Am trying to get to a low carb diet...easy to fall off the wagon!

[SunsetCollector]

5/17/12 HBG A1c 9.0 Glucose Level 266
6/20/12 Received meter from CDE and brief instructions.
6/19/12 FBG 252 (first home meter test)

Immediate changes.

Eliminated potatoes, rice, pasta, bread from diet.

Continued to limit sausage, bacon, eggs, etc and eat 'healthy' included bodacious amounts of water melon! Big breakfast bowls of oatmeal with raisins, walnuts, butter and milk and wondered why numbers were still in the mid 200's! And, higher! Last big oatmeal breakfast was July 4 which gave me a 282 two hours after eating.

So, I started getting a bit more serious about learning what diabetics could eat or not eat and searching the web lead me here and the concept of limiting carbs.

Added fruits, pizza, oatmeal, milk and cold cereals to the don't eat list. That's weeks shopping included 3 doz. eggs and a couple pounds of bacon - mushrooms and strange veggies.

Before the end of July mostly numbers that broke the 200 mark! (on the down side!)

7/18/12 Metformin ER 500 x 4 with dinner (first medication)

Follow up Dr. visit 3 weeks later, in the 120 range all day. Feeling good and soon reached that (for me) magic 100!

Ever felt like that guy that could leap a tall building in a single bound?

Piece of cake! Well, actually 3 or 4 of those powered sugar doughnuts...... then a few days later a cup of diced watermelon .... no noticeable changes so another cup of water melon the next day... rocking a long, a few higher than desired numbers, but nothing of concern ..... put on that cape and few to the candy store. Hummmmm, one of those Kit Kats looks good. Could break into four servings of about 6 carbs each.

So, here's the sad tale I need help in sorting out.

August 17 FBG 124
Breakfast: 2 eggs, sausage, 1/4 cup fresh blueberries, black coffee
+2 Hrs. BG 147

9:00 AM 5 oz, low sodium tomato juice
+2 Hrs BG 152

Lunch: 5 oz of left over pot roast, 1 cup cottage cheese w/green peppers and 4 chunks of pineapple, Jell-O Cup (sugar free) and ice tea unsweetened.
+2 Hrs. BG 129

Dinner: Center Cut bone-in Pork Chop, stir fry Bok Choy / Zucchinis, 1/4 cup black eye peas, 4 oz cup of no sugar added apple sauce, ice tea unsweetened, Jell-O cup - took med. with dinner.

+2 Hrs. BG 111 (wow, I can fly!)
have a single bar of Kit Kat

retest in one more hour: 107! Yes, have a 1/4 cup of blue berries, and out run any train!

retest in one more hour: 99 ! Yes! Hold your hand up and deflect that bullet!

Aug 18
FBG 123
(where did that nice 99 go? Do I sleep walk and eat?)

Breakfast: Philly Cream cheese on 1/2 of a WASA MG cracker with less than a tsp. of Smuckers sugar free preserves, 3 1/2 links of breakfast sausage (the little ones), coffee
+ 2 Hrs: BG 144

Slid a bar of that tasty Kit Kat in as a snack! Only 6 carbs right!

Lunch: 3 slices of baloney fried in olive oil on two WASA Sesame Flat Bread crackers with yellow mustard, 1 cup of cottage cheese with 4 chunks of pineapple, 4 slices of cucumber and un-sweetened ice tea,
+ 2 Hrs: BG 187! Kryptonite! Run!
+ 3 Hrs: BG 149! ..........


So, there's lots of questions and criticism in that rambling tale, but I will refrain.

The Kit Kat seems to be a bad choice, but how about the rest of the meals?

I just ask your help in sorting it all out and help me get a clearer direction. I really don't want to see a 187 again, even allowing for a 20% meter error!

[jbmacomber]

My guess is the kit cat and pineapple tomato juice has carbs. As everyone is so different you will need to test, test and add/eliminate to figure it out. Just my morning coffee with 2 carb sf creamer and 1 pack of equal raises me 20 points.

