About

Welcome to Carb Your Enthusiasm, a food blog by a diabetic for diabetics, or anyone wishing to cut down their intake of carbohydrates without sacrificing tasty, exciting meals! This site is a collection of recipes and meal ideas, a starting point to yummy food that won’t disrupt your blood glucose levels.

WHO

I’m Cat. I love making cards, reading plenty of books, flower arranging, kitchen discos, eating at least three times a day and dogs. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, out of the blue, aged 28 and have spent the last few years trying to figure out how to adapt from my old habits of totally indulging in bread and pasta, maintain a healthy-ish lifestyle and a stable HbA1C (blood glucose level).

I also have quite a hectic lifestyle living and working in London so I am always on the lookout for quick, easy to prepare meals as I don’t get home until quite late.

It has been huge a challenge to make the right choices for my body when it comes to food, partly because I was used to eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, partly because there is so much temptation out there: every supermarket aisle, newsagents, restaurants and lovely work colleagues who bring in home-baked goodies for the office, but mostly because the freewill element of the choice has been removed.

WHY

I’ve always loved eating and cooking and have been making up my own recipes for years. After my diagnosis I struggled to find a place with recipes that felt completely suitable for diabetics. There are plenty of resources out there but, to me, they never feel wholly mindful of everything a diabetic has to consider.

I want to create a space that helps people reduce their carb intake but gets them excited about cooking a low-carb or no-carb meal.

HOW

When you get diagnosed with any long-term condition the number of changes to your lifestyle that you face can be incredibly overwhelming. When your condition dictates what you can and can’t (or should and shouldn’t) put into your body on a daily basis this can be doubly frustrating and scary.

Unfortunately I do not have the willpower (or the inclination) to cut out carbs completely – they are way too delicious and we’re only human after all! But I do find the best way to manage my condition is to have a certain number of days a week where I drastically reduce my carb intake or go completely carb-free.

I have attended my local DAFNE course (Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating) – a must for anyone recently diagnosed. It gave me much greater freedom to manage my diabetes when it came to eating and injecting the right amount of insulin; it helped me find a more balanced lifestyle and regain a feeling of control over my body.

However, I must stress I am not a qualified nutritionist or dietician – these recipes and the effect on my blood glucose are taken from my own personal experience and experimentation. Do consult your own healthcare specialists if there is anything you’re unsure about.

So, whether you’re a newly diagnosed diabetic, a parent of a diabetic child, a diabetic who is bored of their usual meal routines, or if you simply want to cut out the c-word, Carb Your Enthusiasm will help you ditch the carbs without taking the joy out of your diet!