Thursday 20 June 2013

Getting into the groove

Yesterday made 7 whole days in a row where my blood sugars were good. I've had to adapt my diet quite a bit to achieve this. It is difficult at times, but really it's a small price to pay. 

Up until I saw my consultant a week ago the whole carbohydrate thing was confusing me a lot. Carbohydrates convert to sugar after you've eaten them. some carbs turn to sugar very quickly giving you a fast energy boost and spike of blood sugars. These 'bad' carbs are things like white bread, rice, pasta, couscous, crisps etc. however there are 'good' carbs which release their energy at a slower rate and convert to sugar slower. These include the wholemeal/wholewheat versions of the above foods. 

Initially I had tried to cut down on carbs, then the diabetic nurse said that carbs were still an important part of your diet as long as eating the wholegrain versions. As it happened my blood sugars were higher then, even after eating the good carbs. I then saw my new consultant on Monday and she asked what I was doing with my food. I explained a healthy eating approach and she said 'low-carb'. Since then I have decided that for my blood sugars to be low, low-carb is the way to go. I do make sure I eat good carbs at most meals as I personally don't believe you should ever eliminate any food group from your diet. By doing this I have been able to have consistently good blood sugar readings. 

I did post on my weight loss blog yesterday too. I've lost another 1lb. Well actually I lost 1.5lb but i only post in full pounds. I'm going to weigh-in again today but only because then I'm back in the Sunday routine. 

I've tried to vary my food as much as possible this week. I'm finding the cooked breakfast a little repetitive so any ideas for high protein / low carb breakfasts would be much appreciated. For lunches this week I've been having soups & salads. To help with my variety of dinners this week I've been doing more home cooking. We've had chilli con carne, coq au vin, baked salmon and Spanish chicken. I've just cooked separate good carbs for me to go with each dish. Snack-wise has mainly been fruit. The consultant said that some fruits are not recommended such as mango (my favourite fruit) and pineapple. They have very high sugars. But I've found that fruits such as strawberries, satsumas and blueberries have not affected my sugars. 

Right I'm off now to spend the day with my husband & son. Good luck to any of your who are losing weight. 

Thank you for reading x 

Saturday 15 June 2013

Small changes = Big difference

When I wrote my last post I had just started taking 1 metformin tablet with my breakfast. My blood readings after breakfast in the last 4 days since starting the medicine, have actually been higher after breakfast than they were before. So I called the diabetic nurse again to see if I should do anything. I think the higher readings may be just a coincidence that my insulin is not as effective as it was, or the tablets don't agree with me. I spoke to the diabetic nurse and she suggested I take 2 metformin tablets at breakfast. Yesterday was the first day of doing this and my bloods were better. 

I think the thing I'm still finding frustrating is that I'm eating a healthy breakfast that has been recommended, yet my sugars are still high. I just have to get my head round the fact that regardless of how well I eat, I cannot control the efficiency of my insulin. So today I have decided to have a cooked breakfast and see what result that brings. 


I weighed in this morning and I have lost 3lb in the last 2 weeks. I'm not worried about this at all. I know that I'm eating a healthy, balanced diet which is good for me & Squeak. I have put on a total of 2st 4lbs since I found out I was pregnant, which isn't bad at all. 

The good thing about being diagnosed with gestational diabetes is that I have HAD to go back to healthy eating. In my mind there really was no choice about returning to my healthy ways. I would do anything for my children and this is something I can do to help Squeak before she's born. Although I'm finding the diabetic diet lacking in variety, I am back in 'the zone'. This can only be a good thing as when she's born I feel as though I am ready to lose this excess weight and get back on track (but hopefully with a better variety of foods to eat). Even though I am back to my healthy ways, I have to say that I have got a chocolate bar packed in my hospital bag to eat after Squeak is born :)

On Thursday I had a growth scan to see how our little girl is doing. At the moment she is still measuring well. She weighs approx 4lb 12oz and I've got just over 7 weeks to go. So at the moment it looks like the diabetes isn't affecting her growth too much. I have another scan booked for 4weeks time, so I'm hoping she stays put until then.

