Diabetes Community

Hi,

Welcome to the board. Going to these diabetes classes is a good start. In addition to whatever literature you were given in this class you may want to read Dr Dansingers blog. There is lots of good information there.

I am not a medical professional, this is only my opinion.

I believe a lunch and dinner should be 45 g of carbs or less and breakfast 30g. You said your protien limit is 7z. I am not sure of what that measurement is. You probably want to talk more to your doctor to determine what your specific carb and protien and calorie intake should be.

Your adkins training may help as not all carbs are created equal. Simple carbs such as white bread, white rice, cookies, crackers, chips and candy will raise your blood glucose much faster than more complex carbs such as green leafy veggies and whole grains.

A blood glucose of 160 2 hours after a meal is a little higher than current thinking. The current standard is 140 and depending upon how stringent you are with your diet, you may target even lower.

As someone getting started, there is going to be a certain amount of trial and error to see what will allow you to lose weight, even if a modest amount, what will leave you feeling satisfied and what does and does not spike your blood glucose. What works for me may or may not work for you.

My biggest suggestion is to keep a diary. It does not need to be real sophisticated but it should be accurate.Track what you have eaten, and be honest with yourself, track your fasting blood glucose first thing in the morning and your blood glucose 2 hours after your meal. Another thing is to track any exercise.

Walking is an amazing exercise and even if you haven't exercised for years, start out with a short walk at a modest pace then build from there. If you prefer an exercise class or swimming, by all means go for it. It just needs to be something you will do consistently and not get bored or frustrated with.

Thank you for reading my novella....I wish you the best.

Diane has given you good advice. A good saying is "eat to your meter". Count your carbs and monitor the type of carbs you are eating and then test 2 hours after. If your glucose is good, then you ate the right amount and it was a good choice. If it was too high, then modify the choice or the amount.

I personally think that 45 - 60g of carb per meal is an awful lot. 60g of carb is the equivalent of 4 slices of bread. If I ate that for breakfast I would gain weight like you wouldn't believe. I ate about 100g of carb per day, but I am a small woman. I consider that a moderate amount. It kept me satisfied so I could follow it and my weight was stable.

Best of luck and feel free to ask lots of questions. There are nice people here.

Cora

Seems like you are getting good advice, and at the same time still in a funk. I had to redefine food. What was good for me, and what was actually poison for my condition. I followed my Drs advice in the beginning-no white. Then I went further and limited starches that were not white. I supplemented this by eating many more colorful veggies than ever before. I also started snacking on nuts, olives, and pickles. And then there is exercise, a little in the beginning, than more and more. I was never obese, or even what most would call over weight, but there is such a thing now known as "skinny fat".

Good luck on the journey-it is a lifestyle change.

I am not eating white foods like rice, white bread, cereals thus far and etc.

I am averaging 65 carbs a day by adding dark red kidney beans. Eating only veggies like raw radishes, cabbage and some green beens.

I do wash veggies that are canned first.

I am so used to Atkins and counting every carb. They are saying not count veggies like broccoli, cabbage, radish, green beans etc. Of course kidney beans we do.

I read on other boards people saying that 45 to 60 is too many carbs. I definately don't eat that many at breakfast. I am averaging around 65 carbs or less a day and it is better. I follow low fat choices most of the time on everythings...fish, bison, shrimp, canadian bacon, turkey bacon and etc.

I need to lose a lot of weight so my worry is this many carbs will surely prevent that.

Thanks for your help.

I think you're on the rght track with the plan you just described. That's very close to what I've done for most of the past 11 years, and it's very effective.

Welcome, wahmse.

Diabetic classes. Hmmm. Generic. I'm not denigrating anyone or what they do. I am of the opinion if one can find a dietician and/or CDE for themselves and not just a class, it would be extremely helpful. Insurance and other things come into play. I was very lucky in being able to find a dietician and CDE. My CDE is also a diabetic and speaks from experience.

Every person is an individual, including those of us with diabetes. There is literature and advice from others that fit some of us, but not all.

You say you are obese. That can be conquered through proper diet and exercise.

I am in agreement with the amount of carbs per meal being too much. Really too much.

My sugars were very high at diagnosis. My A1C was 13.2. My dietician looked at that and said that carbs are probably my enemy. I was underweight at diagnosis.

She handed me some literature regarding diabetes and diet. All the numbers were crossed out. She penned in what she thought would be best for me to get control over my diabetes.

30-45 grams of carbs per meal. I try to stick to the lower number and even go lower than that.

If you "need" to snack: 15-20 grams of carbs.

Protein for me is 6 oz distributed throughout the day. You can add 4-6 servings of fat per day; monounsaturated fats such as olive oil, canola oil.

Following these guidelines would yield about 1300-2200 calories per day

As I said, carbs are my enemy. Almost all of our foods have carbs, as you probably know from following the Atkins
diet. Any carb sends my sugar soaring.

I believe you should cut down on the amount of carbs. As previously stated, my diabetes was way out of control. I now have it under control following these guidelines, but...

Big but. I need to exercise also to keep my sugars in check. I also use insulin. I don't have any way around that one. Doesn't matter how thin I am or how much I exercise, I will always have high blood sugar if I don't use insulin. And, yes, I am a type 2.

Enough of me. See if you can keep a journal. Write down EVERYTHING you put into your mouth along with amounts (such as 4 oz, etc.) and the amount of carbs in those foods. Take your blood sugar two hours after any meal. This will give you a handle on what is causing your sugar to elevate. Do you have a carb counter? Calorie King was recommended to me by my dietician. The book also contains popular resaurant foods. It's my bible. The nutrition labels on all packaged foods is also a bible. The only thing I ever look at is serving size and the TOTAL CARBOHYDRATE line in that label.

Good luck to you. Hope you find this forum helpful.

Remember that eve though you don't count the carbs in veggies, there are still some there. Carrots, and some other root veggies have carbs, but they are more integrated not so starchy. So figuring those into the mix will get you a lower daily total of starches. My starch intake is one piece of rye at breakfast, an occasional(maybe once every two weeks)100gram bread sandwich, and beans in chili or baked vegetarian. Desserts for me are berries and a little Redi whip. So if you figure my carb intake a day on what most would call regular-it is way way low. However, I do get quite a bit of carbs in my 6-8 servings of veggies a day.

I started journaling from day 1. So I have it written down. Good thing is I have lost weight so am moving in that direction correctly.

I have already learned I cannot have fruit for a snack by itself. It causes a huge spike for me so I eat a few berries with a meal.

When you count your carbs are you counting net carbs like Atkins or actual carbs?

Thanks for your replies. You have all been most helpful.

When I count carbs I check on what is available in the package-subtract the fiber and use that as the carb for the item. However, I do not count more than 5 fiber subtracted-keeps me on the safe side.
I am also following the glycemic index and load of foods, those berries are low on the glycemic index and load and the nutrients and antioxidants outweigh any sugar content. The difference in load allow something like a small sweet potato, but not the small white potato.
If you are losing weight you are to be commended. As you continue to lose you will find your numbers go down, just stay away from starches that load you with glucose and raise your blood sugars.

betatoo...thank you for responding on the counting carbs question. I haven't been deducting for fiber though I heard you can.

I thought they said anythig with fiber count over 10 you can take 5.

Some do it one way, others another. Set a rule and stick to it. It is after all your diet plan.

Agree, betatoo. Whatever works for you.

My dietician said to count carbs, period. So that is what I stuck to. It works either way.