DIABETICS ON THE BEACH (10/17 to 10/31/2004) Please join us!

[Burdle]

tennie, on SBD, beans are not counted as either a grain or veggie, they are in addition to...
Went to my parents for dinner last night, brought pizza beans and spiced quinoa, mom at some of each, but not a full serving of either, with no coaching from me. She really, really wants to get this under control, and she is so excited about finally losing weight. She's down about 1.5 lbs. since Tuesday. I think her blood sugar will go down just by her avoiding sweets and refined white flour...she has had no sugar and only about 1 tsp. ref. wh. flour so far this week. She is being sooooo good. They are working towards a sugar free household. Good for them!
Thanks for all your advice, it helps me and her a lot!
Happy Sugar Free Halloween,
hugs,
Burdle
172/122.6/120 started 1/5/04

[patcat1964]

hi everyone

Happy Sugar Free Halloween!

I have trouble with the sweets and candy. But today i work 14 hours so maybe it wont be so bad today!

I am trying to get back on the beach full time. I know since my last doctors appointment that I have put some weight back on. My next appointment is November 4. so i probably gain.

I do ok until nighttime. But since i have been working. My daughter is cooking dinner now. And she doesnt always cook healthy meals due to she is only 17 and she cant do complex meals. And the fact hubby wants to eat when we come in the door. Because he doesnt always eat at all during the day.

[Cetaganda]

Hello everyone,

PatCat: It's really good to hear from you. It must be especially difficult for you working so many hours. I hope that things work out for you.

We are beginning a new thread for Diabetics on the Beach beginning November 1, 2004. You may go directly to the new thread by clicking the following link:

http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/for ... 800#165800

[Marian]

I've been on the SB diet for just 5 days and have lost 8 lbs already. I went on the diet at my dr's suggestion after he told me that I'm prediabetic. I also have high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I don't usually eat eggs every morning and I'm wondering what else I can have for breakfast - any ideas? My Dr. also told me he wants me to cut out all beef, cheese and milk however I see that these are allowed on SB diet. He said these would put me into "full blown diabetes". I haven't eaten much beef in years, however I do like cheese and am fine with low fat cheese - would this be allowed if I ate it in small quantities? Also, I need some help with recipes. I honestly don't know what to eat. I know I'm not supposed to be hungry all the time but I am. Apparently there needs to be some changes in the SB diet to allow for diabetes or prediabetes? I say this because he was telling me that I should look up prediabetes because there would be some things that phase 2 of the SB diet that "others" would be allowed to put back into their diets but that I shouldn't because of prediabetes but I don't know what those things are yet. Can anyone help me with this? I appreciate any help you can give me. Marian

[tennie]

Hello Marian and welcome.

Wow, your dr's instructions come as a surprise to me. I was diagnosed as diabetic in Aug. and went on the SBD at my dr's suggestion. He never mentioned giving up beef, cheese and milk. Perhaps the high cholesterol is the reason he cuts those out?? Even at that, using the lower fat meat cheese and milk should be ok. I do hate to contradict your doctor though. Many have found by following this WOE that their cholesterol and blood pressure have really improved.

I have made no changes in the SBD and have gotten my blood sugar levels stabilized. I am hoping to control as long as possible with just the change in diet. (Exercise is good also, but I do a fairly high activity level)
I am losing weight very slowly compared to you--weight loss is a goal of mine, but second to stablizing the blood sugars.

My cholesterol is also high, but haven't had it checked again since being on the diet. Will be a while before that gets done again.

The only change I'll make going into latter stages of the diet (a long way off for me) is not going back to refined sugar. The sugar in fruits etc. are fine, even for diabetics, although I tend to stay on the ones that are lower GI (glycemic index).

Hopefully a couple of the others will chime in and help. I'm awfully new at this, but so far seems to be working for me.

It's hard to recommend recipes with those restrictions, but you might want to head into phase 2 fairly quickly and add in some whole wheat breads and other whole grains and fruit.

