Posts: 3,984
9/25/11 12:02 A

No I was talking about the diabetic exchanges. Joanna had both listed in all her recipes. Richard Simmons food mover diet is based on the diabetic exchanges, and when you look up your weight will tell you how many and which exchanges you should be on each day.

You also don't have to do ALL I said below, just even doing one of those things will help. But, doing them all, will really really help the most. I just chose one thing at a time to do. First I just tried to make sure I ate 6 times a day, then I worked on making sure it was the right exchanges, and then the schedule, and then just basically to make it easier for me I kept it to the same exchanges for the meals, so that way I didn't have to think about it, but in turn found out doing it that way really really helped the diabetes as well, then come to find out it's what Dr. Oz suggest as well!

current weight: 185.0

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Posts: 2,191
9/24/11 10:19 P

Ann, I can pick and choose at the senior lunches. Make them as good or as bad as I want...

Heather, when you talked about the exchanges, were you talking about HE exchanges?

OK going to bed. nite
Patty

current weight: 186.4

247 220.25 193.5 166.75

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Posts: 5,266
9/24/11 6:24 P

Patty, I'm so glad Heather read your post and I had forgotten she was a diabetic. Don't let so much information scar you. You will learn. Do you have health insurance, because I think if your dr. wants you to take the class you won't have to pay. I may be wrong. My DH was pre diabetic when we went to the classes. He still has an AIC test done twice a year, I think. His problem was too many sweets around the holidays and then he had a Dr. app't. I know it takes 3 months to get the bad stuff out of your system. What is your AIC number? Patty, I don't mean this to be unkind because I really don't know -- but I'm wondering if your senior lunches might be getting you in trouble. I say that because you don't know how they cook the food and may be have to use low cost food items that are high in carbs. Just a guess.

I saw the headline of the Sports section today that San Diego State was playing the Wolverines. No, I don't watch football at all. I don't like to see people get hurt.

Today was our last Sat. of the month lunch with Sq. Dance friends. I didn't go as what ever I ate yesterday didn't sit very well on my tummy. That rarely happens to me so I thought I better not go to lunch and add to the problem. I really feel fine now. I told DH he could go with out me. He went. That surprised me as I didn't think he enjoyed the group as much as I do. Now I won't have to feed him much supper.

Ann

current weight: -19.0  under

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Posts: 2,191
9/24/11 1:29 P

Oh my,
scary all that I have to do. I have never been on a schedule with my eating, just eating less. I never eat breakfast...that will have to change I imagine...your info is really good Heather, thank you so much for all the help.

I am going to make an appt with the diabetic clinic also. They were closed today. I do not want to go on insulin or pills. but I eat a lot of sugar and carbs...
looks like I am going to have to pay attention more to what and when I eat...bah, I hate this.
But you have given me so much info, I am going to print it out.

Thank you so much Heather.
Patty

current weight: 186.4

247 220.25 193.5 166.75

140

Posts: 3,984
9/24/11 10:39 A

oh and this will not come over night to you.

It took me about 3 to 6 months to tweak what I was doing with it. Like I said sit down with paper and pen and sketch out a schedule and split up the exchanges into what you think will work for you. After trying it for a week or two in real life (not just on paper) you may find you need more or less food for a certain meal and what to move the exchanges around. You may find that the meals/snacks would work better at different times, etc. Work on tweaking it the first few months to what will work easily and best into your life's schedule, and eating habits. Don't feel you have to have it right the first time. Give yourself at least a few months to a year to get it all tweaked to what will work for you. And even after that you may lose weight and need to tweak it even more! (the more weight you lose, the more tightly controlled your blood glucose is likely to become, and more you will have to make sure you are eating the amounts you need to cover the insulin your body makes, etc).

