My blood sugar is getting a bit high so I’ve tried to cut out as many bad carbs as I’ve previously eaten. Coupled with chronic stress I’ve noticed my weight has been tumbling down in past 3 months, basically from 69-66kg

im reading a lot of that is down to water weight through reducing carbs, but how do I maintain weight and not stuff myself with pasta, other carb heavy foods,  and fatty foods?

the other thing I’ve read is that for an active person I should be eating at least 2500 calories a day. I genuinely struggle to get any where near that on a consistent basis.

basically, what foods can I eat to put on a few Kilos that are relatively healthy? Right now, although my BMI is pretty much perfect according to the nhs guidelines , I’m not wanting to lose any further weight as I look like a stick.

Cheese.

nuts

I would ask… what did you replace the carbs with ? You still need the energy source, so more fats/oils e.g. Cheese, Nuts, Avocados are needed…

but how do I maintain weight and not stuff myself with pasta, other carb heavy foods,  and fatty foods?

Eat normally? I know it sounds a bit blasé, but realistically anything you’ve cooked yourself from Curry to a Sunday Roast will be fine. Have breakfast; eggs on toast maybe, or just some porridge, a light lunch and a normal home cooked meal.

Thanks folks

For past 4 years I’ve been very carb heavy, at the expense of fat. It’s obviously not doing the blood sugar any good so clearly have gone too much the other way

Yesterday I ate porridge and a banana for breakfast , lunch was a chicken bagel, and dinner fajitas. Total calories including a few glasses of wine was about 1800…clearly I need to be snacking more

clearly I need to be snacking more

You probably don’t. I have a coffee or two for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch with fruit and a small cereal bar, and then my supper is normally things like risotto, fajita, lasagne, curries, home made pizza, sausage and mash, y’know; normal food. And I can maintain my weight with that. If I want dessert then I sweeten Greek yoghurt with fresh raspberries or honey or a couple of squares of dark chocolate. I have a beer or glass of wine nearly every night.

I think all of my food choices probably have carbs in them in the form of rice or bread, or pasta, but it’s just not the main component is all.

Great work on dropping those addictive sugary snacks

How much oats do you make your porridge with, most packets say a serving size is just 30g,  I have 60g everyday 80-100g at the weekends if I’m doing a long ride. I make my porridge with wholefat milk and add a big spoon of nut butter for a protein and fat energy boost.

Add bacon to your chicken bagel at lunch or have 2 if you’re still hungry.

Increase the portion size of your dinner if you are loosing weight and don’t want to.

Depending on how late I eat dinner I have snack of 250g  Fromage Frais or Yoghurt with nuts/seeds seasonal fruit or jam either after work if eating late or as an evening snack if eating early.

Have you taken advice from your doctor on this?  You need carbs in your diet and a low carb hi fat diet is not good for you

Carbs aren’t your enemy if you have high blood sugar, high glycemic index carbs are. Green vegetables are carbs but low glycemic index.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_index

How tall are you? And do you feel you lack energy? I’m around 66kg for 1m74 and don’t worry about it, I feel fine.

I’m a bit heavier at 71kg and 165cm. Maintaining that mass is easy with the exercise I do but a blow out day would push 2500kcals an average day probably 1800kcals.
Definitely wouldn’t be targeting that 2500.

Well done on achieving your goals and identifying things that need to improve.
Oil is a fantastic source of calories, which is why everyone is suggesting nuts, avocados etc. Start adding olive oil to things, as well as following the above advice, and you’ll be well on your way

Porridge is a shit breakfast if you want to get calories and not too many carbs.

For one thing it’s very filling so you probably aren’t getting many calories, for another it’s all high glycemic index carbs.

A bowl of (nutty/chocolate) granola with some yoghurt would be a good alternative. More cals and a chunk of them are fat (of course granola isn’t exactly light on carbs either but a lot “better” than porridge from your perspective).

for another it’s all high glycemic index carbs.

No its not – an oats seem to play a part in regulating blood sugar

This is why you need proper professional advice from a doctor or a dietician ( not a “nutritionist”)  there is a huge amount of misinformation out there areound diet and lost of unqualified people pretending to give scientific based advice

Big spoonful of nut butter in the porridge will add protein and fat. Also rather yummy. You could also make the porridge from half oats half oat bran. And add some chia seeds or linseeds as sprinkles, and natural yoghourt to cool it down. Then a couple of fried eggs on toast. Pretty much one way I breakfast (a fruit and veg smoothie often also) and my weight is relatively stable. But I generally eat frugally at lunch (yesterday was smoked mackerel and salad, no bread) and a bit more for supper (cold duck with fried potatoes and some pak choi with soy and teriyaki sauce), snacks were one slice (not too big) of cake with tea, a handful of nuts or so, a small orange and half an apple (we are using up windfalls from the garden, so that was a whole apple if you see what I mean).

