(Originally written for Diabetes Notes, but I thought I'd share.)
Here are some things I've learned from my three months as a diabetic.
1) Aspartame makes my blood sugar go all funky.
2) Splenda makes me feel (in the best possible way) like I'm cheating on my diet, and does not appear to make my blood sugar freak out or my liver turn to stone or my brain explode or whatever I keep reading is supposed to happen to me when I eat it.
3) Because of 1), I am sad to part ways with Diet Dr Pepper, alas. I mean, I'm saying goodbye to most diet drinks, but Diet Dr Pepper is the only one that did not taste like it was made with butt.
4) Because of 2), I am now entering into a beautiful long-term relationship with Diet 7-Up, Diet Big Red (which tastes VERY guilty, and probably not what you'd expect a grownup to drink), Sugar Free Jello Pudding (chocolate and the ever elusive vanilla, which I might actually push over an old person to get to if she was standing in front of the display at the grocery store) and Breyer's Carb Smart fake ice cream (but only chocolate; the other flavors are weird, like what an alien might come up with if he were trying to make ice cream back on Mars).
5) As long as I am on a double dose of Glucophage, I should probably stop scheduling important things in the morning. I need that time to sit and be an 80 year-old man for a while.
6) When buying a bicycle for exercise, getting a big heavy one-speed beach cruiser? Pretty fabulously stupid. I'm going to trade up to something practical.
7) When your bike is big and stupid and impractical and hurts to ride up hills? You tend to find excuses not to ride it.
8) When your ass starts expanding for seemingly no reason, see 7).
9) There are some people out there with some pretty strange ideas about diabetes. Every last one of them has a cure for you, if you'll just listen and follow their bizarre advice.
10) Man, I miss pasta.
25 comments:
Two Splenda diet beverage brands you might want to check out, if you haven't already -- Hansen and Boylan. To me, Hansen is hit or miss depending on the flavor, but Boylan is downright tasty.
I guess rice or corn pasta wouldn't be allowed, either? I'm told they're not bad tasting.
Also, I just checked, and it seems Crystal Light (drinks and candies...which I didn't know they made) is made with Splenda. I make my dad send me big padded envelopes stuffed with single serving packets of lemonade Crystal Light, so I highly recommend that (extra good with some fresh mint floating in the glass).
"Diet Big Red"
Who knew?!?
Diet Rite, my man. Diet Rite. E-me if y'all don't have it and I'll send you some.
That SoBe Lean is Splenda-rized, but it's pricey.
Some Diet V8 Splashes (the fruity ones).
AND: If y'all don't have Kroger around, e-me, too. I just found out that their house brand of Diet Dr. Pepper (Diet Dr. K or something, I think) is safe. My mother, who's been drinking Dr. Pepper since it was invented, LOOOOVES the Kroger brand. Which was lovely when I was laid off, because it's all her butt got for Christmas and Mother's Day one year. Well, except for a cross-stitched bookmark.
Aspartame used to make my sister crawl the walls when she had gestational diabetes. Her blood sugar would go from 85 to 250+ in about 30 minutes. It was sad. Plus, it made the impending baby do the angry watusi. (Said baby, now 1, still does the watusi, but it's no longer angry and it longer has the same impact on my sister.)
Kisses from Tennessee. Keep feeling stronger.
I was just wondering if, when you found out about your Diabetes, did you go on a "last hurrah" binge with your favorite foods...soda...candy?
I ask this because you mentioned missing pasta and I don't know if I could part with mine, especially on short notice.
As for the bike--heh, I have a pretty nice one that find many excuses not to ride. I think it's just a grown up thing because I remember desperately pedalling away until the last drop of sun went down when I was younger. If only I could get those legs back!
Isn't diabetes the most fun diagnosis you have ever received? Having spent a year getting my sugars from a gloriously frightening 600+ to my now normal levels after gastric bypass surgery I can only say, this damn disease sucks...........and egg custard pie was my guilty pleasure up until this new diet post surgery. It's sinful and low in sugar, so there.
C
GROSS. I have like 6 boxes of Vanilla sugar-free Jello pudding and that shit is like the vomit. Chocolate for me, thank you.
You should try the cheesecake flavor. If you like the barfalicious vanilla, I bet you would love the cake du fromage.
Supertarget tends to carry more jell-o flavors, including sugar free lemon. Quite tasty!
