[becks7]

This eating thing is driving me insane. I'm learning the basics but the whole menu planning is starting to overwhelm me. I'm trying to be very careful with breakfast, lunch and dinner. I measure everything to the appropriate levels and not being a real keen vegie eater I've been incorporating more than I ever had in my life. Cut out my regular cold cereal in the am's and switched to multi-grain oatmeal and Fiber One. Splenda not sugar in my tea. No sugar added or sugar free and snacks have been low carb yogurt/vegies with a low carb, teaspoon of dressing. I have not had a darn Oreo or anything sweet since my diagnosis and I don't always feel satisfied with my meals. I'm starting to feel like that "I Love Lucy" episode where she's trying to fit into that costume and is begging like a dog under the dinner table. My doctor didn't have the 1400 calorie a day diet and gave me 1600 and that's more than I ate on a regular basis so it's hard for me to figure out what I'm supposed to cut out from that. I just have done alot less. I read every darn label, going to Publix is taking me forever and everything I pick up I'm scared to eat it. Just last Sunday my grandaughter had her end of the session bible studies with a feast afterward. It was shear torture sitting in the hall with pizza, fried chicken, brownies, cupcakes, etc..the aroma's plus my husband's stacked plate depressing and here I was sitting with my cup of warm diet Coke. I was so frustrated that on Monday I called the insurance company only to find out my husband's insurance doesn't cover a registered dietician Right when I was screaming for help.

Being new at this, how does one ever figure out what to eat in order to make sure I'm doing the right thing?

[davef]

Denice,

Sorry you are struggling so much.

Here's what worked for me, can't say it will work for you but it might give you some ideas.

First of all I took the diet sheet I was given by the doctor, glanced at it and realised it was probably from the early 80's. One of my problems with "diets" is that they tend to be short term fixes and don't address the idea of a new lifestyle also alot of them include copious amounts of fish, which I just don't like, so I threw the sheet in the trash. Then I took out my meter and lived by what it was telling me and also made decisions about cutting waaaay back on carbs, I was a carb junkie. So with my trustee meter as my new friend and guide I started to slowly build a whole pile of foods that work for my blood glucose levels, remembering that we are all different. I stopped eating pasta, rice, potatoes and white bread. I tried brown rice but it didn't do anything for me so don't bother with it. I found a wholemeal bread that I can eat, I found it by eating it and testing to see how it worked out. So that was breakfast mon-fri taken care of, slice of wholemeal bread and mug of tea. Then for lunch, I was never really into salads, but sometimes I have one, normally I have a mug of soup and a slice of my new bread. You are in Florida and I'm not sure how drinking soup would work for you, I couldn't handle it in your climate (my brother lived there for years). But maybe a chicken wrap would work if you can get low carb wraps (I use normal tortilla wraps, just get small ones. Finally dinner, if you like fish, then wow, florida you have lots of choices. Me, I tend to eat a lot of chicken, some pork and beef (love beef) and with that I have veg. I know you mentioned not being a big veg eater, but don't forget you can make some really nice combinations in a wok with just a little oil. Onions, garlic, peppers, mushrooms etc are a nice side to just about anything and for me are BG friendly. I have switched to sweet potatoes, which I like baked. Basically I made some logical choices to reduce carbs, ate things and checked how they worked for me. Give yourself some time, it does take a little while to get your head around a new lifestyle. I avoid the cookie/candy/sweet aisle in the store, but wander happily through meat, chicken, veg, oriental food aisles. I find spicing things up helps. For example I can eat a big dish of chili-con-carne (peppers, chili, onions) with a small amount of tortilla chips on the side and my BG's like it.

If you are struggling with Weight loss and need help, how about going along to a Weight Watchers class, I believe there is a meeting near you in Dania. After a couple of weeks you have the information you need so if you can't afford the weekly fee you can work on your own.

Hope some of this helps,

[sprzepiora]

See if they cover a certified diabetes educator and look for one that is also a dietitian

[notme]

Davef gave you some incredible advice. If you feel deprived, you won't continue with your new way of eating for very long.

