Diabetic having trouble reaching 1000 calories a day

Hi, there. I believe you. My type 2 diabetes is in remission now. The thing with chronic conditions is that you are your best advocate daily, and you don't have a professional at your beck and call if something isn't working. So you need to adjust the instructions until you can see them next.

Both low fat and low carb is just too hard which you've found out. You need to find out right away what your minimum calories a day need to be and I suspect it will be about 1,200 calories.

Are you testing a full two hours after you eat? Everyone spikes after eating but it should even out after a couple hours.

You might find that adding protein to a fruit, vegetable, or whole grain will even out the way your body processes the whole meal. So pair your fruit or vegetable serving with protein like,

Peanut butter with apple slices
Celery sticks filled with laughing cow (skinny)
Hard cheese with crackers

"Good fats" that you can cautiously add to your diet include vegetable oils, nuts, and fatty fish. I only say cautiously because fats are calorie dense and can add up quickly.

I find I can take the carbs from fruit very well, better than rice.

Sorry didn't mean to offend you, but we just hate seeing people who are starving themselves as a way to lose weight. That's not the best way to stick to a diet long term. Sure you can probably do it for about a month and then eventually you'll just give up and you'll be back to where you started. It seems like people get some scarey diagnois from their doctor and then they take their weight loss strategy to an extreme. I too got the scarey diabetic diagnois from my doctor back in April. My AC1 was at 9.6. I then did research on the best foods to eat as a diabetic and started making my meals around those foods. In four months my AC1 went from a 9.6 to a 6.0 and I lost 46 pounds. I haven't starved myself. Just eat a healthy balanced meal. Sure I try and keep my carbs low but I still eat fruit everyday. I eat on average 1500 calories per day and have gone from 254 pounds to 208 pounds in about 4 and a half months. A regular exercise routine is also vital to helping mainting proper blood sugar levels. Just being more active and losing weight is going to help your situation.

My husband was recently diagnosed as type II diabetic and as a 200-lb. man, he was told to limit carbs to no more than 60 per meal. So for a female, about 40 carbs per meal sounds about right. He also has very, very high triglycerides and blood cholesterol, so he was also told to limit fats. He was told by his nutritionist to look at it this way, if you are putting food on your plate, half of your plate should be vegetables, one quarter of your plate should be protein and one quarter, carbohydrates. If a particular food, does spike your blood sugar, then you may have to substitute a higher fiber, lower sugar version. My husband, for instance, loves sweet pickles, so I found a sugar-free version that he can enjoy without elevating his blood sugar. It's a trial and error process, but follow your nutritionist's advice and be sure to communicate your results weekly to the nutritionist. Rapid weight loss can be a sign that your diabetes is still not under control, so make sure he/she knows about that.

I applaud your commitment to trying to get this under control. I think it is great you are taking control now rather than when you have severe complications.

My advice would be to contact your treatment team, specifically, the counselor who have you these guidelines. I would explain that you feel like you are not eating enough and are concerned that this may hinder your health even more. I would ask for specific foods that you could add that have higher calorie counts or how you could add more calories into your day (maybe a protein shake or two or something of the like).

Just a question: are you weighing your food with a food scale? If so, great! If not, I would go buy one (cheap on amazon or at target/Walmart), and start weighing everything. Not doubting your calorie consumption, but would hate for you to think you need to add in more calories if your calorie intake is actually higher than you think.

sparkynazca wrote: »

I was told to eat low fat by my diabetic councilor because I am also quite a bit overweight. Perhaps I'm overdoing it on the low fat. (I haven't been tracking on my fitness pal every day, but on another site)

Call them up and tell them that you cannot eat enough. If you're feeling weak, tired or dizzy, tell them that, too. Ask for help.

I started at 210, now at 195 in 80 days and going the right direction. My A1C was 6.3 so I had to get serious with the diary, My top limit for myself is 1400 a day but usually stay about 1250. I did go to an Italian restrauant and 2 daughters and I split a pasta meal, Caeser Salad and 2 desserts. Calories were 2400 for the day. Planned ahead and had 900 cal. days the day before and after. I went to a nutritionist at the local hospital and she said the important thing is try to be consistant. Some people do better having the same breakfast and lunch so they can eat dinner the same as their family. Some people like the variety of a differant breakfast and lunch( takes more planning but it keeps them from cheating) I normally have eaten 500-600 cal by 4pm and stay away from 100 cal packages of snacks and treats. I try to eat real food. I also walk every day I can 30 minutes. 45 carbs a meal. this amounts to a bun or 2 slices of bread or a cup of pasta or 2/3 cup cooked rice and a fruit per meal. If you get hungry, add an extra ounce or 2 of meat with your meal. I hope this helps

Also, report to your doc your weight drop. Significant weight loss or gain in diabetes is always something to bring up.

Be careful to read all the labels on low fat items.....many times the "flavor" is replaced with lots of sugars.

I don't think OP is coming back. That makes me sad.

If you are out there and reading this, OP, I would advise you to call your doctor. I'm also diabetic and do a low carb, high fat diet. While diabetics sometimes can eat high protein, it is hard on your kidneys and diabetes is also hard on the kidneys, so usually not a great combination.

I stick to moderate protein. With this combination of macros I almost always feel satisfied.

If you want fruit, berries are an awesome choice! I LOVE strawberries and I eat them a lot. I just have to measure it out first. I also eat ice cream and lots of other super yummy things.

Please don't get discouraged. There is a special group on here for those with Type II and it's wonderful...people just like us who can address our specific dietary needs.