I have many recipes on my recipe blog that are 'junk food'. I don't want someone new to this WOE to think that is what all my meals are made up of, or that is what the WOE is all about. It's not. Most of my meals look like this:
Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with 1 TB cream, and 1 TB butter and a Bran A Crisp
Lunch: chicken breast, side of roasted cauliflower, peppers, okra slathered with butter, often seasoned with Mrs Dash or a side salad
Dinner: steak with roasted veggies and collard greens, or fish with roasted veggies or salad.
I also eat soups, and low carb wraps often loaded with healthy greens and veggies and protein rich meat, and energy giving fats. And as I am losing weight I am limiting my cheese and nuts to a few times a week.
These recipes I have been posting for 'junk food' is because sometimes we all need a treat and miss the foods we used to eat. These substitutes fill that need in a low carb and more nutritious manner then there originals.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Gilad Total Body Sculpt Works For Me!
So Gilad Total Body Sculpt must be working!!! In the past week I have lost 1" off my waist and my stalled weight loss has picked up again and I have lost 2.5 lbs..... But I have had to drop from 9u Lantus, to 8 to 7, to 6 and since I am running mid 70's today I need to drop yet again to try 5u!!! I am also fitting into clothes I have not worn since 04!!!
WOW!!!!
I have made some modifications. When we lift weights in this program I use Dr. B's upside down pyramid method, going with whatever combo of free weight pair is the highest lbs doing 3-4 (as many as I can) and then working down the weight scale until I complete the set. My muscle gain is much quicker now to and it must really be improving the insulin receptor situation!
I am also continuing to walk at least 6 days a week depending on the weather, at 2.5-3mph for 30 minutes in the afternoon or evening.
Sunday night I did 20 minutes on the treadmill because it was to cold and windy to go out. I alternated incline and mixed the 3mph walking with 2 minute bursts of 4.5 to 6mph jogging. I LOVED it and was sweating my arse off, went almost 1.5miles and burned 112 calories. But alas, my old injured ankle has been protesting to the point I fear I will not be able to even walk if I continue such a program. This makes me very sad. I need to get a bike!
WOW!!!!
I have made some modifications. When we lift weights in this program I use Dr. B's upside down pyramid method, going with whatever combo of free weight pair is the highest lbs doing 3-4 (as many as I can) and then working down the weight scale until I complete the set. My muscle gain is much quicker now to and it must really be improving the insulin receptor situation!
I am also continuing to walk at least 6 days a week depending on the weather, at 2.5-3mph for 30 minutes in the afternoon or evening.
Sunday night I did 20 minutes on the treadmill because it was to cold and windy to go out. I alternated incline and mixed the 3mph walking with 2 minute bursts of 4.5 to 6mph jogging. I LOVED it and was sweating my arse off, went almost 1.5miles and burned 112 calories. But alas, my old injured ankle has been protesting to the point I fear I will not be able to even walk if I continue such a program. This makes me very sad. I need to get a bike!
"First" Post
What follows is a series of posts from my general blog. I felt it would be nice to have all my diabetes and low carb related news and journal in one room. Please, also check out my recipes site which also has great links, recipes, photos and a poll.
