Carol
When we do what we need to do, good things happen.
The hardest part for me was accepting the necessary of HAVING to do it.
You can do it! We are stronger than we know!
Pattygirl
Congrats on getting into the 220s. A great accomplishment.
Me
FBS this murning was 133. Happy happy and doing the computer chair cha-cha!
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 13,430
S/C/G: 217/176/142
Height: 5'2
Cindy, that's the thing. I want to be able to eat bread. I want to be able to eat a McDonald's sausage and egg McMuffin without throwing away the muffin. Last night we went to the casino. They have wonderful homestyle baked mac and cheese. I hated having to pass it up while DH sat there eating it. I understand why I shouldn't have these things, and I can have 1 forkful without much of a problem, but it's hard to stop at one forkful. Sometimes it's easier not to have it at all.
I guess I should make it my goal to get my blood sugar AND weight down to a point where I CAN have theses things occasionally without having a spike.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 13,430
S/C/G: 217/176/142
Height: 5'2
Here is something I found yesterday and wanted to share. I have noticed lately that after I have coffee in the morning with my sugar free creamer and no other food, my blood sugar is higher than it was when I first got up. I started wondering about that, so I googled in search of information about the effect of coffee on blood sugar. Most sites I saw said that although coffee (caffiene) is supposed to be help prevent type 2 diabetes, it can raise blood sugar in someone who already has type 2 diabetes. Then I found this article, which goes on to say that combining fat with caffiene is even worse. It says that fatty foods will raise blood sugar and it's especially worse if you combine the fatty foods with coffee. Please keep in mind that anyone can put anything on the internet but it's not necessarily true.
Someone else told me in the past that fat is bad for diabetics and I just thought "old thinking." But maybe it's true. Maybe the theory that LCHF eating is good does not apply to diabetics, as our bodies don't work the same as a non-diabetic.
In my online search, I tried to find something that said that decaf coffee doesn't have the same effect as caffiene, but couldn't find any reference to decaf. I was going to have decaf this morning and test that theory but I forgot and had high octane coffee this morning, so maybe I'll remember to do it tomorrow morning. I was drinking decaf for a while, but it became a pain to make that decaf especially when there was a full pot of regular coffee sitting here.
BUT
If we look something up on the internet, we should look for a source from a well known reputable site. "healththeory.com" raises flags for me. Could be a radical agenda, could be a site that will go after any story just to get me to the site. I can't trust it. Also, the ADA site (American Diabetic Association) says nothing about caffeine raising sugar. They are not worried about it. They're worried about diabetics eating twinkies for breakfast.
If this site had been "ADA" or "mayo clinic" for example, I would consider the information much more seriously. If it was from Prevention mag, I'd take it with a grain of salt.
Also, a 30% rise from a normal nondiabetic man would be 20-25 points. I'd gladly accept that to get my caffeine fix.
Just my humble opinion...
Last edited by Watercolor; 01-02-2016 at 02:49 PM.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 13,430
S/C/G: 217/176/142
Height: 5'2
As I sit here with my mug of caffeine, I have to say I agree with you. Anyone can post anything on the internet and it might or might not be true. I went there looking for the reason why MY blood sugar goes up in the morning when all I've had is coffee. I was going to do another test today with decaf to see if it still goes up, but I forgot again.
I also posted that link for what they had to say about fat. Trish and I have had that discussion many times since LCHF is such a big thing recently. We both say we cannot eat high fat, and the article gave reasons why a diabetic should not eat high fat. For me, I go by what happens to MY blood sugar when I test, not necessarily by what I read online or what happens to someone else. When something affects me in a negative way, I would rather try to figure out what dietary changes will help, whereas my doctor's answer is always to prescribe more meds. I don't want more meds, I want less, so I look for any little thing that I can do to change the situation. I don't mean to try to tell someone else what they should do and I apologize if it sounded that way.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 13,430
S/C/G: 217/176/142
Height: 5'2
By the way, I DID find reference to this on both the ADA and Mayo Clinic sites, but they said caffeine MAY raise blood sugar in some diabetics and diabetics should LIMIT, not eliminate caffeine in their diets. In the end, each person has to decide what path they will take and what they are willing to give up.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 13,430
S/C/G: 217/176/142
Height: 5'2
Here's my example. I got up at 8AM and my fasting blood sugar was 132. All I had was 3 cups of coffee with sugar-free creamer. Now, at 10:30 my blood sugar is 203. I want to know why. Is it the caffeine? Or the sugar free creamer? It doesn't make sense to me. If I had eaten a scrambled egg when I first got up would it have stopped my blood sugar from spiking? By trial and error I found that eating one scrambled egg before bed keeps my blood sugar from spiking overnight. Maybe this is what I have to do. I am not hungry when I first get up and I usually wait until DH gets up and he cooks our breakfast. That's our daily routine. But I have to find a remedy for this. It is effecting my A1c before I even get a bite of food.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 13,430
S/C/G: 217/176/142
Height: 5'2
I am going to continue talking to myself as my research produces some additional information. It appears that by not eating as soon as I get up, my ilset cells (?) continue to release glucose to keep my body running in spite of the fact that I'm not hungry. This causes my blood sugar to continue to rise. I know we are told not to skip meals and that's probably why. I know that this doesn't happen to everyone, but it could be what's happening to me. I will start to eat something when I get up and see if that changes anything. I will try to keep it small, like 1 egg, or an ounce of cheese, so I can continue having breakfast with DH later in the morning. I have learned a lot this morning.
