Please send me some good vibes
- Thread starter Lady_in_London
- Start date
Lady_in_London
Member
Thanks Isobel and both Debbies. I need to read up which food are carbs. (I have never tried Atkins - never tried anything except WW). Very surprised that there are certain foods that contain carbs. Thanks for emailing Liptrim - I was advised last July by Consultant to have food for 500 cals a day, but couldn't stick to that. He did say to test my blood for hypos and how to reduce the medication and how to have emergency sugar food if blood too low. I suppose it is good my GP is taking all precautions. Let's face it, he has never heard of LT - it could be anything in his eyes and he wants to know its bona fide organisation. I have been recommended to view the discovery health website for advice on which foods would be good for me. I will start reducing carbs slowly from now and from the middle of next week will be 7 days from the time I will start LT if allowed to so middle of next week I will cut out carbs altogether. It is going to be hard I know, but I have read on this site about the problems people have in the first few days of starting a VLCD and don't want those symptoms myself.
mummydebbie
Member
HI LADY IN LONDON
I WILL KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR YOU WHEN YOU START BUT KEEP POSTING WON,T YOU
DEBBIE
I WILL KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR YOU WHEN YOU START BUT KEEP POSTING WON,T YOU
DEBBIE
Isobel1965
Gold Member
LIL - to be honest, if I were you, I'd fill up on fresh fruit and vegetables, protein like chicken and fish and just try to limit the evil stuff (lol - well it is for me!) like bread, rice, potatoes and pasta. Have small amounts of granary bread and wholewheat cereals/muesli to keep up your energy levels until you get the go ahead to start LT. Don't cut carbs out completely unless your GP says it's ok for you to do so, because of your medical history - better safe than sorry, hey, hun?
Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.
chicken on a mission
Restarting to lose 4stone
My hubby has type 2 diabetes and has been advised to only have 1 portion of fruit at a time because of the sugars 
Isobel1965
Gold Member
Fair enough - that sounds logical!
So it's lots of veg for you then, LIL lol!
So it's lots of veg for you then, LIL lol!
chicken on a mission
Restarting to lose 4stone
I don't do logic cause I haven't got a clue and still have to keep referring back to his diabetes manual
they tell him he can still eat the 5 fuit and veg but that the fruit has to be spaced out throughout the day
Isobel1965
Gold Member
Oh right - so do they mean that he has to eat one piece of fruit and then leave it for a few hours so that his body can process the sugar? So he could have an apple in the morning and a banana at night, but with 3 portions of veg inbetween?
Russiandoll
Carpe diem
It's a bit of a carb minefield isn't it! When it comes to diabetes, it's a common misconception that 'you can't eat sugar' i.e cakes and chocolate but sugar comes in many forms.
In simple terms, sugar is the body's fuel. The body has to break down sugars into glucose (the simplest form of sugar) before it can absorb it where insulin then converts it into energy.
If you imagine 'sugars' as a bead necklace, the body can only absorb them when they are one bead long: Glucose is one bead long (a monosaccharide).
Other more complex sugars are several beads long (disaccharides and polysaccharides). Carbohydrates (starches) are complex sugars with varying lengths of 'beads' - nothing more. Each 'chain' has to be broken down to one bead (glucose) before it can be absorbed.
So when you are a diabetic and eat lots of carbs, your blood sugar levels rise because carbs ARE sugar.
And if those carbs are refined (white bread, pasta, rice etc) then the blood sugar levels rise FAST and can go quite high as the body is flooded with digested sugar looking for insulin to convert it to energy. Unfortunately for a type 2 diabetic, there is a distinct lack of good quality insulin around to do that converting! (and in type 1s, there's none at all!)
That's why it's not just the 'obvious' sugars like sweets and cakes that are diabetic 'baddies' but large quantities of starchy carbs are too. Same for fruit with its fructose.
Wholewheat cereals, oatmeal and other low GI foods take longer for the body to digest and give it a fighting chance to metabolise the sugars slowly as they're drip-fed through, avoiding the high blood sugars found in type 2 diabetics after a meal heavy in refined carbs.
Hope this sheds a bit of light on what a carb is (although it's still very confusing as to WHAT contains good or bad carbs). I mean, who would have thought a tomato or melon is carby?
When it comes to diabetes, it's a common misconception that 'you can't eat sugar' i.e cakes and chocolate but sugar comes in many forms.In simple terms, sugar is the body's fuel. The body has to break down sugars into glucose (the simplest form of sugar) before it can absorb it where insulin then converts it into energy.
If you imagine 'sugars' as a bead necklace, the body can only absorb them when they are one bead long: Glucose is one bead long (a monosaccharide).
Other more complex sugars are several beads long (disaccharides and polysaccharides). Carbohydrates (starches) are complex sugars with varying lengths of 'beads' - nothing more. Each 'chain' has to be broken down to one bead (glucose) before it can be absorbed.
