My Diet

Well Glad to see you took advice sis and these peeps on here are great and will help you out for sure ...............take care and KEEP POSTING......Luv ya SIS

You have done fantastic almost a yr ago you were reading 30 + (Canadian reading) and now look at your BSL........Be proud hold head high and know that you will get lots of support from here and me as always

weekends can be slower sometimes but I am sure someone will post soon ,

Hi Franny,

I'm a type 2 for over 10 years and probably was undiagnosed for 20 yrs before that from my symptoms. I have come to terms with my disease and am reconciled to the idea that I will be poking and injecting and testing and measuring for the rest of my days. It really helps that my children are knowledgable about diabetes so they help me stay on the straight and narrow and don't prod me to cheat.

Some helps for me:
Buy flour tortillas. They have a nice chewy texture that helps with that carb/pasta craving. I like to take sliced turkey breast (the commercial lunch-cold cut stuff), chicken, tuna or left over roast beef and lots of raw spinach, tomatoes, a little fresh onion, some mustard and a bit of mayo and I've got a supurb lunch! If you use the smaller flour tortillas they are only about 15 carbs each so for lunch I can have two on my food plan. I split the meat between them and pile on the raw veggies, roll it up and Yummmm!

I find english muffins to be more satisfying than regular toast so I have one at breakfast with my egg. I use a dab of real butter on my muffin because it tastes wonderful and makes me feel special. I also use butter to flavor my cooked veggies.
I buy fresh fruit instead of juice. It's better for you and the sugar in the fruit releases much slower than juice so you don't get so much of a post meal spike.

Remember to have some fat at every meal. You may cook with olive or peanut oil and a dab of butter, put olive oil on a salad with vinegar, use mayo or occasionally have some bacon or other fatty meat. It helps with vitamin absorption, slows stomach emptying time so you level out post meal peaks and it helps your hair and skin stay healthy. It also assists with bowel regularity.

With cooler weather coming I'll be making lots of soups. I like to substitute thinly sliced cabbage for about half of the noodles in my soups. Less carbs, more vitamins, better for you. I also use lots of barley, brown rice and wild rice as well as bulgar in my everyday meals. Cooking grains in the microwave is a snap and just takes a bit more time than white rice. I like to make big bowls of it and use a little all week long. These hearty types of grains are higher in fiber and more difficult for your body to digest. Because of this it takes longer for your intestines to process the carbs and this leads to a kind of 'time release' of the carbs contained in them. Again, this leads to more level blood sugars without the big highs and lows.

One of my best things to do is use bowls for portion control. If I'm going to have a snack, say some popcorn, I'll put my fair amount into a bowl that I know contains the correct amount for me. The rest goes in a big bowl for the family and out of my sight. I have a little bowl that holds just my 1/2 cup of icecream (yes! real icecream!) when I'm having that for a treat. I eat it with a baby feeding spoon so it lasts longer. I also use little icecream cones to put my one scoop on. Licking the cone takes longer and keeps me satisfied.

I try to buy meats in single portion packaging, like frozen chicken breasts. That way I take out the amount that I need to prepare for dinner and there isn't a huge amount left. I buy lots of frozen vegetables and try to have at least two at dinner as well as a salad at lunch or dinner.

about once a month I treat myself to a lunch out at my favorite Asian buffet. I still watch my carbs but I have some wonderful foods that have sweet sauces and are fried... I usually go a bit overboard but it helps me keep sane. Hope these ideas help you a bit. Hang in there girlfriend! We can do this!

Ohh.. just remembered. I use a food diary plan called CalorieKing when I'm out of whack. It helps me see where I am thru the day on fats, carbs, proteins and fiber. I downloaded it from the internet and there are other food plan helps out there too. You just have to search for them. Good luck and keep coming back. We will help.

Hi Frances,

I just wanted to say Welcome Back!!

The diet part can be difficult sometimes, but Jeannie has given some really good advice.

Claire x

Delicious Herbed Brown Rice/Barley dish

Use a very large microwave bowl, clear glass is great if you have it. Choose a measuring item (cup, coffee cup, small bowl, anything small will do.) Use the same item to measure grain and water.
For Brown Rice use one measure of brown rice and two measures of hot tap water
Add some Wild Rice (for flavor, color and texture) use one tablespoon of wild rice and 2 tablespoons of hot water
For Barley use one measure of barley and a scant three measures of hot water
Drop in a chicken bouillon cube or some commercial beef or chicken soup stock paste (from restaurant supply stores)

Add your choices of some dried parsley, onion powder (not onion salt), garlic powder, some dried celery leaves, pinch of thyme, basil, oregano, cummin, dark sesame oil, chili powder-- any of your favorite herb combinations. You can make curried rice, mexican rice, asian rice, italian rice... the flavors are endless.

Pour about two tablespoons of olive oil on top to prevent too much frothing. Put a dinner plate in the microwave. Put the bowl on top of the plate.(This is to catch any boilover and make cleanup easier.) Cover the bowl with a lid or another plate. Microwave on high from 6 to 10 minutes or until you get a rolling boil (or it bubbles up out of the bowl and spills onto the plate below ) Microwave on defrost or 30% power for about 45 minutes. Check it after about 40 minutes. It should be fully cooked with no water in the bottom of the bowl. Stores well in the fridge for a week, and freezer for about three months. I store it in single servings so I can have this with a chicken breast when the guys are having something that's not so diabetic friendly.

1/2 cup of this offers about 20gm available carbs for a meal. It's very filling and because the grains are intact (not pulverized as they are in pasta) your body has to work harder to digest them. This leads to a prolonged energy release in the small intestine and lowers blood sugar peaks. Also, because of the higher fiber content (six times that of white rice) these starches move much more quickly through the intestines and aren't sitting around to be absorbed. (You may even notice some undigested grains in your stool.)

Chutsman..thanks i will go to google god's and get that and i will put it up on my fridge ...i appreciate all the help and tahnks again

Jeannie I am gonna go and do that dish you posted as my other half is diabetic as well I think I just may be able to eat it with minor troubles with my crohns and I know daughter will love it .....thanks
Chutsman am gonna do the same and post it on my fridge.......thanks.........love your sig lol

I'm finding it extremely difficult to get back on track, too!  After ostomy surgery 6 months ago, my bg numbers are up and my "bite of this, bite of that," attitude has me on the verge of Trouble.

I use the Hood milk, too ... love it, and well worth the extra $ to lower sugar content from 12 down to 3! 

I used a steno pad and journaled every bite, every meter reading, for a couple of years.  Fell off the wagon almost a year ago when the wheels came off, lol, and need to get back to it. 

Such a valuable exercise!  We can't fix what we don't know about, and sometimes our memories get skewed if we haven't recorded intake and/or stresses as they occur.

Congrats on your journaling ...

OK- I'm confused. I thought the Dawn Effect and the Symogi effect were two different things. Can somebody please claify? Thanks