Diabetes - do you stick to your diet?

[jl3614]

I was just recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I am taking pills and learning new eating habits. I'm learning how to count carbs, and am suppose to eat 12 -14 carbs a day, spread throughout the day as evenly as possible. This is quite difficult for me to do - I used to eat a small breakfast, little or no lunch, then a huge dinner - changing to even things out is hard.

We are heading to WDW in October. I was wondering if type 2 people stuck to there diets, if so how do you do it?

We have ADRs at Crystal Palace, Whispering Canyon, and Concourse Steakhouse. We will eat a few lunches in the parks, but most meals will be at our resort (POR) food court. Any suggestions?

I love the ground beef taco salads, does anyone have an idea how many carbs a taco salad would contain - I assume the shell is 2 or 3 ?

Thanks for your ideas.

 

[Talking Hands]

What are you meaning by carbs. Carb exchanges or grams of carbohydrates. I try to stay fairly low carb (gms) about 30-45 gms per day but will add more if I am very active. Also I can adjust my insulin as needed.
How many carbs in a taco salad really depends on what you putting in that salad. Spiced ground beef, cheddar cheese, lettuce, black olives (high fat). It is the tortillas shell, beans and some of the veggies that have the carbs.
I tend to avoid bread, potatoes and other high carb foods and limit my fruits rather strictly.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would suggest asking your doctor for a prescription for a testing kit and check your blood sugar levels at various times. (With a prescription your insurance should cover the cost of both the meter and the test strips.)

Get to know what suguar highs and lows feel like. I don't count carbs, but to try to pay attention to what I eat.

One thing I do is occasionally have dessert, but only when it is very gooey and/or spectacular. For example, I will usually not ea cheesecake or "ordinary" desserts, but if I am at Bistro de Paris with friends I will eat the chocolate souffle.

 

[JenJen]

If you do not eat the shell and tell them no beans it is almost no carbs. Stay away from bread as much as possible. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes two years ago and went on the Atkins diet and have had no Blood sugar problems since. Although doctors and nutritionist do not recommend this diet I would look into and talk about the pros and cons of the atkins with your nutritionist. I think the FDA allows way too many carbs on the diabetes diet. Right now I am on no medications and My blood sugar is normal again. Good luck to you.

 

[Selket]

It is a good question - are you talking about exchanges or actual carbs? Usually one exchange is 15 carbs but most people now just go by the actual carbs eaten - being told, for example, to eat about 30 carbs breakfast, 15 snack, 45 lunch, 15 snack, 45 dinner and 15 snack. (I had gestational diabetes which is similar to type II and that was sort of my meal plan at the time). It sounds like you are on the exchange plan so if you are allowed 2-3 "carbs" that means 2-3 exchanges or 30-45 carbs? I find the exchange thing to be overly complicated - especially if you are reading nutritional labels!

I'm not diabetic now (gestational usually ends after the pregnancy) but my 3 yr old has type I diabetes. Although type I is a very different disease than type II, I've found this book to be helpful: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/102-7431986-8697755?v=glance&s=books It is called The Dr's Carb, Calorie and ....Guide. It's a small book you can easily take with. We also use a nutritional scale at home which is easy to use when you get the hang of it. You can put your food on the scale (cooked rice for example) and punch in the code and gives you the carb count and other nutritional info. This is the one we use: http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1849160 It is the Salter Nutritional Scale. After some time of counting carbs you will get good as estimating the carb count in foods but at first it is especially helpful to carefully measure food - in MY opinion - so that you know you are counting the carbs correctly. We use the scale a lot for fruit and cooked items like rice and pasta and with many foods. I like it better than measuring cups!

Find a good carb counting book (like the one I mentioned or another) and that should help you guess at foods you will be eating at WDW.

 

[Lewisc]

The problem with eating in a restaurant are the "hidden carbs". For example Chinese restaurants will sometimes add corn starch to a dish to make it thicker. Some marinades for steaks are very high in sugar and some aren't. Some places add sugar to Mariana sauce and some don't.

A previous poster suggested getting a meter and testing your blood. No other answer. The heat and walking at Disney may actually lower the amount of medication you need to maintain your blood sugars.

 

[bigmac5]

I would talk to your doctor and get a glucometer if you don't already have one. If your local hospital has a diabectic advisor -get refered. They are really good. Ours gave my husband a glucometer and a few strips. All he had to do then was to get a perscrption for the sticks. A lot of companies advertise free glucometer with purchase of testing strips. So you could even talk to your pharmacist. There are a lot of people out there to help you just have to know where to look. Good luck and know the signs when your sugars get too low.

 

[Ambassador]

You may consider speaking with a registered dietitian about balanced meals, portions and nutrition, even healthy snacking. We eat in WDW the same as at home; well, perhaps a bit better.

