How do you stick with a healthy diet to manage your diabetes when you work in a dietary mine field?
Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at
2:19 am
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While I don’t have diabetes, I have a lot of family members who did and am now Insulin Resistant and struggling to prevent myself from developing it.
Here’s the deal…there’s what’s easiest to do and there’s what’s most important to do. When it’s a choice between what you NEED to eat and a deadline, you have to make up your mind that your health needs MUST come first above all else. Yes, it’s easier to eat what’s available, but that’s the sure road to pain, misery and an early death.
There are books and websites out there with ideas for quick, healthy meals. Pack your own healthy snacks to take with you to work. A lot of people I know of make most of their meals for the week on weekends, freeze them and thaw them out. My sister-in-law packs her lunch and snacks and puts out her breakfast the night before.
It’s about getting serious about your health. If you feel guilty doing that or are afraid of missing a deadline, or whatever, remind yourself that the better shape you keep yourself in, the more productive you’ll be able to be at work.
Find whatever reason, whatever self-talk you need to hear, whatever visual image you need for encouragement to keep you going. The visual image that kept me from drinking, for instance, was an uncle who had diabetes and drank like a fish. He ended up with no legs and his son had to literally carry him everywhere. Ugh!! in a major way. That was intense enough to keep me away from alcohol from the get go.
Here’s a personal experience that’s going to help me keep away from desserts when I go on vacation. I’m strict about no sugar at home, but on vacations I figure it can’t hurt me for just one week. Well, 2 major vacations – one last Dec and just this week coming home from my inlaws in Texas – and I developed a serious sinus infection both times. My doctor finally decided it’s because I’m sensitive enough to sugar that it causes a yeast bloom in my sinuses and I’m down and out for several days. That will be more than enough to keep desserts out of my mouth on subsequent trips.
Just ideas, but use whatever you need to in order to motivate yourself to take care of yourself. Nobody else is going to take care of you. You’re it. How well you do depends entirely on you (and probably a lot of other folks depend upon your being healthy).
Well I can feel for you. I am a type one diabetic with a massive sweet tooth that worked throughout college as a cake decorator. You have two choices. Either you can be weak and die or you can be strong and survive. Every time you want to put one of those bad snacks into your mouth, think about the suffering your poor aunt had to go through due to not controlling her urges. You want better for yourself don’t you?
I find the only way not to over indulge is to bring my own snacks, granola, yogurt, fresh fruit, and low fat smoothies, etc. And if you are caught hungry, and without something healthy, only eat a little. I always compensate when I eat something unhealthy, by skipping a snack, or walking extra to burn it off.
You have to get angry and strong! I worked for a place that supplied candy, the stuff was free, and everywhere. Take your good food with you. Bag up your fruits and snacks. Never, never forget about your diabetes, because your diabetes will not forget about you. Diabetes is the beast that you have to pet on the head at least three times a day, around each meal time.
I think the other answers so far are a bit patronising.
It’s not easy being a diabetic and staying on a way of eating that won’t cause complications.
3 out of 4 of my grandparents had diabetes and all died of complications.
I live on a disability pension which isn’t much money and buying carbs is so much cheaper than buying the healthy stuff I should eat.
I try to eat salads, veggies, and Quorn products (I’m a vegetarian).
It’s hard not to eat bread which is what I love. Also very very hard not to eat pasta.
If you are in the states have you tried Dreamfield pasta?
Try to find low carb products that you can eat.
You have to experiment and test test test to find what you can and can’t eat.
The snacks that your employer offers, are there nuts? Nuts are okay in moderation.
I found the South Beach Diet the way to go if you are a diabetic.
If "weak woman" means no-self-control, you are not alone.
The only alternative is to pack your own "easy" snack pak and have it with you at all times, so you will never feel deprived. It should contain low-carb snacks that you actually like. Anything about 15 carbohydrates per serving is considered by most dieticians to be a "snack". I use the small "Igloo" container to take with me when I’m out.
Here are some suggestions, but you may need to cut or expand this list depending upon your own tastes:
Raw vegetables (I love radishes)
make popcorn at home, and put about 2 cups each into ziplock bags. Put one bag in your snak pac.
Make sugar-free pudding or jello in 1-cup plastic containers…keep in fridge and pack in your "snack-pak" as needed.
Make a few hard-boiled eggs. Peel and keep covered in fridge. Put one in a container & add to your daily snak-pak.
No-bread sandwich (roll ham or whatever meat you like between a slice of cheese)
A small amount of Sugar-free chocolates (for when you are really desperate & want to stay away from employer’s food)
I am sure you can think of other things you like that are mostly vegetable, protein or low-sugar.
You can even pop a "kool-pac" in your snak pac container!
Remove & refreeze for use the next day.