Gestational Diabetes - I'm in breakfast hell!

Feral_Moon

Breakfast cereals, other than porridge oats (the type you make yourself, not pre-flavoured packets full of sugar) really are the devil's work and should be banned in my opinion. I don't understand why they are so popular, and don't say it's due to lack of time to prepare anything else as you can make scrambled eggs on toast in less than 5 minutes!

Feral_Moon

pigpen wrote: »

its not the milk or butter in porridge or what you put in it other than fruit of course!.. it is pure carb.. it is oats!!! As have porridge you may as well have flapjack!

When I make porridge I use only oats & milk but I add cinnamon to flavour it, which helps to lower blood sugar levels. Plus either a spoonful of dried fruit or drizzle of honey (less than half a tsp) to sweeten if necessary. Although if you use almond or rice milk then it shouldn't need any further sweetening. Flapjacks are packed with sugar/syrup so not a fair comparison.

pigpen

Feral_Moon wrote: »

Breakfast cereals, other than porridge oats (the type you make yourself, not pre-flavoured packets full of sugar) really are the devil's work and should be banned in my opinion. I don't understand why they are so popular, and don't say it's due to lack of time to prepare anything else as you can make scrambled eggs on toast in less than 5 minutes!

Sugar is highly addictive so it is popular!! It's not time it is addiction.

pigpen

Feral_Moon wrote: »

When I make porridge I use only oats & milk but I add cinnamon to flavour it, which helps to lower blood sugar levels. Plus either a spoonful of dried fruit or drizzle of honey (less than half a tsp) to sweeten if necessary. Although if you use almond or rice milk then it shouldn't need any further sweetening. Flapjacks are packed with sugar/syrup so not a fair comparison.

My point was that the milk or whatever you put in it doesn't change the fact it is oats!!
12g of carbs per 100g when made with milk,
8g of carbs when made with water.. it's much less than boxed cereals.

Really the only thing thats would make some difference would be adding fruit.. and it still is inedible.. flapjack is at least edible! (62g carbs per 100g) .. nom!

Skint_yet_Again

Waffle_On wrote: »

.....I have heard some horror stories about the side effects of metformin!

pigpen wrote: »

Metformin just interferred with bowel movements. haha!

I take metformin for T2 and have not had any side effects - I suppose it suits some and not others - I take the slow release one with my evening meal

Feral_Moon

pigpen wrote: »

My point was that the milk or whatever you put in it doesn't change the fact it is oats!!
12g of carbs per 100g when made with milk,
8g of carbs when made with water.. it's much less than boxed cereals.

Really the only thing thats would make some difference would be adding fruit.. and it still is inedible.. flapjack is at least edible! (62g carbs per 100g) .. nom!

Oats maybe classified as carbs but they fall under the healthy variety that actually help to lower blood glucose and cholesterol, therefore are an ideal food choice for a diabetic.

Flapjacks may test better (in your opinion) as they are full of sugar, which as you pointed out above, is addictive.

Porridge is far from inedible. I love it

pigpen

carbs do not lower blood glucose.. insulin does that!.. and exercise.. that is a very misleading statement.. it actually takes longer to break down as it is complex carbs and due to that means you are using the glucose as energy while it is still being absorbed .. like a slow release glucose rather than a sugar rush.. this is the reason it is supposed to keep you full longer because it keeps the glucose levels more even and sustained rather than a rapid high then crash. Typically feeling hungry starts at around BG5/5.5 for most people.

Cholesterol is utterly different and your body creates its own which is why dietary measures to lower it, unless you live on fry ups, make absolutely no difference.


and again.. for the OP as it is a temporary condition for the next 3-4 weeks it is really not worth the stressing ..

Kanichen

I've been following a low carb diet for months and did find breakfasts the hardest. What helped was breaking the mentality of 'breakfast' and just making it 3 meals a day. So I've been having chilli, chicken soup, beef bourbignon...

If you can't handle that my other go to was reduced carb oatmeal. I'm not allowed the give out the recipe as I got it as part of thebodycoach SSS plan but the ingredients are:

Chia seeds
Flax seeds
Porridge oats (literally I think it was 15g - so a teeny percentage)
Dessicated coconut (unsweetened)
Almond milk
cinnamon

The flaxseeds/chia seeds/oats add at equal ratios, the coconut is double that ratio. I used to add fruit/walnuts/protein powder for flavour. Serve with greek yogurt and honey if you like.

You can either eat as an oatmeal with the almond milk in a bowl, or I used to add an egg and use less almond milk and bake into muffins. If you slice the muffins in half you can put the greek yogurt and honey in the middle like a victoria sponge. Can be baked the night before so quick to grab and go and munch on!

What about smoothies? A smoothie of greek yogurt (total has no sugar), avocado, almond milk, and berries is filling and low carb. If you like sour flavours add a lime too - I love it!

VfM4meplse

Waffle_On wrote: »

I have seen a specialist consultant a couple of times, but he wasn't very helpful. He is very foreign which makes it difficult to have a meaningful conversation with him, and he was mostly concerned that my breakfast experiments had given some readings out of the goal range - although quite how people are meant to learn without a few mistakes is beyond me!

I think he would be devastated if he thought he wasn't able to communicate with his patient's effectively, as its so fundamental to keeping people healthy however wonderful knowledge and experience is! Maybe asking for clarification questions would help? Personally - and this is just my personal opinion - if I were in your position I would want an older, experienced and female consultant who has actually had children herself to look after me. This is not particularly realistic though.

Waffle_On wrote: »

I have not been offered insulin (which IMO would be overkill), but metformin was suggested this week. Having discussed the side effects and considering that I am just over a tummy bug, the consultant agreed it was not the best time to do it. As my induction is now booked he is happy for me to carry on with diet control until then. Thank goodness, as I have heard some horror stories about the side effects of metformin!

I wouldn't worry about insulin, people seem to think its a lot worse than it actually is, but the priority is your health and that of the baby. As pigpen suggested, the side effects with metformin are usually gastro-intestinal and lets be honest, your hormones are probably wreaking havoc with the motility of your bowel anyway. Sometimes there is no easy answer