Diabetes Support - Objective set of eyes....

I have been Diabetic for 13 months. I take 1000mg of Metformin a day. One of my goals for weight loss is to get off the medication and control with diet and exercise.

This morning my blood sugar was 160 and five minutes later was 145 and that was about a 9 hour fast.

Can you look at what I have eaten and tell me if or where I went wrong. I am staying under 1800 calories, measuring portions for accuracy etc.

Yesterday:
1 serving grits with one pat of butter
2 scrambled eggs
Cherry yogurt
Boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 cup white long grain rice
Red Apple
8 cups plain air popped popcorn
2 chocolate chip cookies
Grilled Cheese with 2 ham slices 1 pat of butter
Pickle
1 serving Granola Clusters
Total calories 1681

The day before was:
Fruit smoothie
2 scrambled eggs
Sliced peaches
1 slice of cheese
Lean Cuisine Pasta Romano
Green Apple
1 slice cheese
1 slice ww bread
1 cup white long grain rice
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
3 chicken drummettes/wing
Total calories 1756

Im a semi new diabetic and just from looking at your food list, I need to ask you, are you counting carbs? Your calories look good, but are you limiting your carbs for each snack, and then each meal? I try to stay within rougly 45-55 carbs per meal or LESS.

Honestly, no I am not counting carbs. The thought of tracking more than calories overwhelms me. I try to be careful by only eating whole wheat bread when I have sandiches etc. I love pasta, grits, rice etc. I tried brown rice and maybe I cooked it wrong, but BLAH.

If I were to count carbs how do I do that?

The only thing I see is a lot of carbs- you might want to reduce the carbs and introduce more veggies into your diet. Yesterday I don't see any veggies and the day before either- but I don't know if your LC had veggies in it.

The cherry yogurt can have a lot of sugar as well.

Honestly you don't even need to count them if you don't like counting- just reduce them and substitute veggies instead.

Like with breakfast maybe make an omelette with veggies. For lunch have a salad with your protein (no croutons), and for dinner grilled/steamed/sauteed veggies. :)

What do you use to track your calories? Most online trackers do it all, calories, carbs, protein, fat, etc. It wouldn't make any difference- if you do it by hand I can see it being difficult.

I use sparkpeople.com- VERY easy to use :)

What do you use to track your calories? Most online trackers do it all, calories, carbs, protein, fat, etc. It wouldn't make any difference- if you do it by hand I can see it being difficult.

I use sparkpeople.com- VERY easy to use :)

I am using Fitday. For today and the last two days it says my carbs are 54% of what I am eating.

I agree that you are heavy on the white, simple carbs (white rice, cookies, popcorn, bread) in your plan, esp the first day listed (9-11 servings); and you definitely need to get some veggies in there for nutrition and to help fill you up. Those simple white carbs turn into sugar really fast and that is what fuels those high #'s. Try to get no-sugar added yogurt; only have 1 serving popcorn a day (which is about 2 cups for 90 cls). Maybe limit your fruit to 2 servings a day, just to see if it helps.

Maybe start with having one meal each day with lower carbs ie lunch one day (salad with chicken), and breakfast the next (mushroom omelette) and see if that helps. For snacks, try to have nuts, fruit, cheese, etc (limit the white stuff). Have a protein with each snack ie cheese & apple.

For dinner, maybe have only 2/3 cup rice -- and by adding 1 cup veggies like green beans or broccoli, you could go down to 1/2 cup eventually. The veggies will actually make you feel fuller than the rice and they won't raise your BS #'s.

BROWN RICE MIX: I make my rice 1/2 brown and 1/2 long-grain white rice. In a pot, bring 1 cup water or broth to a boil; add in 1/2 cup each brown and white rice; cover -- and boil for 7 minutes on medium-high heat; then simmer rice on your lowest setting for 25-30 minutes (COVERED); and it's done (do not remove lid). Or just make it in a rice cooker as per usual.

