Got a question for a nutritionist or dietician

[minkydog]

Or anybody else who can help me figure this out. I am on a low carb diet due to the recent diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. I did pretty well for Thanksgiving but I am so missing my grandma's coconut pie. I could just cry. I have been very good but this just seems like TOO MUCH. I have never in my life had a holiday without this pie and I'm just about crushed. I tried to figure out the cals and carbs on my own, but I'm just not getting anywhere. Can you help me?

Here are the ingredients:

1c. white sugar
1 stick margarine
4 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tsp flour
1-1/2c. coconut
1 tsp vanilla
dash salt
1 deep dish Pet Ritz pie shell

I'm willing to try some Splenda but I"m not sure if the custard would set up right. and I could leave off the pie shell. Maybe pour the custard into a muffin tin, make 12 servings.

 

[pumba]

I am also a diabetic 2.....and my diabetic nutritionist that is also a certified diabetic educator said that IF I wanted to eat that piece of chocolate cream pie to take a slice and then later on walk it off or do a fifteen minute exercise of any kind.....yes we do have diabetes.....but if we say we cant then sometimes our system says OH YAH we can......so eat that so called forbidden piece of pie and then get over it.....I ate my cherry cheesecake this year and enjoyed every bite of it...
take care and now Christmas is coming to eat thru.

 

[minkydog]

Thanks, pumba. I just feel like crying. My hubby said the same thing you did, just go ahead and make the pie. Just limit it to one slice per day and cut back the carbs elsewhere.

You know, I have done very well with all this diabetes stuff. I haven't had a bit of denial or feeling sorry for myself. I've been very compliant, with only a few mis-steps, and I've seen mostly really good numbers. Even the low carbs haven't bothered me. This is the only thing that I have really, REALLY craved since I was diagnosed a month ago.

Thanks for the support.

 

[pumba]

anytime you want to chat just yell......I have kept my numbers down the last few years and the last few months I sort of have no idea what is going on....but I am back on track again......The holidays are hard enough without having to tell our inner selves that we cant do something else or have something else.....take care

 

[MIGrandma]

I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in September 2003, when I was in the hospital for a pulmonary embolism. I spoke with the hospital's nutritionist a couple of times while I was there. She told me there is no forbidden food. If I want a piece of cake, or pie, etc. I can still have it. I just have to plan for it. Give up carbs at some other point during the day. If I know I'm going to have pie for dessert at dinner, have a salad for lunch. And yes, the exercise really helps too. But if you deprive yourself of something you're just going to keep wanting it more and more and may overindulge when you do give in.

Now, if it were me, I would go ahead and make the pie with Grandma's recipe. But I would not have a piece every day. I would have one piece. That's it. Or cut one piece into two, have half of it and then wait a day or two for the other half. But I would enjoy that piece to the fullest, but then I would not have another. Not until next Thanksgiving anyway.

It is very difficult to get through the holidays, I know.

 

[minkydog]

Well, I went upstairs and had a good, quick cry. I think i'm crying as much for myself as I am for that pie. I haven't really grieved about my health. I've had some very big issues this year( broken relationship with my adult son,plus suicidal depression, among others.) But I really haven't grieved those things, I think.

I finally corraled all the ingredients. Granny's pie=3,230cals/361carbs. A 1/12 slice is 269cals/30carbs. So i cut the sugar & margarine by half, and the coconut by 1/3. I figured out that without the pie shell(a whopping 720cals.88carbs!) I can get 1/12 slice for 126cals/12carbs. Definitely doable!

I think next time I'll try cutting the sugar, marg, and coconut by 3/4 instead of 1/2. That could get me 1/12 for 74cals/8carbs.

 

[bumbershoot]

She told me there is no forbidden food. If I want a piece of cake, or pie, etc. I can still have it. I just have to plan for it. Give up carbs at some other point during the day. If I know I'm going to have pie for dessert at dinner, have a salad for lunch. And yes, the exercise really helps too. But if you deprive yourself of something you're just going to keep wanting it more and more and may overindulge when you do give in.

That's what the nutritionists hubby saw said too. And in fact with hubby's emotional eating issues, depriving himself entirely would cause very bad things to happen, eating-wise... The first month he was scared half to death (didn't help that he was diagnosed after a weekend of being ridiculously sick, and had a reading of almost 500), but as time went on he got less scared and more practical, and over a year later he's really calm about it, and knows what works (exercise, cinnamon) and what doesn't (HFCS, most definitely). You'll get to that point too.

Just make sure the coconut isn't *sweetened* coconut to really keep track of the carbs.


By the way, have you had the nutrition classes? We have Multicare hospitals/urgent cars around, and they have a whole program, and our insurance covered it (and the monitor...Aetna would have sent one out for free as well, but we could just go up to the hospital and snag one that day, so we did that, and they gave him a lesson in using it too).

