[bigrosiegreenbaum]

Hi there,

Can I get some input on my first full day of testing? I'd like to know if these numbers are halfway decent or if I'm still not eating right..

6:40 am tested: 155

7:00 Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 strips bacon, half multi-grain english muffin w/ pat of Smart balance, 1/4 cup strawberries w/ dollop of whipped topping

9:15 am tested: 173

11:00am Snack: Emerald packet of Cocoa Roast almonds (.063 oz)

1:15pm tested: 142

2:00pm Lunch: 1 can tuna w/ mayo, salad w/ vinegar

4:00pm tested: 129
Snack: 1/4 cup sugar-free pudding

6:00pm tested: 154

7:40pm
Dinner: Salad greens w/ chicken strips, 2 tbs. dressing, 2 celery stalks w/ Philly cream cheese

9:40pm tested: 148

How am I doing so far? I'm going to try breakfast tomorrow without the strawberries and whipped cream. out:

 

[Shanny]

Rosie? Your after-breakfast spike was caused by the half-a-muffin - not the strawberries & cream. I'd bet my paid-off house & 20 acres on it. Try the exact same meal tomorrow WITH the strawberries/cream but WITHOUT the muffin. Anything made from grains is a nightmare for many of us.

Otherwise, not too bad for your first day . . . be sure you're using full-fat mayo & cream cheese - the low or no-fat versions have additional carbs added to replace the fat that's been removed.

Are those cocoa roasted almonds to-die-for??!!!

 

[bigrosiegreenbaum]

Rosie? Your after-breakfast spike was caused by the half-a-muffin - not the strawberries & cream. I'd bet my paid-off house & 20 acres on it. Try the exact same meal tomorrow WITH the strawberries/cream but WITHOUT the muffin. Anything made from grains is a nightmare for many of us.

Otherwise, not too bad for your first day . . . be sure you're using full-fat mayo & cream cheese - the low or no-fat versions have additional carbs added to replace the fat that's been removed.

Are those cocoa roasted almonds to-die-for??!!!

____________________________________________
Hi Shanny,

I have to give up my muffin? Oh man, it's my only bread! Okay, I'll give it a shot, but I'm secretly hoping it's the strawberries I have to give up. I love those almonds - only sorta close to the real thing, but heck, I'll take any kind of chocolate I can get my hands on that won't kill me! And yes, I'm full-fatting everything, except the whipped topping and the milk I used for the pudding is fat-free (before I knew about Dr. Keys )

By the way, I DESPISE doing these tests - it takes me a solid 10 minutes to do just one, keep getting error messages. I swear, if diabetes were right in front of me, I'd give it a hotfoot and shortsheet its' bed!

 

[diabetes86]

It is carbs that raise BG.

Carbs are;

grains... breads, pasta, rice
most fruit
ALL sugars

how high and how fast your BG rises depends on how much carbs you eat.
and what is with the carbs.

fat slows carb absorption, so do proteins.

test on the side of your finger, less nerves so less pain.
wash and dry hands before testing.

 

[bigrosiegreenbaum]

It is carbs that raise BG.

Carbs are;

grains... breads, pasta, rice
most fruit
ALL sugars

how high and how fast your BG rises depends on how much carbs you eat.
and what is with the carbs.

fat slows carb absorption, so do proteins.

test on the side of your finger, less nerves so less pain.
wash and dry hands before testing.

___________________________________________

Actually, I can't seem to get a bubble on the side of the finger, have to do it on the pad. My hands are not very steady, so I keep getting errors.

 

[breezeonby]

___________________________________________

Actually, I can't seem to get a bubble on the side of the finger, have to do it on the pad. My hands are not very steady, so I keep getting errors.

Practice makes perfect!

 

[breezeonby]

Hi there,

Can I get some input on my first full day of testing? I'd like to know if these numbers are halfway decent or if I'm still not eating right..

6:40 am tested: 155

7:00 Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 strips bacon, half multi-grain english muffin w/ pat of Smart balance, 1/4 cup strawberries w/ dollop of whipped topping

9:15 am tested: 173

11:00am Snack: Emerald packet of Cocoa Roast almonds (.063 oz)

1:15pm tested: 142

2:00pm Lunch: 1 can tuna w/ mayo, salad w/ vinegar

4:00pm tested: 129
Snack: 1/4 cup sugar-free pudding

6:00pm tested: 154

7:40pm
Dinner: Salad greens w/ chicken strips, 2 tbs. dressing, 2 celery stalks w/ Philly cream cheese

9:40pm tested: 148

How am I doing so far? I'm going to try breakfast tomorrow without the strawberries and whipped cream. out:

Most everything looks fine, your before meal readings need to come down a little. You are going to be surprised at the change of your breakfast without the muffin. Note that cream cheese had some carbs in it and I don't know what kind of salad dressing you are using but most salad dressing has carbs, just wanted you to know. Also sugar free pudding has carbs in it, just check the nutrition label. What is your bedtime reading for tonight?

 

[Shanny]

One other thing when you're just getting started . . . it'll be better to test ONE hour after your first bite in order to find out just how high your spike is.

I know the "experts" say at two hours, but right now, if you intend to eat to your meter, you need to know which foods raise you too high, and the only way to find that is testing at one hour.