Here's a little photo of her for anyone who's interested.

Thank you for reading and good luck to any of you who are on your own weight loss journey x


Tuesday 11 June 2013

My diabetic diet

In the last couple of weeks I've been testing my blood daily. Initially it was 6 times a day, but now it's only 4 times. I was very much hoping to be able to control it with diet alone but my body doesn't want me to. 

My blood sugars are fine before breakfast but generally too high after I've eaten even though I've been eating crunchy bran, oatibix and wholemeal toast which is all recommended. The only time my sugars have been below the recommended reading is when I've had a cooked breakfast, but I just don't have time to do that everyday. My sugars are not a problem after lunch as long as I eat sensibly & healthily. I've had a couple of high readings after dinner even though I've again eaten well. I've now swapped my pasta & couscous for the wholewheat versions. They aren't as bad as I remember them. In fact I can't tell the difference which is good. We already only have wholemeal bread in the house too. These wholemeal & wholewheat versions of foods turn into sugar at a much slower rate than the white variety. This has two benefits, 1) it means my blood sugars don't spike high after eating; 2) they actually keep you fuller for longer.

Yesterday I had to call the diabetic nurse and give her my readings for the last week. I am now taking 1 Metformin tablet with my breakfast every day to help control my morning sugar. Apparently most people with diabetes have higher sugars in the morning. From what the nurse said I understand that your insulin just takes a while to kick into action first thing in the morning. The nurse did say that I may have to take a tablet with dinner too. I've got an appointment with the diabetic nurse & consultant on Monday and they will review my blood sugar readings from this week and decide. At the moment I'm on the lowest amount and I can go up to 2 tablets twice a day. I'm now hoping that I will just be able to stay on the tablets and not have to go to insulin injections.

I've just tested my blood sugars after breakfast. Today is the first day I've had to take a Metformin tablet and it was one of my highest readings. I think I'll see what happens after tomorrow's reading then I may call the diabetic nurse again. 

I'm finding the diabetic diet quite repetitive. It doesn't help that at the moment I can't be bothered to make proper home cooked dinners, so we're having easier dinners with lots of salads. 
I know that I need to change this otherwise I'm at risk of eating foods that will spike my sugars. I'm finding the food I'm eating at breakfast quite tasty so that's all good. For lunch I'm having a lot of big salads with things like ham, bacon, cheese, chicken and mayo or salad cream. I've been finding that this has been filling me up loads. I think the reason for this is that I have been having a massive amount of salad and it takes me a long time to actually eat it. 'They' say that it takes your brain about 20 mins to register you've started eating and that your getting fuller. So the fact that I'm eating very low-cal, low-sugar salad over a long time is giving my brain time to register when I'm actually full. Definitely a lesson to learn and use after Squeak is born when I start back on my journey to lose weight. 

One of the things I have found harder is snacks on a diabetic diet. I've been mainly having salad, some raw veg, the odd bit of fruit and nuts. I've really enjoyed eating pine nuts, cashews and pistachio nuts. They are packed with protein and don't seem to affect my blood sugars at all. The only thing with nuts is that they are high in calories. I've been trying to stick to no more than 2000 cals a day and so far so good. Yesterday I bought some Walkers Sunbites which are whole grain crisps. They didn't affect my sugars yesterday. It may sound odd but I miss having a crunchy snack to eat. 
I've taken to eating pudding in the evening too. It's managed to fill me up and satisfies my sweet tooth. I have 2 pots of sugar free jelly with fresh strawberries & blueberries.....delicious. 

On Thursday I've got a scan for Squeak. It will have been 4 weeks since my last scan when she was weighing approx 2lb 13oz which was an average weight for her gestation. So we'll be able to get a good idea about what affect my diabetes has had on her. Hopefully she's still an average weight & size as I'm really hoping for a natural birth this time.

I've not weighed myself for a couple of weeks. If I remember I will try to on Sunday morning. Apparently at this stage in pregnancy you can put on about a pound a week, so we'll see. 

Thanks for reading xx