Marilyn

[Marian]

Marilyn, Thanks for your reply. I thought that seemed kind of harsh (after having read some of the other messages on the board and some of the recipes). My Dr. actually said that my cholesterol is only a "bit high" he's more concerned about my blood pressure and my blood sugar and the fact that I'm overweight. There's diabetes and heart disease in my family history-guess that's why he's reacting this way. I'm 5'1 and started this on Monday weighing 164 lbs. I've been browsing the board and looking for recipes but as I said before, breakfast seems to be the hardest to figure out as I'm tired of eggs every morning. As far as lunch or dinner goes I just may have to "cheat" a little and have a little bit of low fat cheese or some lean beef sometimes. I'm still learning about SB as well as diabetes so I'll just have to figure some things out along the way. Thanks again
Marian

[bobbeleh]

Hi Marian:

A lot of MDs still follow the old guidelines ala Dean Ornish. We live in a fat-phobic society, but more and more MDs are coming on the SBD bandwagon because it works. Keep fairly strictly to the first 2 weeks (and enjoy your beef and eggs), then you can lighten up a bit.

I typically begin the day with a 3-egg asparagus and parmesan omelet. It keeps me happy for hours. I often have a 6-8 ounce steak with 2-3 different veggies for dinner.

I don't crave sugar and other carbs and I've normalized my blood sugar and blood pressure. The blood sugar normalized within the 1st 7-10 days and continues to remain low.

I use string cheese and nuts for snacks and I've added flaxseed oil, 1000 mg gelcaps 1-2 per day as a supplement. The high Omega-3 -6 & -9 content of the flaxseed oil is great at lowering cholesterol.

I won't now my chol count until mid-December, but I expect it will be better than it was.

I wonder if your MD is really familiar with the SBD.



Bobbe

[Marian]

Bobbe,
Thanks for posting a reply for me. I will follow your advice and try to stay strictly to the first 2 weeks of phase 1 of the diet. I do notice that I tend to get hungry often though and I'm wondering what I should choose to snack on without worrying about raising blood sugar? I guess one thing I'll do is buy some of the string cheese (I hadn't bought any of it yet because of what my Dr. said, but I think I'll choose to go strictly on the SB diet and disregard what he said about cheese and beef). I was wondering if it is best to snack on a salad or a bit of chicken in mid afternoon. I tried 30 pistachios and it just doesn't cut it as I'm still hungry.
I, too am wondering how familiar my MD is with the SBD. The funny thing is... I bought the book from him!
Marian

[bobbeleh]

Hi Marian:

String cheese is an excellent choice. So is a hardboiled egg -- or two. I don't count when it comes to nuts -- not even with Phase 1. My main interest was blood sugar, then weight loss, so if a handful of shelled pistachios slows my weight loss a tad, so be it.

Things that won't raise your blood sugar basically is meat, cheese and generally nuts. Almonds are pretty good, too, because of the really high fiber content. I go to Costco and get the big jars of roased peanuts and bags of almonds. I get my pistachios at Middle Eastern markets. I also have a rule of thumb about cheese -- if it won't melt, I won't eat it. I use grated parmesan as part of my omelets in the mornings.

Do be sure you eat enough. It's very easy to get into the eating to little trap and that can have the opposite effects. I eat large salads with all kinds of things in them. If I get hungry later, I eat. I don't worry about it. I found that the appetite decreased on its own.

I have also found that having a protein-heavy breakfast starts things out well and keeps the blood sugars in line for most of the day. I also, don't eat bread as a general rule.

This week, being toward the end of Ramadan, has been kind of off for me. There's a lot of socializing and incredible amounts of food. I try to make up for it by eating very little during the day or eating only protein/fat.

The last thing is to be sure you eat enough fat. That will do more for keeping the hunger pangs down than almost anything else. I often combine olive oil with Smart Balance margarine (no trans-fats) for my sauteeing needs. I also take the flaxseed oil gelcaps (1,000 mgs) for my omega-3, 6 & 9s.

