Low GI diet and Low carb

[Bigpete757]

I have an insulin resistance problem and need your advice on changing my diet so I can live healthier. About a week ago, I was going through a severe case of reactive hypoglycemia that was very scary, but it is slowly getting better and is almost perfect now. In the past few days, I have taken out a few sugary foods in my diet, which has helped. I am in the process of figuring out what could causing my blood sugar problems and think it might be related to low cortisol, however are not positive. In the meantime, my goal is to lower my insulin levels and insulin spikes throughout the day. Due to me being 6 foot and 304 pounds, this is a top priority in my life and I fully understand how important a good diet will be to my success in the future. That is why I am hoping to get as much advice and suggestions from you as I can.

My current job is very flexible, where I have a lot of time to eat the house and am on the road when I work. The object is to try and eat the best I can when I am at house and find healthy snacks and places to eat when I am out driving around working. When I am out working, I often will get a chicken sandwich (no fries) at a fast food place or try to find something halfway decent. I used to get burritos a lot with (chicken, rice, lettuce, light cheese) and this is going to stop because I think the rice is jacking up my insulin levels. The first priority probably will be what I can do at home and then I will concentrate on when I am out.

Here is what a typical day might look like give or take a meal or two.

1st meal?bowl of cereal (cherrios, life, or frosted mini wheats) and 2% milk.
It used to be non-fat milk, but I read that this causes a higher insulin spike than whole milk and I am thinking of switching to whole milk. I am also looking for a better cereal that is less on the glycemic index.

2nd meal?tuna or ham sandwich on stone ground wheat bread.
I read the nature pride stone ground wheat bread is pretty good for my situation, but I am sure there is something there that is better. I am still searching for bread that might be good for low GI diet.

3rd meal?It used to be a French bread pizza and chicken soup. I have stopped eating the pizza and do not eat the soup because it used to go hand in hand. I need to find a healthy replacement for pizza. I could incorporate a salad, but I whatever I choose I like to make it not complicated and would like to be able to put in the oven for a little while or not have to really make the meal, etc.

4th meal?Five egg whites, one whole egg and oatmeal.

5th meal?Boston market or chicken burrito. Boston market was with the side orders I was choosing, but will be making better decisions.

6th meal?It used to be steak or chicken and white rice with bread. Now it is steak or chicken with a good vegetable like asparagus, zucchini, etc. And now maybe a complex carbohydrate like pasta or a sweet potato. Not too sure what I should eat here because I don?t want to eat a bunch of carbs before I sleep, but at the same time, when I don?t eat enough, I can?t sleep and I wake up in the middle of night starved which disrupts your sleep.

Snacks?I used to eat pretzels, crackers, and granola bars.
I now am just eating granola bars. I am looking for some more good snacks I could use to eat in between meals or as meals themselves. I like fruit, but eating too much of certain kinds causing digestive issues. Canteloupe and grapefruit seem to do alright and maybe peaches.

Soluble fiber?I know this is very important and need to find some good things for it. I have been looking into buying an oat bran supplement or oat bran powder (like in a bag) and eating a little during bigger carb intake meals to slow digestion down. I think grapefruit has some in there. I am trying to stay away from things that have a lot of insoluble fiber because they seem to make me go too often and quick.

Drinks?Water throughout the day and at every meal.

If you know a good links that could help me out, I would appreciate it. I have looked on the web for good amount of time and found a few good ones, but they do not provide that much info.

I think the majority of foods I should choose should be a medium to low glycemic index foods and that should not be loaded with carbs. If I do happen to eat a few things with a lot of carbs, that is alright with me though because I think the lower GI foods are probably more important and lower insulin levels better.

I do have a few hormone problems going on, but are going to save that for a different thread. My last two labs showed testosterone levels of 153 and 158. I am currently working with a few doctors to address that, but I know that diet is going to be important to my success even when hormone levels are in range.

Thank you in advance.