My husband and I have changed our way of eating dramatically the past few years. I have not given up everything, but portion control is HUGE. When you read labels, also remember serving size. I used to eat cereal with a banana for breakfast. That didn't seems so bad. Then I realized the cereal I was eating was considering 1/2 cut as a serving. Then when I added my banana in, I was eating two breakfasts. A serving size for a banana is 1/2 of a banana. I found a different cereal that would let me eat 1 cup for the same amount of carbs and calories, switched to low fat milk and decided on berries instead of banana.

Lunches now consist of left over chicken from the night before chopped up and put in a whole grain bread sandwich with avocado and romaine lettuce.

When I go to a party and there is a lot of bad food sitting around (Kentucky fried chicken and cupcakes) I can easily look at that food and feel bad for the people that are eating it. If you are really hungry and find yourself in the situation. Take a piece of chicken, remove the fried part and eat it. Skip the fatty/sugary cupcakes or take the frosting off and eat a small piece so you don't feel deprived. Make up for it at your next meal by eating much healthier.

Once in awhile you can splurge and just eat what you want. Just remember you have to pay back those calories and exercise after you do.

Don't look at your life as "dieting". It is living a healthy lifestyle and be a great inspiration to your kids and husband. Start making him eat healthy like yourself. His arteries and heart are important also. Teach your kids early that junk food is not a reward.

If you can't go see a dietitian, come here and chat with others. Lots of people here are very successful with changing their diets. Some have been to dietitians and they can pass on their advice to you. GOOD LUCK

[Mich]

Hi Denice,

I've never been to a dietitian. Now that they have blood glucose meters and the internet, there is really no reason to go to one for diabetes. It's not a very complicated diet. Dietitians are really needed for more complicated medical diets.

Dave's advice was spot-on. Nancy told the truth, your whole family will be healthier because you are a diabetic. My now-grown daughters are good low-carb cooks because of how they grew up and all of their friends appreciate it. No need to feel deprived, and for answers to your questions, this group is fantastic.

You can do it. We can help. Wait, isn't that a commercial?

Mich

[becks7]

What can I say, you guys are the BEST!

Good thing I just purchased a copybook to start recording all these notes--thank you all so much. David does this mean I have to give up my beloved Shepard's Pie from the English pub down the street?

[Evermont]

Originally Posted by sprzepiora

See if they cover a certified diabetes educator and look for one that is also a dietitian

Very cool idea. Time to "stick it to the man"!

Originally Posted by becks7

What can I say, you guys are the BEST!

Good thing I just purchased a copybook to start recording all these notes--thank you all so much. David does this mean I have to give up my beloved Shepard's Pie from the English pub down the street?

Just curious - what's a "copybook"?

I look forward to Dave's answer. I might just have to create a vegetarian diabetes friendly sheppard's pie - it's been waaay too long since I had some.

[grace girl]

Another option would be call, tell them your insurance doesn't cover, and see if they will offer you a discount. I don't have insurance and when I saw the CDE they gave me a HUGE discount.

[becks7]

Holly, that's about my next step. I'm thankful that I even have insurance but I could not believe they didn't cover these sort of services. It had already been a struggle since I'm allergic to like 57 foods, I've got to be careful not to combine the lower allergic positives to the 7 really positives.

Evermont, other than using turkey meat my mind has been trying to come up with some sort of alternate ingredients to use for that pie. When the Irish & Scottish fests come around I'll have to bring those swimming nose clips, it'll be torture.

[Evermont]

Originally Posted by becks7

...Evermont, other than using turkey meat my mind has been trying to come up with some sort of alternate ingredients to use for that pie. When the Irish & Scottish fests come around I'll have to bring those swimming nose clips, it'll be torture.