 

[momsgoofy]

It is do-able!
I was diagnosed as diabetic and having Metabolic Syndrome on November 1, 2004 and went on our first Disney cruise that Thanksgiving...and went to WDW the first week of June 2005 as a diabetic. Like you, my endricronologist (can't spell that usually...lol) who is overseeing my diabetic care. He has me on oral meds, (Glucophage XR 1000mg/day), a 12 carb/day diet and increase my activity. I check my blood sugar twice daily, more often if I feel the need. (Metabolic Syndrom just means basically that whatever I put into my body, the body doesn't know how to process it correctly.)

First, the 12 carb/day is very confusing as you can tell. Here is how the doc explained it to me.

The American Diabetic Association recommends a 1500 calorie/day diet for me...a woman...1800 calorie/day for a man and you want no more than 50% of your daily calorie intake to be from carbs.

There are 15 grams per 1 carb and 1 carb contains 60 calories...look on a nutrition guide of any product. It will read "Total carbohydrates....x grams" For every 15 grams you have ONE carb. So the formula is 12 carbs X 60 calories = 720 calories. I can fudge and get 13 carbs some days and still be okay at 780 calories, just can't do this all the time.

During both the cruise and the WDW trip, I was very active...walking a lot as we all do when there. I think that contributed greatly to how my body burned the carbs. I did indulge on desserts since I don't have them at home, just did so in smaller portions. For example, at Le Cellier, DH and I split the chocolate mouse (kids serving). Or I would reduce the carbs for the entree, eat more veggies and protein and have dessert. I also checked my blood sugar faithfully while on vacation and usually a few extra times. If my sugar wasn't within my target (120 or below for before meals and 140 or below two hours after meal) then I didn't allow the extras. 95% of the times I checked my levels were in the 100 - 110 range, which I think was because of the extra activity.

One of the habits I've tried to get into is to stack my carbs earlier in the day so they are burned off easier. My tendency is that if I eat later (after 7pm) or have a higher carb meal (pasta) then my sugar is more elevated when I check the next morning. This is in part to the fact that our bodies produce insulin at night while we sleep so I've learned to reduce the night food to keep the sugar more regulated.

It's hard, but I have to do this or I will have more problems later in life. My dad has been insulin dependent for nearly 15 years, while his mom only took oral meds. I have a great uncle who died from complications due to 40 year of diabetes and a dear friend whose father is on dialysis because he didn't control his diabetes. I don't want to do the shots and sure as heck don't want to do dialysis so I'm working on making the changes. Even my dad says it doesn't happen overnight since it is a life style change. And believe me, I was shocked to hear him say that since he had never admitted to "falling off the sugar wagon" before.

I've found a great website thanks to my son's music teacher. The father of her daughter-in-law is diabetic and she started this website. It has over 200 restaurants listed so I can go find a place, check the nutritional info and stay within my diet if I go out to eat. The site is www.dietfacts.com Have a look at it. They do list the Taco Bell Fiesta Taco Salad...wow! 80 some grams of carbs!!

Unfortunately I don't think there are any WDW restaurants on it...I keep telling them to get on it.


The best advice is to know yourself and what you can do...if you have little self discipline (I am this way sometimes...lately I've been really baddue to some recent stress) then I would say don't even stray from the diet, but if you can eat a little of the bad stuff and maintain your blood sugar levels you should do okay. I am not encouraging you to go hog wild though!! Also, learn your portions and know what the carb content is before you indulge.

If you have any specific questions for me, just send me a PM and I'll answer as best I can....I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV...

 

[Talking Hands]

Everyone please remember insulin dependent is a person with type 1 diabetes. A type 2 diabetic maybe insulin using but is not insulin dependent. With a type 2 there is always the possibility that they can go back to oral meds or even diet control only depending on the situation.

 

[pumba]

so this means either two slices of toast or an english muffin or a small bagel or a cup of cereal. I can have a sandwich or a salad with cheese and some meat in it to keep me going....if not I have a crash because of not enough carbs ....same with my supper......if I have my meat and veggies and either a small baked potato or a half cup of potatoes or one cup of potatoes depending on my veggie chose. I had to learn to eat only one cup of pasta with sauce on it and this really hurt me .......I mourned my spaghetti more then anything else..

 

[Selket]

I mourned my spaghetti more then anything else..

Have you tried spaghetti squash? I think it has about 10 carbs a cup - low enough to have a cup of that and a slice of garlic bread Not like I can get my 3 yr old to eat it but I like it.

