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ScaryKids -> RE: Diabetes - sugar is EVERYWHERE! ARGGH (2/6/2013 6:28:19 PM)
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Last year I was told that I was borderline diabetic. I know its not the same as I don't have to be as strict, but my sister recently found out she's type 1 and was grateful for the tips.
My doctor is also a woman, and has been diabetic for 10 years. Here's the shortform of the advice she gave me:
1) Start with fresh foods and work from there. You can look up nutritional info on fresh foods online. Once you learn what's in certain foods, you can learn to put them together in ways you like, as well as getting a good idea of the sorts of things to avoid in general. Also a few weeks away from refined sugars and fruit will start to taste like candy and refined sugars or substitutes will taste like cheap crap.
2) Check for salt. Not just for salt's sake, but because alternative flavorings for things like cheeses, sugar or chocolate often contain salt, especially in processed foods or low-carb foods and really build up after a while. Sodium can also lead to water retention and swelling, which is uncomfortable and that doesn't help when you're trying to be active.
3) Don't use refined sugars as a reward or a goal, but find other complex flavor combinations that you enjoy (see number 1).
4) Splenda is tolerable, but it tastes better if you use it as needed instead of in a whole batch to eat later. For example, I use Splenda to sweeten my iced tea, but just make a pitcher of unsweet and then add the sweetener to the cup I pour to drink. That's really the only time I use it, since as I said, I like fresh best.
5) Drinks are a pointless way to waste what allotments you get during the day. Stick with water, with maybe some lemon for flavoring. It's also cheaper, especially when eating out. We keep a pitcher tap water in the fridge so it's as easy to access and refill as anything else (after it sits in the fridge overnight, it's as good as store bought drinking water and usually loses it's local taste, even if you have a well.)
I know all this seems like generic advice, but it really helped me to break things down and make a list of simple rules to follow.
When I decided to lose 20% of my total weight to help keep my sugar under control, every day I would either choose either cheese or mayonnaise during that day, which cut down amount of opportunities I had to add calories to food I was already eating. Maybe while she works on changing the way she eats, she can make similar choices?
Hope she gets everything under control. I know it's a battle trying to change old habits, but its worth it.
Suzy
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