[breezeonby]

Hi everyone. I wanted to get some opinions on skipping meals. I don't punch a time clock and really don't have much of a schedule. I get up when I want to, so I often skip breakfast. When I skip breakfast I then eat brunch. I don't have a set time that I eat dinner either. I only eat when I am hungry. There are many times when dinner is cheese and crackers. My doctor told me to try and eat at least 3 times per day but that is a struggle for me. I have gastrointestinal issues and there are some days when I have no appetite at all. It is not fun to eat when you are not hungry. Even off limit foods don't appeal to me. I live with my Mother and she eats on her own schedule. We seldom eat at the same time. I have always had trouble eating at the right times even when I punched a time clock. Is this harmful?:hungry:

 

[Shanny]

That's kinda the way I go too, Breeze. I usually sleep in until after 11am, and then one of my morning meds goes down on an empty stomach, so I have to give it time to hit bottom before I eat anything. That puts my first "meal" about noon, and often I just eat an avocado or a grapefruit with my big pint mug of coffee/cream. If I want a little more, I may fix some link sausages with a fried egg. Or I may have some Heloise olive spread on a cheese crisp. Whatever strikes my fancy is fair game.

I may eat a coupla mouthfuls midafternoon (cheese crisp, almonds/raisins, beef stick, whatever), but our normal supper hour is about 5, so I eat a normal meal then. The biggest difference between now and pre-diagnosis, is that metformin curbs my appetite, so portion control is not EVEN a problem. We use sandwich plates instead of dinner plates, so a small meal looks like a lotta food, and we both get along just fine on less.

 

[diabetes86]

I too do not live by the clock. Breakfast is between 6:00AM and 1:00 PM lunch from 10:30am to 6:00pm and dinner between 5:00 Pm and 12: midnight.

By the way Grapefruit does not mix well with many meds. It took me a long time to find out why. Apparently it can cause the meds to work too good... sometimes, and not at other times. makes meds inconsistent.

 

[Shanny]

The statin drugs are not compatible with grapefruit, for one.

I continue to eat a little grapefruit, despite using a fairly low dose of lovastatin. I just eat half a grapefruit at a time and I eat it opposite the time of day that I take the drug. But my doc knows I eat a little grapefruit now & then, and I don't use grapefruit juice at all.

 

[breezeonby]

I too do not live by the clock. Breakfast is between 6:00AM and 1:00 PM lunch from 10:30am to 6:00pm and dinner between 5:00 Pm and 12: midnight.

By the way Grapefruit does not mix well with many meds. It took me a long time to find out why. Apparently it can cause the meds to work too good... sometimes, and not at other times. makes meds inconsistent.

Thanks for sharing your meal times. Now I do not feel like such an odd ball. I usually eat dinner between 8PM & 11PM. I would love to eat 3 times per day at regular times, this way I would be able to test at regular times as well. The only thing that is constant is my bedtime dose of Lantus which I take every evening at 9PM. I have read that it is a good habit to take your bedtime dose of Lantus at the same time everyday.

I read the same thing about grapefruit and medications. I don't like grapefruit anyway so I don't have to worry about that. Good point though.

 

[onaughmae]

My eating schedules are so weird. Part of the problem is that I work 12 hour shifts at night. Half the time I on a day schedule and half the time at night. So I just try to space my meals out throughout whatever time I am awake. I toss in a small snack if I need to since I go for long periods between meals sometimes. I take my Lantus at the same time everyday. It doesnt matter if you eat or not when you take it. The same for my Metformin. I just take it at the same times everyday regardless of when I have eaten last. I take my Humalog when I eat. If I skipped a meal I just dont take it then.

Cheers
Pam

 

[stripes]

My doctor wishes I stuck to a schedule, but he understands that life gets in the way.

When I'm working, my breakfast is usually 6.30-7.30, and when I'm not, it could be from anytime until midday or later!

Lunch again varies, sometimes as late as 5pm for me although that's pretty rare.

Dinner anytime from 4-11pm!

So breeze, you are certainly not alone with not sticking to a schedule. Schedules take the fun out of life if you have too many!!

Oooh forgot to mention, if I skip a main meal when I have to inject my levemir with it, I just take the Levemir

 

[Anthill]

Control.