[Moonpie]

You are doing well, it takes alot of trail & error to find out what foods work well with your body & which ones to avoid. Keep at it. The black eyed peas might be a bit carby for me, but you seem to be able to handle them. Keep on testing

[Hooterville]

SunsetCollector, here we go, my friend:

Kit Kat = 'Nuff said.

Tomato Juice = Tomatoes are iffy, period. Juice = double whammy, IMO. With juice you eliminate the fiber which may have been somewhat helpful.

Pineapple = Why? it's a tropical fruit so why go there? Pineapple (tropical climate fruit) is off my list. Berries, (cold climate fruit) are on my list.

Black-eyed peas = peas/beans, whatever they are (beans, I think), = carbs and I don't do them.

Apple sauce = Unsweatened or otherwise, you can do without. It's cooked, right? Cooking of veg/fruit makes the carbs in them more pronounced, I think. So why do it? I used to have one tiny apple or 1/2 a little apple but it's such a bother to only eat half a fruit. I kind of quit them.

Wasa MG cracker = What's MG? Multigrain? I've looked at many Wasa boxes and the only one that I've found that has acceptable carbs for me is the Wasa Crisp and Light. 3 Wasa Crisp and Lights have 12 carbs. Who needs three of those giant monsters? One is enough. 1 Wasa Crisp & Light = 4.3 carbs. Now we're talking. Check your variety of Wasa and see if maybe you think the Wasa Crisp and Light for 4.3 per cracker may be a better alternative. Be certain to check the serving sizes on your Wasa as serving sizes on Wasa vary even though the sizes of the individual crackers do not.

Wasa Sesame Flat bread = See Wasa MG cracker above.

Sausage = check your packages for carb counts. Some are acceptable, others are not.

Now, are all the above foods that I listed taboo for everyone or even for you? No. Look at what you wrote up there and your meter results and you decide. Did you get hit immediately by something you ate? Maybe not. Did you get not nice fasting number the next morning? Maybe. You get to figure these things out. I see answers in what you, yourself, posted up there.

[SunsetCollector]

My guess is the kit cat and pineapple tomato juice has carbs. As everyone is so different you will need to test, test and add/eliminate to figure it out. Just my morning coffee with 2 carb sf creamer and 1 pack of equal raises me 20 points.

20 pts. on a cup of coffee! That surprised me! But, got me to thinking and looking to see what others do. I have been having a cup of coffee or two and watching the news for about a hour before taking my FBG and then eating. Have changed that for the last day or so. Taking FBG as soon as I get up and preparing breakfast while I have that first cup.

Thanks!

[SunsetCollector]

SunsetCollector, here we go, my friend:

Kit Kat = 'Nuff said.

Tomato Juice = Tomatoes are iffy, period. Juice = double whammy, IMO. With juice you eliminate the fiber which may have been somewhat helpful.

Pineapple = Why? it's a tropical fruit so why go there? Pineapple (tropical climate fruit) is off my list. Berries, (cold climate fruit) are on my list.

Black-eyed peas = peas/beans, whatever they are (beans, I think), = carbs and I don't do them.

Apple sauce = Unsweatened or otherwise, you can do without. It's cooked, right? Cooking of veg/fruit makes the carbs in them more pronounced, I think. So why do it? I used to have one tiny apple or 1/2 a little apple but it's such a bother to only eat half a fruit. I kind of quit them.

Wasa MG cracker = What's MG? Multigrain? I've looked at many Wasa boxes and the only one that I've found that has acceptable carbs for me is the Wasa Crisp and Light. 3 Wasa Crisp and Lights have 12 carbs. Who needs three of those giant monsters? One is enough. 1 Wasa Crisp & Light = 4.3 carbs. Now we're talking. Check your variety of Wasa and see if maybe you think the Wasa Crisp and Light for 4.3 per cracker may be a better alternative. Be certain to check the serving sizes on your Wasa as serving sizes on Wasa vary even though the sizes of the individual crackers do not.

Wasa Sesame Flat bread = See Wasa MG cracker above.

Sausage = check your packages for carb counts. Some are acceptable, others are not.

Now, are all the above foods that I listed taboo for everyone or even for you? No. Look at what you wrote up there and your meter results and you decide. Did you get hit immediately by something you ate? Maybe not. Did you get not nice fasting number the next morning? Maybe. You get to figure these things out. I see answers in what you, yourself, posted up there.

