Six Little Friends of Food, Diet, and Diabetes

One of the challenges of living with diabetes is often the change that needs to be made with the food and drink that we consume . Your medical advisors will, no doubt, have given you some very specific advice about what kind of foods to eat and what kind of foods to avoid.


Mydiabetes.com is about providing support to patients, family members, friends, and health care professionals who travel on the diabetes journey. In this weeks blog we look at ways in which we might think about the food and the drinks that we consume. Planning in advance may support us in remaining focused on those changes recommended by our medics.


Here is a recipe for thinking about Food and Drink, Diet, and Diabetes (snack on the bits that you feel may be useful and leave the rest alone).


Ingredients: Who, What, Why Where, When, How, and the knowledge about food that you already have.



Method:


1) Think about Who you will be eating with – have you shared your diabetes story with them? Are they aware of the changes that you are making in your eating and lifestyle?



2) Plan in advance What you are going to eat – planning in advance may help you to avoid the temptation to eat foods that are not a part of your recommended intake. And when you are eating pay attention to What exactly you are eating. Take a greater awareness of the ingredients and the preparation of your food.


3) Before you start to eat ask the question Why are you eating this food at this precise moment? Is it because you are hungry or is there another reason?



4) Where are you planning to eat? If you are planning to eat out investigate the menu in advance – call the restaurant and ask them if they will prepare food to match your specific needs.



5) When do you plan to eat? Are you planning regular balanced meals? Maintaining a balance of blood sugar levels may be helped by a regular eating pattern.



6) And finally How are you eating? Are you eating fast like the way fast food outlets quickly serve up their offerings or are you starting to really enjoy the flavour of the foods that you are eating? Are you eating SLOWLY and taking time to rest and enjoy you new diet?



Expected Results:


More control and more learning about our food and drink, diet, and diabetes.

For more information please come and join us at http://www.mydiabetes.com/

Rebecca's Story

Rebecca shared with us her story on our social network site mydiabetes.com and I share it with our blog readers this morning.

Rebecca writes;

"My name is Rebecca , I'm 39 and have been type 2 insulin required diabetic since Feb 1988.I have had a lot of up and downs in the past 21 years. But, the most recent is this past year I lost my right leg just below the knee. I had 2 diabetic ulcers caused from a rusty nail I stepped on in 2004. I walked on it for a week before anyone found it. By then it was so black I thought I was going to lose it then. But, with the luck of my doctors the where able to save it for a few years After the infection was out of the sore it healed up. Then December of 2006, I got a little sore on the bottom of the right foot again. We battled with it for 2 years in and out of the hospitals and nursing homes. In May of last year I got down real sick I thought it was the flu here my foot had gangrene in it( I found out later). I went to the doctor and one look he said to the hospital you go. We are removing the foot in the morning. I was so scared I had nobody to talk to except the nurse's on my floor. And of course they where busy. But, one of them did come in after shift and talked to me. After being in the hospital for 2 weeks I went back to the nursing home again for another 4 months for rehab. Now , I am home and I have a prosthetic leg and I can walk again after 2years. And I can even dive into a swimming pool again. They are even getting ready to make me a new leg cause the first one is getting to big."