Husband recently diagnosed - Oh Boy!
Find a Conversation
| Sat, 06-28-2008 - 3:36pm |
My husband is a self professed "foodie" and last week - his tests came back as stating he has Type 2 diabetes. He trudged off to the nutritionist and she loaded him up with all the "stuff". He returned home and "plopped" it on the counter claiming he needed to lose 70 pounds as he checked his blood sugar with his handy-dandy monitor.
He's a pretty independent guy and this morning he told me that he was frustrated. He can't seem to get his Blood Sugar under 260. He's really depressed because he feels like his favorite thing to do is being taken away. I dug in and started the meal planning - structuring his breakfast, lunch & dinner to see if I could help him. The problem is - he travels (he's a consultant) and loves to eat out. I'm worried he won't stick to this new regimen (and having had gestational diabetes while pregnant - I know what this change entails!). He's a really creative guy and totally unstructured by nature. His weight has always been an issue for him.
Guess I'm just a wife that is really worried. I want him to do well. Any good ideas for people who travel? Thanks for the help -

Hi and welcome to the board.
Your DH sounds a bit like mine.
~Misty~
Show him the nutrition labels on food.
You had mentioned that he needs to loose weight.
Hi and welcome to the board,
My husband is also a diabetic and was diagnosed about five years before me. He about drove me crazy. He wouldn't take control of anything and then I was diagnosed and I had to save myself. Amazing but he really did know what to eat and how much!
I am sure that that the nutritionist/dietitian took into account his travel when she helped him with his meal plan. What is too bad is that you weren't included in that meeting.
When I last saw the dietitian, I told her that I didn't like to carry my lunch to work and that if at all possible I wanted to eat my lunch out. So she told me how I could do that. I frequently only eat half of what is served me and I concentrate on eating veggies and plainly cooked meats. For example I like Mexican food, I found out that I could have a chicken taco and that 16 tortilla chips equaled 15 grams of carbs. I have been known to count out my chips. Usually salsa is happily allowed. I don't eat much of the beans or rice. In many restaurants you can substitute sliced tomatoes or other veggies for potatoes.
Remind your husband that he didn't gain the 70 pounds over night and that he won't lose it over night either. Since the weather is better now, can you get him to go for a walk with you and your kiddies after eating? Hopefully he has set a goal of 150 minutes of exercise per week and it can be as simple as walking.
As soon as his blood sugar comes down towards normal he will begin to feel better and this won't happen overnight either. But it will happen soon.
An aside: I am worried about your children with your having gestational diabetes and now papa has type 2 diabetes. Please start them eating right, emphasizing fresh fruits and veggies and getting sufficient exercise. There is such a hereditary factor in type 2 diabetes and I am sure you don't want them to have to deal with it.
So please pull up a chair and join our conversation. We have foodies around here too, its just that we cook diabetic style now~
When you say he is a foodie do you mean he likes to cook, likes certain ethnic types of food, or something else.
If you look in book stores you will find a number of ethnic type cookbooks for diabetics. If he likes cooking or trying new foods, there are a lot of foods out there that are not bad for diabetics.