At WDW they do have sugar free strawberry bars that have - I think about 8 carbs a bar. I've found them in some of the carts at the MK but not at the other parks. Some carts will have sugar-free drinks (lemonade or a rasberry drink made by Minute Maid) - those are a bit hard to find! I know for sure that restaurants can get for you a brownie that is sugar free - I had some prepackaged ones while we were there a couple of weeks ago and they are 16 carbs per brownie (that is carbs and not exchanges!!!). They are made with the sweetener that can give you diarhhea! Yikes! I didn't let my 3 yr old have them cause of that. I tried one and they taste great but send me to the bathroom

 

[taximomfor4]

sorry, fascinated by this thread. Can I hijack for a second?

I just (today, in fact) got back my next set of labs (regular old glucose check had come back slightly elevated). This set, the doc already warned me about. He said, if it came back elevated, I would be diagnosed Type II DM. If it came back high but ok, it would be my warning. Well, it came back borderline (the nurse on the phone said it was the highest amount for "normal.") So the non-diagnosis is "Borderline Diabetic", aka "Pre-diabetic." I do have an autoimmune thyroid condition which often goes hand in hand with insulin-resistance which is why I was getting checked to begin with.

Anyway, long explanation but important question...
Doc says I MUST lose weight to get this under control NOW.(I have been slowly gaining since my thyroid crashed 2 1/2 yrs ago). I am 5'5, and up past my 9-month pregnant weight from pg #4 -- 182 lbs. When you all started your diabetic diets, did you lose weight? I wonder if I should be following (at least almost-following) the ADA diet now. I have tried most everything else, but really need something to WORK!!

Beth

 

[Talking Hands]

Honestly I have had better luck losing with Low carb like South Beach Diet

 

[taximomfor4]

Honestly I have had better luck losing with Low carb like South Beach Diet

My mom swears by the South Beach one. I just have not ever sat down and read the book. I have never dieted in my entire life -- had never needed to. I have NOOOOOOO self control where food is concerned, hate trying to squeeze food prep into my day. But I don't want to negatively impact my health any more.

Thanks!!
Beth

 

[pumba]

I lost even though I wasnt supposed to. but my carbs of 45 per meal were enough to make me lose .....after the first week I was not crying anymore.....hahaha.....ask for a visit with the dietician ......insurance paid for it and also next week I have an appointment with the diabetic clinic to get my blood testing thingie......I am classified as a pre diabetic.....my three month level test that was done was elevated more then the previous test three months before....6.5 I believe they said.......my fasting (14 hour) was 114 ....which is high
good luck and ask your pcp for a consultation with a dietician

 

[jl3614]

Thank you for the responses and suggestions.

I should have been more specific - my diet allows 12 -14 exchanges a day (that is 180 -210 grams). I have for the most part been able to stick in that range. What I have not been able to do on a regular basis is limit my largest meal to no more than 5 exchanges. Dinner is still 1/2 my carbs (5-7 exchanges) and about 2/3 my calories. Evening out the carbs per meal is my next chore.

Fyi - I have been diagnosed for three weeks. Medication, diet and exercise has dropped my blood sugar level from 240 to 120 in the morning and it is about 85 in the late afternoon just before dinner. I monitor twice a day. I have lost 8 pounds - about 50 lbs to go. I have gone from completely sedentary to walking briskly 45 minutes/day/7 days a week.

taximomfor4 - I lost weight. I'm not sure if it was the diet, or the exercise. Probably some of both. I don't know how drastic a diet you are on - I cut my total calorie intake by 20%, and cut my carbs about in half. The calories went from about 3000 to 2400 (hopefully I'll drop to 1800-2000 in six months after I shrink my stomach a little), and I cut the carb exchanges from something in the mid-20s to about 12 a day. My suggestion - exercise. Good luck to you.

 

[pumba]

I can have three carb choices per meal ...each choice is 15 carbs and in the morning I may not do the whole 45 carbs but I can't stack them onto my other meals.....once the morning or lunch time is gone by that is it......I do have a 15 gram choice for a snack before bed......I will start to walk more when this oppresive heat leaves .....it is like having someone sitting on top of me...GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL

 

[DVCLiz]

Sorry to hijack a little, too, but since you're on the subject...

What numbers are considered normal ranges? I had a life insurance exam last month, and my fasting blood sugar came back high (121 first thing in the morning, just a few sips of Diet Coke in the car on the way to the appointment!!!) Should I take this as a warning for diabetes? I have a family history and had gestational diabetes with both pregnancies, so I know I have a warning hanging over my head anyway, but is this number really too high, or just on the high side of normal??? I think the other number was 6.1, if that means anything to you....thanks!!!!

 

[pumba]

If I were you I would call my PCP and ask him what ranges did they do for the insurance papers......he may want to recheck you in a few .......I would be concerned for the fasting ......I had a 14 hour fast and it was 114 and they want it under 100.......the 6.1 I have no clue.....but mine was 6.5 which had gone up since the last testing......call your doctor and see what he says......all I have read ....because of genetics and your gestational diabetes .....you are in line for this too......take care and let me know