Low Carb, Entrapment, Choices
Written April 23, 2008
This way of eating must always be a CHOICE in my opinion. If something is not a choice then I feel trapped and struggle to rebel at any point I can, and lament my entrapment all the while. Just me or human nature? Probably both! For me this way of eating (WOE) may not always seem like a choice but it really is. I just realized that today while fixing J a high carb breakfast of one of my weaknesses Johnny cakes (corn bread pancakes). He is such a doll, he never asks me to fix high carb temptations. This morning being almost two months in again, I offered. He had a rough night at work, little sleep, had to go to 5 hours of his next to last Algebra class today before working extended hours tonight and tommorow. To add insult to injury I was hypo this morning (woohooo time to lower my night time dose of Lantus again!!!)when he came in, and so was mean and yelling about some trivial issue. Ahh Diabetes..... Neither of us recognized the hypo warning signs until later when I checked my meter....... I'm sure all of you diabetics can relate.So, there I was cooking his breakfast. I had been prepared. I ate two scrambled eggs cooked with butter and cream, and a Bran A Crisp. Ohhh those smelled so very good, and looked so good. And I said to self "Star, you have not had one thing that is not low carb pass your lips in weeks. If you deprive yourself of this tast you will turn it into a 'monster' that haunts you. Have a bit, be sensible. And be responsible and check your meter frequently after." Allright, that made sense. A bite here and there for some people may be okay. For others it triggers a landslide of carbo cravings that takes them back to square 1. I am one of those who is okay. So I took a bite.And it was yummy. Hadn't had a texture or taste like that in weeks! So I took another bite, and spread it with butter, and another until I had eaten 18 carbs worth of cornbread pancake after a 6 carb breakfast. For once, I didn't feel guilty. Which is good because when I feel guilt about food I chug into some more and some more and some more on a downward spiral, to the point that all I can thing of is that forbidden item. Maybe you can relate? I took a bolus of Novolog, and went about my business. I had chosen to do taste that pancake. I had chosen to keep eating it. I chose to take another insulin to help cover it and keep my numbers from raising over 140 and damaging my organs and killing my beta cells. And from the cool mind of choices not clouded by guilt or uncontrolled binging (which go hand in hand) I was able to look at it objectively. The pancake was really not that good at all. It felt gritty and heavy and lacking in nutrition. It felt fake. My time on this WOE had educated my body and tastebuds in fresh nutritious foods with minimal processing. The truth is. Just like eating the Veja-Links yesterday, my body revolts at garbage being put into it. I can see that my choices to stay on this WOE have become part of me, of who I am. I am no longer a carb addict cruising the aisles for chocolate, baked items, candy bars, cheese puffs, etc. Those cravings no longer rule me. I am the Star I have always wanted to be, could see myself being, happy, energetic, healthy,s trong, and unaffected by the bondage od addictions.Now to fill out all this info in my Glucograph and joyously calculate tonights dose of Lantus!
This way of eating must always be a CHOICE in my opinion. If something is not a choice then I feel trapped and struggle to rebel at any point I can, and lament my entrapment all the while. Just me or human nature? Probably both! For me this way of eating (WOE) may not always seem like a choice but it really is. I just realized that today while fixing J a high carb breakfast of one of my weaknesses Johnny cakes (corn bread pancakes). He is such a doll, he never asks me to fix high carb temptations. This morning being almost two months in again, I offered. He had a rough night at work, little sleep, had to go to 5 hours of his next to last Algebra class today before working extended hours tonight and tommorow. To add insult to injury I was hypo this morning (woohooo time to lower my night time dose of Lantus again!!!)when he came in, and so was mean and yelling about some trivial issue. Ahh Diabetes..... Neither of us recognized the hypo warning signs until later when I checked my meter....... I'm sure all of you diabetics can relate.So, there I was cooking his breakfast. I had been prepared. I ate two scrambled eggs cooked with butter and cream, and a Bran A Crisp. Ohhh those smelled so very good, and looked so good. And I said to self "Star, you have not had one thing that is not low carb pass your lips in weeks. If you deprive yourself of this tast you will turn it into a 'monster' that haunts you. Have a bit, be sensible. And be responsible and check your meter frequently after." Allright, that made sense. A bite here and there for some people may be okay. For others it triggers a landslide of carbo cravings that takes them back to square 1. I am one of those who is okay. So I took a bite.And it was yummy. Hadn't had a texture or taste like that in weeks! So I took another bite, and spread it with butter, and another until I had eaten 18 carbs worth of cornbread pancake after a 6 carb breakfast. For once, I didn't feel guilty. Which is good because when I feel guilt about food I chug into some more and some more and some more on a downward spiral, to the point that all I can thing of is that forbidden item. Maybe you can relate? I took a bolus of Novolog, and went about my business. I had chosen to do taste that pancake. I had chosen to keep eating it. I chose to take another insulin to help cover it and keep my numbers from raising over 140 and damaging my organs and killing my beta cells. And from the cool mind of choices not clouded by guilt or uncontrolled binging (which go hand in hand) I was able to look at it objectively. The pancake was really not that good at all. It felt gritty and heavy and lacking in nutrition. It felt fake. My time on this WOE had educated my body and tastebuds in fresh nutritious foods with minimal processing. The truth is. Just like eating the Veja-Links yesterday, my body revolts at garbage being put into it. I can see that my choices to stay on this WOE have become part of me, of who I am. I am no longer a carb addict cruising the aisles for chocolate, baked items, candy bars, cheese puffs, etc. Those cravings no longer rule me. I am the Star I have always wanted to be, could see myself being, happy, energetic, healthy,s trong, and unaffected by the bondage od addictions.Now to fill out all this info in my Glucograph and joyously calculate tonights dose of Lantus!