Lots of good points in your post, might say "a lot to chew on"!

I think the crackers were ok on net carb count, but I might have really reacted to them. If I counted them correct they were about 14 carbs total. A lot if goal is 30 to 50 per day; I have had a "approximate" goal of about 100. Not really counting the little bitty pieces! In hind sight, this seems wrong.

Sausages? Duh, who even looks at the package? That's meat and fat, right! LOL! Oh, me. Thanks for the wake up call.

The tomato juice was 5 net carbs.

Total for the day was 70 carbs; 54 before dinner! Going back and looking at just a few days, I now question my recent math and see I have been eating many of my carbs during the day. Taking the meds at dinner, I seem to be firing my big guns at the lowest carb meal of the day.

Thanks all! The info and encouragement remains first class on the DF.

[Hooterville]

Lots of good points in your post, might say "a lot to chew on"!

I think the crackers were ok on net carb count, but I might have really reacted to them. If I counted them correct they were about 14 carbs total. A lot if goal is 30 to 50 per day; I have had a "approximate" goal of about 100. Not really counting the little bitty pieces! In hind sight, this seems wrong.

Sausages? Duh, who even looks at the package? That's meat and fat, right! LOL! Oh, me. Thanks for the wake up call.

The tomato juice was 5 net carbs.

Total for the day was 70 carbs; 54 before dinner! Going back and looking at just a few days, I now question my recent math and see I have been eating many of my carbs during the day. Taking the meds at dinner, I seem to be firing my big guns at the lowest carb meal of the day.

Thanks all! The info and encouragement remains first class on the DF.

Sorry about this. I hope it's not too discouraging. Personally, I count total carbs, not net carbs. Maybe net carbs will work for you but, for me, they are a false license to have more carbs. Again, I'm not saying for everybody and maybe sometimes with some foods, net carbs work but I think (for me!) that net carbs are sometimes a ploy by the food industry to make their foods appear more acceptable.

This whole carb/net carb thing is more critical to person bolusing insulin for meals. I don't do that so I just count total carbs. I feel like it keeps me honest and if, in the end, I do react to some foods' net carb rather than total carb, then my daily carb total is just going to be that much lower and, for me, that will only be a good thing.

Yeah, sausage is meat and....often fillers. Sometimes sugar even.

[davepc]

You're not falling off the wagon, you're learning what works for you. It's a process.

[BrandiLynn]

You are learing and there is much to learn!!

Coffee - I have found that caffeine jacks my bg up, so leaded coffee is out - I put one scooper of full leaded and 5 scoopers of decaf, have it with no sweetener and coconut milk and find that works fine. Of course, waking up at stupid O clock in the morning, sometimes I lust after a full pot of leaded, but there you go.

The prolonged highs - when we consume a goodly amount of fat with meals meals, it can take longer for the spike to happen (if you consumed things that were going to spike you anyway), so that is also something to consider. Not that you did or didnt, just that its a pattern I have noticed with myself and with others who share their logs.

Keep on defecting those bullets, man! Now you are just finding out what all kinds of bullets there are! :}

[labrat]

Understand where you're at, Sunset. Although I was familiar with low carb dieting from years ago, it's a horse of a different color when you're trying determine how much of what kind of carbs spike you. Thus you'll read the "eat to your meter" mantra repeated over and over. What is okay for one person is not okay for another. Some carbs with some fats and proteins are good for one person, not so much with another. Some are more carb sensitive in the morning, some less so. Others set different standards for their BG tolerance than others. It's so very personal, but there are some generals.
Juices, pineapples tend to spike most everyone. I'd eliminate these first, see if these are culprits. Some people can tolerate small amounts of oatmeal with some fat, others can't.
For example, yestersday I tried Dreamfield pasta which my husband found at the store the other day. At lunch, I had a small serving with some sauce..two hours later I was at 107. Okay...so I tried it for supper. Last night I had more than a small serving (had vigorous workout one hour before and a Breyers Low carb ice cream bar after dinner)..my two hour was 137. Too high for my personal comfort. I don't know if it was from splurging with the pasta, or residual effects from an intense workout. Since a workout hasn't bumped me so high before, and I've eaten the ice cream bars numerous times without an issue..I'm guessing it was my overindulgence of the pasta. So..nix that for now.
It's all a process of learning about you, what you can eat, what you can't. I think you'll be surprised at the things you can.