Honestly, I have terrible eating habits -- I tend to eat on the run. Thankfully, most of the fast food places have workable salads. These days, my favorite is the garden salad with fire-grilled shrimp from Burger King. Decent greens, baby carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, a few croutons, and 10-12 decent sized shrimp. I sometimes toss the croutons, sometimes I add them to the salad -- I'm on Phase II, so I can.

I love big chef's salads for lunch. Anything I can find goes into them. I like to keep hardboiled eggs around to put in my salads. Also, 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of kidney beans thrown in is allowed, plus it adds vitamins, minerals, fiber and best of all, interest!

It gets to be second nature after a while.



Bobbe

[tennie]

Marian

I have also found that a glass of milk is a good filler when hungry. Phase 1 you can have 2 eight ounce glasses a day (skim or 1%). Cottage cheese is also good, but that, like yogurt, is counted in the milk allowance. So milk if you like it, or cottage cheese and/or yogurt.

Peanut butter on celery sticks makes a filling snack. Another good snack would be a slice of lean ham or turkey (thin sliced) rolled around a piece of low-fat cheese. If you're still hungry, have another. And don't forget the water and other liquids. (I tend to do more 'other' liquids as the water tastes terrible in our area.)

Vegetables can be used as a snack. Any leftovers? Snack on them. Also cauliflower, celery, broccoli (ugh) can be eaten raw.

As Bobbe said, be sure to eat enough. I found I wasn't losing for several weeks, so I changed up what I was eating and actually ate more than before - dropped 5 pounds.

I tend to be like Bobbe on the nuts. I don't go overboard, but don't measure like they say.

Actually none of the things that SBD recommends for snacks would raise your blood sugar level (BSL). But the snacks are important in order to stabilize the BSL's.


Marilyn

[tennie]

Bobbe

I thought Ramadan was over. I saw in the paper several days ago that some well-known person (can't remember now who) was hosting an end of Ramadan dinner.

Wish I could find a middle Eastern food store around here, but the best we can offer is Mexican (besides the regular stores).

Marilyn

[bobbeleh]

That might have been an "iftaar" which is the meal that breaks the fast at the end of the day. Ramadan ends either next Saturday or next Sunday (moon sighting ). It's 95% sure to be Sunday (sighting Saturday night). Eid (pronounced Eeeed) is party time, begun with a prayer/breakfast, new clothes, gifts for the kids, good food. "Eid" actually means "festival".

Anyway, speaking of iftaar, I'm outta here for the evening!

Bobbe

[Burdle]

Hi, tennie. I just checked Kimboroni's FAQ, and couldn't find anything about cottage cheese counting towards the 2 cups milk/yogurt daily allowance...could you please tell me where you got that info?
Thanks tons,
Burdle

[tennie]

Hi Burdle

I believe I just read it in someone's post on one of the boards and thought it made since because of the type of cheese it is. Or maybe I just imagined it!!!

I just checked my phase 1 foods to enjoy list and lowfat cottage cheese is listed with the other cheeses. So it looks like it is NOT part of the milk/yogurt allowance.

Sorry about that.

Marilyn

[bobbeleh]

Hi Marilyn & Burdle:

One thing I really, really like about SBD is its total flexibility. Dr. Agatston stresses in his book that you should enjoy yourself food-wise, albeit within reason. I'm not a coffee drinker particularly, but now and again, I really like a good cuppa, as they say. I have a particular coffee specialty store that I go to a few times a month. They offer what's called a "cafe breve", which is espresso with steamed half-n-half. Okay, this isn't an everyday indulgence, but once in a while, it just hits the spot. I feel like I've had a real treat and I'm still loosely within the guidelines.

The other "indulgence" I do is when I make my omelets, I use maybe a teaspoon of half-n-half and I use grated parmesan/romano cheese. I did this even in Phase 1. Because the amount is so small (for the half-n-half), I didn't worry about it.

The rest of my eating is well within the SBD guidelines.

An eating program that doesn't have flexibility is pretty much doomed to failure.

So. Don't stress too much. In your heart of hearts you know what you shouldn't be eating. The rest of it falls into place.



Bobbe