How Did I Go From Being A Life-Long Vegetarian To Becoming An Omnivore?
Sunday April 20, 2008
It has been hard. Sampling bits of this and that. Acquiring the taste. Driven by the primal need I first felt for meat (steak) when my diabetes nearly killed me and I sat on IV blowing up like a blimp in spring of 2006. That night I devoured my first NY Strip at the Elf's Den in North Pole, Alaska. You think my long time culinary tortured husband didn't jump at the chance to treat me to a steak!?
It made me feel dirty and disgusting. It did I swear. It was like I had eaten my best friend and liked it. I did Internet research there was all kinds of information about becoming a vegetarian but none for vegetarians becoming meat eaters. I was alone. And struggled. Being Christian I had always harbored ill feelings towards God about animal sacrifice. I couldn't understand why he required it before Jesus. I am not going to get into Biblical debate here I am going to place it in an awkwardly explained nutshell. But after reading the entire Bible through I began to understand His perfect plan. I was also faced with the fact that God created animals for us to steward and also to eat. And after Jesus it was acceptable to eat any food that did not harm your conscience towards God.
My conscience was the hard part. Animals were my best friends. Especially thinking of their social interactions and how they mother their young, and looking into their eyes makes it hard to think of eating them. But I slowly began to understand with much prayer and reading, and self exploration, that God created them for all of that and for nourishment.
On the Dr Bernstein diet I am feeling so healthy, so energized. My head is clearer, my body feels cleanly fueled. I am eating no processed foods except the occasional sugar substitute. The thought of eating a processed food makes me gag now. My diet is fresh meats, low carb vegetables, bran crackers,and low carb flat bread, heavy cream, cheeses,coconut oil, olive oil, seeds, nuts,greens, and berries. I eat much less and my body feels so nourished. That craving,starving feeling I have always lived with has disappeared. It shows in my body tone, energy level, thinking ability, skin, hair and glucose meter.
But I was still, until this weekend nagged with guilt of those beautiful eyes and gentle mother child barnyard scenes. What changed? It was a culmination of all in the past and as I realized after a hard workout I was NEEDING tuna, and wanted to enjoy a tuna wrap but had been fishing recently and could still see those trout eyes in my head....
I prayed to God that I thanked him for giving us these creatures to eat and nourish my body, to heal my diabetes from bad nutrition, that I ask to eat it with joy and thanksgiving to His power and the way He orders the world.
You know what?
I ate the tuna with no problem, and did the same for the lamb stew today and the mahi mahi tonight......
And I have started saying, if those false thought of vegetarianism creep in "Get behind me Satan! My God has provided this for my health and nourishment to do His will effectively"
Because I have proved it to myself, that my body needs meat, in how healthy and happy I feel eating pure foods not processed or junk ones.
Now, am I saying it is wrong to be a vegetarian? No. Nor do I blame my parents for making the best decisions they could about raising us in a healthy manner.If it works for your body that is great! This is what works for mine, and this post is the story of how I came to accept that spiritually.
It has been hard. Sampling bits of this and that. Acquiring the taste. Driven by the primal need I first felt for meat (steak) when my diabetes nearly killed me and I sat on IV blowing up like a blimp in spring of 2006. That night I devoured my first NY Strip at the Elf's Den in North Pole, Alaska. You think my long time culinary tortured husband didn't jump at the chance to treat me to a steak!?
It made me feel dirty and disgusting. It did I swear. It was like I had eaten my best friend and liked it. I did Internet research there was all kinds of information about becoming a vegetarian but none for vegetarians becoming meat eaters. I was alone. And struggled. Being Christian I had always harbored ill feelings towards God about animal sacrifice. I couldn't understand why he required it before Jesus. I am not going to get into Biblical debate here I am going to place it in an awkwardly explained nutshell. But after reading the entire Bible through I began to understand His perfect plan. I was also faced with the fact that God created animals for us to steward and also to eat. And after Jesus it was acceptable to eat any food that did not harm your conscience towards God.