[jbmacomber]

I have to go by total carb count as well instead of net carbs.

[Moonpie]

Understand where you're at, Sunset. Although I was familiar with low carb dieting from years ago, it's a horse of a different color when you're trying determine how much of what kind of carbs spike you. Thus you'll read the "eat to your meter" mantra repeated over and over. What is okay for one person is not okay for another. Some carbs with some fats and proteins are good for one person, not so much with another. Some are more carb sensitive in the morning, some less so. Others set different standards for their BG tolerance than others. It's so very personal, but there are some generals.
Juices, pineapples tend to spike most everyone. I'd eliminate these first, see if these are culprits. Some people can tolerate small amounts of oatmeal with some fat, others can't.
For example, yestersday I tried Dreamfield pasta which my husband found at the store the other day. At lunch, I had a small serving with some sauce..two hours later I was at 107. Okay...so I tried it for supper. Last night I had more than a small serving (had vigorous workout one hour before and a Breyers Low carb ice cream bar after dinner)..my two hour was 137. Too high for my personal comfort. I don't know if it was from splurging with the pasta, or residual effects from an intense workout. Since a workout hasn't bumped me so high before, and I've eaten the ice cream bars numerous times without an issue..I'm guessing it was my overindulgence of the pasta. So..nix that for now.
It's all a process of learning about you, what you can eat, what you can't. I think you'll be surprised at the things you can.

It might be eating the ice cream as well as the pasta. You can do either or ( maybe) but not both at the same meal.

[javagurrl]

kiiiiiiittttttttt kaaaaaattttttts

OMG
nom nom nom nom nom

me likey alot!!

but yeah, what everyone else said - it's a learning process, keep at it!!


and don't touch the kit kats!!
:P

[SunsetCollector]

Thanks all for the pointers and suggestions!

Lots of new things! Coffee. Had not considered but searching turned up a lot of reading material on effect of Diabetes. Some suggestion that elements of coffee might help prevent diabetes, but once you have the D, coffee can be a negative! I guess test and see for yourself!

Net Carb vs straight carbs. For some reason, I pretty much assumed that everyone was talking net carbs! Guess I liked the implications of a "free lunch"! Not sure which I will do, but thinking I will track both for a while and see what approach is best for me.

But, net or not; the ah ha moment was how much I was letting fall through the cracks. For example, not reading the label on the link sausage package! Duh!

The process of your sharing increased my scrutiny of the details of my average day; a new realization: Taking ER version made me think that I am getting level benefits from the Met. This isn't true. Loading up a dosage of 2000 mg at dinner takes my BG down and I mean a lot.....during the night. Stayed up a little later and saw some real low (for me) numbers. If I want to see 98 flash on the meter, it seems I just need to hang around and test about mid-night!

Conclusion: need very low carb counts for breakfast and lunch; load up dinner as the biggest meal of the day (in volume and carb count) and I can more maintain a level reading. Other changes appeared seem indicated.

Thanks again!

[BrandiLynn]

Hey Sunsetcollector - another thought re: volume.

I have Dr. Bernstein's diabetes book and he talks about something he calls the "Chinese Buffet" effect - and that is where our blood sugars are sometimes also affected by the stretching of our gut. I had some broth with 2 T of this gelatin I have in it, no change in blood glucose, I had a Buffallo Rock spicy diet gingerale, no change in BG, but I made a cup of spicy gingerale jello with 2 T of the same gelatin and 1 can of the same gingerale and ate it all in a sitting, and my blood sugar bounced. So - maybe that is or isnt how it will work for you, but I thought it was definitely interesting information and on my n=1 experiment, its true for me!!

So tuck that in your knowing hat, that sometimes if you run on a number that "ought" not happen with X foods, that perhaps? volume is an issue?

The sharing is great isnt it? There is so much to learn, every new day we get.