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By Lara Rondinelli, RD, LDN, CDE
A friend of mine was just diagnosed with 3 food allergies: peanuts, eggs, and dairy. That cuts out a lot of different food, and she's struggling to make all the necessary diet changes. My friend stated that she felt like she was eating more food because she was focusing on all the foods she couldn’t eat and therefore felt deprived. She felt she needed to reward herself with all the foods she could eat, but then she began overeating those foods. I could relate: I felt the same way when I was first diagnosed with celiac disease. I’ve seen many of my diabetes patients struggle with this same issue. I believe this feeling of deprivation is a normal response to such a significant change. However, given time, a healthy attitude, and healthy eating, this feeling should decrease.
Here are a couple tips for helping you feel less deprived:
1. Instead of focusing on what foods you CAN'T eat, focus on the foods that you CAN eat. You will find that you can still eat many of your favorite foods. This is not to say that you are not going to miss some foods, but focusing on the positive can really help. When I was diagnosed with celiac disease I realized I could still have some of my all-time favorite foods: sweet potatoes, fresh mozzarella-tomato salad, black-eyed peas, peanut butter (even peanut butter cookies), blueberries, guacamole, and eggplant. You can see a pattern here – most of these are natural foods and very healthy too. Make a list of some of your favorite foods that you can still eat healthfully with diabetes.
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