Guest guest Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 Kathleen, When you feel like that, particularly after restricting your food so much, test you bg's--- Those symptoms are a couple of typical ones for going low (hypoglycemic), and that is to be avoided. Since you're just on oral meds, lows can feel really lousy, but are not typically dangerous like they can be for someone using insulin. Nevertheless, they are to be taken seriously as you could be called upon for some action or thinking & not be able to respond properly because of the low bg's ***************************************** , T2, dx'ed 4/98 with Fasting bg 350mg/dl & HbA1c 15.5% Controlling until last month with LC-D & very little E Average Fasting bg 105mg/dl, Last HbA1c 6.0% 7+ Year Historical HbA1c 5.6%-6.0% Now Experimenting with Metformin, Glyburide & " Merlot Therapy " for HbA1c nearer 5.0% >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>> , I think I did the wrong thing again. When I found out all the changes that were happening yesterday with the added meds and higher A1C, I decided to cut my calories drasticly to fix my problem. Now I feel real shaky and weepy, I guess 1000 calories isn't enough. Kathleen <<< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 I looked up beets, which are 8.62, diced, per cupful, (that is including the minus of the fiber). Sugar beets are grown to produce sugar and they are white, in color, and I don't believe they are available on the foodie market. Jo in MN Re: New Here >I had no idea that tomatoes could raise blood sugar. I'm about to the > point that I don't know what to eat anymore between allergies (wheat, > yeast, barley, celery, and peas), 3 doctors have ordered me not to > eat any beef (it raises my cortisol levels), low-sodium due to > Cushing's Syndrome, and this impossible to figure out diabetes diet. > Kathleen >> >> Hi Kathleen and welcome to the list~! >> >> You mentioned beets. Aren't they higher in carbs than some veggies? > I'm guessing at this one. I just remember them being called sugar > beets. I may be way off target here. I have tham so rarely and in low > quantity, I never looked up their carb content. >> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 At 10:30 AM 12/28/05, kathleenataylor wrote: >I am allergic to wheat and yeast, so I don't eat any bread, pasta, or >cereal. I do eat rice, it's my main starch. I also eat rice cakes >quite often. Sometimes I eat potatoes, but I eat carrots fairly often. Is there any special need for a " main starch " considering that you're diabetic and starches raise blood glucose? In another message you mention that you eat corn, dry beans, potatos and raw carrots. Maybe you should remove them from your diet until you get your blood glucose under control and THEN try adding small amounts of them back in and testing to see what happens. sky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 O my, Kathleen, the last thing I want is to discourage you. I thought I was problem solving to hopefully help you to figure out why your BG was higher than you like. I was overwhelmed in the early days too. When I saw people saying they couldn't eat tomatoes, I was rebellious enough to know right then that if I wanted a mixed vegetable diet, I was going to eat it. I have other medical conditions and limitations too and knew I didn't want uncontrolled diabetes to add to the list, so I knuckled down, went straight to insulin and that's how I enjoy any vegetable I want. I have always believed " all things in moderation " but must admit to being a carbohydrate addict before my diagnosis. I didn't understand why I had these carbohydrate cravings until I stopped eating so many of the grains, etc. and began to understand how it all worked. After about three weeks of severely limiting " the white things " - rice, pasta, potatoes, sugar) not only didn't I crave them, I didn't even miss them. My worst battles were with ice cream and popcorn. I'm not saying you need to go on insulin, though many here who finally went on it wondered why they waited so long. :-) I was just saying that after you find out which veggies affect you most, you may have to do a little extra exercise to offset the meal, or possibly ask your doctor for one of the medicines that offset BG rise at mealtime. I see in a later email that your Avandia has been increased and Glucophage has begun. I don't know how Avandia works but I suspect that with these two new things in your regimen, you will be seeing lower numbers - real soon. Hang in there, it does get easier, really it does. in OH grammyDx2@... t2 dx 8/03 WOE. Lantus. Novolog Last HbA1c 5.5 From: kathleenataylor Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2005 3:29 PM I had no idea that tomatoes could raise blood sugar. I'm about to the point that I don't know what to eat anymore between allergies (wheat, yeast, barley, celery, and peas), 3 doctors have ordered me not to eat any beef (it raises my cortisol levels), low-sodium due to Cushing's Syndrome, and this impossible to figure out diabetes diet. Kathleen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 At 03:29 PM 12/28/05, kathleenataylor wrote: >I had no idea that tomatoes could