So when you are a diabetic and eat lots of carbs, your blood sugar levels rise because carbs ARE sugar.
And if those carbs are refined (white bread, pasta, rice etc) then the blood sugar levels rise FAST and can go quite high as the body is flooded with digested sugar looking for insulin to convert it to energy. Unfortunately for a type 2 diabetic, there is a distinct lack of good quality insulin around to do that converting! (and in type 1s, there's none at all!)
That's why it's not just the 'obvious' sugars like sweets and cakes that are diabetic 'baddies' but large quantities of starchy carbs are too. Same for fruit with its fructose.
Wholewheat cereals, oatmeal and other low GI foods take longer for the body to digest and give it a fighting chance to metabolise the sugars slowly as they're drip-fed through, avoiding the high blood sugars found in type 2 diabetics after a meal heavy in refined carbs.
Hope this sheds a bit of light on what a carb is (although it's still very confusing as to WHAT contains good or bad carbs). I mean, who would have thought a tomato or melon is carby?
chicken on a mission
Restarting to lose 4stone
Well saved saved me a job and you put it so much better Debbie
That is exactly why our family has a vested interest to follow a GI/GL lifestyle as it will prevent the ups and downs in my blood sugars and take the edge of the cravings and it is esential for the management of hubbys condition
They should be teaching this stuff in schools as standard so that the next generation know how what they eat means that they can affect what they want to eat.
That is exactly why our family has a vested interest to follow a GI/GL lifestyle as it will prevent the ups and downs in my blood sugars and take the edge of the cravings and it is esential for the management of hubbys condition
They should be teaching this stuff in schools as standard so that the next generation know how what they eat means that they can affect what they want to eat.
Lady_in_London
Member
Well, I have learnt a lot. I don't remember my dietician ever recommending cutting out certain foods mentioned above. I think times and thinking changes over the years. Debbie, you are a mine of information. Thanks for explaining.
Lady_in_London
Member
Hi Ann, I am good thanks and hi again Roch. Hope you are having a good evening both of you.
I am fine Ann thanks but am very wound up about my hopefully getting my GP's say-so. It's affecting my sleep and also, for some stupid reason, my eating. I haven't binged in literally months but did this evening. (It was only 1000 calories so not so bad, but it was the loss of control I was surprised at). I am turning into a nervous wreck. More so because I have investigated on the internet and found out how prevelent the use of VLCDs are and how established and well known they are among the medical profession, apart from my Doctors, and yet I have come upon this brick wall just at a time when I have hit rock bottom with my health and weight. Just me feeling sorry for myself, which is so stupid because it may all be ok and I can do LT. But I keep having visions that my Consultant will say I can't do it, and then there is no way out of my situation. I never normally suffer with anxiety but this has thrown me for six.
I am fine Ann thanks but am very wound up about my hopefully getting my GP's say-so. It's affecting my sleep and also, for some stupid reason, my eating. I haven't binged in literally months but did this evening. (It was only 1000 calories so not so bad, but it was the loss of control I was surprised at). I am turning into a nervous wreck. More so because I have investigated on the internet and found out how prevelent the use of VLCDs are and how established and well known they are among the medical profession, apart from my Doctors, and yet I have come upon this brick wall just at a time when I have hit rock bottom with my health and weight. Just me feeling sorry for myself, which is so stupid because it may all be ok and I can do LT. But I keep having visions that my Consultant will say I can't do it, and then there is no way out of my situation. I never normally suffer with anxiety but this has thrown me for six.
westhills
I STILL mean it!
L i L.
I worked for the NHS for twenty five years, and one thing I know for certain, and I want you to absorb and belive - it is that Doctors are not Gods. They are just ordinary people who happen to have trained in a particular field. You should not give up on ytour dreams of slimdom, even if one, two three or more Doctors refuse to co-operate. YOU are the customer, and YOU are in control of your own life. There are all shades of opinion in the medical profession, and I am sure it would not be difficult to fine a private Doctor to REALLY look after you, and guide you through the VLCD world, if this becomes necessary. I was taking 3 lots of medication for high blood presuure and high cholesterol last Christmas, and now I don't take any.
I believe that the Hope Hospital in Manchester has in- patients on VLCD for the NHS, I'll try and find the web site for you.
It makes interesting reading. I have struggled with my weight forover 40 years, and NEVER had VLCD put forward as a treatment by any Doctor, never had any useful help from the NHS at all really. I think this is negligence on a grand scale - don't even get me started on that one.
We will help you LiL, you WILL find a way out of this.
Ann xxx
I worked for the NHS for twenty five years, and one thing I know for certain, and I want you to absorb and belive - it is that Doctors are not Gods. They are just ordinary people who happen to have trained in a particular field. You should not give up on ytour dreams of slimdom, even if one, two three or more Doctors refuse to co-operate. YOU are the customer, and YOU are in control of your own life. There are all shades of opinion in the medical profession, and I am sure it would not be difficult to fine a private Doctor to REALLY look after you, and guide you through the VLCD world, if this becomes necessary. I was taking 3 lots of medication for high blood presuure and high cholesterol last Christmas, and now I don't take any.
