In terms of emailing companies, most of the information I’ve gathered is, “Processed products aren’t safe. “ LOL. Practically every company responds back that their products are processed in facilities with potatoes and they don’t track to test for cross-contamination.
But in terms of my recipe discoveries and the ways in which I travel and such, yes. I’ve actually been wondering if my blog might be a good spot for that stuff. I haven’t updated that thing in FOREVER though. And it’s a secrete blog, so although I enjoy updating it, I always feel a bit weird about it because I don’t like keeping secrets (even though I’m sure no one would care). I’d prefer something that I was open with family/friends about.
I popped my basal rates up another notch today. That’s a total of a 63% increase in basal rates for hormones. Just crazy. And there’s a good chance they’ll have to go up more before all gets reset.
Today I had a homemade muffin that I made a long time ago and stuck in my freezer, so I have no idea what the recipe was. It was okay, and if I can find the recipe, I’ll give it another try. For lunch I avocado, tuna, and vegan mayo (avocado oil mayo, hmmm, maybe that’s why it wsn’t as delicious as usual). Snacked on a few pieces of bittersweet chocolate during the day, as well as herbal tea, of course. For dinner I had chicken and mustard and some veggies followed by some coconut ice cream. (I really need to get less lazy in the evenings or else make something I can use as leftovers.)
When I exercised today I didn’t eat anything prior. I just suspended my pump by 50% for an hour and a half. I started exercise at 5.8 mmol/L and finished an hour later at 5.9 mmol/L. Can’t get much better than that.
I’m looking forward to another night with no interruptions.
How’s it going? Still having a major increase in basal? Come up with any new recipies?
We’ve been on the road and decidedly not eating low carb and it’s so much more difficult to manage. I’ve been thinking about your thread and wondering how it’s been going. Then looking at your dexcom data I realize how much easier it is to bolus for less carbs - the resultant spike and crash from a large meal full of carbs just doesn’t happen.
This weekend I ate more carbs because I’m trying to use up food I have rather than buy more. Plus, I was feeling really rough for a couple of days. I’ve read that maybe that may be from electrolytes being off (“Keto flu”), and I have electrolyte tablet things, but I was waiting on hearing back from the company about whether they were safe for me. I finally heard back today (no potato in them and no potato used in the manufacturing facility, yay!) so tonight I’ll go shopping and get back at it.
Over the weekend my allergies in general were just bad. Last night I also had an allergic reaction at dinner (no EpiPen, but I did take Benadryl). Frustrating when I prepare my own meals and still react. It was lentil pasta, black bean “ground beef” that I made from scratch, and tomato sauce. I’m guessing I reacted to the tomato sauce because I react to raw tomato, but I had the exact same meal two nights earlier and was fine.
My next recipe will be a re-try of hte bread I tried earlier in this thread. I’d also like it try making psyllium husk pasta, but I haven’t really looked into how to do that yet. And, if I need a pasta maker machine for it, I need to find one that can fit in a teeny tiny apartment kitchen.
So, overall, things are going well. It’s hard to stick to at times in that I just feel like eating junk food, but overall you’re right, the blood sugar benefits are huge. Hopefully when I give it another try I won’t go back to feeling bad, or if I do, hopefully the tablets I bought will help.
And I’m sorry about your homemade allergy attack. What a drag. I wonder if it was just multiple days of tomatoes? Like they “stack” so to speak? I’ve done some reading about histamine intolerance and it seems to work that way. But it’s a bummer.
I’ve only made normal pasta once years ago and it was so tough none of us could chew it. We had rolled it by hand. But that’s gluten for you. Maybe GF pasta would be more forgiving?
And good luck with those electrolyte tablets! Glad they’re on the safe list. I have noticed if I go really low carb I feel like crap for a while. I hope that it passes for you soon.
Keep up the great work! I’m glad it’s going well! Very impressed.
I’ve read about allergens “building up”, too, but only on Facebook, so I really have no idea whether it’s science or just all the random things people say about allergies that aren’t true. My guess is that because I’m allergic to raw tomatoes I’m probably at a high risk of reacting to cooked tomatoes, so maybe it does just depend on whether my immune system is “revved up” to start with or starting from a calm place. I have reacted to cooked tomatoes in the past, but it’s pretty random. Raw tomatoes is every time.
Tonight I’m going to have leftover pasta and black beans, since I have leftovers, but this time I’ll use pesto sauce instead.
@Jen, @Pianoplayer7008 and @TravelingOn. Just wanted to let you each know how much I appreciate your posts as you experiment, analyze, test out new approaches to food and generally keep up the hard work. Thank you!!
I’ve often wondered about many of the topics the thread has touched on. I’ve gotten a lot out of it.
I’m glad you’ve found the thread useful! I don’t think I have any answers, but all I can do is share my experiences.
After feeling horrible at the end of last week, this week I’ve felt generally great. I exercised yesterday and felt energetic and strong.
I have a few days off, so recipes I have planned for the upcoming weekend include:
The almond ricotta with pumpkin or sunflower seeds (to be nut-free)
Eggplant “bacon” strips (made these once years ago and they were delicious)
Tofu scramble with tumeric (another one I’ve made before, delicious)
Tofu “jerky” in my dehydrator
Cauliflower rice sushi (with avocado, carrots, cucumber, maybe a bit of ricotta!)
This weekend I’m also going to make another pizza, most likely. Freakin’ delicious. But part of the theme of some of the recipes I’m trying is experimenting with things that I could easily take travelling with me.