OK, here's how I might do it:

Diabetic friendly shepherds pie (untested)
3 cups mashed new potatoes (not overcooked or over mashed)
3 cups mashed cauliflower
6 cloves roasted garlic
2 Tbsp butter
2 tsp salt substitute
1 cup fresh peas boiled
1 pkg (4 patties) Morningstar Farms original Grillers veggie meat substitute
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 cup aged cheddar, shredded
fresh cracked black pepper - to taste

Thaw frozen grillers and tear them to tiny bits by hand. Dice potatoes and steam them adding chopped cauliflower to the steamer when potatoes are 1/2 done. Use a non-stick skillet, no oil, to VERY lightly brown the grillers over medium heat - it only takes a few minutes, you're really just heating it up. (it tastes like meat, but there's no call to overcook it). While the pan with grillers is still hot, add vegetable broth, tomato paste, rosemary and thyme reduce heat to med-low to simmer uncovered stirring occasionally. Remove from heat when the consistency looks right.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mash potatoes and cauliflower together with roasted garlic, salt and butter.

In a buttered casserole dish layer the non-meat mixture, then peas, and potato mixture. Top with cheese and black pepper. Bake for 15 minutes, cool and serve.

----

New potatoes have a lower glycemic index than other potatoes. If the potatoes are too much (you know who you are) just leave them out and double the cauliflower. The salt substitute is just a nod to reducing hypertension. I use 75% fat free cheddar just to scale back on calories a bit. I left out the pie crust for obvious reasons.

Apologies to any shepherds pie purists out there - but we gotta do what we gotta do.

[becks7]

Thank you VERY much for posting this alternative, I need to get some things at the store and will be trying this out as soon as I can. I've also never tried the Morningstar products so that will be a new experience too.

[Tattoo azz]

Hi becks7
You might also try googling diabetic recipes, some will be next to useless but most will be pretty good. Evermont is a good guy as are all the people on DF and the recipes section is pretty useful
Azz

[mcgriff]

I never gave a thought to anything I ate before my recent diagnosis. Memorial Day was tough as I knew it would be. We had our usual cookout and I basically ate nothing I made. One thing I did was to plan the day before what I was going to eat. I ate very unhealthy, but my sugars stayed pretty stable all day. You can still eat garbage from time to time, just plan ahead for it. Being spontaneous and gobbling a handful of cookies is gone for most of us. However, if you know you'll be in a situation with wall to wall carbs you can plan ahead and treat yourself to a cookie or two, some proper BBQ, anything you want really. I'm new as well so I can't offer real specific advice. Just think ahead and stick to your plan.

[Tin Ben Dur]

calorieking.com Buy the 20th anniversary edition. Very very helpful. If you got a fax or I can make some copies of stuff I have and mail it to you. PM me if you need help.

[princesslinda]

I'll be honest, I didn't find the dietician's advice all that helpful, as they were quite high-carb, and my blood sugars would never respond positively to the # they told me to eat (3-4 servings (15 gm/serving) of carbs per meal, and 1-2 servings per snack.

I eat a lot of the same foods over and over: Chicken, fish, beef, pork (all unbreaded and most of the time w/o a bun). When I crave bread, I eat the Nature's own double fiber.

I eat lots of salads, green veggies and beans. I rarely have corn, potatoes, white rice, past or green peas....as i've found these raise my blood sugars. When I eat pasta, I eat the Dreamfield's brand....I eat brown rice in VERY SMALL amounts.

For sweets, i'll have s/f jello, s/f puddings and Breyer's Carb Smart ice cream...on occasion, i'll have a regular scoop of icecream (along with a bit more exercise).

I drink tea with artificial sweetener, diet Dr. Pepper, Diet Mtn Dew and the s/f water add-ins.

I use the low-carb tortillas and make fajitas...I also make my own chips with the low-carb tortillas.

I can tolerate small apples, 1/2 banana, cantaloupe, all kinds of berries...but I only eat one serving of fruit at a time, and not each day.

There are many things you can eat, but the way to find out what works for you is to eat then test 2 hrs after the first bite to find out which foods you tolerate best. All of us are different, so if you "eat by your meter" you'll do well.