My conscience was the hard part. Animals were my best friends. Especially thinking of their social interactions and how they mother their young, and looking into their eyes makes it hard to think of eating them. But I slowly began to understand with much prayer and reading, and self exploration, that God created them for all of that and for nourishment.
On the Dr Bernstein diet I am feeling so healthy, so energized. My head is clearer, my body feels cleanly fueled. I am eating no processed foods except the occasional sugar substitute. The thought of eating a processed food makes me gag now. My diet is fresh meats, low carb vegetables, bran crackers,and low carb flat bread, heavy cream, cheeses,coconut oil, olive oil, seeds, nuts,greens, and berries. I eat much less and my body feels so nourished. That craving,starving feeling I have always lived with has disappeared. It shows in my body tone, energy level, thinking ability, skin, hair and glucose meter.
But I was still, until this weekend nagged with guilt of those beautiful eyes and gentle mother child barnyard scenes. What changed? It was a culmination of all in the past and as I realized after a hard workout I was NEEDING tuna, and wanted to enjoy a tuna wrap but had been fishing recently and could still see those trout eyes in my head....
I prayed to God that I thanked him for giving us these creatures to eat and nourish my body, to heal my diabetes from bad nutrition, that I ask to eat it with joy and thanksgiving to His power and the way He orders the world.
You know what?
I ate the tuna with no problem, and did the same for the lamb stew today and the mahi mahi tonight......
And I have started saying, if those false thought of vegetarianism creep in "Get behind me Satan! My God has provided this for my health and nourishment to do His will effectively"
Because I have proved it to myself, that my body needs meat, in how healthy and happy I feel eating pure foods not processed or junk ones.
Now, am I saying it is wrong to be a vegetarian? No. Nor do I blame my parents for making the best decisions they could about raising us in a healthy manner.If it works for your body that is great! This is what works for mine, and this post is the story of how I came to accept that spiritually.
Struggling
Monday April 07, 2008
Again...
My weight loss has stalled and in fact, because of the new weight training program I started 2 weeks ago, i have gained from 214 to 217... I have been angry and frustrated all day about it. I think I just didn't realize just how much. I talked with Mom today and we were talking about favorite family foods, restaurants, eggplant parmigiana..... On TV I saw a gazillion pizza hut commercials. My bG has not been above 115 in many many days, I feel great except for the tiredness lately of being on a course of antibiotic for a dental infection.
Tonight, it just all compiled and I ended up eating 4 Bourbon balls, two earlier and two later that I had with PB ad chocolate chips mixed in a dish....... disgusting. If I had planned to cheat for the same amount of carbs I could have indulged in a super yummy slice of Pizza Hut....
All of it combined just made me so angry. Why do I have diabetes? Its not fair! Why can't I bounce about living my life and not be my own human science experiment. Why is it that I have to not eat heirloom family recipes any more because it will eventually kill me by diabetes complications? Why am I, a previously happy vegetarian, forced to eat the flesh of animals? Its not fair!
Now my bG is soaring, I am fuzzy headed and shaky, I feel miserable....all because I had a temper tantrum and bull headedly thought I could eat away my feelings. I don't know how else to explain it.
The truth is, on this diet I feel wonderful, I am becoming so fit and diabetic complications are beginning to reverse, I feel alive for the first time in so many years (well, since the last time I did this), I am eating wholesome, unprocessed, natural foods and my body loves me for it... it just hurts my feelings deeply because I have to. That I am not normal. That my health and its expenses are a burden to everyone.
DIABETES, YOU OFFEND ME!
I am such spoiled brat with no grip on reality, I really have so very much to be thankful for.
DIE DIABETES! DIE!
While I am at it I am mad at the powers that be telling us that our diets are normal and healthy in America. It has caused me to be this way, definitely sooner as it is in my genetics, and possibly I could have avoided Diabetes all together if I had been taught the truth about nutrition. It is they who allow all these commercials and keeps restaurants from serving healthy low carb meals because they say they are unhealthy, it is they who tell people they will die of clogged arteries and other complications, when there are thousands who are living proof by their test results that this improves ones health. In truth general America is eating an abnormal way and our nation is dying from obesity and diseases because of it.
In truth my abnormal condition brought on or sped on by my so called "normal diet" had lead me to a normal way of eating.
But I am still mad that I can't indulge one in awhile without speeding myself into a hasty grave because of being Diabetic!
Again...
