Hello
I’ve been faffing around the last couple of months trying to start low carb way of eating but as this is all very new to me I haven’t started it properly yet. I’ve easily given up rice, cereal, potatoes, pasta and fruit and don’t miss these, I’ve still occasionally had a piece of buttered toast now and then or a few biscuits but always feel awful afterwards. I’m a vegetarian who doesn’t eat meat, fish or eggs, my carb intake use to be very high about 200g daily but I’m learning to introduce new foods that will benefit me in the long run.
I’ve had type 2 diabetes for about 15 years, it was well controlled until 2011 since then blood sugars have been steadily rising. Last year hbA1c was 83 this was partly due to inflammation but lots to do with my high carb intake, at that point DN started me on insulin injections and I’ve put on even more weight. My recent hbA1c is 70 and I would love to come off insulin and lose about 3 stone and feel healthy again.
I spoke with a new DN last week who understands my concerns, she said I should definatley reduce carbs but not bother about counting calories and I should still be able to lose weight and reduce the blood sugars and when my blood tests are acceptable levels I could even come off the insulin.
I’m feeling nervous as this is all very new and I really want this to work.

Any advice tips would be appreciated.
Thank you.

Hi Rose88 – Lots of folks have had great success working on keeping the carbs low and not worrying about the calories, so it is doable. Make sure to keep well hydrated, include full fats and keep your carb intake down – I appreciate this is more challenging when you are relying on pulses etc for proteins. Dairy is a good option for helping with that, if you use it. Be careful of root veggies, as they tend to be high in carbs. Once you get into the routine of checking carb content, things will start to fall in place quite quickly.

I’m sure someone else will respond soon and offer more substantial vegetarian advise – not my area I’m afraid. You could use the search box in the top right corner of the page, to search for specific topics and I know there are other vegetarians on the forum having success.

Make sure to keep contact with the forum for advise, support and encouragement. And we love to celebrate, so be sure to post you results as well – good luck!

Not a vegetarian so no advice there. I am the opposite, I count calories but not carbs in the belief that if I am not eating starchy (devil) carbs I will reasonably low and that works for me keeping me around 50 grams of carb. As a diabetic I would suggest that you try to keep to 800 calories for the first 8 weeks as it is an important part of reducing internal fat around the liver and pancreas and shocking the pancreas into starting up producing insulin again. I am in the same position with the insulin but have been on it for 11 years, yes I gained 15 kg in 6 months and had never been able to lose it until now. In the first 8 weeks I stuck to it rigidly and lost about a stone. My HbA1c went from 8.2 to 6.9 (I dont understand how you measure yours but I know you were high and going lower). More importantly I have reduced the insulin from 38 units daily to 22 currently. I hope you are on a small dose so you can quickly stop using it but do try the 8 week plan and give yourself the best chance.

There are several vegetarian threads on the site just stick it in the search box at the top of the page. Good luck.

Thanks for replying. I’m about half way through reading MM’s book, what an eye opener to read the science behind all this and that so many people have reversed their diabetes, come off medication and lost weight!
sunshine girl… well done on losing the weight gain from being on insulin… its not easy to shift is it. I’m in the UK and the DN uses those figures above, its 83mmol and 70mmol.
I’m on 30 units of mixed insulin twice daily and the nurse said as the blood sugars come down I can reduce this to 25 units and then further as and when required.

If I try and stick to 800 calories, 50g carbs, how much fat should I be having a day?

I weighed myself on Saturday and was 168 Ibs (12 stone) I’m only 4ft 10inches, so my first goal is to lose 15% which I think comes to 25 Ibs that should get me down to 10stone 2 Ibs.

Rose88 I am sorry to say but you have just pinched my short arse championship. I am 4.11 and a quarter so at 4.10 you win. Taadaaa you will be crowned in good time. Good luck with your weight loss. I am just at 10% loss but still trying hard.

Haha! sunshine girl I’m good at sharing and I’m quite happy to loan you the crown for awhile! Lol

10% is a great loss … have you found this journey easy or difficult?

Well 10% for me is 18 lbs and that has taken me 8 months. I need to lose another 1.5 stone. You have to remember that during that time I have had a week in Portugal and summer with a house full of visitors, all who think I am on holiday too. Visit to my husbands family in Scotland who thought fish and chips were low carb, even though I dont eat fish either, restaurant that insisted they gave me the chips on the side ‘just in case I changed my mind’, then Christmas, then New Year, then my birthday. The worst time was my birthday when I just said to hell with it. BUT, and it is a big BUT (not mine) during any breaks I have religiously stuck to the no starchy carbs, not a chip or slice of bread or even a grain of rice, have passed my lips.

Do I find it hard, honestly, sometimes, when i see other people enjoying chips or mashed potato or bread. I dont miss rice or pasta as I have convinced myself if tastes of nothing, just a carrier for a sauce. It is a complete lifestyle change and it does become second nature but there are times when i want something i cant have, like smelling the fresh baguettes in the supermarket, but i think i would find it hard to actually eat something bad. The big thing for me is that my diabetes is under much better control with high hopes for the future. My big downfall is alcohol, not because i am an alkie but when hubby pours himself a red wine at the weekend i sometimes give in and have a few glasses of white. Christmas and birthdays i allow myself to indulge but at least i am not eating white carbs. We cant live like we are nuns (or monks) and we can still have a few treats, just as long as you come back to the plan as quickly as possible and never give up. Or as i always say, keep on keeping on…

Hi Rose88
Not a vegetarian and not diabetic, soi can’t help you there.
As far as how much fat to eat, try this:
Proteins and carbs have 4 calories per gram and fats have 9 calories per gram.

You want no more than 50g per day of carbs x 4 cals = 200 cals.

Eat between 1 – 1.5g of protein per kilo of IDEAL BODY WEIGHT. Eg, if your ideal body weight is 50kg, then you would need between 50-75g per day, for the sake of the exercise, lets go with 60g of protein x 4 cals = 240 cals per day.

Now 200 cals + 240 calls = 440 cals.

Subtract that from your 800 calories limit and you get 360 calories worth of fats \ 9 calories = 40 grams per day of fats.

If your not losing weight, reduce your carbs and increase your fats accordingly.
Hope this makes sense.
Cheers
Linda

Linda… I cant thank you enough, yes that makes perfect sense. I’ve never taken any notice of the amounts of fats, carbs and protein grams before but the way you’ve explained this, it makes perfect sense .. Thank you.
This explains why I’ve not been losing weight! I eat far toooo many carbs even though I thought I was sort of low carbing lol. I dont eat any low fat products anymore but have found a new love for butter, greek yogurt and coconut oil.
I’ve had a re-think about my goals too and aiming for doable goals say 1/2 stone at a time which i think is realistic.

Have a great day everyone x

Hi Rose & welcome 🙂 I’m not a vegetarian or diabetic, but I do enjoy eating vegetarian meals and probably 3-4 days a week are meat free for me. There are vegetarian recipes in the BSD recipe book, and I think that lots of them would be adaptable – ie swap tofu for chicken.
Also lots of forum posts on here – just search “vegetarian”.

Good luck 🙂