What I Eat In A Day with Type 1 Diabetes: Low Carb Edition | She's Diabetic

New Year, Same Me! Come along with me in a day of ripped out infusion sets, my favorite protein bars, and of course eating - low carb edition!

I get a ton of comments asking if I’m low carb, keto or any of the various other diets floating around out there. Though I don’t subscribe to any diet in particular, these comments have inspired me to make a video showing you what a low carb day in my life looks like, when I choose to eat that way. I hope you find it useful and helpful!

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☆ MUSIC ☆
Outside The Box (Patrick Patrikios)

*DISCLAIMER
A portion of this video has been sponsored by NuGo Nutrition. All opinions expressed are completely my own.

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[ronimcclanahan]

I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at 9 years old. I am now 19 years old and still fighting it. I pray everyday that there will be a cure to get rid of the chronic illness. I also pray for cures for other illnesses and conditions.

[pbwi]

Andrea I just want to tell you that I have gone through almost all of your videos and you are such a gift to this T1D community. I have been a diabetic through my teens, 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and now I’m in my 50’s. Listening to you talk about everything I have been through over the years with such clarity is so touching because you are helping so many people. I feel reawakened that yes I’m a T1D, and it’s okay and I’m not alone. And yes, I would love to see you do a video about the good things about being a diabetic because there are lots of good things and I’m sure you will articulate it beautifully.❤️🌹

[Clappinkyle]

Regarding low carb diet for DT1's I've had some experience that was really counterintuitive for me and quite an eye-opener. Maybe others have shared my experience, perhaps you haven't. Diabetes is an all encompassing, personal and tricky disease that is a different experience for everybody. So I don't want you to read my experience as the truth, only for you to put my two cents into consideration and reflect on whether it might helpful to you.

I'm an overweight guy and was on low carb for 12 years, ever since the day of my diagnosis really. Not having a single potato or any pasta or any rice at all was good for me according to doctors, since I'd need less insulin and I could do with weight control that way. I love sushi so I saved that for an annual treat, but aside from that I have been pretty strict in my main meals. This was my entire reality, and I thought it was the same for everybody. It wasn't until many years later I had ever even heard of a T1D eating normal food. I remember thinking to myself "Well that's ridiculous, he's going to get fat with all that insulin!", while I was chewing my low-carb non-potato meal.

But it turned sour. Last fall, on year 14 of diabetes I was made to realise that I had developed a really nasty problem with food. I loved food and I hated food. I over ate A LOT. Everything was right food/wrong food, and I just couldn't stop thinking about sugars and carbs even though it was forbidden. I was craving it every night to the point that I could hardly fall asleep. It actually got so bad I was having binges like every other day and it became a habit to still my growing anxiety with that kind of food. But I was TOTALLY oblivious to it! Before Christmas I grew conscious about the problem but I wasn't strong enough to do anything about it. So I got on a medication that calmed my nerves and this general feeling of anxiety, and another one to beat my depression. They helped me to get through the nightly drive home without stopping for unnecessary food. Or driving 60 miles in the middle of the night in order to get to the nearest open McDonald's because I was having some unrelinquishing fixation about a burger.

Like just a few weeks ago I had a mental breakthrough, and I decided to start incorporating carbs into my breakfast and just insulin for it. The reasoning I came up with was that if I got some carbs during the day I might not crave them at night. It was a stab in the dark. I was worried sick about how much more insulin I was going to need but then decided things couldn't get any worse anyways. So i tried it.

Life came along a week later when I got news that I was going of the pens onto a pump. This was an effort that I had incited earlier with the help of my psychiatric team in order to get away from my old habits with pens and force myself into new habits. A fresh start in order to create a better relationship with food. After this was announced I started to hunt down resources in order to prepare myself for the switch. So I started searching for MiniMed videos and "pump pros and cons"-videos. That is when I, among other things, found this channel. It is also when I, for the first time, heard about carb counting and insulin-to-carb ratios - a system that had totally slipped me by for 14 years. I found it was how you operated the pump. So I implemented it straight away. Basically I picked five regular meals off of the web and didn't skip anything, potatoes, rice, flour, tablespoons of sugar. (Although I did skip ketchup because I just cannot ketchup an Italian dish. ) Weighing every gram and counting it all up and applying a guestimated dosage. This wasn't ever something I planned on sticking to, it was just so that I could learn what my insulin to carb ratio was.

And what do you know, at the start of the week I thought I had a carb to insulin ratio of about 3 g to 1u, but it turns out It's more like 9 or 10, maybe even more! And I'm over 200 pounds. I've had the lowest intake of insulin in YEARS and had to drop my basal by 15 units and counting just the past seven days and I'm still seeing a slow nightly decent on my curve. I only had a single high all week and that was like 190/10, 5 which has never happened... and what's even crazier is that I'm not thinking CONSTANTLY about getting bread or candy or snacks anymore and I can finally just go to bed with a glass of water and feel like alright!! After so much frustration it was fu***g about time....!

Getting my high sugars manageable got me wanting to be more active at work. My mental capacity has grown, and enjoying my workdays a lot more than I've in months, maybe years. I realised that when I am active and moving at work I didn't need nearly as much insulin as I So with the tips of these videos I made an attempt to control the rate my body absorbs food and insulin through movement after meals. It works like magic for me...