My weight loss has stalled and in fact, because of the new weight training program I started 2 weeks ago, i have gained from 214 to 217... I have been angry and frustrated all day about it. I think I just didn't realize just how much. I talked with Mom today and we were talking about favorite family foods, restaurants, eggplant parmigiana..... On TV I saw a gazillion pizza hut commercials. My bG has not been above 115 in many many days, I feel great except for the tiredness lately of being on a course of antibiotic for a dental infection.
Tonight, it just all compiled and I ended up eating 4 Bourbon balls, two earlier and two later that I had with PB ad chocolate chips mixed in a dish....... disgusting. If I had planned to cheat for the same amount of carbs I could have indulged in a super yummy slice of Pizza Hut....
All of it combined just made me so angry. Why do I have diabetes? Its not fair! Why can't I bounce about living my life and not be my own human science experiment. Why is it that I have to not eat heirloom family recipes any more because it will eventually kill me by diabetes complications? Why am I, a previously happy vegetarian, forced to eat the flesh of animals? Its not fair!
Now my bG is soaring, I am fuzzy headed and shaky, I feel miserable....all because I had a temper tantrum and bull headedly thought I could eat away my feelings. I don't know how else to explain it.
The truth is, on this diet I feel wonderful, I am becoming so fit and diabetic complications are beginning to reverse, I feel alive for the first time in so many years (well, since the last time I did this), I am eating wholesome, unprocessed, natural foods and my body loves me for it... it just hurts my feelings deeply because I have to. That I am not normal. That my health and its expenses are a burden to everyone.
DIABETES, YOU OFFEND ME!
I am such spoiled brat with no grip on reality, I really have so very much to be thankful for.
DIE DIABETES! DIE!
While I am at it I am mad at the powers that be telling us that our diets are normal and healthy in America. It has caused me to be this way, definitely sooner as it is in my genetics, and possibly I could have avoided Diabetes all together if I had been taught the truth about nutrition. It is they who allow all these commercials and keeps restaurants from serving healthy low carb meals because they say they are unhealthy, it is they who tell people they will die of clogged arteries and other complications, when there are thousands who are living proof by their test results that this improves ones health. In truth general America is eating an abnormal way and our nation is dying from obesity and diseases because of it.
In truth my abnormal condition brought on or sped on by my so called "normal diet" had lead me to a normal way of eating.
But I am still mad that I can't indulge one in awhile without speeding myself into a hasty grave because of being Diabetic!
1 Month Mark!!
Thursday April 03, 2008
1 Month Mark!
So the one month mark! How did I celebrate? Well, it was Jason's art reception tonight on base and I had to make Bourbon Balls, Derby Tarts, sweet tea, biscuits (he fried the country ham). I worked from the time I woke up (only 6 hours of sleep) until I had to go to the dentist for an emergency appointment - I have an infection that needs antibiotics, x-rays, and another check up. And then to the last second to walk out the door. I did not take the time to eat proper meals all day, by the time we got home I felt so miserable i ate four bourbon balls and two derby tarts (mini muffin size)! Now I feel even more miserable and am way over my carb limit, way under my fat and protein requirements. I feel AWFUL. I took a bolus of 2u Novolog to try to keep numbers under 130..... And after a month of no sugar and healthy foods I am mad at myself and in a terrible terrible mood. Nice lesson........ However, I did realize that the low carb raspberry coffee cake I did make for breakfast tasted much much better than all that other stuff, and my tongue and mouth swelled and burned upon eating the Bourbon balls...interesting.
1 Month Mark!
So the one month mark! How did I celebrate? Well, it was Jason's art reception tonight on base and I had to make Bourbon Balls, Derby Tarts, sweet tea, biscuits (he fried the country ham). I worked from the time I woke up (only 6 hours of sleep) until I had to go to the dentist for an emergency appointment - I have an infection that needs antibiotics, x-rays, and another check up. And then to the last second to walk out the door. I did not take the time to eat proper meals all day, by the time we got home I felt so miserable i ate four bourbon balls and two derby tarts (mini muffin size)! Now I feel even more miserable and am way over my carb limit, way under my fat and protein requirements. I feel AWFUL. I took a bolus of 2u Novolog to try to keep numbers under 130..... And after a month of no sugar and healthy foods I am mad at myself and in a terrible terrible mood. Nice lesson........ However, I did realize that the low carb raspberry coffee cake I did make for breakfast tasted much much better than all that other stuff, and my tongue and mouth swelled and burned upon eating the Bourbon balls...interesting.