Hope this helps you a bit ... :hug:

Thank you. I am addicted to carbs and I am so frustrated. My blood sugar this morning was 157. I am freaking out over it. I am going to do more veggies. I am afraid I am going to do carb withdrawl and then I will start feeling like I am starving. I really want to see my blood sugars back down around 110-115.

MARY ~ just SWITCH your carbs to complex carbs meaning vegetables, whole wheat bread, whole grain cereals, brown rice mix (you can add some wild rice in too as it is actually a seed), etc. These complex carbs turn to sugar slower, so your numbers don't go up as fast; and by having some protein with your carbs, this also slows the sugar spiking as well.

Make the changes SLOWLY; not all at once. One day you had too many servings of simple carbs and then on the next, much less; try to balance it a bit more -- say 5-7 whole grain carbs each day for a while and see how that goes. Let me give you an example ...

Breakfast -- omelette & whole grain toast OR wg cereal with chopped nuts
MS -- banana and nuts OR apple with cheese OR peaches & cream
Lunch -- veggie soup & wg sandwich OR lean quisine & salad
AS -- fruit & yogurt OR 2 cups popcorn & nuts
Dinner -- lean meat, veggies or salad, 2/3 cup brown rice mix
ES -- cheese or PB & 6 whole grain soda crackers (1 serving)

You can add in more or less, as you want or need it. You can have things like 6 almonds or 3 walnuts or fruit or SF pudding; or a slice toast with PB or cheese; or yogurt; or carrot & celery sticks with Ranch dressing; or a salad or a hard-boiled egg; or whole grain cereal; or a fruit smoothie, etc to fill in your daily totals.

Try not to worry as stress can raise your numbers too; take it one meal and one snack at a time and keep checking to see what is working. Give yourself time to see what works for YOU becuz everyone is different. I am pre-diabetic also and keep track to see what is working for me; I was dipping at 3AM so now I have a small protein & wg carb snack in the evening and that is helping me a lot.

They say that for some of us our body spikes our sugar just before getting up -- so that could be why you had those funny readings in the AM. The second number was probably the true reading. Take your test the same time each day if you can; you don't need to take it every 5 minutes though, but I thought maybe you were just re-checking that number ... :lol: Maybe take it a bit later, and if it is still high, have a lighter breakfast that day. :hug:

Do you have PCOS or are diabetic? If you are your diet should probably be more like 40% or less (no lower than 20%) carbs to help you lose weight.

I have PCOS and I normally eat about 25-30% carbs for my day. I load up on veggies and lean meats overall, but I also will have some fruit now and then and a bit of whole grains.

Take today here is my menu:

Breakfast:
1 egg over medium, 1 slice of cheese, 1 la tortilla (low carb high fiber) tortilla wrap.

Lunch:
Large romaine salad with ranch dressing, cottage cheese, tomato, red onion, and grilled shrimp. For me I put this in a large tupperware- add the salad and ranch only, then close the lid and shake it up, then open it back up and toss in the other ingrediants so i don't use too much ranch :)

Dinner:
Grilled chicken with roasted veggies (onion, squash, carrot, whatever else you like)

Snack: sugar free strawberry jello

My dinner and lunch portions are very large so I'm not hungry during the day- I've never been a huge breakfast eater but I still make sure I eat something. :)

What is PCOS?

I am full blown type 2. I really want it to "go away" when I am down the 107 pounds!

I was "re-checking" my BS when I did it five minutes later because (shamefully) it has been months since I have regularly checked. I have been in denial about everything. Anyway, now I am dealing with reality.

This morning my BS was 163. Sigh. I did some research and discovered that I should have no more than 130 grams of carb a day. Today I am at 116 grams. I am going to eat once more before going to bed. I am praying that tomorrow it is lower. I usually check it fairly soon after waking up- should I be doing that or should I wait a while?

OK ~ a couple of things can be going on -- you could try only having a protein snack in the evening (or low carb) and/or go for a walk in the evening too; try each one and test the next morning and write down the results. As I mentioned, some people spike in the morning; at first, take the test within 15 minutes of getting up (do this for a week).