 

[youngandfree]

You need to look at this as a two fold issue. You need to lose some weight I am sure, as well as control your blood sugar. Some things you posted that are contributing negatively to those two things I see are: 1) Cheerios, processed cereals. You are concerned about the insulin spike with skim milk, but the spike from processed cereal should be more of a concern. Have your eggs at breakfast with a small bowl of oatmeal, that you cook, not packaged flavored kind.
2)The tuna sandwich doesn't seem that bad, depending on how you prepare your tuna. Most canned tuna and ham are kind of high in sodium, so you might get low sodium versions.
3) The pizza and soup definitely need to go if they are a daily choice for you. You are going to have to take the time to cook some food and prepare it in order to get healthier, no two ways around it. If it comes from a package, (frozen pizza, frozen dinners, anything promoted as quick and easy), it's not that good for you. ALot of people can get away with eating that type stuff occasionally, but you are in a position that you should cut it out altogether. So, for lunch, Have a salad with some baked chicken on it. Get some italian or vinagrette type dressing, and measure out the servings. Most people here cook up a few days worth of meat at a time, so each meal isn't spent "preparing and cooking" food. Just take it out of the fridge or freezer after it's cooked and warm it up. I generally have at least two types of meat cooked up at a time in my fridge. Currently, 2 baked chicken breasts left and I cooked some gound turkey meat last night. So when I packed my cooler this morning, I cooked a bag of frozen broccoli, no preservatives or sauces. For my work day I take 4 meals, breakfast after lifting is a protein shake. Then I have 3 bowls with broccoli and a meat, today two had chicken in them. Plus a bowl with some grd turkey and salsa. I added a TBSP of EVOO to each and int he cooler they go. 30 minutes tops to fix 4 meals for my day.
4)The omelettes isn't a bad idea if you want to do that twice.
5)Boston Market or any fast food should be out of the question for you until you get your health concerns squared away. The food "sounds" like it isn't that bad, but check their website and look at nutrition info for what you typically get. You will be shocked how bad most, not all, fast food really is. Have some meat you cooked with some veggies. You can cook a couple pounds of lean beef, top round steak or lean sirloin. Keep it pretty red, so when you reheat it it is just right, not turning into leather.
6) You meat coice is fine here with the veggies, just leave out the complex carbs this late at night. No complex carbs after 5pm would do you well, not only for the blood sugar regulation, but to help lose some weight as well.

Really, with 6 meals a day, you shouldn't need to do too much snacking in between. Eat every 3 hours or so to keep a constant supply of food. You might need to increase your monounsaturated fat intake a bit to keep feeling full after a meal. Some low glycemic fruits are blueberries, strawberries, grapefruit, don't get them from a can or load them with sugar. Some good choices for healthy fat are almonds, walnuts, peanuts. By the way, I work in a van all day, so packing a cooler with all your prepare meals isn't hard to do, it just takes discipline.

If your doc hasn't suggested it yet, the low test is probably a direct correlation to the 304 pounds you carry. You need to invest the time and become disciplined enough to fix the underlying root cause of most of your health issues, poor eating and obesity. If you drop 75-100 pounds, you should find a remarkable improvement in your health.

Do you exercise? Do you smoke? I apologize if it seems like I am on a soapbox, because I am. My mom just got out of the hosp on sunday from a stroke. She is 60, overweight, diabetic, smokes, and is constantly stressed. Praise God the stroke wasn't caused by a bleed or obstruction in the brain, like most strokes, so no permanent damage. But her blood sugar is all over the place and the doc has been trying to get her on insulin for a long time now. So he kept her hostage at the hosp and pretty much forced it on her. My problem with the dietician as well as endocrinologist, is that since they were just starting her on insulin, been on gluco****e for a while now, they have fed her nothing but carbs while in the hospital. They didn't give her gluco****e for 2 days, and fed her crap and said " your sugar is way too high and all over the place. You need to be on isulin." So, when the endocrinologist came in, her dinner had just arrived. For a diabetic, they gave her, white baked potato, pinto beans, and white roll. I asked the doc, why is the push to get her on insulin, justifying it with 2 days worth of blood sugar readings caused by 2 days of nearly nothing but carbs.

BTW, the American Diabetic Association website recommends an insulin dependant person to follow the FDA foor pyramid guidelines. They don't recommend more than 20% of intake from protein, even though they haven't done or seen any studies that prove that more than that is harmful. The docs say, you can just compensate with more insulin instead of lets try to eat less carbs all day and try to reduce the amount of insulin you need to take.

I don't mean to rant on yoy, but this is serious. You need to educate yourself on proper nutrition to lose some weight and eat healthier. Sure you can lose weight eating fast food alot, but it still doesn't meant he food is that good for you. The doc said the three things that usually happen to a overweight diabetic that smokes are stroke, heart attack, and amputations of lower extremities. Mom had the stroke, and on the MRI they found previous damage to the heart muscle, indicating a prior mild heart attack.

This is your life we are talking about, DO NOT take it lightly.

BTW, you came to the right place for help on eating right in order to lose weight. Welcome to the board.

 

[ccapone1153]

youngandfree - great F'in post.. nothing else needed to say.

 

[youngandfree]

Thanks man, it just kind of hit home.