c1954
Let’s take a look at what has been in play over the last 50 years:
Love yourself better.
Eat your vegetables.
Take it easy on the carbs.
Exercise.
Ease stress through meditation (relaxing) and activities (have fun).
Don’t burn the candles at both ends while eating fast food, smoking and drinking too much.
Limit your sugar.
Well there you go. The Diabetes Diet For Everyone. Nothing new and inventive about that line-up though. Except maybe you’ve been trying and it ain’t workin’, at least for the moment.
Okay…tell you what, let’s go to some of the masters of self help, self recovery and rehabilitation. Since they do help people and we are apparently all in this together. We’ll just learn from the masters and then develop our own style. Well, it’s worked for some.
AA - Admit there’s a problem while you realize that there is a greater power that can help restore your convictions (doing what‘s right, regardless).
Mayo Clinic - Energy Density: Volume vs. Calories - Eat foods with high water and fiber content, like fruits and vegetables, as much as you want while you keep a relative amount of protein, fats, sweets and carbs in the mix.
Betty Ford Clinic - “In treatment, the focus is on discovery and reconnection; with the self, the soul, with hope and with others.”
Weight Watchers - Learn to handle hunger and beat temptation. Make healthy, smart choices second nature. Adapt your plan to your needs, so you can stop dieting and start living.
Jenny Craig - Three key areas that are critical: Have a healthy relationship with food. Have an active lifestyle. Take a balanced approach to living (motivated while still staying busy).
Atkins - “You learn to eat the right foods and change your body from a carb-burning to a fat burring machine.”
Well we kinda get the point here, it’s pretty much on us to make the difference, right? Yeah, like someone really had to let us know that it’s our decision to be healthy. Well, did someone have to tell or remind us? Well, did they?
There is no reason to assume or believe that a person with diabetes is at fault with assimilation of the ailment. So where do we draw the line between having the disorder and doing something about it? Where is it that our actions and reactions are motivated by the actual reality of the condition? In the case of diabetes it should be said, nowhere. There is no line between having diabetes and doing something about it since our diets should already accommodate and handle any such condition. Is it fair to say that if we had eaten right our entire lives we would have avoided a condition like diabetes? No it is not. Not only is that not a fair assumption but it is a moot point. Our concerns at the point of diagnosis should not be cause, but remedy and treatment measures.
Here’s a quick list of do’s and don’ts that we hope you‘ll consider.
Do keep a constant barometer of what foods do well by you and which don’t.
Do make a conscious effort to move around more. Regardless of your “workout”, move around more. Park at the farthest point in any parking lot from the entrance. Take the stairs even though you might feel too tired or too lazy to do so. Play with the kids or grandkids or anyone‘s kids. Garden. Clean the house thoroughly a room at a time. Go when friends and family invite you to bike ride, hike, walk the pier, go to the movies, help with an event, help them move, etc., and there’s nothing wrong with doing these things alone either.
Do prepare your own meals.
Do slow down on the sweets, pastry, spaghetti, fried rice, white rice, bread, potatoes, all pastas, cookies and cereals (especially sweetened), soda and alcohol (especially beer).
Don’t attempt to remedy or “fix” your condition without first seeing a licensed practitioner or medical specialist that is well versed in the condition known as diabetes and this person has interest in “wellness” as opposed to just “medical treatment.”
Don’t just “pay it no mind” because you know better about what‘s really good for you.
If you have a medical treatment plan in place keep it in place while you finally decide to do something more. Any meds or medical equipment that you are currently using are providing you with a better way than without them.
In conclusion, follow the instructions on the bottle and take your meds, eat moderately multiple times a day, limit your carbs and sugar, eat veggies, avoid fruit loading, move around even though you exercise, exercise, make a conscious effort to be less stressed, play, meditate (even if its just being alone in a quiet room for 30 minutes), put you before pleasure food and take time to reflect on the improvements in your lifestyle that you’ve accomplished already. Be proud of yourself for getting better, for improving, for the progress you’ve made. Help others in their efforts and let them know how proud you are of them too. Give thanks for the simple things in life and recognize the larger ones as doable.
