# Well, BLAST! I think I will have to low-carb for a while.



## Terri (May 10, 2002)

I am a diabetic, which makes weight loss difficult. I cannot cut my calories too low or my blood sugar will drop too low and I will feel sick and starving. But I do not think that my blood sugar has been very steady and so it is time to lose weight. (Less weight means that I do not need as much insulin in my system to support my body, and so my blood sugar stays where it needs to be).

I do not like protien. It is boring. I have been eating the minimum required amount but if I am going to get some weight off I need the stabilizing affect of non-carb calories. Meat gives a long, slow burn instead of the quick rise and fall of blood sugar that carbs do.

SO! In the morning I can have bacon or an egg. In the evening I can have the meat that the family has and green veggies. 

How in the world do you low carb dieters eat for lunches and snacks? I cannot imagine eating meat 6 times a day, I really cannot.

Nuts could be one snack, and a cube of cheese another, but I really have trouble thinking of other snack foods.

How do you stave off food boredom?


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

peanut butter and cheese. tastes GREAT together. specially if you like cheddar. (yes, there's fat there, too...)

low or non fat cottage cheese is a great way to add protein.

tunafish salad made with peppercorn Ranch dressing (low or nonfat is best, of course). it's GREAT tasting, you don't need much of the dressing to make it nice and creamy.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Just starting a low carb plan again, myself.
Anyone read Good Calories, Bad Calories? 
After sifting through _hundreds_ of lay articles, journal articles, study findings, etc. the author makes the suggestion that low carb is probably the best way to lose, as well as maintain, weight.
He has, literally, pages and pages full of end notes and references. It's actually kind of dry, unless you're _really_ interested in finding out why/how your body works. 

I'm in the midst of it right now. It's _very_ compelling. 
And really, as one who has lived on reservations, the answer, as well as the problem , is obvious.

How low are you planning to take your carbs, Terri? Are you doing Atkins/induction, the whole works? Or just dropping carbs to 40-50% of your calories? Are you following any specific method, or just doing your own thing?

String cheese, HB eggs, deviled eggs (made w/mayo, not MW), tuna salad, egg salad, celery, jerky, SF jello, SF yogurt, lunchmeat, bean dip, pork rinds, ricotta cheese, cottage cheese (check labels), raw veggies like broccoli and cauliflower...

PS: Watch the artificial sweeteners. Since you're diabetic, I'm sure _you_ already know this, but to pass the word-- some people react to artificial sweeteners the same way they do to real sweeteners. Their sugar spikes, they crave more sweets, etc.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Celery with peanut butter, SF jello, cottage cheese, tuna salad (possibly on an avacado half), these are VERY good ideas!

I am taking the carbs down as low as I can stand. Lunch today was a strip of bacon, 3 crackers, and a bell pepper. 

I have increased the snacks to every 2 hours as that is when I get too hungry. 

I have always enjoyed carbs, but when my blood sugar is not where it should be it is the first food that will give me blood sugar trouble.

And, actually, I don't think it is the nutrasweet that sends up the blood sugar: it is the caffeine that so often goes with the nutrasweet. You can take that from somebody who sticks her finger to check these things!

It DOES sometimes cause sugar cravings, though!


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Terri said:


> And, actually, I don't think it is the nutrasweet that sends up the blood sugar: it is the caffeine that so often goes with the nutrasweet. You can take that from somebody who sticks her finger to check these things!
> 
> It DOES sometimes cause sugar cravings, though!


When it's in pop, it might be the caffeine. 
But I have several friends who are diabetic that avoid artificial sweeteners in general because it shoots their sugar up...


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Erin, not everyone is overweight due to the same reason.

If you think that you might have trouble handling carbohydrates, look at your stomach. If a proportionably greater part of the weight is on your stomach-as mine is- that means it would help you to watch your carbs. 

That is because the fat cells in your abdomen tend to get first crack at the food when your blood sugar is high, so the carbs-which can cause high blood sugar- will fatten your abdomen first.

My weight has not changed but my waist line has expanded. That means that I have lost fat on the rest of my body but gained it in the waist: it is one of many changes that tell me that I am having blood sugar swings. High blood sugar means a larger abdomen.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

ErinP said:


> When it's in pop, it might be the caffeine.
> But I have several friends who are diabetic that avoid artificial sweeteners in general because it shoots their sugar up...


Then for them it is very true: we all have bodies that work differently and we all have bodies that get out of whack in different ways.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Well... Yeah... :shrug:
That's why I said, "some people" 



> Erin, not everyone is overweight due to the same reason.


I'm not entirely sure what this is in response to.  
I would never say they were...


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

Terri, thought of something else....knox gelatin in broth. My grandmother lost over 120lbs by putting a packet of gelatin in a cup of broth and using that as a snack a couple hours before supper. Since she was a farm wife, and it was in the days of meat, potates, bread, butter on the table..oh, and gravy.....it helped her reduced the cravings/wants to eat what the men were eating. 

It also, she said, kept her energy up. She never knew why, but my guess is the extra protein from the gelatin (24grams in 1oz)

actually..you could make jigglers as a dessert that was carb/fat free if you can use the aspartame or similar. Or stevia.

ETA: she also made a non sweet gelatin...put in celery, almonds(or walnuts) and something else...can't remember. but even as a young kid, I thought they were REALLY good.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

ErinP said:


> I'm not entirely sure what this is in response to.
> I would never say they were...


Sorry: busy morning. I was talking about the book that you mentioned. Which made NO sense, I know! LOL! :ashamed:


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

lol
Got it!


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

Never knew! That's where my weight is - on my tummy, Sigh, I love a good slice of bread. No more. We'll see what happens.


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## copperhead46 (Jan 25, 2008)

Check out the Suzanne Sommers books. I don't care for her, but I used her first two books and the weight came right off, and easy. You do need some carbs, just make sure they are whole grain, the easiest way is to cut out "----e" food. Brown rice, 100% whole wheat bread, that kind of change. Dr. Oz also has his "You on a Diet" and it's very informative and makes low carb easy and sensible.
P.J.

why did "it" blank out the word white?? I don't meant that as people color, I mean it as food color!!!


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## Jennifer L. (May 10, 2002)

Erin, I'm reading GCBC now, as well. Extremely interesting, but I have to take it pretty slow. I low carbed about ten years ago and got back in the saddle before Christmas, and it's great to see the greater amount of research out there now.

I was wondering if there were many people low carbing on here? 

Terri, low carb is not high protein. It's really more high fat. I probably run about 75% fat in my diet, something less than 10% carb, and 15-20% protein, and my calorie total runs 1300-2000, probably 1700-1800 most of the time.

I'm down 22 pounds as of yesterday, and hit a new low today (which I suspect will bounce higher tomorrow so I'm not counting on it yet--if I did, I would be down 25 pounds today). I combine low carb with intermittent fasting.

If you don't limit fat, but do limit carbs, you can have some great food. 

Jennifer


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

After 1 week I have not lost an ounce.

Rats. 

I am going to have to start counting calories as well.

Grumble.


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