A year ago, I decided to change my approach to eating. I had already gotten serious about better nutrition but I committed last October to veggies up, white rice, bread and pasta out, fruit up, protein balancing. No desserts, and of course no candy, potato chip or cake snacks.I get a treat of a slice of french bread and half a slice of whole wheat with my delicious lentil salad at Le Pain Quotidian. Once a month, I get a slice of pizza and a spinach salad at Pete's. If I get a delivered pizza -- I eat the whole thing. So Manny and Olga's no longer visits me.
I've really learned what it feels like to have stable blood sugar -- it feels good. I snack on protein -- a slice of cheese, and veggies, or a was a crisp bread cracker. I don't like the latter SO much so I am not tempted to keep on eating them.
Tonight I took a walk after the rain to get my fitbit miles up to 5. Ran into a former neighbor, Susan, walking her dog. She's a researcher in diabetes. We had a nice long talk about it.
Government research on diabetes has fallen off, not a good thing. But knowledge about diabetes awareness is up on the street, through organizations such as the Diabetes Awareness Ribbon -- https://www.facebook.com/TheDiabetesSite?fref=ts.There are other groups, but the Ribbon encourages people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes to tell their stories. There's nothing like a real teenager struggling with insulin injections while trying to be a normal high schooler or a real young mother suffering from complications from type 2 while working to raise three toddlers to make the link.
The link is between what we eat and how much we move and the incidence of diabetes in our country. Susan told me that India has now surpassed China in the occurrence of obesity in the population and with it, the incidence of diabetes.This week, I was walking along Wisconsin Avenue. Four Georgetown freshmen were going the same way. "We've got to go to the cupcake place," said one, and the others agreed -- all except one girl. "Not me," she said, "I've got pre-diabetes."
I apologized to her for intruding, but I told her how much I admired her resolve. We talked about our families a bit, walking along...the incidence of diabetes, the amputations, the kidney disease. We talked about our eating and exercise commitments. We said goodbye and blessings at Sweetgreen.
Increasingly at restaurants these days, the wait staff isn't at all surprised at customers' wish to substitute another vegetable for white rice. Three years ago, a favorite Bethesda Chinese restaurant just couldn't grasp the concept.
So how'm I doin' as my birthday nears? I feel very good. I feel pretty much on top of my situation., with God's help. I am delighted that my friends will eat the dessert at my birthday celebrations.
I feel so annoyed and jealous, sometimes, yes, at the guys at work cheerily eating potato chips...I want to pound the bags into crumbledom. But we cannot expect the world to change for us, so I struggle to smile and control myself. That would be so rude! But it would be fun. (Cut me a break, I'm a snackaholic.)
My last A1c test (August) of the average blood glucose level was 5.4, very solidly a good reading. I was #2 again today on my fitbit leaderboard. (Boy, does that change. I'll likely be 8 or 11 in a week. This is a competitive bunch of walkin' fools.)I'm still 8 pounds away from my healthy weight goal, no change in 2 months -- but no gain, either.
My name is Connie, I'm almost 73, and I'm a DCD -- a diet-controlled diabetic.
Thank you.