http://groceryshoppingfordiabetes.blogspot.com/
http://copingwithdiabetesandhypertension.blogspot.com/
Pictured above: Jack Lalanne
LaLanne was addicted to sugar as a child, causing him to commit acts of violence, including setting his parents' house on fire and attacking his brother with an axe. He was so weak his family physician recommended he be removed from school to rest and regain his strength. Around this time, he and his mother attended a lecture by Paul C. Bragg, a nutritionist who told LaLanne he was a human garbage can. LaLanne turned his life around with a strict diet and exercise. By the age of 18, he was running a home bakery selling healthy breads and a home gym where he trained policemen and firemen in exercise and weightlifting. LaLanne's reputation as a physical fitness guru eventually led to his 20-year stint as the host of TV's "The Jack LaLanne Show" (1951). There, he taught exercise aimed principally at homemakers, using items found around the home. Even as he exceeds 90 years of age, LaLanne continues to boast a fine physique and encourage fans with health and fitness tips through videos and writing.
Rationing meant children in 1950 ate better than youngsters today
Tuesday, 30 November 1999
YOUNG CHILDREN in the Fifties had a better diet than children of the same age living in the Nineties, according to a study of how eating habits have changed over 40 years.
Children who were four in 1950 had a more balanced diet than four year olds today, despite living in a poorer society with a more limited range of food. The post-war austerity and food rationing of the early Fifties created a more conducive climate for a balanced and healthy diet, say scientists funded by the Medical Research Council.
In a comparison of the typical diets of two groups of four-year-olds, the MRC scientists concluded that what children ate in the Fifties was closer to the present-day recommendations for a healthy diet. Professor Michael Wadsworth, who leads the National Survey of Health and Development at University College London, says the study provides unambiguous evidence for a general decline in children's nutrition, despite increasing wealth: "In 1950 the average diet was still influenced by post-war austerity but this study shows that the food and nutrient intake of young children at that time was better than today.
"It seems to me that, faced with an amazing amount of choice, a mother today is not as well versed in nutrition as a mother in the Fifties. Education is the key," he said. The scientists, from the MRC's Human Nutrition Research Unit in Cambridge and the Institute for Environmental Health in Leicester, studied diet records of 4,600 children who were four in 1950 and compared their eating habits with children of the same age in another national study in 1992.
One of the main differences to emerge was the heavy reliance on bread, milk and vegetables in 1950, which has largely been replaced by the rise in consumption of pizza, pasta, rice and yoghurts in the Nineties. "The higher amounts of bread, milk and vegetables consumed in 1950 are closer to the healthy eating guidelines of the Nineties," Professor Wadsworth said. "The children's higher calcium intake could have potential benefits for their bone health in later life, while their vegetable consumption may protect them against heart and respiratory disease and some forms of cancer," he said.
Children in 1950 ate more potatoes and drank tea with meals whereas those in the Nineties are more likely to consume baked beans, savoury snacks and soft drinks.
Although children ate more animal fat in the Fifties the higher calorie intake was probably offset by being more active than are today's youngsters.
Whereas fresh vegetables were the main source of vitamin C forty years ago, children today get most of their vitamin C from fruit juices - which do not contain the additional nutrients of plant-derived foods.
The study, published in the journal Public Health Nutrition, also found that red meat in the diet has given way to a rise in the consumption of poultry. The scientists believe this has led to a fall in the uptake of iron, a vital element for the transport of oxygen in the blood. "Iron intake in 1992 was only 76 per cent of that in 1950, the decline being exacerbated by the reduced contribution from meat," the scientists report.
An important development has been the switch in the main source of carbohydrates from starch to sugar.
"These shifts in carbohydrate intake are a striking feature of the present study and demonstrate that in early life in 1950, the dietary patterns should have been more beneficial to gastrointestinal health," the scientists say. "The present study demonstrates that the food and nutrient intake of young children at that time in most respects was arguably better than at present," they conclude.
THEN AND AND NOW: TYPICAL MENUS FOR FOUR-YEAR-OLDS
Fifties
Breakfast: Cereals with milk, egg with bread and butter
Lunch: Lamb chop with potatoes, Brussels sprouts, carrots;
followed by rice pudding and tea.
Tea: Bread and butter, jam, cake and tea.
Supper: Glass of milk
Nineties
Breakfast: Cereals and milk with fruit juice, or nothing at all
Lunch: Pizza and baked beans, coke and chocolate
Tea: Spaghetti hoops, Sunny Delight, yogurt
Supper: Juice and biscuits
