[moon]

I've been a carb person all my 60 years - rice, bread, fruit are the biggest ones, but plenty of others right on their heels.

When others would go on the Atkins diet, the idea of it made me sick. I eat some meat, like cheese, but only with carb as the vehicle. My proportions would be 3/4 carb to 1/4 protein. Dinner would be a bowl of risotto. I like vegetables okay, but don't crave them - and certainly rice was always the mainstay of my stir-frys. I love sandwiches - with healthy fillings! - and salads wrapped in tortillas. And fruit. I could live on a tropical island with nothing but fruit trees! I weep for fruit (and I don't mean just 1/2 a mango.)

The last 2 weeks I have eaten eggs, chicken, bacon, cheese, veggies - and I'm sick of them. I hate this diet. I think I need to start cooking fish. The foods I used to like are not interesting or feel too heavy without the carbs.

I'm sure many/most of you went through this - but for those who weren't big meat eaters and existed mostly on carbs - how long did it take to adjust?

 

[joe_h]

I love bread and pasta and miss eating them as much as I would like. some days are harder than otehrs. I've found that it helps to plan ahead what I'm going to eat so I'm not tempted by heavy carb foods or I can at least plan how much I'm going to have and how much I will need to compensate for it w/ meds or additional exercise.
and there are always altnerative like some pastas like Dreamfield brand are good are low in carbs. some here have recommended sprout breads

 

[Shanny]

I went through a long spell of trying to find substitutes for my brown rice, homemade bread, potatoes (can ye tell I'm Irish?!

) & all the wonderful carbs I enjoyed for 63 years . . . how about MILK?! I thought I might die without milk!

And I HAVE found a few acceptable substitutes - acceptable to my meter first, but also to my palate. I now use a low-carb high-fiber flour tortilla so I can still have my wraps/burritos/quesadillas/etc.; the multi-grain thin buns marketed by several bakeries (Nature's Own, EarthGrains, Arnold, to name a few I've used - but watch carefully; multi-grain buns don't spike me much, but the whole wheat & others do). I can eat WASA light rye crispbread if I don't get carried away & for chips I eat tons of cheese crisps - they're great just plain or with dip - especially guacamole.

I still miss a bowl of chewy brown rice with nothing but butter/salt/pepper . . . and I still miss good fresh hot bread from the oven with a smear of dairy butter. I could prob'ly sit here & continue to dredge up memories, but for the most part I've gotten used to it.

I use unsweetened almond milk instead of cows milk. I can handle a small sweet potato in lieu of baked russet potatoes. I dearly love that I can eat bacon to my heart's content (well - within REASON! ) It has helped me to not restrict fats in my diet, so I eat a lot of avocados/nuts/etc., & I enjoy pure dairy cream in my coffee. I stopped buying fat-free or reduced-fat products, because the fats are replaced with carbs, which hurt me far more than the fats would have. So all the butter/sour cream/mayonnaise/etc. products I use are full-fat versions (a fringe benefit of this low-carb/high fat diet is detailed in this post).

With summer in the offing, I even have a zero-carb recipe for an acceptable margarita . . . just use Fresca for the mix! :cheer2:
Do use your meter to full advantage, moon . . . keep testing things, and you may find that you can tolerate some fruits in smaller portions - many people do. I make a cranberry relish with cranberries/oranges/pecans/pineapple & unsweetened shredded coconut . . . that goofy recipe is so high fiber it almost DROPS my bg!

I've rattled on long enough, and I acknowledge that it IS hard, but it gets easier. The cravings do subside. We're here for you & nearly all of us have suffered these carb losses . . . (((Moon)))

 

[breezeonby]

I've been a carb person all my 60 years - rice, bread, fruit are the biggest ones, but plenty of others right on their heels.

When others would go on the Atkins diet, the idea of it made me sick. I eat some meat, like cheese, but only with carb as the vehicle. My proportions would be 3/4 carb to 1/4 protein. Dinner would be a bowl of risotto. I like vegetables okay, but don't crave them - and certainly rice was always the mainstay of my stir-frys. I love sandwiches - with healthy fillings! - and salads wrapped in tortillas. And fruit. I could live on a tropical island with nothing but fruit trees! I weep for fruit (and I don't mean just 1/2 a mango.)