raise blood sugar. I'm about to the >point that I don't know what to eat anymore between allergies (wheat, >yeast, barley, celery, and peas), 3 doctors have ordered me not to >eat any beef (it raises my cortisol levels), low-sodium due to >Cushing's Syndrome, and this impossible to figure out diabetes diet. tomatoes, onions and garlic are all what low carb books call " borderline " foods. Now I happen to like all three of those so I eat them. I just try to not eat as many tomatoes as I used to. Garlic isn't a problem unless I want to make " Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic " . Onions, well...a day without onions is like a day without sunshine. I can't imagine also going without beef. While cortisol is supposed to help build vicereal fat, I don't *think* it raises blood glucose, does it? Sometimes you have to balance things out. Losing weight is not necessarily going to lower BG's, anyway. We have those on this list who can vouch for that. - sky - Old age comes at such a bad time. http://www.skydancers.com http://www.skydor.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 , I think I did the wrong thing again. When I found out all the changes that were happening yesterday with the added meds and higher A1C, I decided to cut my calories drasticly to fix my problem. Now I feel real shaky and weepy, I guess 1000 calories isn't enough. Kathleen > > O my, Kathleen, the last thing I want is to discourage you. I thought I was problem solving to hopefully help you to figure out why your BG was higher than you like. I was overwhelmed in the early days too. > > When I saw people saying they couldn't eat tomatoes, I was rebellious enough to know right then that if I wanted a mixed vegetable diet, I was going to eat it. I have other medical conditions and limitations too and knew I didn't want uncontrolled diabetes to add to the list, so I knuckled down, went straight to insulin and that's how I enjoy any vegetable I want. I have always believed " all things in moderation " but must admit to being a carbohydrate addict before my diagnosis. I didn't understand why I had these carbohydrate cravings until I stopped eating so many of the grains, etc. and began to understand how it all worked. After about three weeks of severely limiting " the white things " - rice, pasta, potatoes, sugar) not only didn't I crave them, I didn't even miss them. My worst battles were with ice cream and popcorn. > I'm not saying you need to go on insulin, though many here who finally went on it wondered why they waited so long. :-) I was just saying that after you find out which veggies affect you most, you may have to do a little extra exercise to offset the meal, or possibly ask your doctor for one of the medicines that offset BG rise at mealtime. > I see in a later email that your Avandia has been increased and Glucophage has begun. I don't know how Avandia works but I suspect that with these two new things in your regimen, you will be seeing lower numbers - real soon. > > Hang in there, it does get easier, really it does. > > in OH > grammyDx2@n... > t2 dx 8/03 > WOE. Lantus. Novolog > Last HbA1c 5.5 > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 Sky, The cortisol problem is connected to my Cushing's Syndrome. As long as I avoid beef the Cushing's is under control. Kathleen > > >I had no idea that tomatoes could raise blood sugar. I'm about to the > >point that I don't know what to eat anymore between allergies (wheat, > >yeast, barley, celery, and peas), 3 doctors have ordered me not to > >eat any beef (it raises my cortisol levels), low-sodium due to > >Cushing's Syndrome, and this impossible to figure out diabetes diet. > > tomatoes, onions and garlic are all what low carb books call " borderline " > foods. Now I happen to like all three of those so I eat them. I just try to > not eat as many tomatoes as I used to. Garlic isn't a problem unless I want > to make " Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic " . Onions, well...a day without > onions is like a day without sunshine. > > I can't imagine also going without beef. While cortisol is supposed to help > build vicereal fat, I don't *think* it raises blood glucose, does it? > Sometimes you have to balance things out. Losing weight is not necessarily > going to lower BG's, anyway. We have those on this list who can vouch for > that. > > > - sky - > > Old age comes at such a bad time. > http://www.skydancers.com > http://www.skydor.com > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 Cortisol raises bgs, but I never heard that beef raises cortisol. That doesn't mean it doesn't. Stress definitely raises cortisol and being a new diabetic is a stressful situation. However, there are other ways to lower cortisol than eschew beef. Meditation lowers cortisol by interfering with the stress cycle. Some SSRIs in very small doses also lower cortisol in certain people. Like me, I take 10mg of celexa every morning. I also meditate and I eat beef. Kathleen, there is so much that you can eat, you do not have to fill your plate with rice. Everytime you go to the supermarket, browse the produce section and try something you haven't had before. Most of the veggies there, like