DH was diagnosed as Type II diabetes. His dr's recommendation was simple. Cut out all "whites" and candy (so no sugar, min. potatos, switch to brown rices, breads, pastas need to be whole wheat, and all of it and fruit, needs to make up a smaller portion of the meals). So basically, a low-carb sorta diet. Which is fine. I have a LONG history of diabetes in my family and she (who is also my PCP) told me itd be beneficial for me as well as a preventitive measure.
However, when I was losing weight before I was on a low fat diet. It worked , (before my MAJOR slip up and relapse) and it makes sense it would.
At first I thought I could just kinda do both diets... but umm... if I have to cut out carbs or keep it the "smaller portion" then the protien portion increases, which ups the fat (and DH may divorce me if we go back to chicken nightly) so I'm a little at a loss. I'd cook two different diets but its not fesible with my schedule or with the budget. Plus, if I have carb-y food in the house DH eats it.
So I guess I am wondering... are there any diabetics or spouses of diabetics in the same boat? And if so how did you balance it?
I've lost all this weight before this time about 10 years ago. That time I was very focused on low fat foods. This time around, I am just focusing on the calories, eating good fats, and trying to stay away from too many simple carbs (sounds much like how your husband is being asked to eat). And I am still losing weight at about the same pace as I did last time. It feels like you're "cheating" at first, especially if you have ingrained ideas of "good and bad" foods. But I like it. It's much less restrictive.
So if you wanted to eat more like your husband, I bet you'd still have success losing so long as your calorie intake stays comparable to what you are doing now.
DF is also a Type II Diabetic and was told to follow the glycemic index. There's no doubt that it works and the ultimate benefits of it, but I just can't wrap my head around everything that is GI. So what I do is go for things that are low cal (I'm a CCer), but I also keep the carbs between 40-60 each meal... well, except for breakfast when we do about 20 carbs... depending on how his sugars are. I typically don't like to go over 45 or so for dinner since he sleeps afterward and doesn't seem to tolerate the sugar as well. He snacks on stuff like light string cheese or nuts.
The diet your doctor is giving you is not low carb at all. It sounds like she wants you to omit refined carbs, and reduce the healthy ones a bit. You should be able to do this diet and keep it lower in calories too. Some fats, like olive oil, and walnuts, are good for you, in measured portions. Fibre and nutrients in vegetables and whole grains and fruit keep you satisfied and healthy too.You can do this for both of you ...a win-win situation...
Personally I'm on a low carb/low fat diet. I'm basically following one called "The Metabolism Miracle" and I'm a slow loser scale-wise but I get smaller every day. Low carb/low fat isn't tons of fun but it's OK. You may want to go to your bookstore and take a look at it. Or google 'Metabolism Miracle'--warning, I eat a LOT of chicken.
It doesn't sound like what the doctor prescribed is a low carb diet. It sounds more like an eliminating processed foods/eating more whole foods approach. There are PLENTY of carbs in non-white breads but they do have more nutrition and fiber. If you aren't doing low carb, you do need to watch your fat intake and some low carb diets as DC Hound mentioned also watch fat intake in addition to carbs.
There are different versions of low carb but generally speaking 100 grams of carbs or less is considered low carb (depending on the plan). I eat usually between 50-70 grams max per day. Some low carbers eat 30 or less. My diabetic (type II) relatives have all been told to eat no more than 100 grams of carbs per day by their doctor and all have lost weight doing so. The max U.S. RDA of carb grams is a little over 300 per day. The book Life Without Bread really explains the carb/hormone (insulin and others) connection.
The bottom line really is to choose something you can do forever because that is what is necessary for long term success.
Honestly it sounds a lot like the South Beach plan which stresses healthy and low fats and no refined carbs. I'd say maybe research that one a bit and just skip phase I and head straight into phase II. Phase I is simply about cutting out all carbs for two weeks to cleanse the body and to give you the quick motivational big loss. Phase II slowly adds good carbs back into the diet. But for your needs, I'd say just skip Phase I. Another thing I'd add is to watch portion sizes. The SBD does NOT stress portion control so you could eat as much chicken as you wanted, for instance. But a true serving of chicken is really only 1/2 a chicken breast.
SBD and Atkins are often lumped together as low-carb diets. But in my opinion, SBD is not low-carb, it's about good carbs, with the exception of those first two weeks.
I had success on SBD and I really liked it. Now I count calories but still have some basic principals learned from SBD. The combination of the two is really leading me toward a whole foods approach.
Be careful combining low fat and low carb. That can be a dangerous combination if you go too low on both. I think it may be where low-carb diets often get such a very bad reputation for being dangerous (there's a lot of evidence that suggests they're not if done correctly).
Eating lean protein without sufficient fat or carbohydrates can result in what's sometimes called "rabbit starvation," (because settlers on wagon trains would get it from eating only rabbit and no fat or carbohydrates to go with it).
Moderately low fat and moderately low carb shouldn't be a problem (such as South Beach). Atkins induction and early OWL (under 20 to 40 carbs) though should never be done very low-fat.
I would not classify the diet your husband's doctor suggested as low-carb but whole foods -- brown rice, whole grains, etc.
Lean proteins do not need to be limited to chicken. There are loads of lean proteins like fish, seafood, eggs (or egg substitute), soy products, lean pork and even lean beef flank.
I really love the American Heart Associations cookbook because it is very low on processed foods (and low in fat).
Diabetic(low carb) diet vs. low fat???
