Diets for type 2 diabetes: Whoa, I had a tough wake-up call a while back: Type 2 diabetes. About 25 pounds overweight and I didn’t pound the pavement or do anything in the form of exercise. And I ate what I wanted when I wanted. I figured going to work and pounding on the computer was all the time I had for exercise.
Well, my world changed with my diagnosis. I’m not a geriatric, so my condition was not caused by my aging pancreas. Nope, this was my genetics waking up to the way I was living. Too many calories, too many sweets, and no exercise.
I had seen my sister deal with her Type 2 diabetes. Yep, she dealt with it all right. She didn’t do anything but take 3 different oral medications for Type 2 diabetes. Occasionally, she would check her blood sugar level with her glucose meter, but not very often. In a few years, she developed a sore on the bottom of her foot that would not heal for three months. That woke her up about her diabetes and that it wasn’t something she could play around with.
Because of what I had seen her go through, I was bound and determined to try and take care of my health crisis in the best way that I could. I read everything I could about Type 2 diabetes, the recommendations for taking care of myself, and then actually followed through on it. My condition didn’t get better overnight, it took a while, but it did improve. I was on oral medication for a while, but through proper diet and exercise, I am off medication, at the recommended weight for my body and I feel so much better than I have in years.
Here is what I did:
Exercise: I clocked in exercise in each of my day like it was an important meeting, dental appointment or doctor’s appointment. If you don’t show up for that important meeting, you could lose your job. If you don’t show up for the dental appointment or doctor’s appointment, you could be charged a no-show fee. Well, I put a note on my daily planner for exercise and I followed through on that exercise, just like I would have if I had some important meeting or some medical appointment. It’s amazing how you react to something when you know you HAVE to do it. I knew I had to do this. And it wasn’t running a marathon, even training for a marathon. Because I had been so physically inaction for such a long time, I would do power dancing in front of the TV for 10 minutes before I got dressed to leave the house in the morning. This is really power dancing that I do. I work up a sweat. At lunch, I would go out of the building and walk. Each day, I pushed myself to walk a little farther until I was going around block after block and I wasn’t getting out of breath. In the evening, I would do another 10 minutes of power dancing in front of the TV. If I really had the energy, I would walk around my community. As time passed, I got to where I looked forward to those evening walks. But before I went out of the house on my walk, I always checked my blood sugar level with my glucose meter and did the same thing when I got home.
Food: Now this is where it became very serious. I loved that snack of crackers at my desk at midmorning. I loved that afternoon candy bar. Well, I knew I wasn’t going to give up the snacking, I just had to change what I was eating. Protein. That was the answer for me. Midmorning, I snacked on a handful of nuts. Various nuts – walnuts (be careful here ‘cause they are really high in calories), Brazil nuts and almonds. And be careful here, because of the caloric count. Just a handful, not a can or jar. From what I had read, nuts are good for you. Healthy fats, they call them. In the afternoon, egg whites. I would boil eggs on the weekend, take out the yolk, and then eat about 3 or four eggs, whites only, for my afternoon snack. I found I had not deprived myself of eating, and those snacks got me through to the next meal. And I always use my glucose meter each and every time I eat and when I feel a little funny.
The meals were easy for me. No fast food at all. From that point on, I prepared my own meals – breakfast, lunch and dinner. For breakfast, I have a strip of bacon and about ¼ cup of minute oatmeal that I fixed in the microwave after I had sprinkled cinnamon on it. And I mixed the oatmeal with water, not milk. I soon found out that milk is high in calories and high in sugar. I found something called “Pure Protein” at my supermarket. It comes in lightweight cans, has 23 grams of proteins and has l gram of sugar. Instead of milk, I use this Pure Protein on my cereal and in my coffee. I don’t use a whole can at any one time. No, I just pour a little on the cereal to get it wet and pour enough in my coffee to make it latte colored. And no more sugar in my coffee. I found a sugar free sweetener that satisfies my taste (there are numerous ones out there that you can experiment around with until you find the one for you). I will shake up the breakfast routine by switching over to Cheerios mixed with some Uncle Sam, but never more than ½ cup, and use this protein drink instead of milk. There are other things I eat for breakfast, but these are my favorites. Again, I rely heavily on my glucose meter to tell me how I’m doing.
For lunch, I’m at my office so I either take my food or find a Subway Restaurant. At Subway, I get their turkey on whole wheat with lettuce, tomatoes and pickles. No dressing slathered on the bread, just plain, and it is absolutely delicious. If I carry my lunch, it’s something that is centered around protein and then a limited amount of carbs. Again, I’m using that glucose meter all day long.
For dinner, I always center my meal around a protein and watch the carb intake. Example — I will grill chicken (skinless, boneless breast) on the grill on the weekends and put in little zip baggies in the freezer. I always have a few in the refrigerator that have thawed. You can do anything, I mean anything, with a grilled chicken breast. You can find a fat-free fajita and make a chicken fajita, using lots of lettuce and tomato. And I love salsa on it, as well, instead of high fat content sour cream. There is a fat free sour cream available, and it is delicious. I can reheat the grilled chicken breast in aluminum foil in the oven, with a little water added, and it tastes like it just came off the grill. Any favorite meal you have, you can switch the recipe around and come up with a fabulous recipe for that grilled chicken right slap in the middle of it. Again, that glucose meter is in my hand doing its thing at this time of the day as well.
Snacking at night. Boy, oh boy, that was tough for me. I loved to watch TV and snack on popcorn. BUT, that popcorn would shoot my blood sugar level right up, so I had to find something new. String cheese works for me. It’s a protein, and it satisfies my hunger and I can spend as much time eating it as a bowl of popcorn, if I drag the process out, which I do. And, always before going to bed, that glucose meter is put to work again.
Yes, I got my blood sugar levels under control, lost a major amount of weight and look fit as a fiddle and feel fit as a fiddle. No, being diagnosed with diabetes was not a great thing in my life, not at all. But that wake up call made me pay attention to what I was putting in my mouth, how I was spending my time and just plain paying attention to myself. It’s easy to lose yourself in everyday life with others depending upon you, but when you get that diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes, you know you have to change your way of thinking. At times during the day, you have to put yourself first. Because I did, I am no longer on any medication for diabetes. I hope you have the same luck, because it is possible. But always, always stay in close contact with your doctor or dietician and always, always use that glucose meter to help you monitor yourself. You are going to be fine. It can be done, and you will do it!!! Read more about eating with diabetes.