Also don't think it will solve your blood glucose problems over night. It takes at least one month for your body to get used to a new diet when it comes to glucose, and most often for most people a good three months.

current weight: 185.0

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102

Posts: 3,984
9/24/11 10:35 A

Ok just read yesterdays post. The diabetic diet/menu that worked best for me. Was doing Richard Simmon's food mover, I have the info on my recipe blog below. His food mover is based on Diabetic Exchanges. The diabetic exchanges for my weight worked awesomely for me. I stuck strictly to it. I used JoAnna's recipes and the diabetic exchanges she lists for her recipes to plan my meals. It took me a long time, but finally I read that she sometimes would cut recipes serving size in half and then have half of one recipe and half of another to make up her exchanges to what she wanted too. Took me years to figure out I could do that too, for times I wanted more then one side dish or what have you! lol

A few other tips for diabetics-
Set down and think about a food schedule. What works best is to eat 6 times a day. Look at your exchanges given to you for a day and think about what would work best for you. What exchanges for what meals/snacks.

For instance for me, a fruit/dairy exchange worked best for snacks. Protein, veggie, starch, and fat exchanges for most meals. 1 Protein, 1 Starch, and some veggie (remember low carb veggies, you don't have to really watch that closely it would take a LOT to make your sugars or weight go up, because of the fiber content versus carb/calorie content they contain) for breakfast, for lunch I did 2 protein, 2 starch, 1 fat. etc.

Any way, what I am saying is have the same exchanges at the same meal each day. IE make breakfast every day the same exchanges as much as possible. IE if you decide that 1 fruit, 1 starch, 1 fat, 1 protein, is a good breakfast for you, keep it to those exchanges every day. Then figure out what works for you for lunch, what works for you for dinner, etc. And keep those exchanges the same each day for that meal. Plan your menus around those exchanges.

What this does is gets your body used to knowing at Breakfast, I am going to get X amount of carbs, x amount of protein, x amount of fat. All of those components come into play with diabetes, cause protein and fat also effect how fast or slow the carbs are digested and released into your blood stream, so keeping all of the exchanges not just the carby ones, the same really helps your body calorbrate and know what to expect and can help it know to release insulin at said time and approx how much.

Also try as hard as you can to sit down with a schedule and make a time sheet of eating every 2 to 4 hours, and stick to that schedule as well as possible. Again this will help your body know the time to expect said carbs/protein/fat and be ready to produce the insulin.

My only caution in all this, is you can get your body so in tune to this schedule and menu planning that if you change it, or get busy or what have you and don't eat at the time or amounts your body gets used to, if you skip the meal/snack or don't the amount of carbs it is used to at that time, then you can get really sick cause your body will produce the insulin at that time for that food and not have it, and your blood glucose can plummet, it's happened to me often after I got my body so used to it. So I have no choice but to stick close to the schedule and menu plan, or pay for it, with being very very ill with very very low blood glucose. But, I would rather have that then high blood glucose and the complications that come with that!

current weight: 185.0

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102

Posts: 2,191
9/24/11 10:23 A

Thanks Heather, so much to learn...
Patty

current weight: 186.4

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140

Posts: 3,984
9/24/11 10:19 A

Actually diabetes causes you to crave sugar/carbs, not the other way around. Eating too much sugar/carbs does not cause diabetes, cause a healthy liver/pancrease will be able to keep up with the bodies amount of insulin it needs to digest that. However, when over eaten to the excess that it causes weight gain, fat collected around the pancrease, decreases the effectiveness of the insulin it produces along with the amount it produces.

current weight: 185.0

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102

Posts: 2,191
9/24/11 8:44 A

Morning Girls,
Ann and Jan, Thank you for the advice. There is one at the hospital each month. Only $45. Probably a good deal. It is for 3 hours.
I am pre-diabetic, but my Dad started out like that, and ended up on Insulin, and ended up dying from congestive heart failure and kidney failure...its up to me whether I end of with full blown diabetes, or continue to stay at pre diabetes...but the sugar...I crave carbs, all the time. Probably why I am diabetic...

Watching the Wolverines beat SanDiego this afternoon Ann...hopefully. Will you be watching the game?

Ariel, My DGD is coming over around 2. We will take a walk, and have fun.

Nothing else is new...
I will check out that class.Thanks for the advice.
Patty

current weight: 186.4

247 220.25 193.5 166.75

140