 

[bigrosiegreenbaum]

Most everything looks fine, your before meal readings need to come down a little. You are going to be surprised at the change of your breakfast without the muffin. Note that cream cheese had some carbs in it and I don't know what kind of salad dressing you are using but most salad dressing has carbs, just wanted you to know. Also sugar free pudding has carbs in it, just check the nutrition label. What is your bedtime reading for tonight?

__________________________________________

The dressing I used is Kraft Caesar Vinagarette, I believe it has 3 carbs. Normally I use red wine vinegar on my salads and this dressing I brush on chicken and asparagus while they're cooking - I'll probably stop doing that since it doesn't seem to add much flavor anyway. The cream cheese only had 1 carb, probably used 2 servings.

I didn't do a reading before bed last night, but when I got up this morning it was 154. That had to be the pudding I had for a last snack. I'm going to cut out the bedtime snack from now on.

I just had breakfast without the muffin, so I'll check back with a number for that.

 

[bigrosiegreenbaum]

One other thing when you're just getting started . . . it'll be better to test ONE hour after your first bite in order to find out just how high your spike is.

I know the "experts" say at two hours, but right now, if you intend to eat to your meter, you need to know which foods raise you too high, and the only way to find that is testing at one hour.

_______________________________________________

I'll start doing that. The only problem is an hour after I eat - even two hours - I might be in a place where testing isn't even possible - like on a moving train!

 

[bigrosiegreenbaum]

Oh my lord!

One other thing when you're just getting started . . . it'll be better to test ONE hour after your first bite in order to find out just how high your spike is.

I know the "experts" say at two hours, but right now, if you intend to eat to your meter, you need to know which foods raise you too high, and the only way to find that is testing at one hour.

______________________________________

It's been an hour since breakfast and I got a 200 reading! Don't know why - I had two eggs, replaced the bacon with 3 sausage links and skipped the muffin, just had the strawberries with cream. I don't know what else to cut out.

 

[bigrosiegreenbaum]

One other thing when you're just getting started . . . it'll be better to test ONE hour after your first bite in order to find out just how high your spike is.

I know the "experts" say at two hours, but right now, if you intend to eat to your meter, you need to know which foods raise you too high, and the only way to find that is testing at one hour.

_________________________________________

Shanny, I tested an hour after breakfast and got a 200. I tested an hour after that and got a 123 - close to normal. In between that hour, I walked about 45 minutes. Now, is it normal to spike that high after hour 1 and then come down after hour 2?

 

[beefy]

_________________________________________

Shanny, I tested an hour after breakfast and got a 200. I tested an hour after that and got a 123 - close to normal. In between that hour, I walked about 45 minutes. Now, is it normal to spike that high after hour 1 and then come down after hour 2?

It's very normal when exercising ... I always find that exercise will quickly bring down a high spike.

 

[bigrosiegreenbaum]

It's very normal when exercising ... I always find that exercise will quickly bring down a high spike.

_____________________________________________

But with the breakfast I had - 2 eggs, 3 sausage links, and 1/4 strawberries and dollop of cream (I left off my usual half-muffin) - should it have spiked THAT high - from a 154 to 200?

 

[Shanny]

But with the breakfast I had - 2 eggs, 3 sausage links, and 1/4 strawberries and dollop of cream (I left off my usual half-muffin) - should it have spiked THAT high - from a 154 to 200?

Yes, grains can do that to us. Anything made with grain - wheat, oats, rice, corn, barley, etc., and whole grains right along with flour - are persistent offenders in the diabetes wars. If the strawberries were really sweet, they prob'ly contributed some, but the worst is grain.

 

[bigrosiegreenbaum]

Yes, grains can do that to us. Anything made with grain - wheat, oats, rice, corn, barley, etc., and whole grains right along with flour - are persistent offenders in the diabetes wars. If the strawberries were really sweet, they prob'ly contributed some, but the worst is grain.

_________________________________________

Wow. So, should I really eliminate the half muffin altogether or just have it occasionally?

 

[Shanny]

Wow. So, should I really eliminate the half muffin altogether or just have it occasionally?

If I were you, I'd eliminate it entirely for now. When you get stabilized at your target levels, you could try adding back & see if it might be acceptable once in (great) awhile. Or you could find a substitute. When I finally discovered I could tolerate thin buns without spiking to the moon, I occasionally toast HALF a thin bun.

The other part of this equation is that we often have higher carb sensitivity earlier in the day. If you were to eat these same foods as your evening meal, you might not spike so much. Some of us eat literally NO carbs in the morning, but can handle a few more later in the day.

Your mission right now is to lower your blood sugar. After you get under control, you can worry about the long-term menus, but right now you need to get those numbers down.

 

[moon]

Yeah, I agree with Shanny about getting the numbers down and stabilizing first.

Most here have given up fruit except berries, but I'm hoping to keep a bit of fruit in my diet, like a citrus or apple every other day. One morning I had 1/2 a grapefruit and spiked about 75 points. So much for that! Now I find I can't have any carbs for breakfast - it sets me up badly for the day if I do. My suggestion would be to leave off the berries and breakfast carbs for a while and see what happens.

At this point I can have an orange with dinner and my spikes take me to <120 and are down at 2 hours. Time of day does matter for me too.

 

[Chesney]

Some sausage has sugar in it too...same with bacon