Can I join this bd?
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| Wed, 11-05-2008 - 10:40pm |
I posted a little while ago just to ask a question and I forgot to bookmark the page! So now I'm back and want to learn more....
First off, what does YWWM mean? I'm not new to the village but I've never seen that one before. Here is my story.....
I'm 63, currently a caregiver for my 95 yr old mom, and have been raising my gs (grandson) since he was a toddler....he's soon to be 18 (dec.) So all 3 of us live together w/one black cat. I have read a few of your posts and I gotta tell ya that I share my cereal w/my cat also...only she just gets the leftover milk at the bottom of the bowl. Has anyone tried the Glucerna cereals made for diabetics? I just bought the Crunchy Flakes 'n Strawberries and it's not bad at all! Has 25g carbs, 5g fiber, and 7g of sugar. Found it at Walmart in their pharmacy dept!! Kinda pricey for the size of the box tho. Then my gs found one at Albertson's grocery called Crunchy Wheat & Barley-38 carbs, 5 fiber, but only 3 g sugar....it's like Grape Nuts sort of.
Ok, I got off track here.....back to my story---I was dx last Aug/08 and am trying really hard to eat the right stuff. However, Halloween messed me up. I caved and ate some candy. I was born w/a sweet tooth, well all 32 of 'em! But I've been doing pretty well in regards to staying away from the sweets, much to my surprise. My gs is very supportive which helps alot.
My doc. put me on Metformin....low dose to start and then doubled it. I did not feel good on that med. Dull headaches everyday, dry mouth, and the last straw was the 3 nights in a row that leg cramps kept me up (both legs at the same time!) So I quit taking that. He now has me on Glipizide which is generic for something and so far, no side effects. But again, I'm on a low dose right now. The doc was hesitant to take me off the Metformin as apparently it never lets your blood sugar get too low and I didn't have to test myself daily on that. Now I do. My finger tips are bruised but I'm sure that's old news to y'all.
So, I'd like to stick around here and get the tips that I need cuz frankly I just don't understand all this "exchange" talk and I'm not at all happy that I have this D! Sorry for the long post.
Oh, one more thing (promise!) I didn't have to pay for my meter....the doc just gave the kit to me but I do have to buy the strips now. I have the smaller "One Touch". Those strips are costly!! Which doesn't make any sense to me. I hate drug companies but that's another story. Ok, I'm done.
Colleen

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I'm with you - Nutrasweet = migraines; sugar alcohols = icky bowels; Splenda = okay in small quantities; stevia = feeling really weird/out of it (kind of the way cold medicines can feel). For most of our sweetener uses, I just use a small quantity of agave syrup - yes, it's a sugar but it is lower glycemically than sugar. Test for your own self (of course) but I've found that a small amount (like a teaspoonful or so) doesn't elevate my blood sugar precipitously the way sugar does. We use it in many baked goods as well, such as homemade whole wheat bread and bagels (all whole wheat flour, no all purpose). The quantities there are so little (just enough for the yeast to bloom) that when divided by the number of servings, it's pretty neglible. I even use a spoonful of agave in my yogurt - a spoonful of that and a hefty sprinkle of cinnamon in plain fat free yogurt.
Overall, I'd rather have a teeny bite of something with agave or even regular sugar than the overprocessed stuff with "carb free" sweeteners. We make nearly everything we eat from scratch - bread, rolls, bagels, pizza, pasta, muffins, cookies, etc - so that we can control the amount and type of sugars, the amount of sodium, eliminate hydrogenated oils, etc. (we've even got a sodium-free baking powder!)
It's actually pretty easy to grocery shop when I'm buying rice, beans, flour, eggs, yeast, olive oil, peanut butter, carrots, oats, etc...the ingredients list is pretty much one ingredient. There are a small handful of pre-made items we buy (pasta sauce, Quorn faux chicken products, Smart Balance margarine, yogurt - although plain non fat yogurt is pretty simple ingredient-wise, etc). I've got a wonderful, at-home hubby who makes most of our food right from the basic ingredients - his wish list for Christmas is a grain grinder so we can make fresh whole wheat flour as we use it (fresh ground flour retains more protein and is lower glycemically than store bought). Our jam is made from wild blackberries we pick in our back yard, plus locally produced strawberries and blueberries. We do most of it with sugar but I can also make a few batches with Splenda as well. We make enough during berry season to freeze for the year pretty much. DH makes a wonderful vegetable stock that we freeze and use to make our own soups as well - commercial soups have way over the top amounts of sodium, even the 'lower sodium' ones have more than half a day's sodium in one serving. Yes, it definitely takes time and planning to do this but it is well worth it to have that level of control over what we eat (between diabetes and DH's hypertension and cholesterol issues).
--Deb
Gee I didnt know that about the fresh ground flour!!
Certainly - if you're in eastern CT, let us know! We'll gladly make something tasty, with lots of fiber and balanced for the 'average' diabetic. It's been "fun" figuring out Thanksgiving dinner at our house that accommodates the 'traditionalists' that want turkey with all the fixin's, two of us who have diabetes, plus our preference for minimal animal products, plus hypertension and cholesterol issues (DH, MIL, SIL, etc). So, we've worked out something that should appease the turkey folks and allow me to eat a full plate without whacking my blood sugar too badly. Not only did we have to figure out what we wanted but also how to arrange the logistics of oven and stovetop and all since it's pretty much all going to be made from scratch (the biscuits, gravy, soup, etc). Should be yummy.
--Deb
Rats!
Microwave, bread machine, pasta roller, food processor, food mill - they're all part of our kitchen. It's more like a workshop than anything...all the canisters and such reside on a wire mesh rolling shop cart! The only thing we really don't tolerate are uni-taskers (aside from the fire extinguisher)- kitchen implements that have only one use. The bread machine can do all sorts of doughs (and I think it also can cook jam). The pasta roller can also flatten/roll out cracker dough (that's DH's next adventure). And so on. If we had to hand knead bread dough and such every time, it wouldn't happen as much. But, we can pop it in the bread machine and take it out when it's ready for whatever comes next (whether it's a fully cooked loaf ready to eat or pizza dough ready to flatten or bagel dough to shape or whatever). The only things we don't do ourselves (yet) are things that need to be carefully preserved for safety and/or are super time consuming to make when we can get the same quality from a local market - e.g. pasta sauce that has no added sugar and very little sauce. If the ingredient list looks the same as what it would look like if we made it, we'll buy it.
--Deb
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