 

[pumba]

I had 8 diabetic education lessons.....one a month and then twice a year now....it helps me to put new items into my day to day life.....i also got another new meter to use...
I am allowed 30 carbs per meal and fifteen for those snacks that are so important.....
one piece of that pie and I dont really want to much after that..I am not a candy person but I love FOOD..
When I found out I had diabetes I cried because it was a shock....didnt think that I had it...take care and be well and choose good choices this holiday season

 

[arminnie]

I felt so sorry for my cousin yesterday (Thanksgiving). She was just diagnosed about a week ago. Her mother, SIL, DB and others were CONSTANTLY telling her "You can't have that".

These are really sweet people who meant well - but I could tell she was almost in tears. One person would say "You can't have ham because it has a sugar glaze." Then the next would say "no sweet potatoes". Then someone would say "Oh - no fruit salad, fruit is bad for you."

I kept trying to tell her that nothing was totally forbidden. But that she needed to go to some nutritional counseling to find out how she was supposed to handle her limitations. Rather than relying on others no matter how well intentioned that did not have the training to really help her.

Plus no one who was telling her "Don't eat that" had brought anything that she could eat. My cousin has severe depression problems, and I was afraid all of this being thrown at her was going to really hurt her.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Having recovered from NIDDM solely through nutrion, I can tell you that you can eat anything you please. What it does to your body is another story, eh?

However, if you want that special slice of pie (or other treat) then put it together in a way that works for you. Don't even worry about the splenda as a replacement, but if you'd like, cut the regular sugar by half and replace half of what you have cut with less than half of Splenda (it is sweeter than cane sugar so you don't need as much). It won't interfere with setting up the pie with that ratio. Cutting out the crust will be fine too, if it's ok with you, but if it's not going to fit the emotional need, keep the crust.

Top it with a bit of homemade real whipped cream as the fat in the cream slows down the absorbtion of the carbs and will be easier on your blood glucose.

As for the person who was being told "no" at every turn, someone needs to come to her rescue. NO ONE should be telling any adult what to eat. We are all capable of making our own choices and paying the consequences of those choices.

Those who were telling her that she couldn't have sweet potatoes were so wrong. Sweet potatoes are better for you nutritionally than white potatoes...

At any rate, nutrion is important, and what is more important is understanding that what works for one person WILL NOT work for all persons (that's what makes diabetic educators so dangerous-the one size fits all approach).

So, all that to say, make the pie, eat it and be happy.

 

[pumba]

a good book to have on hand is the calorie King that has calories, fats and carb ratings......even has restaurants and fast food places listed......this helped me alot too.
the previous poster is right......no two people have the same issues or the same rules of thumb..(a good diabetic educator wont put all the apples in one basket)..I went to classes with some people who were very large. I was one of two people out of class of 15 that was not over weight. I have family genetics that can make a person diabetic. So my rules were different then the people who were over weight. I did find out that I had to have a 15 carb snack in the morning......in the afternoon and at night ....otherwise I was off my blood sugar reading....
last night I had a piece of pie and this morning my bs was 120...which is high for me..
Good luck

 

[PatsMom]

a good book to have on hand is the calorie King that has calories, fats and carb ratings......even has restaurants and fast food places listed......this helped me alot too.
the previous poster is right......no two people have the same issues or the same rules of thumb..(a good diabetic educator wont put all the apples in one basket)..I went to classes with some people who were very large. I was one of two people out of class of 15 that was not over weight. I have family genetics that can make a person diabetic. So my rules were different then the people who were over weight. I did find out that I had to have a 15 carb snack in the morning......in the afternoon and at night ....otherwise I was off my blood sugar reading....
last night I had a piece of pie and this morning my bs was 120...which is high for me..
Good luck

I love my Calorie King book! I keep a copy in the car for when I am out and about. And a copy at home. I was diagnosed with type 2 over 10 years ago, when I was around 40. I've always struggled with my weight and recently lost around 40 pounds which has helped with my control significantly.

For a while I was doing insulin but have now cut back to metformin and Byetta. My dietician and educator are also of the opinion that there are no forbidden foods - you just need to make adjustments. At Thanksgiving dinner I knew I was going to want a small slice of pecan pie so I had no bread or potato with my meal. I was still probably over my target of 30 to 45 carbs per meal after you consider the dressing (another once a year treat I wasn't passing up entirely) but made up for it with an extra mile on the treadmill when I got home.

I vote for making the coconut pie with Grandma's recipe and then just limiting yourself to a small slice. Cut back on other carbs or increase your exercise. I also find that if I say I cannot have something, I want it more. My family pretty much leaves me alone to make my eating decisions. Once in a while my husband will say something like "are you supposed to have that" but he knows that the final decision on what to put in my mouth is mine. No one else but me can control the diabetes!