type 1 diabetic who has to watch protein and blood sugar levels

[Heather Bint Abooha]

Hello,

I'm a type 1 diabetic. While the whole 30 on the 2nd day has given me some results, I've experienced low blood sugars between breakfast and lunch. Not only that, protein is a big part of this diet. But what do you do when you as a diabetic, have to watch your level of protein? Basically? What can I eat in this case?

[ladyshanny]

Hi Heather,

 

In order to give you some better and more directed advice, can you let us know what you've been eating? Include portions, timing, fluids, exercise, sleep, stress etc in your rundown.

 

What sort of limitations are you on for diabetes in regards to protein?

[Heather Bint Abooha]

Typically for breakfast 8:30am I've been eating ground turkey (a fist full)or 2 scrambled eggs using olive oil , tomatoes, cucumbers, and a serving of fruit.

For a snack 10:30 am I'll have roasted peanuts with a cup of tea (hibiscus or green tea)

Lunch 1:00pm could be natural mott's apple sauce pouch (as I have to keep my sugar levels up), I'll have a cup of french cut green beans, or 1/2 cup toubuleh, a fistful portion of roasted chicken, and a sweet potato with the approved Organic Valley Pasture Butter.

Dinner, 7:30pm can be the same roasted chicken, a small regular potatoes, and herbed seasoned fresh cut green beans 1 cup.

Snack: a cup of tea and more peanuts or almonds..less than 1/3 cup.

I'm a bit of an unadventurous eater.

I'm on day 3. So far I can't say it's going well with my low sugars and my boring food choices. I drink a liter of water throughout the day.

My doctor recommends me watch my protein intake because it will effect my kidneys. Already, I'm eating too much protein. I should limit it to 3 small servings a day. But as you can see...I eat more than that.

I exercise 3 days a week doing kickboxing. Sleeping is typically 6 hours every night. Lastly, yes, I'm under a good amount of stress.

I hope that covers it!

Thanks!

[praxisproject]

I'm afraid there look to be a number of non-compliant items there. Peanuts (legume) aren't Whole30 compliant and butter is only compliant if it's clarified (like ghee), toubuleh usually contains wheat which is not compliant (no grains) but there are Whole30 compliant recipes for it.

 

I think the gap between breakfast and lunch is too long without something more substantial as a snack or mini meal in between (doesn't need to be big, but not just nuts, template ratios), your blood sugar won't last that long. Some veggies like peppers or carrot sticks and half a boiled egg with some mayo maybe? If the gap was smaller I'd suggest a bigger breakfast but it's a big gap.

 

Meat may also be a better nutritional option than the additional protein content of nuts (nuts are a fat source for Whole30 but do contain protein - if you are wanting to limit protein, other fat sources might be a better fit for you). Coconut butter is a nut butter alternative, as is mayo.

 

From the amounts you're already eating, you should be able to eat to the template, which is a palm sized serve of protein. Does your doctor know you're changing your eating plan? This is very important if you're taking any medications. Your doctor may have particular things for you to take into consideration, for your particular history.

 

If you're doing kickboxing you really need to be having some pre & post workout meals as well (otherwise you're under feeding yourself and you will get tired and could lose some muscle). Some people find they need to tone down their training in the first week if they feel really tired, but it depends on how fast your fat adaptation goes. Do you have rest days in between your kickboxing days?

 

Sleeping less than 8 hours a day will affect your results, particularly if you're under stress as well and both of these can affect your blood sugar.

[Heather Bint Abooha]

Yikes! I thought nuts were compliant! I guess I missed the part about peanuts. And the toubuleh too!? I guess I'll have to clarify the pasture butter I bought. As someone who is a diabetic and doesn't like too many types of food, I don't know how I'll get through it.

I'll try the hard boiled eggs as a snack.I'll be discussing this diet plan with my doctor in just a couple of weeks. However, he may add on some non compliant items so that my sugar doesn't drop too low. We will see. I've also greatly decreased the amount of insulin I take.

[Carlaccini]

Rather than focusing on the foods you do not like is there a way we can focus on the foods you DO like and kind of experiment from there on out?

 

Nuts are complaint - however peanuts (despite their misleading name) are not nuts.

 

Hard boiled eggs - you could easily make a egg salad with those hard boiled eggs.  Learn how to make homemade mayo (store bought stuff very often contains soybean oil as well as some other non-compliant ingredients).

 

From the homemade mayo you can make a ton of additional sauces and dressings.  

 

So first focus on what foods you DO like.

THEN find different ways of preparing them.

 

For instance - I'm okay with broccoli, but not a huge fan of it.  But Roasted with salt and pepper and duck fat (or even olive oil) it turns into a seriously awesome vegetable.

 

YOU CAN DO THIS!!!

[praxisproject]

For your blood sugar you probably want to eat at the upper end of the template (3 cups of veg per meal), so experiment with some veggies to find ones you like. (I really like recipes from Mel Joulwan - not fussy and very tasty http://meljoulwan.com). Some people find with the changes from Whole30 they need to reduce medications a lot, so make sure you're seeing your doctor regularly.

 

If you're not taking magnesium, this may be a good addition (most people take it at night before bed, helps with sleep and stress as it supports the body).

 

Also, with a reduction of processed food, most people will need to add salt to their food sometimes as for most people they don't get enough once they're not eating processed food. I like salt most on potatoes and eggs (as well as some hot sauce, which is usually high in sodium).

[esonia]

Hi Heather! I'm a type 1 diabetic too, so I'm definitely sympathetic to finding the right balance at meal-times. It took me about a week and a half, but eventually, I was able to start forgoing snacks and things have leveled out. I'm still experimenting with my dosing, because my sugars this week have been a little elevated (probably due to PMS). You may want to experiment with taking your insulin bolus after your meal: because of the higher fat content in your meals, it delays the digestion of any carbs you eat and may result in a low blood sugar after the bolus insulin peaks.

 

For your workouts, make sure you follow the pre and post workout mini meals on the template! I exercise first thing in the morning, so I take my fasting glucose, then eat my PreWO: I will have almonds if my blood sugar is under 100 or smoked salmon and olives if it is over 100. I exercise for an hour (generally cardio, weights and HIIT), then take my blood sugar again and eat my PostWO: homemade sweet potato chips and homemade turkey sausage patty in the car on my way home. I then take my shower and eat breakfast (usually a veggie omelette with guacamole, olives, sometimes fruit). I take my bolus insulin after breakfast accounting for the carbs in the sweet potato and any fruit I ate with breakfast and any correction needed (exercise sometimes pushes my glucose levels up).

It feels like a lot of food, but keeps me pretty well satiated until lunch.