Butternut Squash Curry

Ingredients

• 1 x Butternut Squash
• 1 tbsp Red Curry Paste
• 1 x Tin Coconut Cream
• 2 x Chopped Chicken Fillets
• 1 Tbsp Peanut butter (no added sugar)
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Butter or oil of your choice

Directions

Squash

For the squash I just put the whole squash in the oven at 140 degrees for 2 hrs.

Turn the oven off and allow it to cool.

Alternatively you could peal chop and roast it in the oven for 30-40 minutes or put all the ingredients raw into a slow cooker.

Cut cooled squash in half, deseed take off skin and chop into chunks.

Brown chicken in a large pan with some butter and curry paste. Add coconut cream and squash, simmer for 15-20 minutes on medium heat. Add tbsp of peanut butter and salt and pepper to taste.

I served this with a kale & fresh coriander salad and some full fat greek yogurt you could also serve with cauliflower rice.

Enjoy!

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Ham Omellet Cups

We like Parma Ham but you can use any ham. I have a silicon muffin tray which is great, its a dream to wash every time i use it and there is no need to grease or oil it. You may need to grease or oil a metal tray if that is what you are using. 


Ingredients

• Parma Ham
• Grated Cheese
• Eggs
• Milk
• Selection of Fillings

Directions

Line your desired number of muffin holders with ham. Sprinkle a little cheese in each one. Add some fillings of your choice. I used some left over broccoli as one flavour, chopped red chillies as an other and did a plane one with cheese.

Make a standard omelette mix with eggs and milk. For 6 omelette cups I would use 7 eggs, for 12 I would use 14.

Mix in a jug whisk and pour into the ham cups to cover the filling.

Bake in the oven at 180 degrees till golden.

Enjoy hot or cold.

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Courgetti Spagetti Carbonara

Serves 2

I love this recipe, its adapted from a spaghetti Carbonara version by Marco Pierre White. I saw it created on master chief some years ago and it was always a family favorite in our house before we went low carb. I am really happy about at how well this dish turned out and tasted.

Ingredients

• 2 x Courgette / Zucchini spirilized
• 6 x Parma ham slices
• 1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• Black Pepper
• 1/2 Cup double cream
• 4 x Egg yokes

Directions 


In a large frying pan, crisp the parma ham with a little oil of your choice them remove from pan and place to one side. 

In the same pan (no need to clean) add courgette and allow to warm gently on a medium heat.

With a fork whisk egg yokes and cream together then pour over the courgette. Stir / toss gently until the mixture begins to thicken and then remove from heat.

Take the cooled parma ham and crush with finger tips into a small dish.

Building Layers

On warm plates create your dish as so: 

sprinkle parmesan
sprinkle parma ham flakes
add a small amount of carbonara

sprinkle parmesan
sprinkle parma ham flakes
add a small amount of carbonara

Finish with a sprinkle of parmesan and parma ham flakes.

Grind black pepper to taste.

Eat immediately as courgette gets cold!

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Chicken Tikka Kale Salad

Ingredients

• Chicken Breast, mini fillets 
• Olive oil (or oil of choice)
• Salt & Pepper
• Kale
• Carrot
• Fresh Coriander
• Mixed Leaves
• Greek Yogurt Full Fat
• Red Curry Paste
• Walnuts

Directions

Chicken

Mix one tbsp of curry paste with two tbsp of oil of your choice. Season with salt and pepper, mix and pour over chicken fillets. 

I just pour the mixture onto the chicken in its package box and let it marinade for a while in the fridge.

When you are ready to cook, place the fillets on a warm, dry girdle pan (for the strips), no need to oil the pan as the oil is already on the chicken. Keep the pan on a medium to high heat, allow a few minutes on each side then turn down the heat to low and start preparing your salad plate.

Salad

Combine kale with mixed leaves and strips of carrot (cut with a potato peeler). Next add freshly chopped coriander and place the desired amount of chicken on the salad, add a generous spoon of full fat greek yogurt, crush and sprinkle walnuts.    

Enjoy your meal!

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HB1C and Running

6 Month Review.

I met with a diabetic consultant recently and my HB1C was 51 IFCC - mmol/mol. This is the lowest result I have had since being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 9 years ago. Lower than when I was on my pump, which is encouraging!

Interesting Ted Talk regarding reversing type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance.




Etap Training

I did my first 5k run on a treadmill since starting low carb high fat and it went well. I plan to use 20g carbohydrate per 20 minutes when running/cycling likely a sports gel or drinks. I am also going to experiment with fats, olive oil, coconut oil and nut pastes to see if the carbs for running and training can be reduced or removed all together.

All the Best.

131 Days

So, 131 days down and I feel great.

I am Type 1 diabetic and I have been on a low carb (approx. less than 30g carbohydrate per day) diet for 131 days. I am currently taking 26 units of long acting insulin once a day and at the most a couple of units of fast acting insulin per week. I achieve this by eating less than 10g of carbohydrate per meal.  I should say that my carb to Insulin ratio is 1 unit for every 10g of carbohydrate.

The Pump

By the summer of 2016, I had been using my insulin pump for more than two years. That summer I could not get my blood sugar to stabilise. I tried the changing my pump infusion sets and new insulin, but this has no effect on blood sugar's.

Pens

After struggling with my pump for months I decided to revert back to using my insulin pens to deliver my insulin. This also failed to bring my blood sugar's back to normality. By a process of elimination I came to the conclusion​ that the delivery method was not the problem.

Low Carb

After returning from holiday and speaking to a family member, who also happens to be a medical professional about my recent issues with highs over the summer, I decided to reduce my daily carb intake to remove the spikes caused by eating carbs which In turn meant a reduction in the amount of Insulin I was taking on board.

It was at this point that I realised that I was taking insulin to deal with the spikes in my blood sugar which where a result of eating carbs.

The new routine

My daily food routine now consists of egg omelet in the morning, a kale, cheese nut salad for lunch and something similar for dinner. No crisps, sweets, chips, bread, pasta, rice, pizza, cookies basically some of my favourite foods in the world up until 131 days ago. If I snack, which is rare, it is on almonds, or full fat Greek yogurt. I don't feel hungry and incidentally I have not had a cold or felt unwell in the last 131 days.

That's were I am at the moment, two stone (28 Pounds) lighter and taking next to no fast acting Insulin.

I am due to start training for a half marathon and a 66 mile cycle this spring. I will start to post updates on my training soon.

Hope

Three things have happened to me since I have started down this new path (which I am still exploring). One, I am now taking considerably less Insulin than before. Two, I feel great. Three, I don't really feel like I am diabetic anymore.

I should say these are my experiences and not a road map for all, and while I don't suggest you follow the path I went down I feel it's important to show the world there are many roads to follow not just those most trodden.

If you have any questions leave a comment.

Take Care, All the Best.