cabbage, spinach, lettuce, cucumber, which I am sure you have eaten in the past, will make a lovely stir fry with poultry or fish. You can pile that on your plate and there will be no room for rice! If soy sauce has too much sodium for you, you can try the low sodium kind, or flavor your stir fry with Chinese mustard. Now the new stuff, have you ever tried daikon radish? Bok choy? Avocados? Really healthy for us. Chinese cabbage? Kale? This is not the end of your life, this is the beginning of a whole new culinary adventure. Even if your allergies are a problem, your imagination can take you to new places and new enjoyments. Helen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 , Add to that the fact that I am extremely sensitive to female hormones due to the hormone imbalances that the adrenal cancer caused (33 hormones out of balance). Not only do I end up extremely ill when exposed to female hormones (Yes, beef does have female hormones injected into it to help the cattle gain weight fast), but I have had a reaction similar to a stroke where have my face suddenly droops and the other half is fine. Kathleen > > > I can see the reason for not eating the beef. Most likely it is due to > the hormone levels in beef which in turn can raise cortisol levels. > Yes, cortisol can raise BG. Stress alone raises cortisol levels which > in turn raises BG. They are all hormone related and all affect BG. > > >I can't imagine also going without beef. While cortisol is supposed to help > >build vicereal fat, I don't *think* it raises blood glucose, does it? > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 , It probably doesn't help that I am trying to recover from mono and bronchitis. Kathleen > > > Kathleen, > When you feel like that, particularly after restricting your food so much, > test you bg's--- > Those symptoms are a couple of typical ones for going low (hypoglycemic), > and that is to be avoided. Since you're just on oral meds, lows can feel really > lousy, but are not typically dangerous like they can be for someone using > insulin. > Nevertheless, they are to be taken seriously as you could be called upon for > some action or thinking & not be able to respond properly because of the low > bg's > > ***************************************** > , T2, dx'ed 4/98 with Fasting bg 350mg/dl & HbA1c 15.5% > Controlling until last month with LC-D & very little E > Average Fasting bg 105mg/dl, Last HbA1c 6.0% > 7+ Year Historical HbA1c 5.6%-6.0% > Now Experimenting with Metformin, Glyburide & " Merlot Therapy " for HbA1c > nearer 5.0% > > >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > > > >>> , > I think I did the wrong thing again. When I found out all the changes > that were happening yesterday with the added meds and higher A1C, I > decided to cut my calories drasticly to fix my problem. Now I feel > real shaky and weepy, I guess 1000 calories isn't enough. > Kathleen <<< > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 At 08:04 PM 12/28/05, kathleenataylor wrote: >Sky, >The cortisol problem is connected to my Cushing's Syndrome. As long >as I avoid beef the Cushing's is under control. Ah, I see. You can eat other meats, though? I'm such a carnivore, and I'm afraid a rare steak is a favorite of mine. I suppose if mad cow disease hit the states I'd have to stop.... Sky (still learning new things) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 Kathleen: It's not calories you need to cut; it's carbs. Carbohydrates. Specifically, cut out the high GI carbs. If you do, you'll control you BGs and you'll lose weight, too. Check Mendosa's website for info about the glycemic index, otherwise known as GI. And when you feel shaky and weepy do check your BG! Vicki Re: New Here > , > I think I did the wrong thing again. When I found out all the changes > that were happening yesterday with the added meds and higher A1C, I > decided to cut my calories drasticly to fix my problem. Now I feel > real shaky and weepy, I guess 1000 calories isn't enough. > Kathleen > > >> >> O my, Kathleen, the last thing I want is to discourage you. I > thought I was problem solving to hopefully help you to figure out why > your BG was higher than you like. I was overwhelmed in the early days > too. >> >> When I saw people saying they couldn't eat tomatoes, I was > rebellious enough to know right then that if I wanted a mixed > vegetable diet, I was going to eat it. I have other medical > conditions and limitations too and knew I didn't want uncontrolled > diabetes to add to the list, so I knuckled down, went straight to > insulin and that's how I enjoy any vegetable I want. I have always > believed " all things in moderation " but must admit to being a > carbohydrate addict before my diagnosis. I didn't understand why I > had these carbohydrate cravings until I stopped eating so many of the > grains, etc. and began to understand how it all worked. After about > three weeks of severely limiting " the white things " - rice, pasta, > potatoes, sugar) not only didn't I crave them, I didn't even miss > them. My worst battles were with ice cream and popcorn. >> I'm not saying you need to go on insulin, though many here who > finally went on it wondered