*aly323* I have a Gest diabetes ques for you

[Ozziegirly]

Hi Aly, I didn't want to monopolise the frolickers thread!

So, I have been doing the low GI diet for just over a week now, and I have some questions if that's ok?

1. I have lost 3 lbs this week. Is this likely to stabilise as I get used to the diet as I'm not sure I should be losing weight at this stage. I was only putting on 1 lb per week before.

1. Do you basically feel hungry most of the time doing the diet? I am supposed to have 2-3 serves of carb at break, lunch and dinner, plus 1 serve at 2 snacks. This means that my meals seem really small and I feel like I am hungry all the time.

1. Today I had a salad, plus a wrap with chicken and salad for lunch. My reading was 7.0. Yesterday I had a roast lunch with fruit to follow and my reading was 6.8. This seems madness. Do you get weird readings like this? The wrap had a low carb and sugar content so I just don't understand how my reading can be so high.

Would you mind commenting on my daily diet and seeing where I can pad it out a bit as I do feel like maybe I'm not eating enough, but am not sure what/where I should add anything in;

Break - small bowl of branflakes with seeds and 1 prune plus milk.

Snack - piece of fruit

lunch - salad, plus 1 slice of bread as a sandwich with cheese and hoummous. Small handful of nuts.

snack - yogurt with fruit.

dinner - something like chilli, omelette etc - dinners have been fine really.
Apple to follow.

Maybe I am coming across as a total pig, but before this diagnosis as well as the above I was probably eating a couple of biscuits mid morning, a slice of cake with lunch, I would have 2 slices of cheese on toast when I got home from work (as we tend to eat quite late), and I have cut all those things out so now I just feel like I am never properly full up.

Any guidance you could give me as to what you do would be great.

Hi Ozzie!!

I've spoken to lots of people who lost weight when they started the GD diet, but I think that's generally because they were eating loads of crap before going on it. You were already eating healthy, so I wouldn't expect you to lose much. You should definitely check in with your support people.

I never feel hungry, it's a total chore for me to eat. HOWEVER, I'm only 8 weeks in and am constantly sick. I think you're at a stage in pregnancy when you're supposed to feel hungry all the time. But, I do see some huge differences in our diets that would probably leave me feeling hungry, too. My diet seems to be more carb heavy than yours.

If I went in with your diet, I would be told to add a carb, a protein and a glass of milk to each snack. They would tell me to have two peices of bread at lunch, and a glass of milk. There would need to be 2 carbs at dinner. And, I also HAVE to have a late night snack with a carb, protein and fat. I used to skip it, but they demanded I eat one because of the long stretch without food. Also, as for breakfast, I'm not allowed milk or fruit at breakfast because sugars tend to be highest in the morning. They also make me eat protein for breakfast.

As for erratic crazy sugars... mine are insane. The exact same thing gives me different readings every day. One thing they did tell me was that many of my high readings are not due to food. It can just be the pregnancy hormones doing their thing. That's why changing the diet doesn't always make a difference and sometimes insulin is the only choice.

Do they have you eating and testing at specific times? My clinic is absolutely rigid about when I have each meal and snack.

I hope I helped a little. It actually sounds like you've got a great start on the diet. You should definitely give your nurse or dietician a call to chat. I email mine almost every day (well, every 3 days) and discuss my numbers and issues. It helps a lot. There's also the GD thread. That may have some good info. I never made it to far on their because my early diabetes is so different.

Btw, what I call carb, my dietician lists as starch. She doesn't count in any of the carbs from fruits or veggies.

I cheated yesterday and had a few bites of cake. It was so good!!!

Aly, thanks so much for your post.

I think your diet is probably stricter than mine because you're still at that early stage. I haven't been told to eat at specific times, although in the week I tend to because of work.

It's good to know that some people lose weight and also that the blood readings can be haywire.

This morning I had egg on toast for breakfast and I hope that will help make me feel fuller and also up my protein. I think the mistake I have made is to cut down on my carbs without replacing those calories with anything else. So I have added some chicken to my lunch salad and some nuts to my afternoon yogurt.

I am following quite carefully the guidelines that they gave me. For example, I am supposed to have no more than 3 serves of carb per meal, and so for lunch that equates to the slice of bread, cheese and hoummous I think. I probably could add in a second slice but when I did that my reading was 6.8 so very little margin of error.

I feel more positive about it today, I've done more reading and think I just need to have a better breakfast to start me off, and then slightly bigger meals - starting the day hungry is really boring!

I think I also need to use my nurse more as a resource - I assume lots of people find this hard when they've been used to not really worrying about their diet - both good and bad.

It sounds like you're doing really well though, I feel real admiration that you're having to start with this so early in the pregnancy. It does kind of interfeare with your life doesn't it, especially the constant testing, I feel like I'm clockwatching all the time!

