Diabetes

[brown40]

Diabetes would be a relatively uncommon health concern if we all exercised, were at out ideal weight and did not consume excessive amounts of refined sugar in pop, snack foods, jam, candy, cake, pie, cookies, tarts and deserts in general.
Foods that should be only a once a week Sunday treat in small portions are now eaten several times a week in large portions, hence the problems. High fructose corn syrup places much stress on the pancreas.

It's hard to convince a body with weeks or months of calorie reserves strategically placed to stop the practice. We evolved to sock away times of plenty to get us through lean times... the grocery store just never seems to fail to keep a steady stream of calories available. Forks kill waaay more people than guns.

 

[daugen]

Forks kill waaay more people than guns.

the good news is, usually..., we can eat our way out of the mess we ate our way into.
But I for one don't have the willpower...I would need a life changing event to scare me into doing more.
Bread is my downfall, and even though I eat healthy 12 grain bread, still lots of carbs. And I have twenty extra pounds around my middle
to show for it.
For most of us it's about choices, and yes the deck is stacked against us with processed foods now, so we have to make good choices.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I wish I only had 20# extra Daugen. I'm losing weight for hip and knee replacement hopefully in January of 2017. Been watching everything I eat along with moderate exercise that includes mostly swimming. Started lifting weights on my upper body Monday. Almost down to where the surgeon wants. I've had weight issues all my life but luckily no issues yet with insulin resistance and diabetes. As I've aged my appetite is not that great. I guess it is just part of the aging process. Luckily the research on diabetes and dietary intake is finally catching up to reality. Fat is not bad. Processed carbs are. I've never had a sweet tooth and can do without the bread, but gosh do I love potato's. That is the hardest thing for me to cut down on.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Forks kill waaay more people than guns.

the good news is, usually..., we can eat our way out of the mess we ate our way into.
But I for one don't have the willpower...I would need a life changing event to scare me into doing more.
Bread is my downfall, and even though I eat healthy 12 grain bread, still lots of carbs. And I have twenty extra pounds around my middle
to show for it.
For most of us it's about choices, and yes the deck is stacked against us with processed foods now, so we have to make good choices.

That was true in my case. After I was to start Enbrel injections for joint and muscle pain manage I finally left off sugar and all forms of all grains cold turkey 30 days before the start date of Enbrel injections. In just 30 days my long term pain levels of 7-8 dropped to 2-3. Then I was ticked I had waited until I was 63. Basically that cut out about 99% of all processed foods in my case but it is giving me back my life. I lost 50 pounds without effort or going hungry ever. Well the first two weeks was hellish then the cravings just faded away. I can maintain at 200 pounds on about 2500 calories a day which keeps me stuffed.

 

[dmccarty]

... I finally left off sugar and all forms of all grains cold turkey 30 days before the start date of Enbrel injections. In just 30 days my long term pain levels of 7-8 dropped to 2-3. ... Basically that cut out about 99% of all processed foods in my case but it is giving me back my life. I lost 50 pounds without effort or going hungry ever. ...

I did the Atkin's diet last century and lost about 20 pounds. :thumbsup:

Course, I had not modified my diet and exercise PRIOR to the diet so that I was no longer gaining weight, so once the diet was over, I gained the weight back. :thumbdown:

A few years ago, I started to modify the life style to stop gaining weight and start loosing. Basically, I eat smaller portions and stay away from processed foods/carbs. I was going to the gym, not as often as I wanted, but I was doing pretty heavy workouts but it really did not help me loose any fat. The work and home went into chaos/crisis mode so the gym was out. I had lost about 10-15 pounds but by last Christmas I was burned out from work and home issues. I had weeks off at Christmas but the weather was bad so I could not go out to work much and I was mentally and physically burned out so I sat in the house, chilled, snacked, slept, and drank beer.

And gained the weight back.

In January, I went to the doctor for a checkup which I have not had in decades, if ever. :laughing::laughing::laughing: I had put on weight, not bad but more than I wanted to be so I knew I was going to have to do something to loose what I had gained and I wanted to loose more than I had lost. Then I got my blood work back, and while the numbers were not bad, I knew I could do better...

