Financial Diet Problems-Need Help!

Welcome to the Diabetes Forum! It sounds like you're being pretty active even with your other conditions so don't let this get you down. (I also feel that your doctor could have been more helpful to you. You should have been given some guidelines, suggestions, advice, etc. about how to lose the weight!)

In any case, from what you say that you can buy, you can have a decent food plan from the vegetables and fish/meat. If fresh vegetables are too expensive, you can eat a variety of frozen but remember that potatoes and corn are high in carbs, so if I were you, I would stick to frozen spinach, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower. In fact, now there are a lot of frozen cauliflower products that are really good for diabetics because they are low in carbs and very good in fiber. Also, different kinds of zucchini products like spiraled zucchini is good as a substitute for spaghetti.

You're right that breads, crackers and pastas are cheap but they will not only cause weight gain but keep your blood sugar very high. I use spiraled zucchini with meat sauce or meatballs - homemade because buying pre-made food like that is expensive.

Canned vegetables are fine except you need to be careful of the salt content in some of them. Beans are high in carbs if you eat a lot at one time.

Eggs are good. Fresh celery, zucchini, cauliflower and broccoli are not expensive and are all good for you.

Check out the link in my signature for more information about blood sugar. I'm glad you posted!

I rarely use artificial sweetener anymore. For example, I only put half and half in my coffee. I used to use sugar (a lot) years ago, then changed to artificial sweeteners and finally I quit them totally. However, I make a dessert with no-sugar jello (it does have artificial sweetener of course). I take one package of Kraft 1/3 less fat cream cheese and one package of the jello (any flavor) and put it all in a mixing bowl. I boil one cup of water in the micro wave and add it to the mixing bowl and beat it all till mixed. Then I add about 1/2 cup cold water and finish beating it all till it 's all mixed and smooth. Scoop it all into a baking dish and put it in the fridge to gel.

The fruit that I eat would be only blueberries, strawberries or raspberries and that would only be once a week. In fact, I might put a few on top of the dessert I just described above. Fruit has a lot of carbs so I don't eat most of it and certainly not a lot of what I do eat. You can get all the nutrition of fruit in colorful vegetables so not eating fruit is not going to make you deficient in vitamins.

Instead, think of bell peppers: especially the red ones. Red bells are particularly great for kidney function. So, this is what I (we, my husband is on board, too) do every night with dinner. I make a salad plate which will have any of the following in any combination: slices of red pepper, some olives, a couple of those tiny tomatoes cut in half, one small cuke cut up, a wedge or two of turnip, a couple of florets of raw broccoli and/or cauliflower, a couple of artichoke hearts (from a jar). I don't put any dressing on this although if you wanted, you could drizzle olive oil. During the meal, we'll pick from the salad plate. A plate like this gives you lots of fiber and nutrition. Dinners here will be for me a piece of meat (or fish or chicken) and maybe sauteed green beans with balsamic vinegar.

Since we don't eat an entire bell pepper a day (or turnip, etc.), I keep the remainder in a plastic baggie in the fridge until the next time.

My breakfast will be either 2 sauteed eggs eaten with a couple of Back to Nature crackers (because they a very low carb. I get the olive oil/rosemary kind.) or a WASA wafer. I don't buy butter. I use Country Crock Olive Oil Spread.
Forgot to write that if I don't eat eggs, then I heat up a small bowl of "riced" cauliflower (Green Giant, frozen) with some frozen spinach and a little olive oil butter spread.

If you think your food is too bland, you can sprinkle parmesan cheese on it. Or lemon juice.

Sometimes I'll eat yogurt that I've shredded cucumber into. That's eaten with dinner and it's only a few spoons.

No, I don't eat bread. (However IF a restaurant serves bread with a meal, I might eat a piece with butter.)

I eat nuts and seeds. Unsalted pumpkin seeds ('pepitas'), all nuts but not Brazil nuts, and peanut butter.

Eating like this will help keep you away from the 'white' food (bread, rice and pasta) to help keep your blood sugar lower and help you from gaining weight.

Hi again - where are you located?
I think you should absolutely call your doctor now and explain what you experienced. Please don't wait until it happens again. Vertigo can be different reasons: blood sugar, blood pressure, anxiety, medications, etc.

There are a few questions: has it happened before? Do you monitor your blood pressure yourself at home? Do you take medication for blood pressure?

Blood sugar that is too high or too low can cause dizziness so you absolutely need to have your own blood sugar meter home with you and they need to instruct you on taking your blood sugar. (I don't understand why you don't have one; your doctor should have prescribed one for you!)

Do you have someone you live with who can drive you where you need to go? Do you drive yourself?