[Caravaggio]

What helped me reduce my carb intake was Dr. Gott's prescription - No Flour, No Sugar. I believe he does not prescribe potatoes. By sugar, he means added sugar. As it wasn't written for people with diabetes or pre-diabetes, Dr. Gott's prescription is quite liberal with fruits (fruits are sweet, but they have no added sugar) and rice (because it is not flour). For people with diabetes/pre-diabetes, you have to determine how much your body can tolerate fruits (or rice) without wrecking your blood glucose. Anyway, I find his formula easy to remember.

Ann Louise Gittleman has a book called Get the Sugar Out. Taken into account that it wasn't written for people with diabetes, the book gives tips on how to slowly weed oneself off sugar and sugary food. This may also be a good start.

Good luck!

[GeishaGirl]

Originally Posted by ShottleBop

I just listened to an interview between Livin' La Vida Low Carb's Jimmy Moore and Diane Kress, author of The Metabolism Miracle. She recommends an 8-week induction period of extremely low-carb (although, based on the interview, she doesn't appear to include veggies, cottage cheese, and some other foods as prohibited carbs, as did Atkins)--to give the pancreas a vacation. Otherwise, she says, it will continue to operate in overdrive.

I'm a type 1. My pancreas isn't just on vacation, it's taken a permanent leave of absence! No overdrive, just a dead car on the side of the road I've been kicking the tires for awhile, but no response

[ShottleBop]

Oooops! Not paying enough attention to "type." In that case, I guess, some pertinent questions are how bad are your carb cravings, and will taking them down in stages allow you sufficient control to reduce them successfully.

[Subby]

Geisha, I'm not really low carb, but I have cut back substantially from pretty normal carb eating some years ago. I did it in stages, the "t1 way" - as in, over the time, cutting out carbs that spiked me, so naturally gravitating to less carbs. Then probably a year ago, tackling carb cravings more completely, as they led to over eating and more spikes.

That said I know that's slightly different. You can crave things that don't spike you (although I think ther is often a connection) and you have a goal to cut back to low carb levels, not just remove the worst offenders.

Now, I know you might just want to go cold turkey or do it another way, but I'm just thinking through how it worked for me to get to about 100 - 120g (and craving free, usually).

This is the way I cut back (and how it might make sense for a type 1 at least)
- First to go, must be carbs that really badly spike you. If you are high, you are likely to have more cravings (I get them uncontrollably)
- Second to go is to tackle everything that gives you those nasty cravings, with those around you will be living a nightmare trying to deal with the cravings and not eat those carbs...
- Finally with those out the way, you should be pretty serene and calm to pick and choose and modify your diet as you like, with other "good" carbs.

About the carbs that give cravings: I found it takes about 2 or 3 days to break from them, and that time it may as well be as strong as nicotine (which is meant to be as strong as heroin, I have heard tell). In other words, I think you need to tackle cravings in a "campaign" all for themselves, I think cutting back craving foods is just likely not going to work. Just expect you might be climbing the walls while the cravings recede. I found "stepdown" carbs like fruit, invaluable to avoid eating the craving foods.

[lark 27]

My 2 pennies: I don't subscribe to a low carb diet so I'd aim for reducing as opposed to cold turkey. Although literally eating cold turkey is a nice low-carb snack. I was probably averaging 250-350 carbs per day last year and now I average about 120-150. This is inclusive of any carbs that I might need for low BG treatment. With that said, I echo some of what Suby was saying because the more I am identifying the foods that cause spikes and cravings, I naturally reduce or eliminate them and this has me on a path towards probably lower carb still. I don't think I'll ever get to 50 c a day, but if you asked me a couple years ago if I'd be at 150 avg. per day, I'd say no.

[shades9323]

I don't know. When I want to lose weight, I consume less calories than I burn.

What do you <50g of carbs a day eat ususally? The only single meal I ever have with less that 50g is breakfast.

[dbaratta]

Originally Posted by Handybear

I went cold turkey the day I was diagnosed as Type 2. Doc put me on Actos and Metformin.
I found the 6-12-12 low carb program and started that day.