Carol Sue My FBS has been being very high early in the morning. I haven't checked it lately after coffee. I drink my 1/2 caffeine 1/2 decaf coffee because regular gave me indigestion. I use stevia and 1/2 and 1/2 mini-moo because it didn't raise my fbs. I haven't checked it in a while.
While I don't cut fat, I don't add extra to any thing either. I've got to get some more test strips and maybe it is time for me to go back to the basics and it may be time for me to go back to Atkins Induction until I get this back under control. I don't think I need to be doing anything but strict low carb for a while. However, I don't going wild with the fat on Atkins is for me. I'm going to get my New Atkins for the New You and read it again including the one The New Atkins Made Easy. In the Atkins Made Easy, she says that you can use fat or lowfat. Perhaps I can do an Atkins type of diet eating a moderately amount of fat rather than high fat. I've already had my CAD rm so I will start a lower low carb at dinner.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 13,430
S/C/G: 217/176/142
Height: 5'2
Trish I think when we did these other plans we succeeded because we were not diabetic back then. This changes the rules unless we take a lot of meds . Even on the CAD thread their RM doesn't have much carb. It is just something we have to accept. I had potatoes at dinner so I am waiting to see if I over did it. I am determined to figure it out . In my research I saw references to ACV and I might try that again even though it didn't help before. I always thought I was ok as long as my A1c was good but today I read that even with a good A1c higher fluctuations are still causing damage and the longer your BG stays elevated the more damage it causes. We have to do whatever it takes to avoid that.
Someone on another thread just mentioned slow burning carbs to me. I googled it and I did some research on it and how eating a slow carb plan will keep bs level. Livestrong has a lot of info on the subject. I printed out the info and I am starting this tomorrow. No more CAD and no Atkins. The nice thing about this is that my DH will pretty much eat this way.
Carol Sue This reminds me of the way you and I used to use beans (example) to lower the glycemic of certain foods to keep our bs balanced.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 13,430
S/C/G: 217/176/142
Height: 5'2
Trish, we have to keep trying different things until we find what works for us, that's about it. I think the slow carbs that J follows does not allow fruit or dairy, except on the one day that she carbs-up. I know you like fruit. South Beach includes fruit and daily, along with beans. Like your doctor told you, any plan will work as long as you stick with it.
Last night I was reading the DiabetesForum. I used to belong to it but those people are so strict with LCHF and that's not something I can do long term, but they had a lot of good ideas. They were discussing ways to deal with the Dawn Phenomenon. I tried something that they suggested. I woke up around 5 this morning so I tested and was 128. Ate a piece of cheese, which is supposed to keep my BS from continuing to rise. At 9 am my blood sugar was at 168. So that theory went out the window, It might work for them but didn't work for me. One woman said she eats a bite of something each time she wakes up in the middle of the night. Now I have started drinking my coffee, but I made decaf. I will see what happens. DH should be getting up soon and making our breakfast. I will test again then. I know my fasting used to be in the teens or one twenties consistently when I was first diagnosed. I would like to get to that point, at least again.
Hi Carol and Pattygirl
I just reread my post above and it seemed kind of scolding in nature, which I did not mean it to be. So I'm sorry for that.
I agree it's all about figuring what works for each of us individually. Only our BS will tell us our personal truth. My FBS does extremely well iif I have only protein and salad at dinner. YYMV
Afternoon everyone. Lots of good discussion here....
Carol have you tried journaling what you eat , how much and how it affects your bg? Following it for a month may show a trend and help you.
I'm due at the end of the month for another check up, I'm hopin due to all the lows I'm having she reduces my meds.
Still plugging away at Low carb ( moderate fats) my way...not eating gobs of fat laden food but just switched to full fat products and measure.
I maintained during the holidays but up since my lowest weight, working on that for January. Also counting sodium again my dr already warned me she's testing my sodium next time... :/
Trish I'm glad you found a plan that works for you and dh, that's hard to do.
Watercolour, my bg is best when I stick to that plan to,,,,especially on my morning fast numbers! I'm trying the no carbs after 8 pm but that doesn't always work,,,no carbs after supper work best.
