.jpg "Chicken Drumsticks")
I get a lot of emails asking me:
“What are you doing? I want to do what you're doing.”
Usually, it comes from those who have stalled out on Atkins or Keto and want to try something else. But, not always. So, I thought I'd write a post on exactly what I'm eating since a diabetic diet differs from a typical low-carb diet.
That way, you can see how to design your own low-carb diet.
The benefit of doing low carb over Atkins or Keto is that you get to make your own rules. You don't have to eat a certain amount of vegetables. You don't have to stay under 20-net carbs. You don't have to limit the amount of sugar substitute that you use.
The goal is to create a personalized diet that you can live with for the rest of your life.
That is where I've always gone wrong.
I've been trying to live by someone else's rules.
And eventually, I get fed up eating that way, and go rogue.
This time, I did things differently. Even though my blood sugar was out of control 2 months ago, yet again, I took the time to create a personalized low-carb diet that I can live with – comfortably.
So here you go. This is how I'm eating low carb right now.
That way, you can see how to design your own low-carb diet.
The benefit of doing low carb over Atkins or Keto is that you get to make your own rules. You don't have to eat a certain amount of vegetables. You don't have to stay under 20-net carbs. You don't have to limit the amount of sugar substitute that you use.
The goal is to create a personalized diet that you can live with for the rest of your life.
That is where I've always gone wrong.
I've been trying to live by someone else's rules.
And eventually, I get fed up eating that way, and go rogue.
This time, I did things differently. Even though my blood sugar was out of control 2 months ago, yet again, I took the time to create a personalized low-carb diet that I can live with – comfortably.
So here you go. This is how I'm eating low carb right now.
No Atkins Induction
Since I'm not following someone else's low-carb diet this time around, I did not start with Atkins Induction 2 months ago.I didn't limit myself to Dr. Atkins' acceptable list of foods that he published in 2002.
Instead, I looked at my breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks and tailored each meal and snack to fit my blood glucose goals.
That means setting up a maximum number of carbs per meal or snack, rather than focusing on carbs per day. On a diabetic diet, you do not roll over any unused carbs per meal.
Net Carbs Versus Total Carbs
I can't eat most low-carb products, due to celiac disease, except for pork rinds with our guacamole. Because of that, I count net carbs, rather than total. The body doesn't digest the fiber in produce, and vegetable fiber slows down digestion of starches and sugars, so net carbs works for me.I also don't eat any sugar alcohols.
Our Morning Coffee (12 carbs)
Most low-carb diets will tell you to use a tablespoon or two of heavy cream and sweeten your coffee with sugar substitutes. That's not bad advice, but I honestly do not enjoy coffee made that way.I'd rather use a little bit of flavored creamer and cut down on the carbs somewhere else, so that's what I've been doing.
Breakfast
Hubby has to be to work by 7 a.m., so we get up early. Around 5 am, or so. When we started this diet 2 months ago, we had coffee, but were not eating breakfast.Breakfast was giving us severe indigestion.
Today, hubby eats an egg sandwich for breakfast, but I do not.
Weekends are different. We do eat breakfast on the weekends, since we get up later. Or we'll have breakfast when hubby goes into work later in the day.
Examples are:
2 strips of bacon and 2 eggs
2 breakfast sausage links and 2 eggs
small pork chop with 2 eggs
2 eggs scrambled with chopped ham and green onion
2 eggs scrambled with shredded pork and green onion
2 eggs scrambled with chopped brisket and green onion
I just rotate the meat to keep it from getting boring.
Lunch (maximum 12 net carbs)
I eat lunch when I get hungry – sometime between 10 a.m. and 12 noon.For the past 2 months, I've been limiting myself to a maximum of 12 net carbs, per meal, but I usually eat less than that at lunch time. Since I don't eat breakfast on weekdays, and work from home, I often eat breakfast for lunch. Usually, bacon or a pork chop and eggs.
I also might have chicken legs cooked up in the air fryer and an easy-to-fix vegetable like green beans or broccoli.
Since I'm trying to make low carb sustainable for us, I don't measure the vegetables. I just cook up a reasonable portion.
We buy our chicken and pork from our local Latino market, so the chicken legs are bigger than you'd get at Kroger or Winco. Two legs with a vegetable or small salad is plenty of food.
I also might have a larger salad topped with chopped ham, brisket, or shredded pork; and homemade salad dressing.
Sometimes, I'll make spiral-cut ham slices, cheese, and mayo sandwiches using the cheese for the bread. Cheese for bread also works well with tuna or chicken salad.
Since I'm keeping things simple right now, I rarely have leftovers for lunch unless it's soup or dried black soy beans cooked up with ham.
deviled eggs
mixed nuts
homemade cheese sticks
zero-sugar beef sausage sticks
slices of spiral-cut ham
I make serving sizes small because I can always go back for more food if I'm still hungry. Usually, I'm not.
