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Posts Tagged ‘weight loss’

Food Diary - Weight Loss on Steroids?

Thursday, July 10th, 2008

For years I’ve been watching my weight. It has a big impact on my diabetes. When I’m on a formal program that requires a food diary I do it for a week or two and quit. I’ll follow a meal plan but never keep a diary.

This week a study of 1700 people for 6 months showed that keeping a food diary leads to better weight loss. In fact the participants that kept a diary lost twice as much weight as those that did not. I’ve watched my mother in law keep diaries of everything in her life for years. I always thought she was just being compulsive and it was a little nutty. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it’s time for me to consider using a food diary? Maybe it’s not nuts after all?

Since I’m in the process of forming a support group for people with sugar issues, keeping a record of our food is probably one of the best things we can do? What do you think? Since I live on the computer today, it should not be that hard to keep and store this information. Please email me if you have a suggestion about which programs work best as a food diary.  Please share them with us.

We All Need Support

Monday, July 7th, 2008

For several weeks now I’ve been thinking about how we deal with diabetes, diet and our health in general. A number of people have come up to me and have been discussing their situations. It’s interesting to listen how people handle their health and diet. So many of you have such great ideas about what to do. Many of you have been successful with approaches that seem like we all could be using them.

Because of this I’m considering starting a support group for people with sugar issues. While that group certainly includes Diabetics, people that are hypoglycemic or want to improve their diet while focusing on low glycemic foods are also candidates for this group.

One of our customers came to the Newhall Farmers Market to talk about his issues recently. He tells me that he is pre diabetic. As a self proclaimed Carboholic, he came looking for some ideas about how to move past this problem.

A few weeks ago a woman came up and was telling my wife and I about her struggle with weight and sugar. She had some great ideas for keeping track of the foods that she is eating and is managing her weight loss in a way that will make her food choices more of a lifestyle.

If you are interested in participating in a group or have an issue you’d like to receive some input on please send an email to me. My email address is jeff [at] granolagourmet [dot] com

Bagels or Donuts, which is better for a Diabetic?

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

My family is addicted to bagels. They would all have a bagel for breakfast everyday if they were in the house. As a diabetic this is clearly not a good choice for me, but I’ve learned how to cut a sliver off the bagel (careful it’s not so easy) and enjoy a quarter of one every once in a while.

Bagels today have over 50 carbs each and I know you can’t just take half, can you? It’s tough to do and the fact is that if you are going to eat a whole bagel, you may as well have a donut or two. Why? Simple, because as a person with diabetes you are going to be spiking your blood sugar in the next 30 minutes and if you are going to do it with a bagel, you may as well aim for a diabetic coma and really enjoy your sin :)

OK, maybe that’s a little over the edge. After all most of us won’t slip into a diabetic coma after a bagel or donut, but your sugar will become uncontrollable and you will pay for it. If you really want to cheat ask yourself if you are prepared to deal with the consequences of high blood sugar.

If you become sleepy when your sugar spikes, make sure you have your night cap on.

Blood Sugar Down, Weight UP :(

Friday, June 13th, 2008

In my regular struggle with controlling my blood sugar and my weight I’ve found a couple of constants.

When I take insulin and my blood sugar is under better control the quantity of insulin I take sometimes causes me to be extra hungry. I know that this is a side effect of insulin and I’ve discussed it with my Dr. We have worked on this problem as a team and I think I’ve found a better way.

For me when I take Lantus at night in 25 unit increments my morning readings are normal or close. This morning it was 114. The past few days it’s been in the 130’s. This is way better than the readings I’d been seeing in the 170-200 range. So I’m glad that I’ve got that problem licked.

The other issue I have is weight control. This quarter I’ve gone up about 10 pounds. It’s frustrating for me when this happens and it’s not always about self control. When my insulin intake is higher than about 20 units a day I am hungrier than usual. It is difficult for me not to eat more. Even when eating healthy foods, quantity DOES matter. So goes my struggle with weight control this quarter…

With my renewed effort to control both my walking is up and I am focusing on controlling both my weight and sugars, stay tuned!

Weight Loss another Miracle Cure?

Saturday, June 7th, 2008

Weight loss is a concern for a majority of Americans. Haven’t you heard…we are all overweight and at risk of becomming Diabetic. Seriously though, so many of us are trying to lose, control, or maintain our weight.

I go through the ups and downs of weight control every quarter. Part of the issue is mental and the other part is physical.

To lose or even maintain weight my mind has to be on that track. I’ve found over the years that it is not hard to derail my weight goals. For me much of the problem is that I eat too much. I usually eat the right foods, however overeating will always cause a weight problem.

Physically, I know that I must also move. This doesn’t require a huge amount of effort, but I need to walk. Walking has it’s own challenges. It’s too hot, or I don’t want to walk alone, or I don’t feel like going to the gym… Now you’ve seen the side of me that is more focused on the challenges than challenging and overcoming the problem.

So… today I am committing to you to be more dilligent about walking and to manage the quantities of my food. As part of this effort I’ll also report back with periodic updates. So, if you see me out and about, feel free to let me know you are watching my progress I’m sure it will have an impact on my results.

Why my blood is so sweet?

Monday, March 31st, 2008

For most people, (13 out of every 14 people) blood sugar issues are non-existent. They live their normal lives not concerned if they can or can’t eat sweets, carbs or other foods and drinks.

At 31 my body stopped working. To be more specific, it was really my pancreas. I had a sudden and noticeable issue. Within 2 weeks I had the following symptoms:

  • an unquenchable thirst (drinking 1+ gallons per day)
  • extreme weight loss (20 lbs. in 2 weeks without changing my eating habits)
  • constantly needing to pee
  • blurred vision after a while
  • sleep, I’d nap at 2pm and wake up in the morning

Now I know that these are classic symptoms of Diabetes, but not then. In fact I kept putting off a Dr. visit not thinking that there was really a problem.

Finally, I went to my HMO when I fell asleep while driving home in the afternoon. Thank goodness for the speed bumps which woke me up. I figured I must be low on blood sugar so ate a candy bar. When I arrived at the HMO and told my GP this he decided not to check my blood sugar until I was fasting the next day. At the time a 30 second test would have shown my sugar was 3 times normal.

So why was my blood so sweet? My Pancreas seized. Insulin production became very limited and since insulin is required to unlock the door to the fat cells for sugar to convert to fat I had a problem.

I’ll post some other time about the HMO problems I had at the time, but if you have any of these problems and can see a specialist I’d highly recommend it. My family Dr. is great, but an Endocrinologist specializes in Diabetes. I’m lucky enough to have one that is also a Type-1 Diabetic. That makes a difference too.

How did you determine you were diabetic?