Three years later I am 77 lbs lighter, and off both of the meds.

WOW way to go on the weight loss!!!

[jillybean]

Originally Posted by shades9323

I don't know. When I want to lose weight, I consume less calories than I burn.

What do you <50g of carbs a day eat ususally? The only single meal I ever have with less that 50g is breakfast.

For me, it's not just about weight loss, but glucose control (I'm type 2 not on insulin). I find it easy to eat low carb for any meal. Meat and veggies - no need for bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, etc. I eat out a lot...here are some sample lunch/dinner meals:

• fast food - any grilled chicken sandwich or cheeseburger without the bun. Bacon, cheese, mayo, lettuce...all fine, but no bun
• salad - greens topped with grilled/roasted chicken, bacon, cheese, cucumber, creamy or oil-based (non-sweet) dressing
• steak or chicken or pork or fish and non-starchy veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, side salad...whatever they have)
• Kentucky Grilled Chicken!

I went 8 weeks of never eating more than 5g total carbs (I don't mess with "net" carbs) per sitting. I was averaging about 15g total carbs per day. I had my best glucose control ever during that time.

[ShottleBop]

Originally Posted by shades9323

I don't know. When I want to lose weight, I consume less calories than I burn.

What do you <50g of carbs a day eat ususally? The only single meal I ever have with less that 50g is breakfast.

There's a thread for that! ("Low Carb Daily Diet", currently on the second page under "Dieting and nutrition for diabetes.")

[Mystae]

Funny that you ask this now...

I have had D for nearly 13 years now and have JUST NOW (finally) gotten to the point where I am taking control of my carb/candy intake.

I have been doing low(er) carbs for about two months now, with great success for my blood sugars, limited success for weight loss. But I'm doing it more for my blood sugars at this point, although I have lost about four pounds, which is always good. :O)

I gained 65 lbs. with my first daughter that has never come off, which has really screwed with my insulin requirements, on top of my heavy carb intake. I too, was taking in around 200-300 per day until a couple of months ago when I made this jump.

It has taken me a long time to get to a place where I can accept that this is not a diet, it's a life-change and a way of living that involves a total re-evaluation of my relationship with food.

That having been said, I have cut my carbs to 90-105 carbs per day, and on some days having only around 50, but interestingly, I never feel deprived. Part of that is because I EAT WHATEVER I WANT. I just eat LESS of it. If I want hot chocolate, I have a cup of hot chocolate, complete with marshmallows... It's just a very small cup... If I want pasta, I have pasta (I'm eating dreamfields, though, because it doesn't affect my BG the way others do). If I want a piece of bread and butter, I have one, I just am very careful about what breads I buy (always super-high fiber ones).

It takes more time to count it all out, yes, and that is sometimes hard when I'm rushing out the door and need to eat. But after a few weeks, I now know exactly how much of something I can eat, which helps. I count EVERYTHING, too. I don't use artificial sweeteners, so my drinks have been reduced to coffee, hot tea, water, and the (very) occasional tiny glass of juice... So I am counting the honey, agave, or raw sugar I use in my coffee or tea... I have also gone through all my favorite snacks and found the ones that have the lowest carb count and include protein, and those are the ones I keep handy for a quick "something." I've also been loading up on protein whenever I'm hungry - nuts are great! So is cottage cheese.

I've also been doing a lot of baking... Because it's fall, and I love to bake. And have been experimenting with lower-carb flours (coconut, oat, almond, etc.)... Cakes, muffins, everything. And I have a little of everything, but again, I count every carb that goes into them (as much as possible - I will always round up), and then divide that amount by the servings...

Good luck! It's been a great experience for me so far, and I hope yours is, too.

Oh, and I forgot to add - I have little self-control when it comes to carbs, which is WHY I went with lower carbs rather than cold turkey. My hubby has gone cold turkey three times in the last five months, and has lost control every time, on top of gaining back all the weight he's lost each time. I'm not interested in that...