HUGE DISCLAIMER: I'm not a doctor. Nor am I a health professional. I am educated. But not in this field. The following is meant solely to share what is working for me and why I believe it's working. In no uncertain terms is what I say 100% factual. I'm wrong a lot. But I'm fairly sure about this.
So now that I'm gestationally diabetic, I've had to do a lot of changes in my eating habits. The first stop was a diabetic center, who to be honest, did almost more harm than good. They feel, not all health professionals share this feeling, that if your diabetes can be controlled by diet, than it should be. And insulin is somewhat of a defeat. This, is horribly wrong. Insulin doesn't mean failure. It's just a tool to help you be healthy. But enough of my frustrations with them, here's the nitty gritty:
The first issue is eating out. Stop it. It's killing you. There aren't as many good choices as you think. Until you get good at tracking what's actually in things, just don't eat out. Eventually, you'll get good at deciphering things and will make smart decisions. But for now, just cut it out.
The second, is understanding how this way of eating works. A lot of fad diets have picked up on the link between the processing of sugars in the body and weight control. Diets like Atkins and Keto-diets focus on basically eliminating the production of insulin and putting your body into a state of Ketosis. What this means is that you're body is starving for carbohydrates and is releasing keytones into your urine. Over time, (about 2-3 weeks) this becomes extremely toxic to your brain. That's why you hear people complain about having "Atkins Brain" when they've been on that diet for a while. You feel pretty slow and dumb.
What I'm doing, is NOT that. One thing people need to understand is that your body needs carbohydrates to function. You need them to survive. Without carbs, your body shuts down. So the key here, is to take in the carbs you need to function, and keep as close to that amount as you can. At the same time, the goal is to keep the types of carbs you eat, to those carbs that have a minimal glycemic load.
How many carbs do I need?
This varies greatly per person. I've read that anything less than 100g a day puts you at risk of Ketosis. And I've been told that someone who is stagnant (doesn't exercise) needs around 130g a day. Obviously the more you work out, the more you need. For me, since I'm pregnant, I was told that the baby needs about 45g a day. So my personal goal is between 150 and 175 a day. Mind you, I'm not a doctor. I'm not a health professional. I'm going by what my doctor has relayed to me. I really recommend that to obtain your ideal amount of carbs, that you go see your doctor and be honest about your activity level and how much you need to maintain your health.
Now for the dirt
For the first couple of weeks, it was hard to find my way. I had no idea what I could and couldn't eat. I used the American Diabetes Association's website a lot to determine what was ok to eat.
One thing that's important to mention is that you are the most insulin resistant in the morning. So the carb budget I have is lower for breakfast than it is for the rest of the day. And for this way of eating, you have to basically separate your carbs into categories. I call them "Free" and "Pricey". It just makes it easier to distinguish what you can eat that way.
Free carbs are carbs that come from non-starch, non-grain veggies. (Please see the American Diabetes Associations page for the whole list). So things like carrots, grean beans, rutabaga... are all free. Free means you can eat as much as you want. And they aren't supposed to effect your sugar levels.
Pricey carbs are carbs from fruits, dairy, starches and grains, table sugar and even some beans. This is where it gets tricky. These carbs aren't all equal. They all have different loads. So they effect your glucose levels in different ways. To put this in perpective, for me, 2 slices of white bread has about the same carb count as a banana. The banana has fructose as a sugar and doesn't effect my sugars as much as 2 slices of white bread. So if I have to choose, the banana wins.
A lot of this way of eating comes from the choices you make. The goal overall is to stay diverse and keep it balanced, while limiting the "Pricey" carbs to the "Carbs you need to survive.".
To break this down, basically I eat as much proteins as I want. If I want a big juicey steak, I eat it. I don't hold back. I eat as much Free carbs as I want. I only count the Pricey carbs. I eat 6 times a day, every 2 hours. And the breakdown of carb counting (again, I'm on rest. So I literally don't exercise at all.) is about 30g of Pricey carbs per meal. I go by net carbs meaning I don't subtract out the dietary fibers. My husband disagrees with that, he thinks dietary fibers shouldn't count. But he's not my doctor.
Here's a sample of what I've been eating:
Breakfast - A banana (30g) and a cup of tea (with milk and 1 tspn of Splenda) (maybe 3g total) = 33g
Snack - A chobani yogurt (20g) and 8 oz of milk (12g) = 32g
Lunch - Lean Cuisine (35-45g) and bottled water = 35-45g
Snack - 2 cups Lipton soup with 6 saltines = 30g
Dinner - big fat juicy steak, green beans and 1 cup Mashed Yams (fresh yams, butter, salt and pepper) (30g) = 30g
Snack - 16 oz of milk (24g)
This is not what I eat every day as I vary it a lot. But the counts are basically the same. Again, the more diverse and balanced you make your diet, the healthier it is.
I'll like to also point out that, at this time, I'm actually down 10.5 pounds on the scale. Since I'm 19.5 weeks pregnant, I'm certain the loss is actually greater than that when you factor in the weight of the baby, placenta, ambilical cord, amniotic fluid and doubled blood volume. Please note, that this is closely monitored by my doctor and at no point is my baby at risk. If you have any health issues like high blood pressure, you're going to need to talk to your doctor about any additional diet restrictions.