why they waited so long. :-) I was just > saying that after you find out which veggies affect you most, you may > have to do a little extra exercise to offset the meal, or possibly > ask your doctor for one of the medicines that offset BG rise at > mealtime. >> I see in a later email that your Avandia has been increased and > Glucophage has begun. I don't know how Avandia works but I suspect > that with these two new things in your regimen, you will be seeing > lower numbers - real soon. >> >> Hang in there, it does get easier, really it does. >> >> in OH >> grammyDx2@n... >> t2 dx 8/03 >> WOE. Lantus. Novolog >> Last HbA1c 5.5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 I am not a vegetarian, I eat many other meats. I try to avoid shellfish, because I have heard that they are not the best for diabetics to eat (plus they tend to be more expensive). I eat lots of chicken and turkey (I use ground turkey as a ground beef substitute), fish, ham (I don't go for pork, but I do eat ham occasionally), buffalo, and occasionally other meats. Kathleen > >Sky, > >The cortisol problem is connected to my Cushing's Syndrome. As long > >as I avoid beef the Cushing's is under control. > > Ah, I see. You can eat other meats, though? I'm such a carnivore, and I'm > afraid a rare steak is a favorite of mine. I suppose if mad cow disease hit > the states I'd have to stop.... > > Sky (still learning new things) > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 So, how many Carbs to I eat per day? or per meal? I tried asking my doctor quite awhile back how many calories per day I should eat and he said that I should probably start with 1800 until my body gets use to it and then go to 1500 and then down to 1200. He didn't want me to try 1000, but I think it would fix things faster. Kathleen > > Kathleen: It's not calories you need to cut; it's carbs. Carbohydrates. > Specifically, cut out the high GI carbs. If you do, you'll control you > BGs and you'll lose weight, too. > > Check Mendosa's website for info about the glycemic index, otherwise > known as GI. > > And when you feel shaky and weepy do check your BG! > Vicki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 > > So, how many Carbs to I eat per day? or per meal? > > I tried asking my doctor quite awhile back how many calories per day > I should eat and he said that I should probably start with 1800 until > my body gets use to it and then go to 1500 and then down to 1200. He > didn't want me to try 1000, but I think it would fix things faster. > Kathleen Kathleen, I know this is all very confusing, and there is no easy answer to your question, even though a lot of doctors and health care workers try to make up one. Basically, your own body and your own degree of insulin resistance, along with the amount of medication or injected insulin you are comfortable taking, will ultimately determine how many carbs you eat. The only way to know for sure while you're trying to get a handle on everything is to count the carbs in your meals (ALL of them) and test. Meanwhile, try to eat those lower carb veggies you've seen listed here, along with lean proteins. Instead of a veggie and a starch with your meal, have two or three moderate servings of different types of vegetables. Salads are good if you don't add starches or sugars. Beware of salad dressings. Some of them are very high carb. Learn to read the labels of everything, and measure servings until you really understand what a half cup of something is, or what 100 grams of a food looks like. Almonds, in moderation, make a good snack. So do berries, raw veggies dipped in a fairly low carb dip or hummus, and small amounts of plain yogurt, which you can flavor with Splenda or walnuts or fresh berries or whatever you prefer. See if you can talk your doctor into giving you more test strips. I used to go through an average of 8 a day until I learned what my body would tolerate. It's good to test before meals, for a baseline, 1 hour after meals, and then 2 hours after meals. Meanwhile, I'd concentrate on doing tests 1.5-2 hours after meals, to get an idea of how high you are spiking. If it's too high, reduce the carbs next time. We can help you as you go along, with specific suggestions for fine tuning your diet. Christy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 > > So, how many Carbs to I eat per day? or per meal? > > I tried asking my doctor quite awhile back how many calories per day > I should eat and he said that I should probably start with 1800 until > my body gets use to it and then go to 1500 and then down to 1200. He > didn't want me to try 1000, but I think it would fix things faster. > Kathleen Kathleen, I know this is all very confusing, and there is no easy answer to your question, even though a lot of doctors and health care workers try to make up one. Basically, your own body and your own degree of insulin resistance, along with the amount of medication or injected insulin you are comfortable taking, will ultimately determine how many carbs you eat. The only way to know for sure while you're trying to get a handle on everything is to count the carbs in your meals (ALL of them) and test. Meanwhile, try to eat those lower