For some reason I've been resistant to introduce myself
My4happykids
Posts: 124 Member
Hello, We started Keto for my husband about 3 months ago. He is a diabetic and a kidney transplant recipient 3+ years. After the transplant his blood sugars got worse and he had to go on insulin. Well a little more then 3 months ago the insulin stopped affecting his blood sugar at all (no change what so ever) so we are trying this.
The kids and I did not change our eating at first but when it started lowering his blood sugar we decided we needed to get behind him. He tried Dr Bernstein several years ago but we still had all the carby foods around. We didn't want the same failure as last time.
So about 2 months ago I went on a 3 day water fast and then went keto after the fast. I was resistant to introducing myself probably due to my health issues. I have PKD (polycystic kidney disease) it oddly enough is not related to PCOS (which I don't have). My kidneys also failed and I have been blessed with a kidney transplant. 2 years ago for me. The steroids have caused me to gain 80lbs (without a change in diet) since the transplant so I am now around 100 lbs over weight. And one of the other transplant meds caused a increase in my cholesterol. Thou I was lucky and my blood sugars are still good no diabetes caused by transplant for me plus the high blood pressure caused by PKD is gone.
Since going on keto I've lost about 20lbs and I had my yearly visit to the transplant hospital and my cholesterol is down over 100 points plus my good cholesterol is up 30 points. So it was a very good appointment they didn't complain about my weight or start a conversation about statins. My kidney is working very well. All my numbers were wonderful.
I am doing a lower protein then everything I've read. I just can't make myself eat it. I get between 40-60 grams most days.
I make almost everything we eat and find logging my food rather hard in MFP because of that. How does one figure out how many marcos are in a a can of home canned blank, or home dehydrated food? On the upside we no longer milk our own cow (butterfat content ranges from 5-8% depending on breed) or grow our own meat.
The kids and I did not change our eating at first but when it started lowering his blood sugar we decided we needed to get behind him. He tried Dr Bernstein several years ago but we still had all the carby foods around. We didn't want the same failure as last time.
So about 2 months ago I went on a 3 day water fast and then went keto after the fast. I was resistant to introducing myself probably due to my health issues. I have PKD (polycystic kidney disease) it oddly enough is not related to PCOS (which I don't have). My kidneys also failed and I have been blessed with a kidney transplant. 2 years ago for me. The steroids have caused me to gain 80lbs (without a change in diet) since the transplant so I am now around 100 lbs over weight. And one of the other transplant meds caused a increase in my cholesterol. Thou I was lucky and my blood sugars are still good no diabetes caused by transplant for me plus the high blood pressure caused by PKD is gone.
Since going on keto I've lost about 20lbs and I had my yearly visit to the transplant hospital and my cholesterol is down over 100 points plus my good cholesterol is up 30 points. So it was a very good appointment they didn't complain about my weight or start a conversation about statins. My kidney is working very well. All my numbers were wonderful.
I am doing a lower protein then everything I've read. I just can't make myself eat it. I get between 40-60 grams most days.
I make almost everything we eat and find logging my food rather hard in MFP because of that. How does one figure out how many marcos are in a a can of home canned blank, or home dehydrated food? On the upside we no longer milk our own cow (butterfat content ranges from 5-8% depending on breed) or grow our own meat.
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Replies
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You could try getting information about the food's ingredients from usda... whatever you canned your food with, just sort of estimate. It's a start anyway. Better than nothing
Good luck to you and your family!1 -
I got a kitchen scale to weigh everything I make. If you measure/weigh everything you make prior to processing it, add those things to the recipe in MFP and then figure out how you want to set up a serving, that could work.
For example: jerky: create a recipe, add steak 1 pound prior to drying, add the seasoning... marinate and then cut into slices as close to the same as you can (or cut one exactly to a .5 ounces and make sure you know which one it is after drying). The number of servings for the recipe will be either 1 pound divided by .5 or 1 pound divided by the consistent size you cut. After you dry them, you can then either just use the serving of the consistent pieces or you can weigh the one you made to be .5 and see how much it is now to apply the same difference to each piece as it is. ( so let's say the .5 piece is now .3, one serving of the recipe is now .3 ounces of dried jerky)
Regular cooking recipes are a lot easier to track. Chili: add the ingredients, cook it, divide into equal servings and use that as your servings for the recipe.2 -
Perhaps you could look at canned products the next time you are in a super market for a reasonable gauge as so what "X" amount of canned tomatoes (as example) would have, write it down then when home find the database entry that matches the most. Save that entry. I've done that in "my meals" (the saving part) by the ounce so I didn't/don't have to go through 50 million database entries every time I used canned tomatoes.
