Tuesday, June 10, 2008

My Diabetic life (part 5)

Some things are showing improvement.

I am off all diabetic meds. I take a regimen of vitamins and herbs, and along with eating better, my sugar is fairly well controlled. This may not seem like much, but when I made all the drastic dietary changes, I was in a hospital and on a diabetic med that was not working. I left the rehab hospital with a script for insulin. I told the doctor I would visit him in a month or so, and if I showed no improvement, I would fill the script for the insulin. I made the changes, my sugar got better, and I never needed the insulin. Considering I was on meds for over 20 years, this is nothing short of a miracle.

I'm not totally vegetarian, but I do limit my meat intake to a couple servings per week. I count all animal flesh as meat. I usually eat soy cheese. I do eat a small yogurt every day, but very little other dairy.

I have coffee usually once a week, and use flavored soy milk in that.

I don't drink diet sodas for various reasons. I do drink water or tea, usually herb or green, and it is unsweetened. Yes, I had to get used to it, but it was worth it.
I try to eat whole grains whenever possible. I also use seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen when they are not available. I use some foods as a garnish that I used to use heavily. A tiny bit of shredded Romano goes on some of my pasta dishes. I used to use a lot. Now, maybe a tablespoon or so.

I make my portions of carbs like pasta small, but the meal is enhanced by serving it with broccoli or spinach instead of a red sauce.

Of course I cheat and eat some bad stuff. But I try to do it sensibly.

I love chocolate, but instead of candy, I have a half a brownie and a small glass of chocolate soy milk. This is less calories than a candy bar or piece of cake, but so much more satifying.

I try to keep getting better every day. I'm a work in progress.

More to come.

5 comments:

shyne said...

It sounds like you're taking control of the disease....not an easy thing to do.
Keep up the good work.

I like this: "I'm a work in progress".

Anonymous said...

So what are your average blood sugar numbers now? If I were eating pasta and brownies mine would be too high. I have to follow a low carb diet to keep my diabetes under control.

Also as a side note...keep a check on your thyroid since you are using quite a bit of soy products. Soy can make your thyroid function low over time.

I'm glad you were able to stay off insulin, and I wish you continued improvement.

Da Old Man said...

@ Angel: My morning sugar has been between 101 and 106 the past week.

I'll be posting about the change I made in a few minutes. Before the change it was between 110 and 120.

Anonymous said...

That is not too bad, but it is optimal to have morning/fasting BS under 100. In the 60-80 range is considered normal from everything I've read.

I know from experience it's hard to get those numbers though. For me, my morning fasting number is always the last to come down into normal ranges.

Good luck!

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