Food and tiredness

[B17_Fan]

I was diagnosed on monday and wanted to ask a question.

I am not on any sort of diet but I think I can see how high carb foods can affect me.

I have a slice of toast and 2 weetabix for breakfast. I have sweetner on the cereal and marmalade on toast.

I find that a lot of the time, I will end up feeling sleepy about an hour afterwards. Especially if I'm in the car.

I have my lunch which is usually a couple of sandwiches or a soft roll. I have a chocolate bar and cup of tea afterwards and I feel sleepy afterwards.

My question really....is all this sleepiness because of what I eat?
Would I feel much better on the GI diet?

If so, can anyone recommend a website which has good info about it?
I think I'll have to go to the library to find a good GI book.

[Jessica Rabbit]

I need to get back on Gi but found it fabulous for having more energy. It takes a couple of weeks to kick in but then when you have something non gi like white bread, you really notice a difference

I recommend any of the books by Rick Gallop and you can find them competitively priced on amazon xxx

[icklekitty]

It seems like your sleepiness is a symptom of the Insulin Resistance that comes with PCOS. Definitely carbs aggrivate this. Is the bread you're eating white or wholemeal? What sort of cereal is it? It's usually fine to have a bit of choc every now and again, but if your lunch is carb heavy to begin with it's not a great idea.

I second the Rick Gallop book recoomendation!

[lantern]

hi, I've been having oatibix for breakfast for the past two weeks and that doesn't make me feel sleepy, better yet it has reduced my sugar cravings too. Oats are more filling than wheat-type breakfasts I think, plus oats don't upset your stomach as much as wheat. But if you have time in the morning make porridge, but not the instant ones as they're high gi.

Hope this helps.

[B17_Fan]

Is the bread you're eating white or wholemeal? What sort of cereal is it?

It's White Bread and the Cereal is Weetabix.

Yesterday I just couldn't keep my eyes open after lunch. I'm at home all day and it makes me feel guilty that people are busy at work or out and about, and there I am having a sleep!

But since my diagnosis, it does make sense about how it affects ur energy levels.

I will def have to get a proper GI Diet book. I have an Atkins diet book which I've had for ages. But as it's more american based, I'd like to get a british book.

[sun_city_girl]

i would recommend an oat-based breakfast such as porridge and as for bread granary is the best, Burgen bread is really good and tastes yum too but is quite expensive, apparently white bread really raises blood glucose levels and wholemeal isn't very good either, also for staying full protein is good, often for breakfast i'll have a poached or boiled egg on a slice of burgen bread and it keeps me feeling full until lunch or after.
I also eat nuts and seeds as snacks with dried fruit, you can get small snack packs from julian graves which are really useful, with seeds and dried fruit or chocolate coated raisins and things like that.
usually if i eat sweet things i'll have chocolate or caramel soya dessert, and i'm a huge fan of dark chocolate but i find the best time for me to eat it is a few squares an hour or two behind bed time...but fruit is probably best for sweet cravings, melon is good because it tastes properly sweet.
anyway maybe you could ask to be referred to a dietician for some advice, i'm not IR or diabetic but i used to live with a nurse and he was type 1 diabetic and was so used to eating a low gi diet, when i told him i had PCOS he helped me to make swaps to low GI foods and said it was especially important to eat breakfast! it really does help though my energy levels are so much better!

[B17_Fan]

My Mum is a Type 1 Diabetic.

I know this sounds like I'm not bothered about losing weight, but I don't think I could be that strict with food.
I would go back to eating my favourite foods within a week.

I find it very very hard to diet. I don't have much willpower.

[icklekitty]

Is the bread you're eating white or wholemeal? What sort of cereal is it?

It's White Bread and the Cereal is Weetabix.

Definitely steer clear of the white bread and check that the Weetabix is raw! Processed grains are some of the most evil things to a person with PCOS. I'd definitely recommend the GI diet, and Porridge for breakfast like the other lady said.

[sun_city_girl]

i had an idea, i was think that the low GI diet shouldn't be thought of as a 'diet' just a different way of eating or changing your food intake. However you mention you couldn't be strict with food, but for me it is not a case of being strict i eat virtually what i like within a low GI diet, add things or change ingredients of foods i do like so they become low GI for example making curry with chick peas and lentils rather than new potatoes, but also you should look at the favourite foods you mentioned and check out which of them are low GI and concentrate on meals which include those foods.
Plus you dont have to be 'strict' all the time just everything in moderation, which is a good rule, if i want a slice of cake every so often i will, or i have a day a week where i relax my food intake and on those days i will eat pretty much what i want and save drinking alcohol for those days too [not that i like drinking alcohol that much anyway]
You should check out the glycemic index website which lists which food are low GI or GL.

[icklekitty]

Yup, sometimes I eat according to having that slice of cake when I get in from work, and I have a day a week where I treat myself to a takeaway - some KFC chicken fillets with home made salad, or a thin crust veggie pizza with half the cheese.

It's shopping day today, so I'm going to pick up some cocoa powder and bicarb and make Rick Gallop's chocolate cake recipe om nom nom!

[FIREFIGHTER]

have fun making the cake yum yum yum

[B17_Fan]

You should check out the glycemic index website which lists which food are low GI or GL.

Could you tell me where to find this please?

I am a fussy eater. I sort of eat the same things each day.

Breakfast is 2 weetabix and a slice of marmalade of toast.
Lunch will be a bread roll OR 2 slices of bread with marmite and cheese
Tea is either oven chips with half a tin of spaghetti and chicken breast in breadcrumbs
OR
Boiled potatoes, veg such a carrots or runner beans or peas, tinned spaghetti and again, chicken in breadcrumbs.

I think where I might struggle is supper. I used to have just a crust of bread with packet of crisps.
Now is 2 crumpets, some cheese and a packet of crisps. followed by 2 jaffa cakes and maybe a rich tea biscuit.

I know this sounds like such a lot for supper, but if I don't eat that, I get so hungry that I can't sleep.
I guess because of my size, my stomach must need more food to fill it.

It's a vicious circle.

[sun_city_girl]

the website is www.glycemicindex.com
looking at your diet, you could easily make small changes perhaps having oatabix instead of weetabix which have a high gi of 74.
you could have granary bread for toast and the same at lunch time.
For tea, stick to the veg but perhaps have a chicken breast without breadcrumbs, and if you could swap boiled potatoes for sweet potato or brown rice.
as for supper i would suggest a snack such a carrot sticks with a dip, fruit or some fruit cake and perhaps some toast.
if i were you i would try and avoid crisps after ive eaten them i always think they are such a massive waste or time because you might aswell eat nothing!you could try oatcakes nairns do really nice cheesy ones and they also do nice biscuits too.

[B17_Fan]

Thanks Suncitygirl.

It's great to have support on here. I was joined to a weight loss forum once and they were pretty harsh about the things I eat.

I guess with any diet you should start making small changes, otherwise you'd never stick to it.

Thankyou for the advice.

[birdygirl]

Hi.

There's loads of people following low GI diets on the weight loss board- might be worth popping over there!

I've recently switched to a lower GI / GL diet and am finding it easy and it's working well. I eat similar things most days too (except for dinner)

good luck!