Sugar high

I've been diagnosed with diabetes. What fun!  Finger pricking daily, insulin pills daily, radical diet change daily.

The diet change has hit hard. I'm not sad or shaking my fist in the air or yelling "Why me?" As for "Why me?" I know why: me. I do love me some veg and I eat them a lot, but I also love me some carbohydrates, specifically chocolate, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, more chocolate, fruit with a high sugar content, cookies, cake, pastries, cereal, donuts, cupcakes, etc. Sigh. It's going to take some getting used to, not eating those yummy things like I used to.

I'm doing ok restricting carbs, but what do I eat to replace them? I am leery of eating too much animal meat for fear of cholesterol, and nuts because of the fat. I could eat more veg I guess and I have been doing that. I haven't gotten to the point where I cry for loss of carbs, it's more that I haven't expanded my list of what I can eat yet to a point where my stomach is satisfied after eating. I'm constantly hungry.

Yesterday Matt brought home some Hostess donettes, which normally I would have begged him to share with me. Yesterday, however, I barked at him to get them off the table so I wouldn't have to look at them and wish I could eat them. Same with the cookies that people brought over a few days ago. I don't want to see them. I haven't cheated yet, but I'm sure I will at some point.

I think oranges are off limits for me, because I tested my blood sugar one morning after getting up and it was the lowest it's ever been, 185. Then I tested it 2 hours after eating breakfast (including an orange) and my bs was over 300. The half a cup of milk in my Cheerios and my Cheerios might have contributed as well. Anyway, this is going to take some figuring out.

I don't mind the finger pricking at all. I like quantifying things and measuring bs levels is number based, so the momentary discomfort of a needle poke is a small price to pay to see where I am. And it encourages me to stay away from foods that will spike it too high.

I'm all new to this and don't have a good handle on it yet, but I'll be going to consult with a diabetes management educator soon to learn more about it.





Comments

Karie said…
Oh yes, oranges are FULL of sugar. Silly oranges. You can have grapefruit without spiking your blood sugar, though....unless you top it with sugar. That wouldn't help.

It's a huge adjustment, but it's doable. I'll message you.