If you dehydrate food regularly you might have a reasonable idea of the amount you started with-example being 6 ounces of "whatever" resulted in "X" ounces of finished product. Use entries to equate to the product in its original state. I'm just guessing regarding dehydrated stuff though. Except for what ever you might have added (if anything) when dehydrating it, wouldn't it just be more dense/concentrated than the original?
I would talk to your medical team about your protein needs given your medical history and medications you are needing. Good luck and welcome!0 -
Thank you all for the suggestions.
@WeirdoTwo I got very frustrated with the usda database this morning because they had no info on dehydrated beets. MFP did have a brand snack but that didn't have any fiber, which really seems strange since that doesn't change with dehydration. I know Beets aren't ideal on keto but I only ate 20 gram and I would rather eat them then through out all that work from last year.
@food_lover16 I do have a kitchen scale, and have started using it when processing (as best I can) when I canned our asparagus each pint and a half (yes 3 cup) jar holds about 357 grams about depending on size of the spears sense you want to cram as many in as you can. As for jerky how would you determine how much of the marinate is used? Because most of it is still there after they are ready for drying, you even pat the meat dry before putting it on to dry. I think we would have average the size of the pieces at least until we get a deli slicer. We hand cut right now and do anywhere from 8 to 18 trays.
@kpk54 Looking at the store cans sounds like a good idea. Not going to talk to the Transplant Drs because after I gained weight they sent me to a dietitian who really pushed the whole food pyramid. but right after the transplant they just said that for the next 3 months you need to keep your protein up around 60 gram to help your body heal. When we visit our nephrologist (kidney Dr.) in two weeks we will be talking to him about everything. We have seen him for near 10 years.0 -
@My4happykids - Adding collagen powder, gelatin, and/or bone broth can also be other ways to help add in more protein, if you want to try a little higher level. It really helps with skin healing and health as you shrink, as well as nails, hair, and all those things we love... Also, I like using unflavored protein powder here and there in recipes that you won't notice...
Beets have a whole lot of nutrition in them. So as long as you keep your portions reasonable, there is no reason not to include them. 20 grams of carbs is often an "induction" goal. Many people can increase them to around 50 grams of carbs a day to work in more non-starchy vegetables and such. The simplest way I tell myself is that nutrition should never be sacrificed for a carb count. Now, if I can get the exact same nutrition in a lower carb count, I should opt for the lower count more often than not, but it is never worth it to me to sacrifice legitimate nutrition from whole food sources over some number on a page that might not even be fully accurate!!
On the nutrition in the beets, I would honestly take the numbers for something that has similar macros to a beet and compare...or better yet, this is "naked beet chips"... That's about the same thing, no?
https://www.luckyvitamin.com/p-1901891-rhythm-superfoods-beet-chips-naked-1-4-oz
Or this: https://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/absolute-organic/beetroot-chips
You probably should also plan to subtract out the fiber on these from your counts. Fat Secret is pretty reliable on most things like this. I don't know about a prepared product in general, though...
Best of luck to you and your hubby as you continue on regaining your health!0 -
Thank you @KnitOrMiss yes the naked beet chips seem the same. Nothing added just beets.
Certainly need to try the collagen powder then. We use bone broth in cooking, I don't like the flavor of broths by themselves. Thou after we cooked our corned beef maybe adding egg yolks will make it more appealing to me. You see I added 4 egg yolks to the broth from the crockpot after cooking our corned beef. I added them to thicken it (which it did) but it ended up so good the my husband had the broth for breakfast the next day.
Thank you for the kind word the keto eating has been helping everyone here. Our 10 year old (a small framed young lady) lost a bit for stomach bloat (no weight, her stomach is just completely flat now)2 -
I am T2D, and I have to say the LC diet has been amazing for my glucose levels. I hope you folks continue to make good progress.1
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