cdncatlover here

[cdncatlover]

Hi everybody! My name is Sue and 'm from the other forum. I'm type 2 and was diagnosed in 2012. I'm following LCHF for about a month now. I'm having problems with falling off plan, but I'm getting better. I just got back A1C results of 9.4. I   know that is not a good number but it is for me. I'm usually 14.something. So, a big improvement for me, but still too high a number.  I know if I eat properly all the time. I can get it down where it really should be and I'm looking forward to that. Anyway, thanks to Shalynne for the invite. I'm not too talkative but glad to be here   

[skb]

Hello Sue,

Welcome to your new forum. Yes, an A1c of 9.4 is too high and needs to be brought down to avoid complications in the long run. Give your new way of eating some time and surely you'll be in a better range soon enough.

Do read and post often. Someone will be around to answer any questions that you may have. 

[bigskygal]

Hi Sue and welcome to the forum.  Glad to see you here!!

I was dx'd in 2012 also with an A1c of 9.5%. I went very strict vlc/hf, no cheats at all and in 4 months my A1c was 5.8%.  It has been in the mid 4% range since 2013.  In the beginning, you may need to be very strict to get your body used to the new woe and the new lower bg numbers.  It takes time to adjust, you can do it!

[Timewise]

Hi Sue,

Welcome aboard, I am also a Type 2.  I was diagnosed over 9 years ago.  I started follow LCHF on 5/1/2015 and it has changed my life for the better in so many ways.

Can  you tell us what a typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner has been for you since you began.....

If you are still having cravings I would guess you are not getting enough fat to replace the carbs you have given up.  If you are trying to do low carb without increasing your fats sufficiently, you will feel hungry and crave carbs.  " A common mistake this is!"   

Also, be sure to increase your salt intake.  When you go LCHF your body dumps a lot of excess water (are you losing weight?).   If you are losing water you also are losing electrolytes, so add salt.  Common feelings when your salt gets low is light headedness, or weakness/sleepy/tired (happened to me every afternoon for a time, until I started increasing my salt intake).  I added salt to everything I ate, that you would put salt on...like eggs, beef, vegies, etc.

It is hard to pin down what other possibilities may be impacting your desire to have carbs....but a key point....I bet it is something with what your eating or not eating,  not lack of will power on your Part!  So soldier on and you will figure this out....

So share your food routine and see what others can come up with.

Good Luck

[Rhiannon]

Hi Sue and welcome!

I was diagnosed Type 2 just over a year ago.  Like you, it took me a little while to adjust to eating LCHF.  Part of that was re-adjusting my thinking as to what was "good for me" vs. what was not.  For decades, I'd believed that fat was bad so it took me awhile to overcome that.  I also had some difficulty in letting go of various vegetables and of course, fruits and fruit juices.  However, after that initial learning phase, I have come to truly enjoy the many things I can eat.  What helped me best was finding a number of different recipes and quick food selections to have on hand at all times, so when I reached for something, it would satisfy both my hunger and my craving.

I always have a bag of macadamia nuts on hand, and will pour 1/4 cup into a little bowl and slowly nibble on those as a snack.  When I buy celery, I wash, dry, and trim all pieces, place them in a baggie and then I can pull one or two pieces out of the fridge at any time, and slather on some cream cheese or peanut butter.  Great snack!  I buy pre-sliced salami to have on hand.  I like to have several slices with some cheddar cheese in the evening as a snack.  (Can you tell that I'm a snacker?  These choices replace chips or crackers for me.)

As time has gone on, I find that I usually have breakfast, a snack around lunch time, and then dinner.  I don't usually have a full lunch anymore, and I don't miss it. 

I have had to be more organized in order to stick to the LCHF way of eating.  I don't like grocery shopping, so often I might find myself running low on food but still not motivated to get to the store.  Pre-diagnosis, that would often mean I would pick up something pre-made or fast food.  Clearly not a good thing when you are diabetic.  So now I try to at least always have eggs and bacon in the fridge.  If all else fails, I can whip myself up a quick scrambled egg, topped with shredded cheese or avocado slices, and a few pieces of bacon.  It makes an easy and satisfying meal (morning, noon or night), with a cup of fresh brewed coffee on the side.  I also try to always have a couple of cans of tuna in the pantry, and I almost always have onion, dill relish, mustard, etc. in the fridge.  I like to make a tuna salad and fill an avocado half with the tuna.  I'll even have a piece of celery on the side, filled with cream cheese. 

Change is hard.  Congratulations on bringing your numbers down from their original high.   Changing habits is hard, but I've found doing it a step at a time can make the transition from one habit to a newer, better-for-you habit, makes the process easier.

[cdncatlover]

Hi Sue,

Welcome aboard, I am also a Type 2.  I was diagnosed over 9 years ago.  I started follow LCHF on 5/1/2015 and it has changed my life for the better in so many ways.

Can  you tell us what a typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner has been for you since you began.....

If you are still having cravings I would guess you are not getting enough fat to replace the carbs you have given up.  If you are trying to do low carb without increasing your fats sufficiently, you will feel hungry and crave carbs.  " A common mistake this is!"   

Also, be sure to increase your salt intake.  When you go LCHF your body dumps a lot of excess water (are you losing weight?).   If you are losing water you also are losing electrolytes, so add salt.  Common feelings when your salt gets low is light headedness, or weakness/sleepy/tired (happened to me every afternoon for a time, until I started increasing my salt intake).  I added salt to everything I ate, that you would put salt on...like eggs, beef, vegies, etc.