Which leads me to the main point, I think, which is portion size (alluded to above). One person’s slice of cake, portion of chips whatever can be very different from another’s. You could just try doing a bit more of what you do.

How do you know your blood sugar is high? Compared to what? Is it causing any issues? Have you had actual medical input?

Avoiding processed/simple sugars is probably a good thing; limiting complex carbs, oats, veggies probably isn’t.

Nut butter in a good portion of porridge is a good start, as so many folk have already said. Filling half your plate with veggies at lunch and dinner is a fabulous addition.

How do you know your blood sugar is high? Compared to what? Is it causing any issues? Have you had actual medical input?

IIRC he had some private testing which showed towards the upper end of normal.

OP – you need medical/ professional input here.  You are at risk of harming yourself with daft diets for no reason.  dropping refind sugar is a good idea.  removing carbs from your diet is a bad idea

what ‘bad carbs’ have you cut out?

A bowl of (nutty/chocolate) granola

really? How can that be better than porridge oats? Most granolas are clocking on for 30+ grams of sugar per 100grams.

As above choose low GI carbs.

Yes sorry you are both right about GI of porridge (assuming not the more processed instant variety) though when my wife did the Zoe testing she found it spiked her blood sugar just as high as any cereals. She tends to eat a lot more nuts now.

My comments about the relatively low calorie content stand though. A small weight of oats bulks up into such a physically impressive volume that it’s easy to feel filled without actually having eaten very much. It took my wife and I a while to work out why we were always so hungry after cycling to work in the winter. Then we compared how long a 1kg box of porridge lasted us compared to a similar bag of granola.

If you cut carbs, then it stands to reason that you have to increase protein and/or fat to make up the lost calories. Most people who go on a low carb diet will increase fats proportionally more than protein simply because it’s easier/cheaper to do. Fat ain’t bad…

However, another point to bear in mind… if you’re exercising a lot then you may well find that you’re not actually eating an optimal amount of protein. If this is the case, then your body will start breaking down muscle tissue to get the protein that it needs to repair damage in other places. That’s a state that you really don’t want to find yourself in because you will be losing body fat (from the calorie deficit) AND muscle mass (from the protein deficit) at the same time.

The answer is to eat sufficient protein for your bodyweight and then make up the rest with good quality fats and (complex) carbs. You don’t need to stress too much about it, just make sure that you’re eating a decent amount of protein with every meal.

Yesterday I ate porridge and a banana for breakfast , lunch was a chicken bagel, and dinner fajitas.

Taking this as an example – porridge and banana is basically just carbs. If you’re planning to exercise, or if you are recovering from exercise yesterday, then your body is going to be short on protein well before lunchtime. I would add nuts/seeds to the porridge. I would also pour some double cream over the top. A splash of milk just isn’t gonna cut it. Either that or eat your porridge along with a decent protein source e.g. yoghurt, cheese, eggs, bacon, sardines etc.

As for lunch, just double your quantities – two bagels with chicken. Double the quantity of chicken… The chicken is lean so add plenty of butter, or cream cheese, or an avocado, or whatever. Same applies to dinner – drizzle it with olive oil, add cheese, add eggs etc. 50g of hard cheese is about 200 cals and eating 50g of cheese is very easy for most people.

porridge and banana is basically just carbs

Ermmm – .Banana especially is a lot more than “just carbs”  Oats have a regulating effect on blood sugar as well.  Highly desirable food.  A very good breakfast

In the west we eat far more protein than needed.  You do not need to up your protein intake.  Get real advice from a qualified professional – they will work as a dietician not a nutritionist.

IIRC he had some private testing which showed towards the upper end of normal.

Upper end of normal is normal isn’t it. OP, given your comment re. chronic stress shouldn’t you be addressing that rather than nibbling (sorry pun not intended) around the edges adjusting diet in an attempt to compensate? How is your blood pressure?

Seriously, OP, don’t try to fix what is not broken, diet-wise. If your BMI is perfect about now, then you can continue with your present diet, which, apart from the three glasses of wine in the evening, sounds pretty good, and increase your carbs and fat content moderately in response to whatever extra activity you are doing. Go wild, add a few nuts to your porridge… 🙂

Calorie calculators are not specific to your metabolism – they are only a guide. Sounds like you have removed some ‘bad’ carb sources from your diet, and replaced them with better choices.

If your weight continues to fall despite you increasing carb/fat intake a little, see your GP.