Poss.New Diabetic? Wondering abt Foods!?
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Poss.New Diabetic? Wondering abt Foods!?
| Mon, 11-10-2008 - 12:55pm |
I've been using this milk ---- Hood's Calorie Countdown - it's in a green carton...... Hopefully, you are familiar w/it. Anyway, it DOES have less cals & less carbs. What brand of milk do you find best?
Carbs are really the # to watch, correct? not necessarily sugars......
Do you shop just in the diabetic section? What about any yummy cereals that'd also be ok for diabetics?
Any other brands, food products, you'd like to rec?

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Deb,
There isn't much lower that I could go. 1/2 cup of cereal is 23 grams and 1/2 cup of skim milk is 7 grams. I know if I drank soy milk instead I could cut these 7 grams but I do need the calcium from the milk for strong bones. The peanut butter was added in because there wasn't enough protein in the milk to keep my blood sugar from going sky high. I usually get in the 160-180 range after eating and then if not careful will end up in the 50 range. I usually go to lunch between 12N and 12:30 or I do have a real problem. Where I work it is not conducive to having a morning snack.
While I am allowed up to 45 grams for lunch and dinner I try to keep it at 30 grams and I do have a 15 gram snack for bedtime.
I hear you about the calcium... One thing that messes with me just using a supplement (the standard "line") is that they can mess with absorption of thyroid replacement medication (I've been on Synthroid for 15 years). Oy! So, what I've chosen is to use unsweetened almond milk (almonds in general contain calcium, so I get a little bit from there) - the total (cereal, almond milk, pecans, chocolate chips) is the same as your cereal dry - then I include a serving of Stonyfield Farms YoCalcium yogurt several times per week - it has 50% of the RDA in one serving (strawberry flavor is 23 grams of carbs) alternating with my favorite plain fat free greek yogurt with agave and cinnamon that I add myself. I've already written to the company asking when/if they plan to do a plain version of this product for those of us who prefer to add our own flavors/sweeteners. I've checked myself and having this as a mid afternoon snack doesn't throw me off kilter. As usual, YMMV. I can't use soy milk because large doses of soy (soy milk, tofu, etc) throw off my already screwy endocrine system and I get PMS-like symptoms regardless of when it is in my cycle. No thanks.
--Deb
{{HUGS}} I know...and it's especially a PITA heading into the holidays. But, I figure it's all a matter of choice. I CAN go ahead and have pie and cookies and a big bowl of oatmeal and whatever. BUT that'd likely mean needing more meds sooner than later as well as whatever complications might arise. Yeah, I know it's mostly about semantics and such but if it's framed in my mind as "I can't" it sets up a lot more conflict and stress than if I frame it as "I can ... but it's not my best choice right now, so no thanks." That leaves it open that just *maybe* at some other time, I will choose that. That other time might be 20 minutes from now or it might be never but it's MY choice.
I've been on a low dose (one 500 mg tablet) of metformin since I was dx'd two years ago. All things considered, if that's the sum total of the meds I end up taking, not bad.
Is the 145 before or after breakfast? I know that I deal with the "dawn patrol" with my liver dumping glucose in the wee hours. For instance, before breakfast my reading was 136. 2 hours after my usual breakfast, it was 127. That's a decent after-meal reading at any time and it's particularly interesting that my glucose reading dropped after eating. But that's how dawn syndrome plays out. Currently, I'm experimenting with my evenings to see what, if any, relationship exists between my before bed reading, my before breakfast reading, and the type and quantity of what I eat for dinner and any evening snacks. For instance, if I have a handful of cashews vs. a handful of pecans vs. a couple slices of cheddar cheese before bed, is there any difference in my a.m. reading? What if I have protein plus a high fiber something (like half a dozen multi grain All Bran crackers)? When I had my last serum glucose blood test (last month) I was pleasantly surprised that it was only 115 - higher than it should be I know but lower than it usually is. That got me to thinking about what, if anything, was different. So now I'm trying to track it and see what I can do to assist the situation.
--Deb
The 145 was before breakfast...
Two things come to mind:
are you getting any exercise? That's probably the best way to combat the overnight glucose jumps as well as manage things 24/7 - aim for 150 minutes per week in 20 to 30 minute increments. Doesn't have to be hard or fast, a slow walk if you usually don't walk at all for instance. Even something simple like parking the car two spaces further from the building helps.
Also, taking your sig info into account, hormones can play havoc with blood sugar control. For instance, last year when I was diagnosed, I had to increase my carb intake the day before my period and the first day or two in. Okay, once I got that figured out (took a couple of uncomfortable lows for that), no problem, check the calendar, up the carbs, we're good to go. Until around August of this year. Did my usual thing and the numbers went sky high. Now I'm better off reducing my carbs by a little at that time instead and even then my numbers sometimes go higher than is good. Argh!
(another thought - stress can increase blood sugar readings as well. Makes sense biologically really - when you're under stress, your body is preparing that fight/flight response and either way your muscles will need energy, energy means glucose, so your liver starts pumping it out. Stress can mean lack of sleep, hurriedness/busyness, anxiety, a head cold, aching knees from the weather changing, any number of things)
{{HUGS}} yeah, it's not so much fun and it's progressive over time and what works now might not work 6 months from now and it's a constant vigilance kind of thing. And it does require actual grieving - the whole process from denial to anger to acceptance and all the bits in between.
--Deb
I hurt my leg a couple of months ago.
I remember a strange period for me too prediabetes.
Yup, not enough water can exacerbate water retention just as not eating enough food can oddly enough make it hard to lose weight. Anything that causes the circulatory system to work better can help with leg swelling because it helps the body push the fluids back up from the lower extremities and out via the excretory system. Gravity makes it tough to get fluids to go up hill - weak muscles and weak circulation in the legs means the body can't quite get up enough oomph to push that fluid efficiently. Exercise helps strengthen the muscles and the circulation. If exercise isn't possible, then regular periods of laying down with elevated legs can help (use gravity in reverse to pull fluids back up to the torso).
Simple upper body exercises include things like filling a milk jug (the kind with built on handles) with water and raising and lowering it - cheap hand weights. They also sell a kind of exercise bike thingie that is basically just the peddles on a frame. You sit in a chair and peddle. However, you can often also use the same equipment on a table top to peddle with your arms for an upper body workout.
--Deb
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