If after awhile, you still do not see any improvements even with the changes mentioned above and lowering your carb intake -- take it 30 minutes after getting up; just be sure not to drink or eat anything until then.

BUT FIRST, try the things BEERAB and I suggest: lower your carb intake, walk in the evening (this is important becuz it can affect your morning #'s), and have a lower carb or strictly protein snack in the evening and see what happens then. Track every day for a week at the same time; and let us know how it goes.

Also, write down everything that you are eating so you can see where you can make improvements. There is a very good chance that when you get your daily eating plan sorted out, your numbers will be in the normal range 5-7 or 80-112 ... :hug:

Oh & BTW -- 10 is only 3 away from 7, and anything under 7 or 112 is good. You can lower this by 3-4 points by adjusting your total carbs each day. Hang in there, you can do this ... :)

Thank you. This morning it was 146 and I did it an hour after waking. I ended up over my calories yesterday, but it was with protein/fat. My carbs were at 30% yesterday. I had:

2 scrambled eggs
2 slices whole wheat toast with a pat of butter
Yogurt
1 serving Blueberry Special K w/ 1/2 cup milk
Banana
Apple Meatloaf (this is where I went way over on my calories)
1/2 cup red beans
Sugar Free Fudgsicle

Tonight I will go for a walk awhile after dinner. The only thing about exercising that scares me is I always feel like I am starving after exercise. I did do some arm/upper body exercises with my dumbells yesterday. I am just kind of easing into it. I know what I need is cardio though for fat burning, but that's what makes me feel so hungry and I don't want to binge and fall off the food wagon.

HI MARY ~ well, there you go; down 1 ... 2 to go! Yes, with being on Metformin, you have to find a delicate balance between your food plan and your exercise plan; I have found the same thing. That is why I suggested WALKING; becuz it isn't that strenuous and can help your #'s go down. I go for my walk about an hour after dinner, and have my snack around 9 pmish; just lean towards the protein and measure your servings. Like tonight, I had 1 oz cheddar cheese and 3 whole wheat soda crackers (a bit more protein than carbs).

I am now buying some specialty bread that you can have 2 slices for only 80 calories (it is called Hollywood Brown WG Bread); and if that is out, I get the Weight Watchers whole wheat bread which you can have 2 slices for only 100 calories. For lunch today, I had an egg salad sandwich and a Chicken Noodle Cupasoup as we had been out shopping and were a bit late eating at 1 pm.

I had a hot cereal mix for breakfast and chicken dog chili for dinner. It is easy and fast and was quite tastey; my DH loved it. It's just another way to replace the beef, as we try to have that only once a week now. For snacks, I had some nuts (almonds) and a green banana (as they have less sugars in them); and some veggie sticks with low-fat ranch dressing.

You're doing good; keep it up ... :hug:

That's great- another thing is you can buy low carb items- I eat La Tortilla wraps- they are so good and depending on the one you buy only have like 10-15 grams of carbs AND are high fiber also! I thought they'd be gross but they are amazing!

Look into more berries also- they are lower carb fruits- banana's are high sugar.

When you lower carbs you will generally eat more fat and protein, but I find that I'm still averaging 1350-1500 calories a day and eating 30% or less carbs :D

Keep it up! You are doing much better.

PCOS is polycyst ovarian syndrome- you don't have to have cysts to have this- I have very abnormal periods, excess hair growth, and so on. I take metformin also because they say there is a link between the two and PCOS patients can become diabetic (I am not).

This morning's BS was better- 138- not much but I'll take anything lower! Today has been a good day carb wise I guess. I think I am going to have a couple of slices of cheese before I go to bed. Tomorrow is my first weigh in!!!! I am nervous and excited. I am hoping TOM doesn't screw things up for me too much because I need a scale victory tomorrow. This week seemed sooooo long even though I feel like I am eating enough. Emotionally I just want to eat a chocolate cake! I won't though because being healthy and free of 100 extra pounds is more important to me!

