To carb or not to carb

I eat a pretty normal diet. An average of 150 - 170 grams of carbs per day. It's not a low carb diet, but it's getting close. It just happens to be the amount I eat which makes me feel neither hungry nor too full.


I tend to follow the advice of my Mum, and my first diabetes nurse educator, and dietician. They all recommend something like this:



It's worked for 27 years, and kept my weight at a healthy 60-65kg. Good for my height.

My only food problems came when I got really depressed. Unfortunately for me, my main symptom was nausea, so I stopped eating cos I couldn't face it. And lost weight... so much that I was diagnosed as anorexic, and sent off for counselling (and gentle anti-depressants, which moderate the lows, but also the joys, like putting a dampener on your emotions).


It worked, thank god, cos managing T1 diabetes with an eating condition was just awful. Now I watch myself carefully, if I get depressed, I take note that my eating is not gently dwindling away, and I can catch it in time. :)


My hubby is getting interested in vegetarian cooking, so I have been treated to some wonderful vege meals over the past couple of months :) Lots of chilli, tumeric, cumin, nuts, spice! Yummy! I don't mind not-eating meat, however I still say that the best vegetarian meals are the ones with bacon added! hehe


If food is in front of me, and I'm hungry, I will probably eat some. If I end up in a cafe, I always look for something with adequate carbs. If it's a restaurant for dinner, I might end up with a plate full of chicken and salad, but no carbs... that means I get to eat dessert too!

I don't count calories, but I have started logging the number of grams of carbohydrate I eat this year. Everything.


Food should be enjoyed, and I hate having to "emergency-eat" for lows, but on the whole I enjoy planting, growing, cooking and eating. Like it should be. I won't let diabetes ruin one of the great joys of my life. :)