New A1c Results
Monday March 31, 2008
New A1c Results
Just three days shy of being exactly 30 days since I started on this WOE(Way Of Eating) again.
I have, as of this morning, lost 9.8lbs! Turns out that lowering my pro intake a bit did help allot with my weight loss, yet I am getting plenty to function , I am taking in around 70-80g a day instead of 100. So I am at the weight I was before I left this WOE in May.
Most importantly my bG is lowering. I am still getting the nack for trying to get a set schedule and charting consistently. But the diet is going well. I am happy with all the recipes, and in kitchen chemistry, and who can't love being able to have butter and cream every day? 85% Lindt is a lifesaver!
And I had my A1C drawn a week ago today at just at 3 weeks into this WOE and it is 7! It was 7.6 last November and my diet had only gotten worse since last November as had my weight gone up 5lbs! So just three weeks in lowered my A1c .6! That is amazing to me. I can't wait to see my next one!
New A1c Results
Just three days shy of being exactly 30 days since I started on this WOE(Way Of Eating) again.
I have, as of this morning, lost 9.8lbs! Turns out that lowering my pro intake a bit did help allot with my weight loss, yet I am getting plenty to function , I am taking in around 70-80g a day instead of 100. So I am at the weight I was before I left this WOE in May.
Most importantly my bG is lowering. I am still getting the nack for trying to get a set schedule and charting consistently. But the diet is going well. I am happy with all the recipes, and in kitchen chemistry, and who can't love being able to have butter and cream every day? 85% Lindt is a lifesaver!
And I had my A1C drawn a week ago today at just at 3 weeks into this WOE and it is 7! It was 7.6 last November and my diet had only gotten worse since last November as had my weight gone up 5lbs! So just three weeks in lowered my A1c .6! That is amazing to me. I can't wait to see my next one!
What Do I Eat Then?
Thursday March 27, 2008
What Do I Eat Then?
I have been asked this allot, and the shortest and best answer I can give is this link to the page of "No No's In a Nutshell" from Dr. Bernstein's book Diabetes Solution.
If it is in the No list then I don't eat it because it does not allow me to keep a tight, healthy control over my bG. The forum offers tons of yummy tested recipes, and I practically live there as I learn them and new cooking techniques. Do I miss the carbs? No, not really. I don't crave them anymore because I went cold turkey. In fact the smell of really sweet things, like at a bakery turns my stomach. I do miss fruits, but find I can eat small amounts in moderation from time to time. I am especially careful right now as my body is "learning" to burn fats and protein for energy instead of carbs. That is not a medical explanation but my current explanation as I try to understand all the mechanics and chemistry facts right now. The fact that my diet consists of about 70% fat, 20% protein and 10%carbs means that I am fully satisfied on yummy butter, oils, heavy cream, nuts, cheese, and etc. yet I am losing weight at a steady 2.5 to 3 lbs a week right now. My calories average around 1500-1800 a day. I eat 70-90g of protein, and very close to 6g of carbs at breakfast, 12 at lunch, and 12 at dinner (6-12-12) with 4 1/2 to 5 hours between meals and virtually no snacking, I am usually not hungry and if I am I grab a slice of cheese and a few nuts now and again.
I know this is working for me because I am becoming fitter, I have tons more energy, my skin looks healthier, the charting shows my blood sugar (bG) steadily stabilizing and lowering, I am gaing muscle, my eye sight is sharpening, and my head is becoming clearer.
The tough part has been learning to eat more meat as I had been a vegetarian for my whole life prior to Diabetes and the IV incident. But the more healthy cuts of turkey, chicken and beef I eat the better I feel and the more regulated my bG is. Most vegetarian foods are highly processed and it does not do my body well. I do eat a fair amount of TVP in very yummy and creative ways though!
This time around the lack of bread has been made easier by introducing Joseph's Lavash, which is low carb and high in fiber, made of oat and flax. My bG handles it well and I have ben able to make some really delicious recipes with it, including pizza, calletzas (calzone), burritos (with Edens Organic Black Soybeans), and chips. Most of those recipes also originated from the forum, and it is where I learned about the Lavash.