carb veggies you've seen listed here, along with lean proteins. Instead of a veggie and a starch with your meal, have two or three moderate servings of different types of vegetables. Salads are good if you don't add starches or sugars. Beware of salad dressings. Some of them are very high carb. Learn to read the labels of everything, and measure servings until you really understand what a half cup of something is, or what 100 grams of a food looks like. Almonds, in moderation, make a good snack. So do berries, raw veggies dipped in a fairly low carb dip or hummus, and small amounts of plain yogurt, which you can flavor with Splenda or walnuts or fresh berries or whatever you prefer. See if you can talk your doctor into giving you more test strips. I used to go through an average of 8 a day until I learned what my body would tolerate. It's good to test before meals, for a baseline, 1 hour after meals, and then 2 hours after meals. Meanwhile, I'd concentrate on doing tests 1.5-2 hours after meals, to get an idea of how high you are spiking. If it's too high, reduce the carbs next time. We can help you as you go along, with specific suggestions for fine tuning your diet. Christy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Have you read the book by Dr. Bernstein? You can probably get it at your library. I think he advocates 40 a day total (but I may have forgotten). This is pretty strict and IMHO, is pretty hard to stick with over the long haul. However, the average American diet is usually about 300 a day, so the truth is somewhere in between. I think many on this list try for under 150 carbs. But more important is use of the GI index (see Rick Mendosa's site). It quanitifies how fast the carbs are absorbed, with the ones being absorbed fastest being the ones that we want to stay away from. This includes nearly everything made with grain - pasta, cereal, rice, anything made with flour. And rice. And some root veggies. This leaves a lot of foods on the lower end of the GI index, most of which will raise your BGs at a much slower rate and are therefore fine to eat. Vicki Re: New Here > So, how many Carbs to I eat per day? or per meal? > > I tried asking my doctor quite awhile back how many calories per day > I should eat and he said that I should probably start with 1800 until > my body gets use to it and then go to 1500 and then down to 1200. He > didn't want me to try 1000, but I think it would fix things faster. > Kathleen > > >> >> Kathleen: It's not calories you need to cut; it's carbs. > Carbohydrates. >> Specifically, cut out the high GI carbs. If you do, you'll control > you >> BGs and you'll lose weight, too. >> >> Check Mendosa's website for info about the glycemic index, > otherwise >> known as GI. >> >> And when you feel shaky and weepy do check your BG! >> Vicki > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Have you read the book by Dr. Bernstein? You can probably get it at your library. I think he advocates 40 a day total (but I may have forgotten). This is pretty strict and IMHO, is pretty hard to stick with over the long haul. However, the average American diet is usually about 300 a day, so the truth is somewhere in between. I think many on this list try for under 150 carbs. But more important is use of the GI index (see Rick Mendosa's site). It quanitifies how fast the carbs are absorbed, with the ones being absorbed fastest being the ones that we want to stay away from. This includes nearly everything made with grain - pasta, cereal, rice, anything made with flour. And rice. And some root veggies. This leaves a lot of foods on the lower end of the GI index, most of which will raise your BGs at a much slower rate and are therefore fine to eat. Vicki Re: New Here > So, how many Carbs to I eat per day? or per meal? > > I tried asking my doctor quite awhile back how many calories per day > I should eat and he said that I should probably start with 1800 until > my body gets use to it and then go to 1500 and then down to 1200. He > didn't want me to try 1000, but I think it would fix things faster. > Kathleen > > >> >> Kathleen: It's not calories you need to cut; it's carbs. > Carbohydrates. >> Specifically, cut out the high GI carbs. If you do, you'll control > you >> BGs and you'll lose weight, too. >> >> Check Mendosa's website for info about the glycemic index, > otherwise >> known as GI. >> >> And when you feel shaky and weepy do check your BG! >> Vicki > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Last night at bedtime I had 315, I think it might have been my snack of applesauce. I guess that means applesauce is another high carb food that I shouldn't be enjoying as much as I do. Kathleen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 I found his book on ebay and placed a bid, I'm hoping it doesn't go too high. Are there other good books about diabetes? I love to read, but I don't want books that will confuse me any more than I already am. Kathleen > > Have you read the book by Dr. Bernstein? You can probably get it at > your library. I think he advocates 40 a day total (but I may have > forgotten). This is pretty strict and IMHO, is pretty hard to stick with > over the long haul. However, the