Tonight I made low-carb sushi. I don’t have a sushi rolling mat (in my Amazon cart as of tonight), so I couldn’t roll the sushi very tightly, and therefore it all fell apart. And I’m also not sure I laid things out properly. So I just mixed everything up in a bowl and ate it as a sushi bowl. Freaking DELICIOUS! I have not had sushi in literally years.
Here’s what I put in the rolls/bowl:
cauliflower rice (mixed in with rice vinegar and a bit of stevia after being cooked)
cucumber (I was going to also add carrot, but forgot)
smoked salmon (cooked)
almond “cream” (ricotta) cheese
nori, I just ripped it up and put it in the bowl since the rolls fell apart
I think adding some hemp seeds as a substitute for sesame seeds (which have caused me allergy issues in the past, so I generally avoid).
I will definitely be doing this again. Hopefully as rolls, because I think that could be something awesome I could pack as a lunch.
This seems brilliant. Are people doing this? Maybe it’s the Poke Bowl craze that’s hit my town?
Have you thought about shredding the carrot? That might be nice too. And I saw this beautiful radish, called watermelon radish I think, and I feel like that might be good too.
Yep, a sushi bowl is a thing. I mean, I don’t know if restaurants have it, but people do it instead of making sushi rolls.
I would have shredded the carrot for sure.
I never thought of raddish. Another thing I’d like to try this weekend is making “breaded” veggie “tempura” type things in my air fryer. That will be a challenge without wheat or eggs, but that’s what this thread is all about.
My favorite tempura is sweet potato or maybe carrot. Yum! I miss tempura. Love the shrimp too.
I’m wondering if arrowroot or tapioca starch might do the trick. Or cornstarch? We have a Chinese restaurant which makes very very good GF sweet and sour chicken with cornstarch (awful carb bomb and impossible for EH to eat). But it’s crispy like gluten-y sweet and sour chicken and that’s nice.
I’ll look forward to your test!
And interesting about the sushi bowls! I always am learning new things here.
Haha, but the whole point of this thread is low-carb and edible without a giant spike or super complicated bolus. I have heard of people using almond flour and it working well. I think the bigger challenge will be not being able to use an egg, which is what makes everything stick. I’ve read that olive oil can work as a substitute, but it’s hard to tell whether making multiple substitutes like that will turn out, which is why I often have so many recipe flops (I’ve been on a good streak lately!).
Yesterday I ran high ALL day and could not get down into range no matter what I tried. Last night, I figured out that it was because I not only needed a raise in basal rates (again) but had forgotten to take both metformin and Tresiba the night before. So with those three things done, I am back to flatlining. It’s crazy do me how much of an impact metformin has, considering I didn’t really think it made much difference when I first started.
Last night in an attempt to make my chia pudding more exciting I combined one half chia seeds with one half unsweetened coconut shreds, then put in cocoa powder, powdered stevia, and on a whim added powdered peanut butter. This morning I mixed it all with unsweetened almond milk. I was not sure at all what it would taste like, but it’s quite tasty, and the texture is pretty good! I am actually eating it without cringing. Tastes like eating a chocolate bar for breakfast.
Also, yesterday I tried dehydrating cauliflower rice, and it worked. A tiny container holds three or four servings. I will try rehydrating it later this week and see how it tastes. Looking for solutions for lightening my luggage when travelling, and getting rid of huge containers, heavy food, and ice packs in favour of a tiny, light container will definitely help. Next I will probably try green beans. I am also wondering about meat, but could also just bring or buy canned meat, which may be the safer option. Exciting, though!
That’s cool that it was really good! I just saw some in an Uber fancy supermarket deli case that had lots of goodies in it and was made with coconut. But the peanut butter powder is a stroke of genius.
Also, sorry for detailing the low carb thread. I really was thinking maybe arrowroot or tapioca might be lower carb. And I got distracted because of the tempura idea. But maybe almond flour would work too! Higher protein for sure.
Also, as far as dehydrated food goes (for weight savings) I’ve tried these and they’re okay - not amazing - but they are lower carb than say a Mountain House meal and with some spices added could be an easy way to have lightweight food on the run:
(Also, also, also - ha! I clearly had a lot of thought and not enough sleep lately.)
I haven’t tried these yet, but they are on my to-make list as a replacement for popcorn and tortilla chips. I find it hard to find any type of packaged snack that is safe from cross-contamination.
I’m also going to try putting my chocolate peanut butter chia pudding that is so delicious in my dehydrator and see if it turns into bars or something I could snack on. It is definitely not low-calorie, though!
Cucumber chips tasted “okay” but didn’t come out as crispy as chips should be. I’m going to try zucchini today and dehydrate for longer and see if that turns out better.
I’m making turnip fries in my air fryer right now. It’s kind of funny, because I’ve never eaten fries and have no idea what to dip them in. I mean, I know ketchup, but I’m allergic to tomatoes.
I got my A1c yesterday and was kind of disappointed. For all the effort I’ve been putting in to my diabetes over the past three months, it only dropped by a smidge to 6.6%. Not a horrible number, but I really do feel like most people who eat low-carb get such better results. Same thing with weight loss; I’ve lost perhaps 8-10 pounds since starting this effort (plus exercising), but that has stalled.
Kind of disappointing, but I will keep this up and see if the fall yields better results.
I’ve been thinking about your thread and wondering how it’s been going. Then looking at your dexcom data I realize how much easier it is to bolus for less carbs - the resultant spike and crash from a large meal full of carbs just doesn’t happen.
It’s crazy do me how much of an impact metformin has, considering I didn’t really think it made much difference when I first started.
I really was thinking maybe arrowroot or tapioca might be lower carb. And I got distracted because of the tempura idea. But maybe almond flour would work too! Higher protein for sure.