I was previously caught up in an addiction to food, from this diet I am learning it wasn't an addiction to food so much as an addiction to carbs, the constant roller coaster of sugar surges and lows were keeping me locked int the cycle. Now I find food to be yummy, satisfying, and above all nourishing, not a hobby. There is so much freedom in that! It wasn't that I was eating that many more calories regularly or splurging on junk food all the time, because I am diabetic those food on the No list affect my body differently than for those who are not diabetic, and by eliminating them I can keep an even keel of insulin, thus regulating my mood and my weight and improving my health. The charts don't lie.
What Do I Eat Then?
I have been asked this allot, and the shortest and best answer I can give is this link to the page of "No No's In a Nutshell" from Dr. Bernstein's book Diabetes Solution.
If it is in the No list then I don't eat it because it does not allow me to keep a tight, healthy control over my bG. The forum offers tons of yummy tested recipes, and I practically live there as I learn them and new cooking techniques. Do I miss the carbs? No, not really. I don't crave them anymore because I went cold turkey. In fact the smell of really sweet things, like at a bakery turns my stomach. I do miss fruits, but find I can eat small amounts in moderation from time to time. I am especially careful right now as my body is "learning" to burn fats and protein for energy instead of carbs. That is not a medical explanation but my current explanation as I try to understand all the mechanics and chemistry facts right now. The fact that my diet consists of about 70% fat, 20% protein and 10%carbs means that I am fully satisfied on yummy butter, oils, heavy cream, nuts, cheese, and etc. yet I am losing weight at a steady 2.5 to 3 lbs a week right now. My calories average around 1500-1800 a day. I eat 70-90g of protein, and very close to 6g of carbs at breakfast, 12 at lunch, and 12 at dinner (6-12-12) with 4 1/2 to 5 hours between meals and virtually no snacking, I am usually not hungry and if I am I grab a slice of cheese and a few nuts now and again.
I know this is working for me because I am becoming fitter, I have tons more energy, my skin looks healthier, the charting shows my blood sugar (bG) steadily stabilizing and lowering, I am gaing muscle, my eye sight is sharpening, and my head is becoming clearer.
The tough part has been learning to eat more meat as I had been a vegetarian for my whole life prior to Diabetes and the IV incident. But the more healthy cuts of turkey, chicken and beef I eat the better I feel and the more regulated my bG is. Most vegetarian foods are highly processed and it does not do my body well. I do eat a fair amount of TVP in very yummy and creative ways though!
This time around the lack of bread has been made easier by introducing Joseph's Lavash, which is low carb and high in fiber, made of oat and flax. My bG handles it well and I have ben able to make some really delicious recipes with it, including pizza, calletzas (calzone), burritos (with Edens Organic Black Soybeans), and chips. Most of those recipes also originated from the forum, and it is where I learned about the Lavash.
I was previously caught up in an addiction to food, from this diet I am learning it wasn't an addiction to food so much as an addiction to carbs, the constant roller coaster of sugar surges and lows were keeping me locked int the cycle. Now I find food to be yummy, satisfying, and above all nourishing, not a hobby. There is so much freedom in that! It wasn't that I was eating that many more calories regularly or splurging on junk food all the time, because I am diabetic those food on the No list affect my body differently than for those who are not diabetic, and by eliminating them I can keep an even keel of insulin, thus regulating my mood and my weight and improving my health. The charts don't lie.
Being Diabetic Is the Ultimate Chemistry Set!
Thursday March 27, 2008
Exercise, Exercise, Exercise?
Monday I had my A1C drawn. I wish I had done it right before starting this WOE. But it was just at three weeks in. The scale that morning showed I had lost from 224 to 218! YAY! Progress.
I have been debating the best type of exercise for me. It is very confusing. I have decided,for now, on this course of action and to reevaluate as time goes by, as I posted tonight in the
Dr Bernstein forum:
"Well, if my bG was reacting off the type of workout I did last night then I am on the right track for now. I am going to continue to mix it up as I feel/desire and see how things go. The only consistence is that I will do yoga 6 times a week, walk at least 30 minutes on treadmill or outside because otherwise I am pretty sedentary here 7 days a week, and weight train/ Body Electric 5 times a week (because they alternate body parts every episode it allows me to rest muscles). I still feel I need some rapid cardio and cooling down and then rapid cardio type training for my heart but I think I will allocate that to outside walk times, as in run as hard as I can to that tree or up that hill then return to near normal heart rate and repeat at about 3 times a week...