All the advice here is excellent, and congratulations on getting those BS figures down already. I am sure the scale will reflect your hard work!
One thing I have found quite useful is to always try and focus on what type of colourful vegetable I can reach for first. Check out a list of foods on the low GI list - they are the foods that are going to take longer to digest, keeping you fuller longer and not raising your blood sugar too fast. For instance I will make a spaghetti sauce with lots of added vegetables (onions, celery, grated sweet potato etc) then serve it over spinach instead of spaghetti.
All the lists too say that basmati rice is lower GI - you might try that instead of the plain white rice. Although I must say brown rice is one of my favourite foods!
Oh and another thing that helps me, rather than do one huge shot of exercise, I will do little spurts during the day. Ride my exercise bike or go for a walk for 30 minutes at lunchtime. Then a walk and swim after work with my hubby. Even just a little dance when you hear some nice music on the radio. That always makes me feel slimmer and healthier!

I weighed this morning and I am down 7 pounds!! Woooohooooo!!! My BS was 144 so that was up again. That is frustrating, but I will keep striving to lower it. I hit my goal of 7 pounds- which I know is a lot of water but I am excited anyway. I can't wait for next week's weigh in when TOM is gone! I did about 10 minutes of exercise yesterday, which was having running races with my 5 year old son. I think we will do that again today. He thought it was so fun! Mommy is never really able to run around, but that is all about to change.

Sounds great girl! Keep it up!

MARY ~ :congrat: on the 7 lb loss !!! And the numbers are getting there -- 10, 9, 8.6, 9 ... keep going; you are doing well. :hug:

I also heard that basmati rice is lower GI; maybe mix it half and half with brown: even better. I am going to make a mix of 1/3 each basmati, brown, and wild for next month and see how we like that; maybe even add a bit of flax meal for a nuttier texture and some omega-3 too. I add flax meal to my oatmeal and natural cream of wheat and it puffs it up and taste great too.

I also like to have spagetti sauce over shredded cabbage too (which is very economical and I steam it first); others like spagetti squash or zucchini fetticini (just cut the zucchini into long strips); and sliced head lettuce (use a knife) ...

Some days, I save up some grain carbs and have whole grain spagetti (1 cup cooked) as it is a favorite of ours; and I always put lots of veggies in the sauce too. Oh, there are so many great ideas out there to experiment with! :D

I am still doing great on my calories. Carbs yesterday were a little high and I even had a Snickers (within my calorie allowance of course) but this morning my bs was 126. Go figure. I am hoping for the same or lower tomorrow!

:dizzy: How odd is that: you have high carbs with a high sugar SNICKERS BAR and your numbers dropped some more to 7.8 (126) ... hmmm ... well, it could be a dip, but maybe since you had those sugar carbs, your body may have produced less insulin.

My sister had that same thing happen to her -- she had numbers in the 9's and as she was only eating one meal a day becuz of IBS, her doctor (and I and her nurse daughter) asked her eat something small in the morning like a piece of toast, etc ... and low and behold her numbers dropped the more she ate, not the opposite. I have heard of this before ...

Some people need to eat less carbs (most I think), but some people who aren't eating enuff food overall each day, need to eat more regularly. When they don't eat enuff, their bodies produce extra insulin to try to help them have more energy. So when they eat more often (like they should be), their blood sugar levels drop.

That's why my doctor told me to experiment and take my #'s at different times of the day (in the beginning) just to see what they were at different times and after eating, or after a walk and so forth. That was just to see what these changes made in my #'s.

Anyways, you are still doin' great; keep it up!!! :carrot:

This morning it is back up to 142. I did have a heavy carb day again- I had:

Strawberry/Banana smoothie
Whole Wheat Bagel with cream cheese
Mushrooms and Onions sauteed
Sugar Free Popsicle
Blueberry Special K
Lean Cuisine 5 Cheese Rigatoni
Banana
Apple
Blackberries and sugar free Cool Whip
3/4 c. plain thin spaghetti
2 c. Corn Chex with 3/4 c milk

My total calories were 1875. I was having a "hungry day" yesterday for some reason. I finally went to bed before I could go more than 75 calories over.