ONE HUGE NOTE: Eating out is not as easy as you think. There are ingredients thrown into things that make it next to impossible to count. If you eat out, make it only once a week, and research in advance using their nutritional info. Most chain restaurants post their nutritional info online in PDF. There are options for eating out, but you really have to do your research. Don't assume that if it sounds healthy it is. Most of the time, it's not. A piece of advice, invest in a good sized thermal lunch box and bring food to work.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Food, My Nemisis.
Those that know me in person knows that the one battle I've never really talked about is my weight. It's that monster in the closet that no one likes to talk about. Everyone thinks that's it’s easier to ignore a demon than to challenge it, face it head on and try to beat it.
They are sort of right. It's easier. But life shouldn't be easy. When it's easy, you end up lazy and complacent, which is pretty much where I stood with my weight until a couple of months ago.
To give you a little background, my parents were pretty broke growing up. Like most families these days, we ate how we could afford. Back then, eating at home was cheaper than eating out. Back then, moms had somewhat of an education on cooking and taking care of their family. But, at least in my opinion, changes in schools have made a difference in how we take care of ourselves. Gone are the days of home economics, where teens learned about all aspects of the home. They learned subjects like baby care, how to balance a checkbook and how to balance nutrition. When I went to school, the most we were taught was a lesson in making cookies.
Nowadays, we're so busy that we eat out more than we eat in. When I was in the military, I wasn't able to cook for myself. So at that point, my meals were dependent on either what the mess hall had that day, or choices that I made in restaurants. Let's just say, I wasn't the best at making those choices. And by the time I got out of the military I had gained 50 lbs over 4 years. Then it just kept adding afterwards. I went from 97 pounds going into boot camp, to my max, over 240.
So I did what most people did. I ignored the problem. I avoided cameras, scales, gyms and anything else that reminded me of the problem. I hated to clothes shop because I hated the reminder of my size. After all, if I didn't see it, it didn't exist.
Then, I got married. To an amazing man I call Superman. He's very into bodybuilding, which is kinda ironic considering my hatred of the gym. Not soon after, the idea of a family started to come into play. Then, I could no longer ignore the monster in the closet. Because of my weight, I was now not able to get pregnant. Sounds like a wakeup call right? Nope. Even that didn't motivate me enough to lose weight. Thanks to modern medicine and a phenomenal doctor, I got pregnant. Because of my age and weight, they made me take a glucose test in my first trimester. Btw, the fruit punch is so much better of the glucose solutions. But anyway, my sugar results were over 200. Blam, there's reality. Now my eating habits no longer just affected me. Now, they affect my child. And THAT was the wakeup call.
To make matters worse, I also have another complication that has put me basically on bed rest. So now, I can't exercise if I wanted to. I can't go for a walk, can't go swimming, and can’t lift almost everything.
So what now?
Now everything changes, I'm on a diabetic diet and even though it's a hard change, I'm getting used to it. And surprise, the weight is melting off. So the next post, is how I've been eating, why it's working, and if you want to give it a try, I'll also share what has worked for me, and what hasn't.
They are sort of right. It's easier. But life shouldn't be easy. When it's easy, you end up lazy and complacent, which is pretty much where I stood with my weight until a couple of months ago.
To give you a little background, my parents were pretty broke growing up. Like most families these days, we ate how we could afford. Back then, eating at home was cheaper than eating out. Back then, moms had somewhat of an education on cooking and taking care of their family. But, at least in my opinion, changes in schools have made a difference in how we take care of ourselves. Gone are the days of home economics, where teens learned about all aspects of the home. They learned subjects like baby care, how to balance a checkbook and how to balance nutrition. When I went to school, the most we were taught was a lesson in making cookies.
Nowadays, we're so busy that we eat out more than we eat in. When I was in the military, I wasn't able to cook for myself. So at that point, my meals were dependent on either what the mess hall had that day, or choices that I made in restaurants. Let's just say, I wasn't the best at making those choices. And by the time I got out of the military I had gained 50 lbs over 4 years. Then it just kept adding afterwards. I went from 97 pounds going into boot camp, to my max, over 240.
So I did what most people did. I ignored the problem. I avoided cameras, scales, gyms and anything else that reminded me of the problem. I hated to clothes shop because I hated the reminder of my size. After all, if I didn't see it, it didn't exist.
Then, I got married. To an amazing man I call Superman. He's very into bodybuilding, which is kinda ironic considering my hatred of the gym. Not soon after, the idea of a family started to come into play. Then, I could no longer ignore the monster in the closet. Because of my weight, I was now not able to get pregnant. Sounds like a wakeup call right? Nope. Even that didn't motivate me enough to lose weight. Thanks to modern medicine and a phenomenal doctor, I got pregnant. Because of my age and weight, they made me take a glucose test in my first trimester. Btw, the fruit punch is so much better of the glucose solutions. But anyway, my sugar results were over 200. Blam, there's reality. Now my eating habits no longer just affected me. Now, they affect my child. And THAT was the wakeup call.
To make matters worse, I also have another complication that has put me basically on bed rest. So now, I can't exercise if I wanted to. I can't go for a walk, can't go swimming, and can’t lift almost everything.
So what now?
Now everything changes, I'm on a diabetic diet and even though it's a hard change, I'm getting used to it. And surprise, the weight is melting off. So the next post, is how I've been eating, why it's working, and if you want to give it a try, I'll also share what has worked for me, and what hasn't.
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