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Posted 9/21/2011 7:21 AM (GMT 0)
Ok, my doctors told me I gotta lose weight. I need some help with ideas. I'm trying to constract a well balanced, diabetic, dairy free, great for chemotherapy diet. 

I've heard certain foods are better for like omega 3, fat burning, promote health, promote heart, so on. Does anyone know where I can start my research to and how to word the right search?

Any ideas, much appreciated

Posted 9/21/2011 9:25 AM (GMT 0)
Smurfy, the key to my losing weight was counting carbs...REALLY counting carbs.  I've lost 95 pounds and feel a lot better. 

 

I eat lettuce wrapped sandwiches, Lanie's great hint, lots of fruits and veggies.  I've been eating a lot of raw veggies and getting sour cream onion dip at the store and that tastes yummy to me, too.  That's very low carb.  I also will buy 1/3 less fat sour cream and make my own dips using onion, garlic, and herbs.  Be sure to measure your foods at first to make sure you know how much a serving really is.  That's important.

 

Breakfast is usually eggs, one slice of White Wheat bread (9 carbs) and a serving of fresh fruit.  Lunch can be the dip, or the sandwiches, or a fresh tomato with cottage cheese.  I like string cheese as a snack or a few cheddar rice cakes.  Dinner is lean meat the size of the palm of my hand, vegetables, and a small baked potato (gasp!)  Sorry, Lanie.  Potatoes are my very favorite food and I can't give them up. 

Another thing I love it the 100 calorie popcorn in the mini bags.  It's 16 carbs so I will sometimes have that for lunch when I'm craving it.

Become an avid label reader, Smurfy.  You will be amazed at the amount of carbs in foods.  Stick with the fruits and vegetables mostly.  All that is heathy for you.  Start walking, if you don't already do that.  It's great and helps kick in the metabolism, too. 

I found a great fish oil that's made from a fish/crustacian called Krill.  It is more potent and you only have to take one small gel cap.  It's expensive but many times it is buy one and get one free so that make it cost only about $8 a month! 

Hope this gives you a few ideas.  This has worked great for me.

Sherrine 

Posted 9/21/2011 12:19 PM (GMT 0)
As Sherrine says, you have to cut down on carbs.  Read the stickies at the top of the Forum for more information.  Get some sustained exercise in, too.
Posted 9/22/2011 2:18 AM (GMT 0)
Weight management is all about eating the right foods, in the right amounts. You really can not focus on any one area you have to keep in mind all areas...carbs, fats, calories.

If any one is ignored you are going to find weight loss to be harder than need be and all too easy to put back on again.

Perhaps the best thing to do is research the types of foods good for those undergoing chemo and then cross check those food with a glycemic food index, and also study up on healthy fats.

I am not really knowledgeable on what kind of diet is good for chemo, but I do have a small bit of knowledge of what chemo does to someone and the type of diet needed should not be incompatible with a healthy diabetic diet.
Posted 9/22/2011 4:39 AM (GMT 0)
thank you for the wonderful suggestions, i do count my carbs. I try to stay in 45 to 60 a meal. I have a doc appointment in the morning, so i will see how many carbs a meal i can drop down to
Posted 9/23/2011 5:13 PM (GMT 0)
I rarely have more than 40-45 carbs in a meal.  Some meals are in the "teens".  Sixty carbs is way too much for me.

 

Sherrine

Posted 9/23/2011 6:03 PM (GMT 0)
My meals are probably in the teens also but I don't count carbs.  I don't see why I would want to eat so many carbs per meal in order to take meds.  confused
Posted 9/23/2011 10:52 PM (GMT 0)
It's the potato, Lanie!  LOL  Plus, I count my meat as 15 carbs and my veggies as 5 carbs unless it's corn, peas...the starchy vegetables.  I count them as 15 carbs, also.  That keeps me honest!  tongue    If I have meat the size of the palm of my hand, a small potato (I have even weighed it to make sure), and a salad...I would count that as 35-40 carbs. 

 

I am careful.  I have a scale that measures in ounces and I weigh things.  I will also count out whatever the ingredient label says is a serving. 

 

Sherrine

Posted 9/23/2011 10:57 PM (GMT 0)
Were you a math major?

turn   smhair shocked

Posted 9/24/2011 9:04 PM (GMT 0)
LoL! Yea, I have that many carbs cuz the nutritionist told me to. I never thought of breaking it up and eating less, but more oftent. I figured the nutritionist knew what she was doing. I shall go back to her and make an appointment to see how I can play with the carbs and eat less, safelty.
Posted 9/24/2011 9:56 PM (GMT 0)
Everyone's body reacts differently to carbs.  Some can eat that many carbs but I sure don't think you will lose any weight doing it and that was the reason for this thread!  Besides, the fewer carbs you eat, the better control of your diabetes you will have. 

