Although I am an easy scapegoat, I cannot really attribute my complicated relationship with food to quarantine. Since my teens, I have basically fluctuated between a low-carb lifestyle, counting points with Weight Watchers, or generally just trying to watch what I eat with varying degrees of success. When my doctor diagnosed me with type 2 diabetes, six months after the pandemic, there was a lot of shame in the internal fat going on in my head.
Even considering that this is a genetic disease that several members of my family have been diagnosed with, it still felt like something I let go of by not taking care of myself properly. The truth is that after years of dieting, cutting certain foods and then falling out of the cart, somewhere I forgot how to prepare a proper meal. Are you ready for the turnaround? My doctor recommended that I go on a ketogenic diet to lose weight and lower my glucose and A1C levels.
On the same day of my diagnosis, a friend connected me with her sister Lauren Dorman, who (lucky me) is a certified nutritionist working with diabetic patients. In my first session with Lauren, it was very clear how lost I was and how I was about to walk that wrong family path again. I was confused when my nutritionist gave me the opposite advice from the doctor who diagnosed me: cutting carbohydrates would just be a quick fix to a much bigger problem, but what I really needed was an intensive course on nutrition.
Here’s what I learned.
It was a big burden for me to decide whether to listen to my doctor or my nutritionist. The doctor seemed focused on me losing weight as quickly as possible, while Lauren presented me with a pile of evidence (in the form of articles supported by diabetes research and data from healthcare organizations) that exposed the virtues of keeping carbohydrates in the mix.
What it boiled down to was this: despite what years of following fad diets have taught me, carbohydrates and sugar are not harmful to my health, even in my quest to reverse my diabetes. The right amount of carbohydrates is necessary to keep my body functioning normally and, yes, until I lose weight. The key to doing this job is controlling the plot and trial and error. My doctor supported this decision when she saw that my glucose levels were under control after working to incorporate the right amount of carbohydrates into my meals. When I was first diagnosed and in the days that followed, I was well over 200 after meals. With the following adjustments to my diet (and a metformin prescription), I am between 110 and 120 most days. Less than 100 MG / DL in the morning after fasting is considered normal.
The basic idea of portion control seems simple enough: limit the amount of food you put on your plate. It’s kind of embarrassing to think about how much it eluded me. Depending heavily on take-out food for most of my adult life, I saw an entrance as a portion. When I ordered something like chicken marsala, I never stopped to think that three chicken breasts are more than one serving. I’ve always been in the business of cleaning my plate and rarely had a fridge full of leftovers.
The meals I prepared were not very different. A bowl of cereal for breakfast was not determined by looking at the label to find out what a single serving meant, I just took a bowl and filled it, regardless of the size of that bowl and sometimes serving me half box without realizing it. Looking at the nutrition label was a surprisingly new concept for me: Did you know that these tiny rice packages cost, like, four servings per package? This was entirely new information for me. I was so used to looking at food from the dieter’s perspective, “I can eat” or “I can’t eat”, that it was never a question of how much I could eat.
Working with my nutritionist, I am learning that it is not just about serving size, but that you are also getting the best return on your investment. For example, my snacks should come in about 15 to 20 grams of carbs. Technically, I could “spend” those carbs by indulging in one of my favorite sweets, Bubbies Hawaii Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bites (believe me, they are delicious!), Or I could opt for something more substantial. This range of carbohydrates can go in several directions. I can give in to my craving for ice cream or add some cheese and a dish of charcuterie, which would give me more protein and fiber, even though it still fell in the right range of carbs. I still focus on single portions, but it’s like playing a nutritional Tetris game trying to fit the pieces together to create a balanced meal. It’s been a minute since I had that kind of freedom when trying to lose weight.
As for the trial and error part of that? After my diagnosis, I spent months keeping a food diary that tracked everything I ate and my glucose levels after meals. It turns out that my Taco Tuesdays will have to be celebrated without corn tortillas from now on. My blood glucose numbers went crazy after that meal! Nut butters are also prohibited. On the other hand, I now know that eating an apple for dessert after dinner tends to make me have a great “fasting level” when I wake up in the morning. When I want something a little more decadent than an apple, digging one of my Sweet Nothings spoon smoothies hits the spot without leaving my glucose levels in a stir.
Documenting my food choices gave me insight and, most importantly, responsibility. I stopped writing the diary because I tend to eat a lot of the same thing and I already know how most foods affect my body, but when I eat something out of the ordinary, I still keep the practice of writing down what it does to my glucose levels .
It was only a few months ago that I received my diagnosis and, although I didn’t go so far as to say it was a good thing, it gave me a great perspective. After I stopped blaming myself and accepted that this is just one of the characteristics of my family that is passed down from generation to generation, the only thing left for me to do is to act. My numbers are under control and my quest to reverse this disease is on its way. After years of dieting and promising myself to take my health seriously, it is no longer a choice. Living in quarantine may not have caused my bad food choices, but it forced me to confront them and relearn how to prepare a proper meal.
This content is created and maintained by third parties and imported into this page to help users provide their email addresses. You can find more information about this and other similar content on piano.io