Very recently my type 2 diabetes went from borderline to YIKES! In an attempt to correct this, I am trying to cut carbs out altogether. I find this just about impossible. I mean besides being Puerto Rican and not eating rice. EVERYTHING contains carbs. Even my “safe” Greek yogurt and trail mix breakfast!
Everything has sugar and/or carbs in it. Or it is very high in fat. I suppose I could eat nothing but very lean meat and green veggies all day, every day. But I’m trying to be realistic.
So far this week I’ve had boiled eggs and bacon for breakfast, a roast beef and provolone hero with horseradish mayo-- remove the bread and chicken breast seared with butter and olive oil, topped with olive paste with a side of brussels sprouts swimming in butter.
This morning I had a McDonald’s breakfast burrito-- which broke the no carb rule because it’s a wrap and I ate that bitch. And now I’m munching on roast pork slices with fried onions. Tonight will probably be tuna fish salad with eggs and mayo but no bread.
I only write my menu for the last two days to illustrate my problem. I cannot escape carbs and everything delicious is full of fat. Is no carb, low fat possible? O.K., I’m sure it’s possible but is it do-able for your average person who doesn’t have time to buy specialty foods?
Why are you trying low fat? Low fat AND low/no carb is technically doable, but I’m not sure why one would want to do it. If you’re looking for weight loss, one or the other does it for most people.
Personally, I have better luck with low carb, and I don’t much limit the fat I eat other than not going crazy overboard. Portion size seems more important IMO - if you eat a reasonable portion size and limit the carbs, what would also limiting the fat accomplish?
No, I don’t think it is doable for the average person.
And what Athena says…
It sounds like you are assuming fat is bad. Not all fat is bad for you - some of it is good for you.
Are you following what your doctor says to eat? No offense but it sounds to me like you are either making some wild assumptions - or severely overreacting to a change in your diabetes.
I think most people would be hard pressed to get more than 40-50% of their diet in protein - which is what you seem to be trying to do.
Well, my low carb diet was just so. . . so. . . greasy! Delicious but bacon and dripping butter and fried onions and mayo three times in two days-- it seemed excessive.
But I think you are right, Athena. No carb, low fat is close to impossible. Heck, I don’t think I’ll be able to do no carb as I just found out, dairy is carbolicious.
Out of curiosity, wouldn’t doing something like this present health risks, if you really tried to do it? Wouldn’t such high levels of protein be rough on your kidneys (or is it liver?) and would the dangers of “rabbit starvation” kick in?
My doctor told me to cut out carbs. She said, “Potatoes, rice, corn, pasta-- don’t eat those. Everyone tells you about sugar but carbohydrates are also sugar waiting to happen.”
In two months time I see if my new medication and eating habits have helped.
Well, yes. This is excessive. How about cutting out the “swimming in butter” or fried foods or mayo. Those are all unnecessary parts of a diet. Lean meats and whole vegetables are what you should aim for, whole grains rather than starches like rice and white bread. You can do low carb and something lower in fat than what you’re doing, I don’t know why all your vegetable have to be swimming in butter or fried.
You might want to give the doc a call to clarify. There are lots of “good” carbs, even for diabetics. Vegetables have carbs, whole grains have carbs, fruit has carb, and (like you said) dairy has carbs, and all have a place in a healthy diet. Doc may have just been thinking that you might only associate carbs with sugar, and wanted you to stay away from other “bad” carbs like white bread, pasta, and the other things you mention.
If your food is greasy, just cut down on the fat, no need to go low-fat as well as low/no carb. Put some butter on your vegetables, but a reasonable amount, and don’t also put cheese on them. Have some salad dressing on your salad, but put a light amount on. Have scrambled eggs with lean ham mixed in instead of fried eggs and bacon.
I’ve made the mistake before of trying to be too dogmatic about what I eat, and going all-out no carb or no fat or whatever, and it always backfires. Food simply doesn’t taste good that way, and really, there’s no need. A balanced diet is best, even for diabetics, and most people can have a healthy, balanced diet with food that tastes good AND a good A1c.
Check out the South Beach Diet. It is low(er) in carbs with an emphasis on lower fat. You do spend a ton of time cooking and eating veggies.
The Atkins plan doesn’t limit calories but does encourage veggies. It’s just assumed that you’d be so full on high-fat meats that you wouldn’t want as many veggies as you find in South Beach.
You don’t really want a “no carb” diet - you want something low in carbs, where the carbs you do get are from veggies and low-glycemic fruits, and eventually whole grains.
Start reading up, sounds like you have a little to learn. Atkins is very easy to follow, science-wise, but you might enjoy SB more.
It’s possible. I went on a low-fat, low-carb diet (I still ate pretty much any whole fresh fruit I wanted including some high in carbs). Cutting out all rice, potatoes, pasta and such is difficult but doable. Sticking mainly to tuna, other white fish, chicken and turkey as your only meats still provides some variety but it does get tiring. It’s possible though, and you’ll lose a hell of a lot of weight. I wasn’t even all that heavy and I lost about 30 lbs in just a few months. (I was also working out like hell though and taking protein supplements).
Seconding South Beach – it’s very easy to follow (you don’t count anything, just eat from a list of approved foods) and very easy to stick with. You basically eat lean meat and fish, eggs, all the non-starchy vegetables you want, some starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes in measured quantities, legumes and whole grains, low-fat dairy, fruit, and nuts. Sounds pretty healthy, right? You’re basically avoiding refined sugar and flour, and limiting your portions of things like potatoes and whole grain bread. Here’s the official website with the list of approved foods.
It’s free, you don’t have to go to meetings, you don’t count anything, you make your own food but it’s easy to eat at restaurants and still stick to the plan…it’s pretty great. I lost 30 pounds in four months eating like this.
Did your doctor mean for you to cut out fruits, vegetables and whole grains also or just white carbs like potatoes, white bread, pasta and sweets?
Glucose is what your body and brain runs on. Carbs are a necessary part of the diet, but you can control the quality of the carbohydrates you eat. Fat is also necessary and again, it’s a matter of quality. Cut down on saturated and trans fats and try to eat more mono-unsaturated fats like found in nuts, avocados and olive oil.
It is very very very difficult to maintain a high protein, low carb, low fat diet for anything but short periods of time.
Another approach to low-carb is Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s Eat to Live diet, which is strongly vegetarian. Like most other diets I’ve seen, he defines “low carb” as “no processed grains,” so you can (and should) still eat a boatload of vegetables. Also, the Paleo diet is low-carb as well, just (a lot) more expensive due to the amount of meat involved compared to Fuhrman’s vegetarian diet.
However, it sounds like you’re in the middle of a test of this diet; next time you see your doctor, ask him about the diets people have listed above and see if he has any comments, dislikes or favorites.
Chiming in to say you’ge gotten some great advice here. South beach is supposed to be great for diabetics. I don’t think your doctor was very specific in her advice. You might ask for a referral to a nutritionist. But, otherwise, it sounds like moderating those fats would be a great step.
I lost weight on the South Beach diet. The first week was tortuous, nothing but vegetables. But they allow mayo, and big leaves of lettuce as a wrap for tuna and other proteins. There are many recipes. I made a pizza with a crust made with shredded zucchini, very tasty, and excellent “cakes” made with sugar free pudding or jello, oil, egg, and a can of white beans whizzed in the blender.
there’s a ceiling on how much protein your body can convert for use as energy (look up “rabbit starvation.”) there’s nothing wrong with using fat as energy. It is, after all, why we store excess calories as fat!
IMO Ancel Keys should be dug up out of the ground and shot.