Diabetic Recipes
National Yo-Yo Museum
I am up 1 pound from a month ago. I've been up as high as 3 pounds and as low as 2 pounds down. Truth be told, it's more like 6 weeks I have been doing this yo-yo trick up and down that 5 pound range.
I've been fairly good about logging my food. The days that the log stops at lunch are the problem. The afternoon snack attacks are sabotaging my efforts. I feel helpless to stop them. It's really detrimental to be feeling this way.
I have gone so far as to leave all my cash out in the car at work so the evil vending machine doesn't trip me up. However, at least 15 people where I work have candy on their desks. The good stuff too. And at least once a week there is freebie cake or cookies or something irresistible in the lunchroom.
On the plus side, I have banished the mid-morning snack. My endocrinologist referred me to a nutritionist and she has me on a plan that should increase my insulin sensitivity. One of the keys is 3 meals a day and one afternoon snack - and NOTHING in-between. No coffee with sweetener, no sugar-less gum, no flavored waters - nothing that will trigger my body to produce insulin or make it think that real food is entering the system. After approximately 10 years of grazing all day long, this is a big change.
I must admit I am sometimes drinking coffee longer than I should, particularly on the days that I telecommute and have access to our home-brewed chicory blend and sugar free French vanilla coffee creamer. I will keep working on this, and feel confident I can conquer mornings.
I like my apple and cheese stick afternoon snack. But it hasn't stopped me from eating more. Even if the calorie count is not that high, I need to break the habit. Any ideas?
high protein foods make you feel full for longer, so for breakfast have something like eggs and turkey bacon, then if you get hungry before lunch eat a handful of nuts or one of those 100 cal. bars that everyone makes now. for lunch get a salad with protein and low-fat dressing. never stuff yourself, eat until you are satisfied. snacks should have 15g carbs or less and no more than 3g of fat. replace sugary snacks with dried or fresh fruits. the less refined sugar you eat the better fruits and other naturally sweet things will taste. if you eat a little more than you know you should just make yourself walk longer and faster. i'd also cut out the cheese because it's usually high in fat...
Thanks Julie! Breaking that refined sugar habit sure is tough.
Kim:
Have you told your co-workers about how much you struggle with candy so accessible? It seems to me that most people would be willing to move it or put it away to help you (at least that's what we do here in my office). Also, I'm no nutritionist, but in my opinion, the fact that you are accustomed to eating more than 4 times daily definitely means you will have more difficulty adjusting to such a strict regimine of eating.
My own personal diet consists of 5 small meals (and by small I mean only two items, no more than one serving of each). I always eat a protein source with each of my meals (this helps stabilize blood sugars, and keeps me full for a longer period of time). I eat approximately every 3 hours.
A sample day consists of:
Meal 1 (Breakfast):
1 apple
4 eggs (3 egg whites/1 whole egg)
Meal 2:
1 cup broccoli
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
Meal 3:
2 cups romaine salad w/1 T. Olive oil dressing
3 - 4 oz. Turkey or chicken breast
1 cup raw strawberries
Meal 4:
1 small plain sweet potato
2 -4 oz. Low fat protein (turkey, chicken, fish)
1 cup cruciferous vegetable (broccoli, etc)
Meal 5:
1 cup soy milk
1 cup raw strawberries or blueberries
I've found that allowing myself fruit reduces my craving for sweets. Of course, the first 4 weeks of any major diet change are the most difficult. Those are the times cravings are at their peak. My suggestion is to find something useful to do when you feel like binging.
Clean ALL junk food out of your house. If you're married, your spouse needs to be on board with keeping unhealthy foods out of your environment. Later, when you have developed more will power, and are seeing results, you may be able to be lenient occasionally, but initially that won't be an option.
Exercise is ALWAYS the most important thing you can do for your body, AND it's the one thing such a great proportion of people neglect. You don't have to sweat profusely, and feel like your heart will explode to make progress with exercise. A 30 minute walk will be enough to make a HUGE difference.
Most importantly:
Start each day with a clean slate. What you did yesterday doesn't determine what you will do today. Each second you must make a choice . . . sometimes you'll make the better choice, sometimes the poorer one. The trick is to make more better choices than poor, and forgive yourself for the times you don't do everything "right".
DB