Re: What do you eat?

May 22, 2005

In a message dated 5/22/2005 3:19:40 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

babyface355@... writes:

Dumb question time, but why can't the doctor figure all this out for

someone?

Why do the doctors just wash their hands of their patients and let the

patient work it out?

This is not a dumb question. It is a good question, however there is not

always a good answer.

You have probably heard or you will soon hear that each person with diabetes

is different. Diabetes is not a " one size fits all " . Doctors, educators,

nutritionists give patients a food plan that works for some people, but there

is not one that is going to work for everyone. Some people can eat potatoes,

bread, oatmeal without any problems, others cannot. Some people can eat

fruit, others cannot. Some people eat more carbs than others. That is the

purpose of testing - to find out how foods affect us. There is no right or

wrong

food plan - it is finding a plan that works for you.

Food is not the only thing that will affect our bg's. Stress, illness, lack

of exercise, lack of sleep - all of these, plus I'm sure there are others,

play a role in our bg readings.

I would suggest that you call your doctor and ask for a prescription for a

monitor and test strips. Then, as you eat a particular food, especially

carbs, test two hours later. For instance, this morning you had oatmeal. You

need to test and if you get a high reading, you can cut back on the amount of

oatmeal the next time, then test. I eat oatmeal almost every weekday morning,

but I can only have 1/3 cup dry. I cook that with water, Splenda and add

cinnamon and blueberries, strawberries, etc. My bg's are around 90 when I have

this. Other people cannot eat oatmeal at all.

If anyway possible you need to get into a diabetes class or at least a

session with a diabetes educator. She can help you with a food plan, but the

bottom line is you will have to test to learn what you can and cannot eat.

Once you get started, it will not take you long to learn to control

diabetes. Don't let all the information overwhelm you. Take one day or one

meal at

a time.

hugs

Eunice

May 22, 2005

In a message dated 5/22/2005 3:19:40 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

babyface355@... writes:

Dumb question time, but why can't the doctor figure all this out for

someone?

Why do the doctors just wash their hands of their patients and let the

patient work it out?

This is not a dumb question. It is a good question, however there is not

always a good answer.

You have probably heard or you will soon hear that each person with diabetes

is different. Diabetes is not a " one size fits all " . Doctors, educators,

nutritionists give patients a food plan that works for some people, but there

is not one that is going to work for everyone. Some people can eat potatoes,

bread, oatmeal without any problems, others cannot. Some people can eat

fruit, others cannot. Some people eat more carbs than others. That is the

purpose of testing - to find out how foods affect us. There is no right or

wrong

food plan - it is finding a plan that works for you.

Food is not the only thing that will affect our bg's. Stress, illness, lack

of exercise, lack of sleep - all of these, plus I'm sure there are others,

play a role in our bg readings.

I would suggest that you call your doctor and ask for a prescription for a

monitor and test strips. Then, as you eat a particular food, especially

carbs, test two hours later. For instance, this morning you had oatmeal. You

need to test and if you get a high reading, you can cut back on the amount of

oatmeal the next time, then test. I eat oatmeal almost every weekday morning,

but I can only have 1/3 cup dry. I cook that with water, Splenda and add

cinnamon and blueberries, strawberries, etc. My bg's are around 90 when I have

this. Other people cannot eat oatmeal at all.

If anyway possible you need to get into a diabetes class or at least a

session with a diabetes educator. She can help you with a food plan, but the

bottom line is you will have to test to learn what you can and cannot eat.

Once you get started, it will not take you long to learn to control

diabetes. Don't let all the information overwhelm you. Take one day or one

meal at

a time.

hugs

Eunice

May 22, 2005

In a message dated 5/22/2005 3:19:40 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

babyface355@... writes:

Dumb question time, but why can't the doctor figure all this out for

someone?

Why do the doctors just wash their hands of their patients and let the

patient work it out?

This is not a dumb question. It is a good question, however there is not

always a good answer.

You have probably heard or you will soon hear that each person with diabetes

is different. Diabetes is not a " one size fits all " . Doctors, educators,

nutritionists give patients a food plan that works for some people, but there

is not one that is going to work for everyone. Some people can eat potatoes,

bread, oatmeal without any problems, others cannot. Some people can eat

fruit, others cannot. Some people eat more carbs than others. That is the

purpose of testing - to find out how foods affect us. There is no right or

wrong

food plan - it is finding a plan that works for you.

Food is not the only thing that will affect our bg's. Stress, illness, lack

of exercise, lack of sleep - all of these, plus I'm sure there are others,

play a role in our bg readings.

I would suggest that you call your doctor and ask for a prescription for a

monitor and test strips. Then, as you eat a particular food, especially

carbs, test two hours later. For instance, this morning you had oatmeal. You

need to test and if you get a high reading, you can cut back on the amount of

oatmeal the next time, then test. I eat oatmeal almost every weekday morning,

but I can only have 1/3 cup dry. I cook that with water, Splenda and add

cinnamon and blueberries, strawberries, etc. My bg's are around 90 when I have

this. Other people cannot eat oatmeal at all.

If anyway possible you need to get into a diabetes class or at least a

session with a diabetes educator. She can help you with a food plan, but the

bottom line is you will have to test to learn what you can and cannot eat.

Once you get started, it will not take you long to learn to control

diabetes. Don't let all the information overwhelm you. Take one day or one

meal at

a time.

hugs

Eunice

May 22, 2005

This is exactly how I feel. I test because I need to see how what I

am eating is affecting my blood sugar. For instance, at first, I

was eating a pop tart for breakfast, like 30 carbs, and my blood

sugar would be around 250 after eating. I can eat 3 pancakes with

sugar free syrup, 40 carbs, and it is around 120. I need to learn

how certain foods affect my blood sugar. I am 27, so I have a long

time to live with this, and I have to do something now to control

it. I was reading that most diabetics get complications after about

10 years if it is not controlled. I will be 36 when that happens,

my kids will be 11 and 13. I don't want to be blind, or loose a

foot at 36 years old. So if that means that for now, I am testing 6-

8 times a day, then I am willing to do that. Yeah, I may be a

little obsessive about it, but this is my health and future we are

talking about.

Mindy

I did my own research and discovered many

> others checking their blood level many times a day to see how

their body

> reacted to certain foods. Well, I had been eating oatmeal or

other hot

> cereal every day for I can't say how long. When I began testing

upon

> waking, before breakfast, 2 hrs later, then same for other meals

and

> bedtime, I finally discovered certain foods that were causing

these huge

> spikes. Guess what it was the oatmeal. To think I could have

> eliminated this long ago kind of made me mad. I have now turned

this

> around in that those spikes are things I can avoid knowing to

avoid

> which foods. I think this is not something I will have to do

forever

> with so much testing, but until I have a good understanding of

which

> foods to avoid. After all these were healthy foods recommended to

eat.

> For instance I also discovered a mango would do the same thing. I

> previously relied on just a morning fasting test and the A1C but

> couldn't exactly see what the problem was. I also had to put up

with a

> bunch of nonsense from the doctor who thought I was cheating or

fat and

> lazy. It is definitely frustrating when you seem to be doing what

you

> should and not making progress. I have only done this for the

past two

> weeks and found amazing answers I needed. It may not be necessary

for

> everyone depending on A1C levels but mine got up to 11 so that

scared

> me.

May 22, 2005