The last 2 weeks I have eaten eggs, chicken, bacon, cheese, veggies - and I'm sick of them. I hate this diet. I think I need to start cooking fish. The foods I used to like are not interesting or feel too heavy without the carbs.

I'm sure many/most of you went through this - but for those who weren't big meat eaters and existed mostly on carbs - how long did it take to adjust?

When it comes down as to how many carbs that you can eat, you will have to turn to other food options, such as meat, cheese in order to feel full and just like any other change to your diet, it will take you some time to get used to the changes. This took almost a year to turn to proteins and fats. I still have to watch how much I eat because my lipid levels are high and I just have to be careful with meat and eggs, cheese and full fats. I wasn't a big meat eater, once I figured out that certain foods didn't raise my blood sugar I got used to the change. When I have bread or potatoes, they are white, but they are not something that I eat often. But I try to not make a big deal out of it. I probably will take another year or maybe longer to find acceptable foods. If you can't handle all of this change at once, keep changing foods as often as you feel able. If you like whole grain products, that is great. I have never been able to eat whole grain bread or sweet potatoes. This is why bread and potatoes very limited. Try and read what interests you on the diet section, search what you want to eat and perhaps you can find some acceptable changes. Good Luck!

 

[jwags]

We are very similar. Before diabetes I was a carb- a-holic. I ate brown rice, brown pasta, quinoa, whole grain breads and pasta and lots of fruit. I thought I was eating healthy. Little did I know my D body couldn't handle all those carbs. When I started low carb I went cold turkey. I think it took at least 6 months or so to be happy with my food choices. I finally realised instead of avoiding certain foods I needed to find subs. I searched out online recipe sites to make snacks, pancakes, waffles, muffins and cookies. Check out the recipe forum here , there are tons of great low carb recipes that don't impact your bg. Also check out Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes - Home It is one of my favorites. Also Dana Carpender's Low Carb Cookbooks, show you how to make lots of comfort foods but very low carb. I don't consider this a diet but a lifestyle that I need to do to maintain good bgs. So I am going to eat well and I do. Saturday I made Tamale Pie and last night I made Sweet Potato/ButternutSquash Bisque with sausage. Very satisfying and I never want to go back to my old way of eating.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

i was a carb fiend before Diabetes, now since i am sick, i am a carb nazi.

Get used to it, or:

- go blind
- lose limbs
- both
- die
- all of the above

does it suck? absolutely. but so does Diabetes

 

[moon]

Thanks guys - it so helps to hear your experiences, how long it took you to adjust, strategies - lots of good info and I've come back to read your posts several times when I'm feeling particularly down about this. I have to be patient - I'm only 3 weeks out from diagnosis and it is a huge seismic shift.

My strategy has been to go low carb =almost= cold turkey vs searching out alternatives - at least until I get my bs under better control. I dislike artificial sweeteners (tried several recently and couldn't get past one sip) and so thought I'd work on adjusting to unsweetened things vs forcing myself to like sweeteners. And just a tad of something I like right now is worse than nothing. The only compromise I've made is in fruit - I have an orange a day, about 1/2 in the AM w/ breakfast and then the other 1/2 throughout the day - and this has taken unbelievable will power. Oh, the other carb cheat is a huge mug of coffee every 3 days (vs 2/day) with 2 measured tsp of sugar. On those days I skip my orange. I'll gradually reduce that, but am a coffee freak (roast my own) and so far haven't seen a spike from it so sneak it in Trading those 2 tsp for a healthier carb will come in time.

My problem right now is dreading to eat. I have to force myself because nothing is appealing. I figure that's okay for the time being - as long as I make sure to snack throughout the day and keep my calories relatively consistent, I'll keep losing weight which I surely need to do. I gained 75 lbs the last 4 years and have lost about 20 of it this year.

Anyway - thanks much for your stories and experiences - they're invaluable.