 

I'd rather eat fewer carbs, feel good, and lose some weight than eat more carbs and feel crummy, gain weight and need more medication because my blood sugar is higher.  I guess it's the way you look at things.

 

Sherrine

Posted 9/25/2011 1:00 AM (GMT 0)
I agree, Sherrine.  Nicely put.  And now even the ADA has come to realize the value of being low carb.
Posted 9/25/2011 4:59 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you Sherrine and Lanie. I'll definately make an appointment with the nutrionist to see how low carb I can safely go. I tend to get low a lot, hence why they only have me on a sliding scale of insulin
Posted 9/25/2011 6:37 AM (GMT 0)
Considering that bread is rather high in carbs, where do you get your fiber from? I met a doctor and he told me to eat more fiber and drink water..
Posted 9/25/2011 11:50 AM (GMT 0)
I get all the fiber in my diet from vegetables.  I eat a lot of raw vegetables as well as salad.  Broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, celery, mushrooms.  If I eat an actual salad with lettuce, I also put in raw spinach and those other vegetables I mentioned.  You don't need bread to get fiber.
Posted 9/25/2011 6:38 PM (GMT 0)

Fruit has some fiber in it, too.  A pear has 4 grams of fiber in it.  It all adds up.

Smurfy, if you continue to go into hypoglycemia, why aren't they cutting back on your insulin?  You are eating more to compensate for that.  Jeepers, how can you lose weight that way? 

I was put on the Novolog pen.  I needed it at the time.  But, as the anemia is getting better, I'm taking less and less of it because I was having to eat when I didn't want to eat to keep my blood sugar in a safe level.  That will just put weight on me and that's not good for any diabetic.  I think I will be able to get off the Novolog when everything is back under control.  Also, as you lose weight, your blood sugar will be better and you can cut back on your medication.  Of course talk to your doctor first about it.  

Sherrine

Posted 9/26/2011 12:09 AM (GMT 0)
My insulin is on a sliding scale, so depending on my blood sugar is depending how much i get or if I give myself insulin. When I am on prednisone, I tend to give myself insulin more often.
Posted 9/26/2011 12:31 AM (GMT 0)
If you ate fewer carbs, you would be taking less insulin then.  If you took less insulin (and fewer carbs) you would most probably lose some weight.  Talk about this with your doctor.
Posted 9/27/2011 7:06 PM (GMT 0)
I do eat lots of salads at lunch at work, but without bread. I eat less vegetables at home, and little fruit but my snacks in the morning and in the evening are bread. So, I wonder what gave me constipation hard enough to make me bleed. Maybe I'm not drinking enough?

Even after getting prescribed with bulk laxative, it still took me 3-4 days for it to have any effect. I didn't visit the toilet for "number two" for all that time. After a week of medicating it stabilized back to normal though. I was scared for a moment expecting some more serious problem, but the doctor diagnosed it as simple constipation. So now I'm trying to figure out what I need to eat more and what less, or what do I need to do differently.

Good news is that I haven't felt that lactic acid building up for the last few days and I feel great. It's really an amazing feeling when you can use your muscles and you are running out of air first instead of stopping because of the pain when lactic acid is building up in your muscles after cycling or walking for half a mile. It's like I suddenly had a tremendous increase in my fitness level, but it's actually only because of the pain and tiredness disappearing. It's curious this happened just after the above-mentioned episode - or maybe it was the fact I recovered from another flu.
Posted 9/27/2011 7:14 PM (GMT 0)
Are you drinking lots of water?  This would help you a lot, too, if you aren't.  I carry ice water with me all of the time and have a mug full right at my side all day long.  Drinking water makes everything work better.

 

Sherrine

Posted 9/27/2011 8:40 PM (GMT 0)
Water ... and broccoli!  tongue    Well, of course, water for many reasons including our digestive tract.  For fiber, bulk, roughage (when I was growing up, my mom called it "roughage") or whatever you want to call it, I found that broccoli and also cauliflower keep me a regular person.  I eat about 3 or 4 little florets a day (breakfast and dinner usually) of raw broccoli.  Different ways:  just plain in addition to the meal, or with other salad food and olive oil, or with a sprinkle of salt.

 

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