With the rise in cost of low-carb groceries, especially eggs, we eat super simple right now.
No fancy recipes.
We do a lot of our shopping at Winco and the Latino market close by. I can get chicken legs at the Latino market for less than $1 per pound, and pork chops are typically $1.39 a pound, or less, on sale.
We buy 10 pounds at a time when it's a good price.
Same for ribs, beef brisket, and pork shoulder roasts. Pork ribs, however, have been too costly lately. Kroger wanted $5 a pound last week, so we didn't replenish our dwindling supply.
Local stores are no longer mailing us fliers, including the Latino market; so I go online to see what's reasonable for that week. Basically, we eat from what's on sale.
Winco, however, doesn't have an online flier, but checking out Kroger and Rio Grande sales gives us a rough guide as to what's a good price at Winco for that week.
Like lunch, I don't measure out the vegetables. I just try to rotate them, along with our protein sources, so it doesn't feel like we are eating the same thing every day.
Proteins we are eating right now:
eggs
cheese
bacon
breakfast sausage links
Italian sausage links
chicken legs
chicken thighs
chicken wings
pork chops
shredded pork
pork ribs
beef brisket
hamburger
shrimp
salmon
black soybeans
We buy our chicken and pork from our local Latino market, so the chicken legs are bigger than you'd get at Kroger or Winco. Two legs with a vegetable or small salad is plenty of food.
I also might have a larger salad topped with chopped ham, brisket, or shredded pork; and homemade salad dressing.
Sometimes, I'll make spiral-cut ham slices, cheese, and mayo sandwiches using the cheese for the bread. Cheese for bread also works well with tuna or chicken salad.
Since I'm keeping things simple right now, I rarely have leftovers for lunch unless it's soup or dried black soy beans cooked up with ham.
Snacks
I no longer snack for pleasure. I only snack when I'm too hungry to make it to dinner. And I try to make those snacks as zero carb as possible:deviled eggs
mixed nuts
homemade cheese sticks
zero-sugar beef sausage sticks
slices of spiral-cut ham
I make serving sizes small because I can always go back for more food if I'm still hungry. Usually, I'm not.
Dinner (maximum 12 net carbs)
Once again, I'm limiting my carbs to a maximum of 12. This helps to keep my blood glucose levels steady.With the rise in cost of low-carb groceries, especially eggs, we eat super simple right now.
No fancy recipes.
We do a lot of our shopping at Winco and the Latino market close by. I can get chicken legs at the Latino market for less than $1 per pound, and pork chops are typically $1.39 a pound, or less, on sale.
We buy 10 pounds at a time when it's a good price.
Same for ribs, beef brisket, and pork shoulder roasts. Pork ribs, however, have been too costly lately. Kroger wanted $5 a pound last week, so we didn't replenish our dwindling supply.
Local stores are no longer mailing us fliers, including the Latino market; so I go online to see what's reasonable for that week. Basically, we eat from what's on sale.
Winco, however, doesn't have an online flier, but checking out Kroger and Rio Grande sales gives us a rough guide as to what's a good price at Winco for that week.
Like lunch, I don't measure out the vegetables. I just try to rotate them, along with our protein sources, so it doesn't feel like we are eating the same thing every day.
Proteins we are eating right now:
eggs
cheese
bacon
breakfast sausage links
Italian sausage links
chicken legs
chicken thighs
chicken wings
pork chops
shredded pork
pork ribs
beef brisket
hamburger
shrimp
salmon
black soybeans
pork rinds
Vegetables we like:
avocados
cabbage
brussels sprouts
broccoli
cauliflower
green beans
zucchini
yellow squash
winter squash
bell peppers
mixed stir-fry veggies
peas and carrots
spinach
jalapeno peppers
mushrooms
olives
dill pickles
cucumbers
tomatoes
red onions
green onion
Obviously, we don't buy all of this every week. This is just a list of what we enjoy eating. The key to making low-carb work for you is to come up with your own list of favorite foods.
Additional non-recipe meals we like:
brisket stuffed bell peppers
jalapeno poppers
hot wings
shredded pork over salad
chopped ham and cheese over salad
hamburger patties topped with sauteed mushrooms
shredded pork in vegetable soup
chicken vegetable soup
dried black soybeans and ham
chili made with black soybeans
Sucralose, stevia, and aspartame seem to be the only sweeteners that don't bother me and most of the low-carb recipes I've seen online use sugar alcohols.
I also don't care for almond flour recipes. At least, not the ones I've tried so far.
