Trying to stick to a diet of 8,000 kilojoules a day is hard work.
I know that when I do eat enough to sufficiently fuel my very active body, I don’t feel lousy, exhale air or yawn half as often as I’m used to. I have more energy, focus and enthusiasm to pour into my day. In fact, I’m so focussed on getting those kilojoules into my body that I don’t think think about chocolate or even coffee half as often (no, I am not kidding).
I also know that this 8,000 kilojoules a day business is hard work (have I said that already?). Organising meals and snacks takes time out of my day, even though I am more than capable in the kitchen. It’s been very easy for me to slip back into my old habits of existing on rabbit food until dinner time when I haven’t organised myself in the mornings.
I embarked on this new eating-to-fuel-my-body kick at the end of February, rebounded for some part of March after I got sick and the Cadbury Choc Chip Hot Cross Buns kicked in, and am only just getting back on track in the past week or so.
I first learned about eating to meet my daily energy needs after reading The CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet and The CSIRO Low Carb Diet last year. Despite it all making perfect sense, putting kilojoule counting into practice on top of carb counting, checking blood sugars and all of those other diabetes tasks felt extremely overwhelming. Thankfully, the smartphone app My Fitness Pal made tracking my kilojoule intake really easy.
The biggest change since I’ve began eating more is increased insulin sensitivity. Which I guess is a good thing, right? It started with unusually easy to manage blood sugars in the evenings after dinner. I would then wake up low during the night, have a glucose tab or two, only to wake up low again a few hours later. Fun times, right?
I’ve dropped my basal rates by about 10% overall, and so far, so good. My biggest challenge is continuing to eat this way so that I can maintain the same sensitivity to insulin.
I’m not really focussed on skewing a particular way with protein, fat or carbohydrate, but do find myself eating more protein than I was before. At the moment I’m honestly just focussing on eating enough, eating well and getting a balance of everything in there.
I find myself eating more significant meals for breakfast and lunch, rather than a slice of toast or a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. Like this amazing Sunday roast of pistachio stuffed chicken breast wrapped in prosciutto that has doubled as Monday lunch.
I embarked on this way of eating for more physical reasons, but the benefits seem to have extended into my diabetes as well.
I have more energy and focus in the short term, and I’m hoping that this will only replicate further in the long run (if I can keep it up!). The increased insulin sensitivity is making blood sugar levels much easier to manage. In the past I’d correct stubborn highs with little or no effect, and override the suggested correction on my pump with a larger bolus. Now, a correction seems far more effective than before.
I get that balancing food and blood sugar levels is no easy feat, but I don’t think I ever truly appreciated just why it is so important to eat.
I love that Sunday Roast. In fact Roast may be the best meal I have had.
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[…] Combined with more substantial eating to match my energy expenditure and ongoing self care efforts, this is where my focus has been over much of the past year. […]
There are more ways to skin this cat. Based on my own reading and experience, not as professional advice or opinion: you cmay still do well and even better with BSLs and less hypos by going low carb. It is a myth that you actually need carbs at all. (Registered US, Canadian, OZ, UK Dietitians saying this) Protein and fat can be converted into ketones and glucose as fuel for your brain and body and keep the liver topped up with glycogen. Low carb high fat diet as it is called in Dr Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution (ebook is easier to obtain but whatever) is his idea, He is a diabetic in USA , engineer and later MD, who has been on insulin for 65 years now. Was suffering protein in urine, gastroparesis , neuropathy and hit on the idea about 38 years ago of lowering his carb intake. Complications reversed over time, HBA1C (from when in use) near 5%. NHS is backing LCHF for T2Ds in its latest Health Plan . Many T1Ds on it in UK and some in OZ (including me, 52 years on insulin) are on it. Easy to stay on diet, fewer hypos, weight great, energy better and BSLs better. Cholesterol, no problem but needs checking (? mainly for docs’ sake).There are dietitians and docs in “LowCarbDownUnder: who back it here. The ADA has finally started to admit that low carbs diets have a place in diabetes management and their CEO, a diabetic herself, is looking to starting it. And there is no appreciable drop in insulin sensitivity. On increasing your carbs did you exercise more? That is usually why TIDs do it, right? So it is the higher carbs or the increased activity influencing your insulin sensitivity.?
Drawbacks: Soon after commencement -keto ‘flu- the body takes some days to adjust as salt and fluid balances alter and stabilise. Some docs and nurses may not know about iLCHF diets. At start Insulin doses need to be scaled back, easy for boluses (i.e. short-acting insulin, pre-meal) if using carb counting and insulin: carb ratio but some find that they also need to ease back basal (long-acting insulin as well). I was getting low range figures on fasting BSLs.
In 2015 Dietitians Association of Australia de-registered a Aussie dietitian and then another for prescribing LCHF diet to T2Ds, even though well recognised US MDs backed its use in scientific papers with solid evidence. DAA also tried to get a Aussie doc deregistered for promoting LCHF but failed. Why is this happening? Read ‘Jennifer Elliott vs DAA’ for full account. DAA is sponsored in part by Big Food. Yeah that massive organisation who push breakfast cereals, and other carbs. No declaration of conflict from DAA but hard line, hi carb mantra. Yes, we have all been sucked in.
Of course nobody can say every TID needs to be on LCHF diet but Bernstein ‘s idea has stood the test of time.
Some on-diabetic athletes are on a keto diet because it is used to help manage their epilepsy, so again do you really need hi carbs ? Have you been conned by Big Food, advertising etc?
Maybe if you are an Olympic standard athlete but think about how many of them there are??