[musique913]

This low-carb diet is hard!

I've been doing 30 grams of carbs for each meal for a couple of weeks now at the suggestion of my doctor and diabetic nutritionists, and ****ed if I don't want every carb under the sun.

I have really good control since I started it, except the one day I went off because of my graduation, but it's still really difficult.

I find myself craving things I never really ate before to begin with! Now that I can't have certain things because they are too high carb, these are the things I want to eat! Of course when I can't have them it's making me grumpy as anything. I swear that carbs make us in a better mood!

I've been meditating and doing exercise to curb my issues..but I just needed to vent. I think sometimes it just helps to know that there are other people out there having the same problems..and don't judge you for it.

Thanks for the time.

Angela

[jps]

Vent away.

It's relatively common to have those strong cravings. Can't say it happens for all, but for me, those feelings passed after a few weeks. It is tough, but for me, it became much easier with time.

[Chef Barrae]

Yes, I absolutely agree. Those carb cravings will go away. It's just your body trying to convince you not to eat healthy! haha! Stick with it! The meditation and exercise is great! Choose your carbs carefully and make every one of them count!

[kingleonidas]

Oh man, i have looked at oreo cakesters like they were the last food on earth, yet before diagnosis, I never even noticed they existed !

[Josselyn]

Vent all you wish, Angela. I get it.

South Beach and Atkins are two food plans that advocate a 2-3 week induction period before starting a low carb lifestyle. It's a rather limited, somewhat miserable two weeks, but it works. The induction period is very low carb, 20-30 grams per day (although I add some veggies to it) and exists to turn bodies from carb burning machines into fat burning machines. It also essentially kills carb cravings. One generally will eventually gradually add carbs to a maximum of 60 per day...which is maintenance, I believe.

Starchy/grainy/sugary carbs beget cravings for more...ummm, can you guess what?

Which types of high carb foods are you craving? Many things can be modified to be acceptable, D-wise, in reasonable portions.

I know it's hard. It does get easier. And when things are more stable, you can even have a treat once in a while...but you might not want to then.

FYI: You're right. Carbs help our brains release seratonin, I'm told. That's the "feel good" chemical. Comfort food.
Try some 70% cocoa dark chocolate for a treat.
It does the same thing.

[Subby]

Angela, I note you say 30g at each meal. That to me sounds like ample opportunity to have a decent chunk of all the arbs taht cause cravings. I generally restrict to about 30g a meal in my own diet, and part of parcel of that was eliminating a whole lot of carbs that a) spike me anyway and b) set off massive carb cravings and would turn my life into a living 'ell.

I wonder if this is not a step you need to take as part and parcel of reducing your carbs for the tenable future - removing those that cause strong cravings. I think one important tactic is to observe what you crave, eliminate it, and see if you breath easier.

[musique913]

I never really craved popcorn, but I want it so bad right now..full butter the whole deal.

Bread, in large chunks, even though I never ate that way before! lol!

Crackers. My boyfriend has saltines in the cupboard and I could eat half a stack, even though I've never wanted them before.

Rice. I loved rice, but since I've watched my carbs I figured out that rice was bad for me personally because it spikes me even with brown rice, or jasmine rice.

I've been loading up on salad, lettuce, cucumbers, some tomatoes, etc..but this stuff is hard.

I don't know, maybe I'm just feeling frustrated today, even with the good blood sugars I've had all day.

[EeyoreButterfly]

I think it's human nature to want something as soon as we are told we can't have it. So the minute you are told carbs are off limits, of course that is what you will crave!

Eating low carb has been a real struggle for me as well. I just have not been counting carbs like I should and that is one reason I am having a hard time with control. Intellectually I feel like I really know what needs to be done, but I've always had a hard time doing it. I'm trying to be better though. I just started using this thing available from my gym that tells me my calorie output (via a sensor) and then I log my food online. One thing it does is give me a breakdown of all the macronutrients and what percentage of calories are coming from protein, fat, and carbs. It has forced me to be honest with myself, and thatis helping.

[bunbury]

hang in there and be strong. It can take weeks to get used to it, but it's worth it and it will happen! Eventually you will start to look at some of the foods you crave and wonder why you ever thought they were food!

Just look at what your meter is telling you!

[Abra]

I suggest that to rid yourself of cravings you eat fewer carbs. I'm eating in the 30-50 carbs per day range these days, only carbs from green vegetables, nuts, and dairy products, and I virtually never have cravings. I'm not saying that bread doesn't look and sound good, but I don't actively crave it so long as I keep the carbs way down. I actually think it's easier to eat fewer carbs and escape the cravings than to try to have just a bit of things that provoke the desire for more.

[xMenace]

Originally Posted by musique913

I've been loading up on salad, lettuce, cucumbers, some tomatoes, etc..but this stuff is hard.

How about fats and proteins? Are you starving yourself? You still need calories. Semi-starvation diets will make you hungry. Think quality of food, not quantity.

[dbc]

Man can I identify!!! been low carbing a while, and was quite happy (most of the time) but recently have relaxed a bit - and now it's almost impossible to say no to whatever carby/comfort food passes in front of me.... And the A1c shows it, gone up from 6.1 to 6.3

[Subby]

Originally Posted by musique913

Rice. I loved rice, but since I've watched my carbs I figured out that rice was bad for me personally because it spikes me even with brown rice, or jasmine rice.

Here is an example where the GI index may help you find lower spiking alternatives of different foods. According to GI test results, many brown and jasmine rice are very much likely to spike you badly. Basmati rice is an example of a rice that tends to spike people significantly less (or more slowly). There is not a lot of "common sense" to the GI index: just empirical testing, on a limited range of non diabetic subjects, to get an average rate of spike. It may or may not give you accurate suggestions, but I find it has given me some valuable hints for good carb alternatives, even if it is nothing like foolproof.

So now, instead of never eat rice (jasmine spikes me very quickly) every now and then I might have a bit of basmati, which just about matches my bolus insulin.

Basmati might still spike you badly personally: the rice is just an example of any type of food, you can look up ratings and get a feel for what might be better choices to try or choices to definitely avoid.

I like the info and write up that David Mendosa gives about the GI index. The Glycemic Index If this link is removed, web search for his site and use the menu on the left hand side to "Diabetes Articles" > "Food" > "Glycemic index". You will find comprehensive lists of GI and GL on the site, too.

[dbaratta]

Originally Posted by musique913

Rice. I loved rice, but since I've watched my carbs I figured out that rice was bad for me personally because it spikes me even with brown rice, or jasmine rice.



.

Try brown rice, doesn't work for me but some people can eat brown rice.

[foxl]

Could you increase the met dosage? It seems to help ME.

These suggestions may just annoy you, or they may work ... I have made buttered, salted pan-roasted sunflower seeds, and I SWEAR they remind me of popcorn!

I make all my old pasta sauces and put them over fake chicken breasts, eggs, tempeh, or tofu, and they taste terrific there -- I really do not miss the pasta at all!

And I have been trying to eat EVEN LOWER carb, but vegetarian, since my BG has been messed up bu an infection.