For example:
avocados
cabbage
brussels sprouts
broccoli
cauliflower
green beans
zucchini
yellow squash
winter squash
bell peppers
mixed stir-fry veggies
peas and carrots
spinach
jalapeno peppers
mushrooms
olives
dill pickles
cucumbers
tomatoes
red onions
green onion
Obviously, we don't buy all of this every week. This is just a list of what we enjoy eating. The key to making low-carb work for you is to come up with your own list of favorite foods.
Additional non-recipe meals we like:
brisket stuffed bell peppers
jalapeno poppers
hot wings
shredded pork over salad
chopped ham and cheese over salad
hamburger patties topped with sauteed mushrooms
shredded pork in vegetable soup
chicken vegetable soup
dried black soybeans and ham
chili made with black soybeans
Dessert (8 net carbs)
Like coffee, dessert is another place where we part ways with traditional low carb. I react badly to all sugar alcohols, including erythritol and allulose, so I'm not experimenting with low-carb dessert recipes right now.Sucralose, stevia, and aspartame seem to be the only sweeteners that don't bother me and most of the low-carb recipes I've seen online use sugar alcohols.
I also don't care for almond flour recipes. At least, not the ones I've tried so far.
For example:
Chaffles (low-carb waffles) taste like burnt eggs to me and when you add almond flour to make them more bready, and still low carb, they come out mushy. Chaffles taste great with my homemade gluten-free flour mix, for 15 net carbs per sandwich, but not with almond flour.
Right now, I'm not willing to risk the cost of ingredients searching for almond-flour recipes we do like.
Since we no longer eat gluten-free cakes and pies, at least on a regular basis, we decided to splurge on a dessert that we can have: diet gelatin with canned fruit cocktail.
We use one large box of sugar-free gelatin and 1 can of water-packed fruit cocktail, drained well. Cut into 6 servings, that comes to a little more than ¼ cup of fruit per serving, about 6 net carbs. Topped with whipped topping, that comes to 8 carbs per serving.
With just 2 of us here, and canned real whipped cream not available at Winco, we are using the store-brand frozen cool whip, 1 carb per tablespoon, even though it's a little more carby than real whipped cream.
I did lose 10 pounds in the beginning, 2 months ago, but nothing more since then.
Water fluctuations have been quite dynamic.
I can weigh anything between 186 and 193, per day, so I'm trying to not let the wild weight swings bother me.
At least, it's not fat.
Just water.
What I've learned about myself during the past 2 months?
The fewer carbs I eat, the higher the blood glucose goes, so I'm trying harder to keep my carbs consistent. Not eating before 12:30 pm to 1 pm sent my blood sugar soaring to 230 mg/dl. But, I was stressed out that day, so stress could also be the culprit.
Maybe, both.
My body sees very low carb (20-net carbs or less) as starvation, since insulin drops too low. This happens every time I try to do very low carbs.
The liver uses your insulin level to determine how much glycogen to convert into glucose. It cannot see how much glucose is already in your bloodstream, so as long as insulin is low, it keeps pumping out glucose trying to correct the problem.
Low insulin results in higher glucose readings – for me.
Moving forward from here, I'm going to start eating breakfast and see if that will correct the problem.
Right now, I'm not willing to risk the cost of ingredients searching for almond-flour recipes we do like.
Since we no longer eat gluten-free cakes and pies, at least on a regular basis, we decided to splurge on a dessert that we can have: diet gelatin with canned fruit cocktail.
We use one large box of sugar-free gelatin and 1 can of water-packed fruit cocktail, drained well. Cut into 6 servings, that comes to a little more than ¼ cup of fruit per serving, about 6 net carbs. Topped with whipped topping, that comes to 8 carbs per serving.
With just 2 of us here, and canned real whipped cream not available at Winco, we are using the store-brand frozen cool whip, 1 carb per tablespoon, even though it's a little more carby than real whipped cream.
2-Month Results
The goal for us is to get our blood glucose levels under control. Not weight loss. So the results of eating this way have been good.I did lose 10 pounds in the beginning, 2 months ago, but nothing more since then.
Water fluctuations have been quite dynamic.
I can weigh anything between 186 and 193, per day, so I'm trying to not let the wild weight swings bother me.
At least, it's not fat.
Just water.
What I've learned about myself during the past 2 months?
The fewer carbs I eat, the higher the blood glucose goes, so I'm trying harder to keep my carbs consistent. Not eating before 12:30 pm to 1 pm sent my blood sugar soaring to 230 mg/dl. But, I was stressed out that day, so stress could also be the culprit.
Maybe, both.
My body sees very low carb (20-net carbs or less) as starvation, since insulin drops too low. This happens every time I try to do very low carbs.
The liver uses your insulin level to determine how much glycogen to convert into glucose. It cannot see how much glucose is already in your bloodstream, so as long as insulin is low, it keeps pumping out glucose trying to correct the problem.
Low insulin results in higher glucose readings – for me.
Moving forward from here, I'm going to start eating breakfast and see if that will correct the problem.
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