I believe that the Hope Hospital in Manchester has in- patients on VLCD for the NHS, I'll try and find the web site for you.
It makes interesting reading. I have struggled with my weight forover 40 years, and NEVER had VLCD put forward as a treatment by any Doctor, never had any useful help from the NHS at all really. I think this is negligence on a grand scale - don't even get me started on that one.
We will help you LiL, you WILL find a way out of this.
Ann xxx
westhills
I STILL mean it!
Take a look around the Hope Hospital's web site (weight management clinic.) The page specifically related to diabetes & VLCD is
Diabetes and the Very Low Calorie Diet
Ann xxx
Diabetes and the Very Low Calorie Diet
Ann xxx
Russiandoll
Carpe diem
Ann - that is FANTASIC info: very, very useful and a real endorsement for the use of VLCDs. As you know, I'm a type 2 diabetic and found that in my own case, my diabetes responded fantastically well to being on a VLCD - just like the info on your link stated. Within weeks, my blood sugars were within normal range WITHOUT medication and I've never taken a metformin tablet since.
Bearing in mind I was on 3000mg per day, that's quite a change! I have never felt as healthy and full of energy as I have since starting a VLCD.
Maybe this information needs to be cirulated to GPs country-wide because the inconsistancy in their knowledge on the subject quite frankly beggars belief.
LIL - I echo what Ann says, in that doctors aren't 'all that and a bag of chips' when it comes to medical knowledge. Some are downright clueless on certain issues so if you meet a brick wall with one, it doesn't mean the end of your quest. I've sat in a GP's surgery before while he looked through a medical text book to diagnose me ... hardly a confidence booster!!
If you are met with a negative response to your request to embark upon a VLCD then why not print out the info on the link that Ann posted and take it in. How can they argue with the info on a HOSPITAL website written by experts in obesity care?? Don't give up - don't despair ... and most of all, remember we're all here rooting for you
Bearing in mind I was on 3000mg per day, that's quite a change! I have never felt as healthy and full of energy as I have since starting a VLCD.
Maybe this information needs to be cirulated to GPs country-wide because the inconsistancy in their knowledge on the subject quite frankly beggars belief.
LIL - I echo what Ann says, in that doctors aren't 'all that and a bag of chips' when it comes to medical knowledge. Some are downright clueless on certain issues so if you meet a brick wall with one, it doesn't mean the end of your quest. I've sat in a GP's surgery before while he looked through a medical text book to diagnose me ... hardly a confidence booster!!
If you are met with a negative response to your request to embark upon a VLCD then why not print out the info on the link that Ann posted and take it in. How can they argue with the info on a HOSPITAL website written by experts in obesity care?? Don't give up - don't despair ... and most of all, remember we're all here rooting for you
Barb
Gold Member
I am sure Ann and Debbie have cheered you up LIL, I hope so. They are quite right in everything they say(as they always are), you are in control of your own destiny and you do not have to be inactive when you can be proactive. This is about what you WANT and NEED, not about an ill informed Gps opinion. Follow the advice you have been given on this thread and your new future will be brighter, healthier and happier very soon. Keep us informed, veryone on here is rooting for you. Love and hugs
Lady_in_London
Member
Thanks so much for those words of sense and encouragement. I have been on another forum which is almost all Lipotrim users and got lots of information from there. Also a lot of the posters on there are from the Manchester area and are doing well at that NHS clinic on Lipotrim. I have contingency plans in place (oooerrr!) as to how to proceed to go on LT if my GP won't allow it. I am more informed of the proper way to go about things if I need to, so feel happier today. You know, I love this forum, and the other one for Lipotrim users. I find more support that a slimming club would give. Slimming clubs certainly are rather stuffy - these forums are so much better. I hope you are all ok and many thanks again for your words of wisdom. I hope when I am on LT I can be as encouraging to others on here.
Take care xxx
Take care xxx
Russiandoll
Carpe diem
Great to hear you're feeling more positive LiL
I agree with you when you said this forum is better than a slimming club: quite often, slimming clubs are great whilst you're there but as soon as you walk out of the door, you have no support until the following week - and a LOT of cals can slip twixt hand and lip in that time!
At least here, there's help, advice, encouragement and support practically 24/7 - it's really been my lifeline over the past 5 or so months.
I've got my fingers crossed for you still ... hope everything works out the way you want it to.
I agree with you when you said this forum is better than a slimming club: quite often, slimming clubs are great whilst you're there but as soon as you walk out of the door, you have no support until the following week - and a LOT of cals can slip twixt hand and lip in that time!
At least here, there's help, advice, encouragement and support practically 24/7 - it's really been my lifeline over the past 5 or so months.
I've got my fingers crossed for you still ... hope everything works out the way you want it to.
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