average American diet is usually about > 300 a day, so the truth is somewhere in between. > > I think many on this list try for under 150 carbs. But more important > is use of the GI index (see Rick Mendosa's site). It quanitifies how > fast the carbs are absorbed, with the ones being absorbed fastest being > the ones that we want to stay away from. This includes nearly everything > made with grain - pasta, cereal, rice, anything made with flour. And > rice. And some root veggies. > > This leaves a lot of foods on the lower end of the GI index, most of > which will raise your BGs at a much slower rate and are therefore fine > to eat. > Vicki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Kathleen, maybe it would be a good idea for you to start off with a really restrictive carb diet, just for a little while, until you get a better understanding of how carbs can raise bgs. Just think about spending about two weeks eating no more than 50 grams of carbohydrate each day. By now you probably have your carb counter, either a book you've purchased, or an online source, so you can plan some menus, and hopefully you're learning how to read labels on packaged foods. You could start with something like 10 carbs for breakfast, 20 for lunch and 20 for dinner and see how you do on that plan for just two weeks. At the end of that time, keeping records of every single thing you eat, in writing, along with your bgs - fasting, before each meal and one and 2 hours after each meal, and at bedtime - you might get a better idea of what foods you can safely eat. And you might find that your overall bgs would go down enough to give you a baseline - a starting place for adding very small amounts of the higher carb foods that you really enjoy. Just something to think about to get you started. CarolR kathleenataylor wrote: > Last night at bedtime I had 315, I think it might have been my snack > of applesauce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Kathleen, maybe it would be a good idea for you to start off with a really restrictive carb diet, just for a little while, until you get a better understanding of how carbs can raise bgs. Just think about spending about two weeks eating no more than 50 grams of carbohydrate each day. By now you probably have your carb counter, either a book you've purchased, or an online source, so you can plan some menus, and hopefully you're learning how to read labels on packaged foods. You could start with something like 10 carbs for breakfast, 20 for lunch and 20 for dinner and see how you do on that plan for just two weeks. At the end of that time, keeping records of every single thing you eat, in writing, along with your bgs - fasting, before each meal and one and 2 hours after each meal, and at bedtime - you might get a better idea of what foods you can safely eat. And you might find that your overall bgs would go down enough to give you a baseline - a starting place for adding very small amounts of the higher carb foods that you really enjoy. Just something to think about to get you started. CarolR kathleenataylor wrote: > Last night at bedtime I had 315, I think it might have been my snack > of applesauce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 The books won't confuse you if you only read the ones recommended in Vicki's newbie letter - and nothing else for the first 3 months. Just follow the instructions in those books for 3 months, then, if you feel you understand the basics you can branch out to other things. It really helped me, getting started, to keep it as simple as possible. CarolR kathleenataylor wrote: > I found his book on ebay and placed a bid, I'm hoping it doesn't go > too high. Are there other good books about diabetes? I love to read, > but I don't want books that will confuse me any more than I already > am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 The books won't confuse you if you only read the ones recommended in Vicki's newbie letter - and nothing else for the first 3 months. Just follow the instructions in those books for 3 months, then, if you feel you understand the basics you can branch out to other things. It really helped me, getting started, to keep it as simple as possible. CarolR kathleenataylor wrote: > I found his book on ebay and placed a bid, I'm hoping it doesn't go > too high. Are there other good books about diabetes? I love to read, > but I don't want books that will confuse me any more than I already > am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 The books won't confuse you if you only read the ones recommended in Vicki's newbie letter - and nothing else for the first 3 months. Just follow the instructions in those books for 3 months, then, if you feel you understand the basics you can branch out to other things. It really helped me, getting started, to keep it as simple as possible. CarolR kathleenataylor wrote: > I found his book on ebay and placed a bid, I'm hoping it doesn't go > too high. Are there other good books about diabetes? I love to read, > but I don't want books that will confuse me any more than I already > am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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