In the past, I have cut out beer to loose weight. Beer, soda, juice, etc are just loaded with carb calories which as SOOOOOOO easy to consume. :thumbdown: What I used to do was to make my own seltzer water to drink instead of beer. This time I am buying it from the store with different flavors and no calories. No beer during the week but I will have a beer or two on the weekend if I want one. Surprisingly, the seltzer water is satisfying since I think the carbonation is part of the reason people like beer and soda.

Last year, I got a Fitbit which is just a fancy pedometer, and I made sure I walked at least 5,000 steps a day but tried for 10,000. 10,000 steps is about 4.5-5 miles. This year, I decided to walk at least 10,000 steps at least 5 days a week which I have done. The last couple of months I have only had a few days were I was under 10,000 steps but I have been over 5,000 steps every day. I have managed a fair number of 15,000 step days and a few 20,000 step days as well.

With the seltzer water, the extra walking, and tweaking my diet just a bit, I have lost 20 pounds. I would likely be down 25 pounds but a Costco opened near us and it is saving us a bunch of money. Unfortunately, they have chocolate with nuts that we love that is really cheap and sold in a bag that has a couple of pounds. :shocked: Before Costco, we would by decent chocolate bars and eat a few squares at night. Now I have to be careful and not just grab the bag of calories. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

While I don't sit there and eat a bunch of chocolate, it has been enough to stall my weight loss. I have fixed this now by putting a few pieces from the bag of calories into a small, wee, itty bitty bowl.

My granny used to talk about the Three Evil White Foods, white flour, white sugar and white rice. I think she was right.

We went to China a couple of years ago and lost at least 4 pounds. I would not say we were walking more than usual, though we did a bit of walking and we were eating pretty good, but somehow we both lost weight. The only explanation was that we were not east processed foods and I doubt we had foods with any added sugar much less high fructose corn syrup.

Early this summer we spent two weeks in in Scotland and Ireland. The food was awesome! Haggis is :licking::licking::licking: Again, we lost at least 4 pounds while on vacation. We certainly were walking a lot, but I don't think more than at home, and we were certainly eating more, yet we lost weight! The only reason I can think of is that we ate less processed foods and foods with added sugar.

The dinner on the plane flight to the UK was full of flour and sugar with very little fat and protein. The return flight to the US, same airline, had some processed flour food but it was heavy in protein and fat.

It will be interesting to see my blood work early next year when I go for a checkup. Right now, by blood pressure has dropped about 10% with the weight loss. The BP was was in the "green" zone but it has now dropped a good bit. I am guessing I need to loose another 10 pounds. Maybe. I hope to do that by the next doctor visit and it will be interesting to see what happens with the BP.

Later,
Dan

 

[Jim Shooz]

Before Costco, we would by decent chocolate bars and eat a few squares at night. Now I have to be careful and not just grab the bag of calories. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

While I don't sit there and eat a bunch of chocolate, it has been enough to stall my weight loss. I have fixed this now by putting a few pieces from the bag of calories into a small, wee, itty bitty bowl.
Later,
Dan

I occasionally have chocolate as a treat but the brand I get claims to be 72% cocoa which I am told is not toooo bad

 

[Ravimor]

Hello guys! Sorry for bumping, but wanted to ask about your experience. Has anything changed for you in these past few years? Can someone share any positive health changes? Is it possible?

 

[daugen]

my other labs were good Ravimor but haven't seen last weeks sugar results. I believe AIC was down to some acceptable level, will check.

 

[m7040]

I have 30 years of experience in managing diabetes going from a high of 12 to 14 A1C to 7 or less by using a combination of diet and exercise to control it. Get tested every 6 months for A1C to check that it stays in control. I will be glad to share and answer any questions you may have.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

My wife is an RNCDE, (CDE = certified diabetes educator) I hear her over and over telling her Patiences, diet and exercise!

SR