It is hard to pin down what other possibilities may be impacting your desire to have carbs....but a key point....I bet it is something with what your eating or not eating,  not lack of will power on your Part!  So soldier on and you will figure this out....

So share your food routine and see what others can come up with.

Good Luck

Firstly, I'd like to make it clear that my A1C of 9.4 is not indicitive of me eating LCHF. That is a result of when I was eating extremely BAD! Eating all sorts of carbs; breads, chips, chocolate. I can't seem to do this properly and stay on program.

An example of me doing LCHF is as follows:

Breakfast: 2 eggs, fried, scrambled or made into an omelet (usually fried) with 2-3 slices of bacon. Mushrooms if I have an omelet.
Lunch: large romaine salad with cucumber, walnuts and some sort of protein in it, all smothered in lots of full fat dressing with very little carbs.
Dinner: Usually chicken thigh (skin on), steak, pork chop, burger, etc with lots of very LC veggies with lots of butter on them.
Snack: dill pickles or celery with either full fat creme cheese or peanut butter. I don't enjoy celery plain. I also eat almonds and salted cashews.

Quite frankly, I have no idea how much calories, protein, carbs, fats I'm eating. I don't know how to figure it out and I really despise having to do math calculations in order to eat.

Losing weight? I WISH!!!!! I can't seem to lose any weight while eating HF.  It is downright discouraging and depressing as I need to lose  a LOT of weight. 

I feel so stupid that I can't seem to do this right. I just feel like I don.t know what to do.   

Thanks for any help that can be given. 

[Shanny]

When the scales don't reflect any weight loss, the next move is a tape measure. Very often you're losing inches, even though the pounds haven't melted away quite yet. And I assure you, weight loss will come . . . our bodies just don't accept change very well, and they can be balky about adjusting! You seem to be doing it very well - I don't see anything wrong with what you're eating.

I'm no good at the computations either, but I have my goals plugged in at MyFitnessPal so all I have to do is enter what and how much I've eaten, and the software does the rest. Because I've told it what I want in terms of calories, carbs, protein & fat, it keeps a running total telling me how much I have left for the day, or in some cases, when I've gone over . . . 

I hope you don't continue feeling stupid or thinking you can't do it right. I'm just as bad and I also have a LOT of weight I could lose (b'lieve me, my avatar is a very accurate depiction!  ) I was really strict in the beginning, but just can't seem to summon the same motivation anymore. I just know LCHF works, so I keep plugging along, and as the others have said, that wagon keeps stopping to let me climb back on. We're all in this together, and coming here every day really helps me focus. And one of these days I'm gonna get tired of scuffing my arthritic knees every time I fall off the wagon, and stay on it! 

[skb]

Hello Sue,

I remember that you were a very recent newcomer even at the other place. Given that & looking at your food chart, I'm pretty certain that your next 3 monthly A1c (if Dr orders) will be much lower.

JFYI and if you want to calculate the caloreis in food, this is how I'd go about it. (1) Weigh the food item (2) Determine it's nutritional value, meaning the content of carbs, proteins & fats in it. You could do this using several sites on the internet. (3) Each gram of Carbs & Protein provides 4 cal & each gram of fat provides 9 cal, so multiply C & P with 4 & fats with 9.

To be firmly ketogenic try to keep your caloric ratios as Carbs 10%, Proteins 15% & Fats 75%. Your food chart looks pretty close, so it's not essential you take up this project immediately. You can do it whenever you feel up to it.       

[Timewise]

cdncatlover.....Hello and welcome

Reading over your information I think you have done very well for the short time you have been focusing on LCHF.   I have been on the LCHF protocol since 05/01/2015!  When I began I had an A1c 7.9, I weighed 320lbs at 6'2" and I wore a pant size of 52", I had borderline high blood pressure and I was taking 2,000mg of metformin daily, and 126u of Lantus insulin daily, and 20mg of a Statin drug, and a high blood pressure drug.

By the end of July I had dropped 40lbs, my A1c was at 5.8, my blood pressure had dropped to 120/80, my cholesterol was perfect for a diabetic.  I had reduced my Lantus injections down to 26u, and stopped taking statin drugs. 

As of last week I had lost another 10lbs and my waste is now 46".  The loss in inches has been more consistent that my loss in pounds. My blood pressure was down to 100/65 and my doctor will probably take me off if my blood pressure medication if this continues for another 4 months.

As I recall my weight loss took a while to get going and seemed to be tied to when my blood sugars began to stabilize over a period of weeks.   If I slipped up and got my BS up a bit, my weight loss would slow or even stop.   So be patient and diligent about testing and controlling your BS!

I did notice that you have peanut butter on you list of things to eat.  I have not found a peanut butter that I can eat, as a root crop they carry to many carbs for me, according to my meter.  You might want to test that to your meter if your have not already done this, be sure to test at 1hr, 2hr. and 3hr after your first bite of peanut butter, sometimes it is delayed.   Also cashews are really high carb food!  Even almonds are borderline for me.  I eat Pecans and Walnuts, I buy them in the shell at Nuts.com, 5 lbs. at a time.  Great snack and the time it take to crack them slows down my munchies...!

Stay the course and you will get the results you are looking for,

Good Luck