What have I learned this week? My body really needs carbs. It responds amazingly well to physical activity. Carb counting is amazing. I don't need nearly as much insulin now as when I was binge eating to make up for the carbs my body and mind was screaming for.

To conclude in all honesty, I absolutely think low carb is a great tool. It decreases your needed intake of insulin. Dropping carbs is such an easy equation. No carbs = no bolus. A few carbs = low bolus. Tons of carbs = all of the boluses. It can really save you a lot of energy when you just can't do it that day. It's knowledge that you can carry with you in your box of diabetic sledgehammers for tricky situations. Like travel or mishaps.

My experience is totally linked to my own tricky psyche and my lack of knowledge at the time.

I encourage you all to find your own beautiful way of dealing with the day-to-day. But I do want you all to be aware of the things that your mind and body is telling you. I needed psychiatric help in order to wake up. Hopefully someone out there will read this and not need to go through everything I did.

One day I will probably be dropping carbs again, but now I have these new tools of carb-counting and awareness of my personal warning signs so that I know when it is time to pull the brakes. I have created a comfort zone on both ends of the spectrum, I now know how to drop carbs, but I also know how to eat regular food. It is such and empowering feeling.

Stay healthy in body and mind and good luck to anyone of you who is trying to better their life, no matter how! And always question, question, question whether what your doctors told you 14 years ago is actually working out for you right now.

[juliaw]

No one ever told me that a new site has to settle in. Thank you for adding that❤

[robertlinek]

I love these detailed videos that talk about amount of carbs, Bolus dosages, etc and the thought process that goes into making the final decision. Everyone is different but this is very helpful. Thank you!

[callmescout]

I hate that anyone even considering low carb count has to sound apologetic, I personally follow keto/carnivore and it has SAVED my life!!! I think it’s actually how everyone should eat, not just diabetics! I think it’s the Proper Human Diet. I have non diabetic a1c’s I have gotten OFF the blood sugar roller coaster. I understand that people can do what they want and I was in the camp of East what you want for too many years defending my right to “do what I WANT” not what is actually healthy!!! But the defending or apologizing for doing what is right for my body!!!!

[aundreaharding]

I would love for you to do a video on unexpected positives of having T1D! I love how you answer questions to the fullest and from all aspects! I think it is so important to acknowledge how difficult living with T1D is, no matter how well you are managing, but also how to turn it into a positive thing.

[johnyboy]

Your positiviter for a new t1 is very helpful thank you !

[oliviayates]

I love when you show low carbs and gluten free because it gives me ideas for myself! Thanks for all you do

[yajurchopra]

Yea, I agree too, T1d bring a lot of positives too, for me at least, It taught me to be disciplined about myself, don't know if that makes sense.. You'll be more responsible towards the meal you take, your sleeping patterns and how can we forget the math it takes to calculate how many shots of insulin I need. You just gotta keep on learning and experimenting, you'll get the hang of it. It may sound a bit boring but I know the one who understand this, knows it's just a beautiful experience we get everyday.

[MichelleLord]

Great vlog Andrea!! Those NuGo bars look and sound delicious! While I also don't subscribe to a particular diet, it's nice to have these carb conscious options for times when our blood sugars are being stubborn and sticky! I will have to keep my eyes open for them in Canada! Thanks for sharing your day and how you deal with unexpected T1D occurrences such as tearing out your pump site. Sending love to Michigan (we are actually quite close geographically!) 💖💙

[d]

Next video, how to be more like Andrea during the pandemic 🥰

[Imtoobusyslayingrn]

my mother is diabetic and thank you so much for this! now I know what to cook for her.

[anajdance]

Getting the tubing caught on things or the dogs getting tangled in it is the exact reason I changed to the omnipod . You can still accidentally rip it off but it’s less often since there is no tubing.

[jonathanmcalroy]

This cheered me up! Had a horrible night my pump battery went flat and I hadn't restocked my bedside table so I had to trudge out to my garden office at 3am in the freezing rain. So angry with myself. Decided to make a hot chocolate, over estimated and work up to a hypo at 8am. Went back to sleep and woke up to this video. Feeling better.

[gracelee]

Thank you for sharing the Nugo Slim protein bars. I tried them and love them. Love your videos on low carb snack and food ideas. Keep them coming since my family and I want to keep our sugars at the normal range with delicious meals/snacks.

[vegasplannergirl]

I’m T2 but my sugars are always higher than expected when something unsettling or unplanned happens in the morning. Thank you for sharing this.

[rfleming]

Thank you for sharing your life. This is valuable information for all t1d's. Especially helpful is the positive nature of your presentation, and the fact you have been adventurous and lived and been educated in England. True, they are english speaking there, but the culture is different, and it does take adapting and modifying ones life to fit in. Also, the Masterpiece Theatre setting right there in Michigan is fun. The best to you for all you do.

[Zero_in_sane]

Am only 20 but I got diabetic whatever it is and I'll do my best to live a happy life and continue to being myself

[christinewelch]

Thank you Andrea for another great video. I love the fact that you show us your thought processes for carb counting. It helps to learn how to tweak my food when my numbers are high.. PS Yay! We got a chance to see your beautiful engagement ring!! Gorgeous!!