This is what I do as well as control is doing this as this makes you happy and no craving for food. So we are well in control, It's very easy to say no to very desirable foods.
I would wake up say 10AM and I just don't have a desire for any food as like today I ate at 4PM and that's all. I see that many health professionals say eat at times three times a day as we do listen to our body and say otherwise. We may say if we were to do some physical activity then I would say I would have an interesting meal.

I would think that this is quite normal as we are very much in very good control!!

 

[newbjules]

Glad to see I'm not alone

I was diagnosed less than a month ago and I have the hardest time with breakfast! I'm usually very tired so I sleep in to last moment and then on the go with the kids off to school and me to work. Then get busy at work and forget to eat. Today I checked my BSL and it was 100 at noon after not eating since 8 pm the night before. Probably not good.

 

[Shanny]

Welcome, Jules . . . 100 is a pretty remarkable fasting number, especially for a 16-hour fast! I'm happy ANY time I clock 100! What are some of your other numbers - like your A1c, or what your diagnosis was based upon? Do you take any meds to help control your diabetes?

What helps me with breakfast is to have some good low-carb foods already in the fridge or freezer - then I can just grab a couple of already-cooked link sausages or whatever it is, for kind of a snack-breakfast. It is good to eat a little bite of SOMEthing when you get up - just so your body knows it doesn't have to manufacture glucose of its own & dump it into your bloodstream without your permission. I even used to keep beef sticks on the nightstand, and I'd wake up, test, eat a beef stick & then go on about my morning chores!

But it takes a little getting used to - there are so many things to learn and so many adjustments to make when we're first diagnosed. Most of us have been through it too - just like you are. So if it helps to talk about it - we're all here for you.

take care,

 

[jsntay]

I am glad I am not the only one skipping meals. I was recently laid off and now tend to keep some odd hours. It was hard enough eating right when I was working, breakfast being the worst meal since I could never seem to get up early enough. Most of the time I did at least try have a cup of yogurt. Way back when I was on Amaryl, I ate more regular to keep from going low which I did alot. Thank goodness I was able to come off of it.

 

[newbjules]

Well I was considering that the Dr. sent me for the 2 hr glucose tolerance test based on a 103 initial fasting result and my results of that were 218 and she diagnosed me based on that. I tracked for 2 weeks with following the diet she gave me and was still ranging 150-190. I have not had a A1c test yet and only taking 500mg of Metformin and 10mg of Lisinopril. My BP was ranging 160-170/100-112. I have PCOS also. Still navigating through all of this and learning. Sausage and beef sticks were on my not allowed list due to high triglycerides and weight gain I have experienced. I have only been on the meds for 3 weeks and showing some improvement. Not always in range but at least I have already lost 8 lbs.

 

[onaughmae]

Well I was considering that the Dr. sent me for the 2 hr glucose tolerance test based on a 103 initial fasting result and my results of that were 218 and she diagnosed me based on that. I tracked for 2 weeks with following the diet she gave me and was still ranging 150-190. I have not had a A1c test yet and only taking 500mg of Metformin and 10mg of Lisinopril. My BP was ranging 160-170/100-112. I have PCOS also. Still navigating through all of this and learning. Sausage and beef sticks were on my not allowed list due to high triglycerides and weight gain I have experienced. I have only been on the meds for 3 weeks and showing some improvement. Not always in range but at least I have already lost 8 lbs.

Good job showing improvement. It can be hard to make all these changes. What sort of diet did they give you? Have they talked to you about carb counting? Being very careful with your carb intake is going to make the most difference in your readings. DO you have a followup soon at your doctor? You might still need some work with carb counting and maybe even an increase in metformin. 500mg a day is a fairly low dose. It does take metformin a little while to build up to therapeutic level in your body. Maybe if you could give us some idea of a menu that you follow we might be able to help out until you go back to the doctor

How long have you been on that dose of lisinopril? Your BP readings are still quite high...especially your systolic (the second number). You might want to ask about that when you see them again also.
I dont know if you are exercising at all right now. Even some light exercise is going to help your BP come down and it will benefit your blood sugar as well. Just be careful its not always a good idea to work out when your blood sugar is very high...it can sometimes make it higher. So, check it before you exercise would be a good idea

Good luck and let us know how you are doing!