I know it's worth it in the end, but it's nice to be able to acknowledge that it actually is quite hard, and not very enjoyable having to be this ridgid with food.

Ooo, today I found 70% dark orange choclate with zero sugar in the shop next to my office.

It was totally delicious and I am now praying that my blood test in an hour isn't affected. If I can have just something sweet I will be completely happy to do the hardcore diet the rest of the the time.

It's amazing how just having a taste of sweetness makes me feel that a meal is "finished".

chocolate

I want some!!! Let me know how it affects your levels. Before, when ttc, I tested after various sweets and was shocked to see that many didn't change it much. I'm too afraid to experiment much now. Of course, I did have one slice of pizza and some chicken wings for dinner last night (I know, I'm very bad). DH was not happy with me, but I had puked earlier and was having a mad craving. My sugar was actually low after dinner. I'm eating triple veggioes today to make up for yesterday...

Funny thing with my diet is, it's the same diet they give to women who develop GD later in their pregnancy. I went to my training and there were two of us in the first tri, and six in the third. I feel like I should be on something with fewer calories. They're super concerned with weight gain, but I'm pretty sure I'm eating a lot more calories than I need right now. I'm only 8 weeks in and have gained about 3-4 pounds. But, what do I know. Before I was confirmed pregnant this time, I reduced my diet and just ate when hungry. Although I felt fine, this resulted in loads of ketones (which meant I wasn't eating enough).

I think you're doing great! Have they checked the baby's weight yet? I bet it's right on target.

Aly, it was FINE after the chocolate! I could have done a little dance around my office, I was so thrilled. In fact, my lunch of chicken salad and a chicken sandwich and the chocolate was one of the lowest readings I have had, and yet was probably the most fulfilling lunch.

Yippee!!

And I checked the ingredients and it's basically sucralose and something called erythritol which are the sweetners and there doensn't seem to be any contraindications in pregnancy.

The weight gain thing is very weird. Through my pregnancy I didn't put on any weight at all through the first 14 weeks even though I was eating like a horse and doing minimal exercise. Then after that I put on no more than 1lb per week and was doing similar, just eating what I fancied, when I was hungry, but having a really healthy diet 85% of the time, but also allowing myself a slice of cake most days, a few bits of choc when I fancied it, as I thought "why not?" as long as I am not piling on weight!

Now I have lost some, but I think I can turn that around with eating more protein and bigger portions of veg and meat/fish etc.

They haven't checked the baby's weight, but I am not overly big for 31 weeks. I still fit my pre pregnancy tops and knickers, I think I just have a long bump!

It must be horrid to have to force yourself to eat when you're not hungry though, especially when you're feeling sick too. I don't blame you for having a bit of pizza and it clearly didn't do any harm if your sugars were ok.

Congrats on the low reading!! The chocolate must now be included in all meals! I just saw your post on the other thread, but figured I would just reply here.

Breakfast is awful. It seems that any fast, decent breakfast food is off limits. My sugars are always worst in the morning. I have to start drink Carnation Instant Breakfast first thing, then later, when I feel better, I snack on bits of bread and protein to make up for the skipped solids and to keep my sugars from dropping. I get up at 6am and there's just not time to cook and everything tastes gross that early. I wish I could just eat a bowl of cereal with raisins. I miss my old life...

I'm pretty amazed by your excellent weight gain. I don't want to gain much, but I'm also jonesing for a bump. I've always been lucky to have a smaller trim body, but I have a feeling it's going to change after pregnancy. I see things I don't like already. I've suddenly grown my mom's rear end. Yuck.

I'm very curious to hear what the endo has to say today. Good luck and keep me posted!!

Thanks Aly, I agree, breakfast is awful. I get up at 6 as well and have break at 7 and it's just too early for anything complex. I miss my boring bran flakes and seeds too.

Well although I have only gained 1 stone 1 lb, I feel like I have a big bump! But I think I have lost elsewhere as my collar bones seem more noticeable.

I don't think my body will ever recover though as my boobs are a different story - they just seem so huge and droopy already. Hopefully I will stay married forever so I never need to show them to anyone else. They used to be so nice and I never appreciated them!

You're cracking me up- I was just thinking the same thing! Although there are many reasons to stay married, my soon to be droopy ass and boobs may be the biggest. I'm also, at 36, just finally getting a good dose of cellulite. What's really killing me is that my DH is suddenly losing loads of weight. His belly should be about gone as mine starts to appear.

Oh well.

Tell me about it - DH is looking better than ever as he does a lot of running.

I am looking like a fat, dimply, droopy boobed frump!

I am sure I'm not supposed to say this but I am actually looking forward to having this baby so I can get back to the gym and start losing these rounded edges....