All vague I know!
Maybe it is a nice mental break to have 'free-form' exercise sessions when my food intake and bG is so closely monitored and charted.
Being diabetic is the ultimate chemistry set!"
Exercise, Exercise, Exercise?
Monday I had my A1C drawn. I wish I had done it right before starting this WOE. But it was just at three weeks in. The scale that morning showed I had lost from 224 to 218! YAY! Progress.
I have been debating the best type of exercise for me. It is very confusing. I have decided,for now, on this course of action and to reevaluate as time goes by, as I posted tonight in the
Dr Bernstein forum:
"Well, if my bG was reacting off the type of workout I did last night then I am on the right track for now. I am going to continue to mix it up as I feel/desire and see how things go. The only consistence is that I will do yoga 6 times a week, walk at least 30 minutes on treadmill or outside because otherwise I am pretty sedentary here 7 days a week, and weight train/ Body Electric 5 times a week (because they alternate body parts every episode it allows me to rest muscles). I still feel I need some rapid cardio and cooling down and then rapid cardio type training for my heart but I think I will allocate that to outside walk times, as in run as hard as I can to that tree or up that hill then return to near normal heart rate and repeat at about 3 times a week...
All vague I know!
Maybe it is a nice mental break to have 'free-form' exercise sessions when my food intake and bG is so closely monitored and charted.
Being diabetic is the ultimate chemistry set!"
I'm Back!
Monday March 24th, 2008
Where Have I Been?
I am here again. Wow. April 12. That is a long time ago. Almost a year. Can I sum it up in just a couple of sentences? Maybe. Got shingles was so sick I could not eat anything and keep it down from the pain and upset stomach shortly after the last post. I left the Dr. Bernstein WOE, became carb addicted again just to be able to eat anything, didn't care to go back after because I was headed home to KY/TN and wanted to splurge.
I did lose from 245 to 215 on the WOE and had tight control of my bG (blood glucose) but the whirlwind year of: shingles, PCS'ng (moving) from AK to ND,packing the house, saying good bye to dear friends, a whirlwind AK vacation with J's parents, the drive in a way to loaded car from AK to KY and back up to ND a month later, dealing with losing to grandparents Papa and Gee since being in AK it was our first time home and it was so hard, catching up with friends, enjoying day and night instead of all day or all night, arriving in flat prairie farming Minot, ND only to discover we would have to wait 6 months to a year for a home on base, the scramble to afford and find a house in town, finishing J's art for the opening at Taube Museum of Art, moving in, getting a job as Gallery Assistant at Taube, J's weird schedule, missing everyone, feeling my heart tugged in so many directions, the diabetes beasty rearing its ugly head and demanding I care for myself again, leading to leaving job at Taube, three weeks now recovering, energizing, healing and thus three weeks back on the Dr. B woe........
A few sentences??? Ha! This will do for now. More later I promise. I have much to say.
Where Have I Been?
I am here again. Wow. April 12. That is a long time ago. Almost a year. Can I sum it up in just a couple of sentences? Maybe. Got shingles was so sick I could not eat anything and keep it down from the pain and upset stomach shortly after the last post. I left the Dr. Bernstein WOE, became carb addicted again just to be able to eat anything, didn't care to go back after because I was headed home to KY/TN and wanted to splurge.
I did lose from 245 to 215 on the WOE and had tight control of my bG (blood glucose) but the whirlwind year of: shingles, PCS'ng (moving) from AK to ND,packing the house, saying good bye to dear friends, a whirlwind AK vacation with J's parents, the drive in a way to loaded car from AK to KY and back up to ND a month later, dealing with losing to grandparents Papa and Gee since being in AK it was our first time home and it was so hard, catching up with friends, enjoying day and night instead of all day or all night, arriving in flat prairie farming Minot, ND only to discover we would have to wait 6 months to a year for a home on base, the scramble to afford and find a house in town, finishing J's art for the opening at Taube Museum of Art, moving in, getting a job as Gallery Assistant at Taube, J's weird schedule, missing everyone, feeling my heart tugged in so many directions, the diabetes beasty rearing its ugly head and demanding I care for myself again, leading to leaving job at Taube, three weeks now recovering, energizing, healing and thus three weeks back on the Dr. B woe........
A few sentences??? Ha! This will do for now. More later I promise. I have much to say.
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