My sweetie is diabetic too, and but we have to go cross-border shopping for all the Splenda-sweetened drinks and such, because they haven't made it to Canada yet. He doesn't like the pudding, though, so we'll have to make it from scratch. He yearns for Splenda gelatin, we'll probably have to figure out our own recipe for that too.
As for pasta, are there whole-wheat varieties available down there? We get the kind with flax as well, since omega-3s are supposed to be good for da beedies for some reason. Anyway, they're really good. I like it better than regular pasta.
Know what you mean about some people's comments and your disease.
Most people are pretty good about keeping stuff to themselves where my migraines are concerned (yah, 7+ a month).
One lady I avoid like the plague 'cause she's just so HAPPY (barf) and always has a suggestion. What she realizes is that I've already tried her 18 F'n million ideas + another 100,000.
So there!
I'm glad you are finding things that work for you. Hang in there and I bet Schuyler loves all those bike rides with you!
Kroger's is known as Smith's in the west. Just so ya know.
Jones sodas, which are sold en masse at Cost Plus (dunno if these exist in Texas) and (oh bitter, bitter irony) as cold beverages at Panera bread are made with Splenda and are quite tasty. I like the root beer, the cream soda, and the black cherry.
And I don't envy you the helpful whackadoos. I have chronic insomnia whackadoos and in a million years, I would not trade them for diabetes whackadoos.
Dreamfields pasta. That stuff kind of rules.
I can't use aspartame (migraines) so I drink Diet RC. It is the best diet cola out there. Diet Rite is also good but it doesn't have caffeine...and I need caffeine.
(disclaimer: I know jackshit about what is and is not permissible for the diet of someone with the beedies. I'm a bit of a foodie, though.)
No pasta -- have you considered polenta and risotto? A lot of the same sauces for pasta can be used for polenta instead, plus you can add extra vegetables to the polenta and tell yourself it's even healthier that way. Risotto is a little fussier to make and a little less adaptable, but still very satisfying. And, if it's the refined flour in pasta that's the problem, then polenta's made with cornmeal and risotto is rice, and both can easily be made with reduced fat; the last step in making both is to add butter and/or cheese, and skimping on that a little is easy enough.
Not pasta, but equally as Italian.
Have you ever had spaghetti squash? I don't know what your feelings about squash are, but I tell you the stuff is *amazing*. You bake it for 40 minutes or so (at my grocery store all of them have a sticker with specific baking instructions) and then scrape the flesh out with a fork; it comes out in strings like pasta. You serve it just like you would pasta -- put your favorite sauce on top and go to town. It has a texture just like white pasta and a very faint squash taste. (I happen to love squash, so I love that. Some people say it doesn't taste like anything but the sauce.)
I don't know anything about squash and diabetes, but it's bound to be better than pasta. I think it's worth a try, anyway!
I gave up my Diet Pepsi a couple months ago because the aspartame was giving me bad headaches. Then I happened to look at the ingredients on the box of sugar free jello and dammit there was aspartame in it. If you are avoiding aspartame, you might want to avoid the sugar free jello/pudding.
I ran across this today. Not sure if might be useful or not.
"People with type 2 diabetes often have low levels of biotin. Biotin may be involved in the synthesis and release of insulin. Preliminary studies in both animals and people suggest that biotin may help improve blood sugar control in those with diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes."
Have you tried the whole wheat pasta? It's really great and usually doesn't affect blood sugar much.
Sugar free jello has aspartame, but the pudding is made with Splenda. I don't eat the jello.
Luna bars will make me grow tits, won't they?
"Luna bars for women only!" is the equivalent of telling kids that they'd hate something so that you can have more of it. It normally works. Nutz over Chocolate is my favorite.
Are you carb counting/limited on how many carbs you get a day?
I second what rachel! said, but add that you can cook those suckers in the micronuke in well under 40 minutes.
I am diabetic also, and on Glipizide. You have more will power than I do about avoiding carbs but my blood sugar so far is okay with what I eat as long as I'm on the med. My problem with the sugar-free Jello pudding and other such products is...er...side effects. I have pretty much given up on the sugar-free stuff, other than Equal -- for some reason Splenda sends my blood sugar soaring. My best wishes to you!
My dh just got diagnosed with "pre-diabetes" (?) so we are learning a lot...or not. Why would the dietician (sp) say that cocoa puffs were fine for breakfast? I don't get that!
Anyway, I read where 200 mcg's/day of chromium help regulate insulin levels. We'll try that on top of everything else. But Cocoa Puffs? You should have seen him gloat. The kids too. :(
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