Read that it's more about exercise than eating when it comes to handling diabetes. But, of course, eating has to be a part of handling it, but it can be so, so difficult to control what a person eats that is a diabetic 2. We LOVE to eat, not necessarily overeat, but there are certain foods, like fried potatoes, pizza, burgers, fried chicken, omelet's and such that we really love. We really don't get enough exercise, because my wife is fairly tired when she gets home from work and, if she doesn't walk, I don't. We will definitely get more exercise once our boat is fully repaired and ready for the water. We still have plenty of weekends left to go to the range, before our weather turns "Florida wintery". When we first met, talking about active. I was involved in pro-rodeo and doing some nightclub country dancing. She was going country dancing 3-4 nights a week, plus every Saturday night. She was also square dancing. Of course, that was 16 1/2 years ago and before my hip replacement and shoulder surgeries. We were also much more active on the weekends in Colorado than we have ever been while living here.
So, Chrissy, just what do you eat and how do you keep so thin? We sure don't see very many "Baby Boomers" that are thin. Weight and age seem to go hand-in-hand.
I agree with you, @Chrissy Cross . There are just such a lot of problems that come from too much refined carbs. It is not just eating sugar that causes the spike in blood sugar, because any kind of starches turn to glucose right away, and have the same effect as sweets do. In this respect, a sandwich of whole wheat bread can have just as many bad carbs as eating a doughnut. Insulin is the fat-storing hormone of the body, so whenever blood sugar goes up and insulin is produced, any sugar in the bloodstream is usually stored as fat, unless you are out there exercising hard and burning it off before it gets stored as fat. Even worse is that refined carbs are also inflammatory foods, and inflammation is what causes pain; so this kind of diet also results in arthritis and other muscle and joint pain. I also agree that there is nothing wrong with having an unbalanced meal occasionally, it is when we live on these inflammatory foods that they can cause the problem. Now that it is known that Alzheimer's is actually a form of diabetes, it makes it even more likely that someone who is a type 2 diabetic is also more likely to come down with this terrible illness as well.
I eat good carbs and protein mainly. Lots of veggies, I don't drink except coffee and water. A Greek yogurt for a snack or carrots dipped in hummus...things like that. That's how I like to eat so it's no big deal.
My A1c was 6.8 at last check-up in the beginning of the year. Last year, it was 7.4. My lab glucose blood number was 170, when I had the lab done. My VA doctor wasn't interested in that number as she was how low my A1c was. She told me my A1c was much better than before. But, she wants me to lose some weight and stop drinking. After leaving her office, I thought....."Well, Doc, losing weight is easier for you to tell me than for me to actually do and, I like my few Bud Lights I drink each week and the margarita I have once a week, so.........."
Actually, I don't know what "good carbs and protein" is. Basically, the only things we read on food labels now is the amount of sodium and sugar. We no long buy pot pies and I use Splenda and use some Sugar Free Nestle's French Vanilla Cream in my coffee. Generally, only one cup a day, unless we go out for breakfast, than it's two cups. We eat some veggies, but not a big fan of a lot of veggies. When it coms to NFL season, again, "all bets are off" (to a point) on how we eat. Potato Skins, big baked pretzels, some veggies and, of course, a frosted glass of Bud Light. This is why we won't go to any diabetes classes, because we will only listen to what we want to hear and nothing else. BTW, are your kids as thin as you are? Have you always been thin? When I went into the Navy in 1968, I weighed 98 pounds. Wasn't sure if they were going to keep me or not........but they did. I weighed so little mainly because my step-parents wouldn't let me eat that much. If I came home from school, and was hungry, I had to very quietly open the cupboard door and get a sugar cookie out of a cookie container. Hold it on top of my books and hurry past my step-mom who was laying on the couch resting with her eyes closed. Good thing about it, I never got caught. I was really, really glad when I could spend the weekend with my cousins, because they ate whatever and so could I.
My daughter is a little thinner, she's also younger and her weight is distributed differently. My son is average. I gained 30 lbs when I quit smoking and lost that. Also gained when pregnant. Ive always watched my weight.
That number is more important than the daily number, according to my Doc. He said if you are 65, then it shouldn't be higher than 6.5; 70 - 7.0, etc. I do my daily, first thing in the morning, before ingesting anything. When do you do yours?
Twice a week. When I was first diagnosed, it was daily. Wife does hers when I do mine.........around 7:30 AM, before eating or having coffee.
My wife's family is somewhat on the "pleasingly plump" side. Because of the amount of country dancing and square dancing my wife done each week, she was thin, but not real thin. I was extremely happy to put on some weight in my 40's, but it went on a little too much when I hit 50. I remember a supervisor of mine look at me and say "Cody, putting on a little weight, hugh?" My biological dad was very thin and continued that way until his passing. Unfortunately, his idea of a daily lunch was a Lone Star beer in his bar. On Sunday's, he drank more than I would in a month. My biological mom was thin as well.
Although heridity places a small part in how we look, it's mostly what we put in our mouths. Also exercise, that's my issue..I need to do more but my back kind of keeps me from doing more....also, I get bored walking alone...Pickles is very lazy. This morning since it was cooler, only 96 today, I thought I'd take Pickles out for a walk. He won't let me put his harness on so I put his collar on, then he does his stopping and gagging every few steps like he's going to throw up...he doesn't. After another few steps, he sat down and wouldn't move, finally I got him home. Going to do it again tomorrow, lol.
Chrissy, you might start putting the harness on Pickles when HE wants to go out, and he should get the idea that as soon as he gets the harness on, he can go out in the yard and play or go potty. Then take it off when he comes back inside. Or do it when you are going to eat, and he wants a treat. Only give him a treat when he lets you put the harness on. It might take a while; but once he thinks that something good is going to happen when you put the harness on, then he won't know that you are going to take him out for a walk when you do it until it is too late. I used to have to do that when I had a horse that didn't want the halter on to be caught. I would take as long as it took to get the halter on, then give the horse a treat, and then take the halter back off again. Eventually, the horse started to wonder why he was even fussing about it, since all I did was put it on and then give him a nice bite of carrot and take it back off; and so he stopped grumbling about it and started being easy to put the halter on. Then when I actually wanted to catch him, he would never know for sure which one I was going to do, so he let me put the halter on just fine.