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Originally Posted by Liz53
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Thanks for posting this link, Liz53. I learned a lot - including what you call the condition that relates to my response to sugar and starch -
reactive hypoglycemia. When I eat something that significantly affects BG, I get an immediate BG spike and crash. Then my BG remains below normal for more than an hour. When this happens, I am craving carbs the whole time. I would not have figured this out without testing my BG following meals. It does not take too many carbs to knock my system out of wack, so I don't think I'll be testing my BG reaction to 75 carbs (as discussed on that web site) any time soon.
Jeff -- I am one of those people who just 'wings it' most of the time doing LC. I rarely measure anything. But I've spent so many years (throughout the years) doing low carb that I know what I can eat and I pretty much know the carb count for what I eat. The main difference between this time around and all the other failed diets is that I don't cheat and I've truly made LCHF the way I eat now. So although I do wing it, I do stay below 30 carbs per day 99% of the time. In the past 11 months, I've accidently knocked myself out of ketosis twice - accompanied by the tell-tale 5 or 6 pound water weight gain for a few days. No more LC wraps for me -- they are not LC enough.
About what sets off my BG... Probably the biggest thing I've learned is that I have to eat my carbs in the right ratios of fat and protein. I've even found that the order that I eat my food makes a difference. I normally eat < 3 carbs for breakfast, < 7 carbs for lunch, and < 12 carbs for dinner. If a meal has the carbs but is low in fat and/or protein - I can get a major BS spike (225+) and crash (below 65) within an hour of eating the meal. One day I had a dinner of homemade mushroom soup (made with pureed sauteed onions and mushrooms in chicken stock) followed by a tossed salad. The meal was less than 10 carbs, but also low in fat and protein. That dinner gave me the results I mentioned above. I had mild carb cravings from it for over an hour following this meal. The next time I ate that mushroom soup, I started the meal off with protein and some raw veggies, then ate the soup. My BG peaked at about 140 and slowly fell back to 105 by 2 hours following the meal. No cravings. With all my BG testing, I find that having overcooked or pureed veggies (like many of my LC soups have) in my meals send my BG the highest. Over-cooked onions and carrots are the main culprits. When I eat the same serving of veggies raw or lightly steamed (along with fat & protein), my BG reaction is minimal (< 120 peak). I've found the same true for things like fresh strawberries or cantaloupe. Even a 3 or 4 carb serving will spike my BG if eaten apart from fat and protein. If I make it a desert for a meal, the BG impact is minimal.
One other thing that will set me off is even a small amount of sugar in things like catsup and stir-fry sauce. It does not really seem to matter that I keep within my carb limits and eat these sauces with fat and protein. Even a few carbs of sugar in a sauce seems to jump straight into my blood stream and spike my BG. These days, I stick with sauces that are less than 1 carb per serving (or make my own).
I learned from my Atkins book about what happens to carbs when eaten within 1 hour of a workout... they end up rebuilding your glycogen stores and keep your BG lower. With testing, I've found this to be true. A dinner that will normally peak my BG between 130-140 will have almost no impact on my BG if I eat it within an hour of a nice brisk walk or a few sets of lifting weights. Amazing stuff.
When I eat right, I will enjoy a nice meal in the right portion size for losing weight, I will get full, and I won't be hungry until the next meal. The perfect day is 3 meals and no need to fill the gaps with snacks. Testing my BG has helped me learn how to eat right.