I did this same thing for myself 2 years ago this summer and mine was much worse than his. But I am a stickler for following rules and Geezer thinks you can fudge just a little on diet and exercise even when battling disease.
He says “Now just a little ice cream can’t hurt, can it?”
I say…”On day TWO? YES!!! Let’s get a grip on this before we throw a party, please”
When I was diagnosed in July of
2012 my sugar was 259. Geezers was only 152 I think it was but they said he had been that high for 4 years. I guess they just failed to get our attention but they have it now 🙂
On the day I was diagnosed. Dr Patel started scrambling around when the nurse came in with that report like I had just gone into cardiac arrest. He was telling her to bring me a shot and do this and do that and I said “HEY!!! HOLD THE PHONE!!! I don’t take meds unless it’s an immediate life or death situation and I’m trying diet first.” He just had a fit and said it was way too high to try diet first.
I said “Give me 8 weeks to see what I can do”
He first said ‘NO WAY!!!”
Then when I kept insisting he said “I’ll give you 6 weeks but that’s it”
I came home and went cold turkey…
Ice water and tea with no sugar, black coffee.
Very little meat at all and then only skinless chicken tenders, a little salmon, water packed tuna.
I lived on lettuce and celery and zucchini which is my all time favorite veggie if I can’t have corn and potatoes :8)
Here’s kinda what “I” did to turn mine around so fast, which I did and it hasn’t come back.
I had boiled egg whites for breakfast and I’m not even a breakfast person. Usually coffee with lots of cream is what I normally have. But I was trying to keep good protein in
there to steady my sugar and give me the energy I needed to live the kind of days I live.
Then I’d have about 3-4 walnut halves mid morning and that’s fiber, low glycemic carb and good fat. So that was good to keep my sugar steady…
At noon I’d have a salad and I’m not much on salads but I had them anyway,
sometimes with half an avocado for some good fat…
At supper I’d have braised, broiled or grilled skinless chicken or small beef patty or a little salmon and I just ate the salmon right out of the can without frying or doing anything extra to it.
I’m not an evening snacker either so that was pretty much it for me for the day…
IF I got hungry I’d have a couple more bites of chicken or salmon and that would do me.
And I mean my sugar dropped like a hot rock! Back down to 90…
But now Geezer likes to ‘negotiate’ his meals 🙂
So we’ll see how we do with him. He sure doesn’t want to be shown up by me and what “I” did. 🙂
Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body doesn’t produce enough insulin or can’t use insulin properly. And substitute sugar for a diabetic is just like spinning your wheels because your liver and pancreas doesn’t know if it’s getting real sugar or artificial sweetener. It just knows it’s getting something sweet and reacts accordingly which is why most diabetics don’t get better over time. Many try to eat half way right but the doctor tells them they can have artificial sweetener and that’s just wrong. SWEET is SWEET to the liver and pancreas and if you want to get better you can’t have either.
A type 2 diabetic must stay away from foods that cause a rapid blood sugar spike like sweets or sodas or potatoes that will turn to sugar in your inards or other high carb veggies.
I was really surprised to see on most diets … things like fruits. It says that things like prunes, strawberries, kiwi, dried apricots, grapes, peaches and pears are all ok. Now some of them seem awfully sweet to me. But I found that on website after website … just a small portion of any of those is ok they say.
I’d rather forgo the fruit myself and have a small baked potato!
I even found that “apples have additional benefits for people with diabetes. Raw apples contain high amounts of pectin which has been shown to improve glycemic control in diabetics, reducing insulin requirements by up to 50% in some cases. .
Grapefruit is another fruit which may be beneficial for diabetics. Grapefruit can promote weight loss which also helps reduce insulin resistance. According to the Scripps institute, grapefruit may also help control insulin levels when consumed during meal times.” So gads … who knew?
Well I don’t know about you, but I read it first HERE … 🙂
Veggies recommended on most websites are: green beans, red peppers, lettuce, mushrooms, tomatoes, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, carrots. And on carrots … I was kinda thinking carrots were a little high in sugar content … but they say it’s ok.
When I disagreed with things I found I went with my own gut feeling. Sometimes people with the degrees are not the sharpest crayons in the box 🙁 And some of the things I found just sounded wrong to ME.
All websites recommend eating lots of greens like broccoli, spinach, lettuce and we’re to eat them raw, steamed or baked. And we’re to stay away from starches, high carb foods, sugar and all sweets.
Well I knew most of this … but I’m just looking for any little thing to help Geezer.
We’re taking it a day at a time … best and only way to take most anything…
and we’re trusting and working on it and doing our best.
Well “I’M doing MY best … and Geezer is doing tons better than I thought he would.
Walking on the treadmill twice a day and eating just what I give him.
I’ll keep studying and I’ll let you all know if I find something crucial.
NEVER EVER stop your meds to get ON a diet though.
Adjust your diet if you’re cheating … and don’t cheat…
and then let the doctor check you out and see if you can cut back or stop your meds….
UPDATE ON GEEZER … July 17th, 2014: We were able to turn his diabetes around with diet and exercise alone. He is now diabetes free and will not be taking any meds.