein and fat.
as others have said, don't be afraid of fat. and basically for all the worry, there is not such thing as 'bad' fat. don't worry about that concern. because you're diabetic, you should know how to use ketostix already to determine if your in ketosis.

I don't worry overly much about calories as long as I keep my carbs down. I keep Carbs below 20 net grams of carbs per day consistent with atkins induction methodology. I don't see a purpose to 'needing' carbs. I just avoid them pretty much. but carbs below 50 grams per day will generally be safe.

Eric's right on pretty much everything he says too. don't make it complicated. just cut the carbs and you're energy will come from fat. eat lots of it don't worry about it. Fat consumed will be used for energy. very hard to store it as additional fat. just focus on cutting the carbs.

angee1126

I'm not diabetic.....but I follow a low carb diet......all this info is wonderful! I have a question for EricCowperthw or kiramaniac when choosing a chicken broth......is there one kind that is better than the other...or is any ol' chicken broth ok?? I was going to buy some the other day and I didn't know which to chose. Thanks!

EricCowperthwaite

I use any chicken broth that is labeled organic and NOT low sodium :-D ..... sometimes I make my own just cause I like it better.

angee1126

Good to know! Thanks Eric!!! :happy:

kiramaniac

I'm not as selective on the broth. You can also make it from bullion. I usually buy the stuff in the carton (probably Swanson). We sometimes make ours too, but that's more of a winter thing.

Sugarbeat

Thank you for all the suggestions and support! I truly appreciate it. I do think it was sodium giving me a hard time. I did not drink chicken broth but I did drink V8 and felt a lot better. I know it has some carbs but it was the veggie one so not too bad. I did the best I could at the fair last night but even the veggies were deep fried so I settled for chicken fingers and cheese sticks. At least I got the protein in, right? I did get to ride the Ferris wheel and the back of a monster truck :bigsmile: . I'm feeling tons better and packed a can of V8 just in case. I get some broth but I like V8 so I may just work it in somehow. I don't know that I'll get Atkins low on the carbs but I shall continue working towards progress. My last meeting with the dietician gave me 145-165 grams of carbs so right now I'm working towards somewhere in the middle. Tonight is my first support group meeting for diabetes so we shall see how that goes.