Not Too Sweet Diet

So with my new change comes a new diet I have to follow. Long story short; plan meals, prepare foods, watch my carbs.

In order to lose weight I need to have 30g - 45g of total carbs with meals, for snacks - 15g. It's amazing how little that actually can be. But then again, when losing weight you're basically fasting...

On a good note, with my medication, my blood sugar levels have been in normal range for about a week! Yeah!

Back to the diet portion, my diet and eating habits have been sporadic to say the least. I usually had an idea of what my body felt like having when it was time for a lunch or snack, and would usually just buy whatever I needed, or thought I needed. Now I need to prep foods in advanced, prepare meals for the day that I might later not really want to have when the time comes, and I have to start learning how to... cook!!!

I've had some ideas on how to make things fun, one word: Bento!

freezerdinner.com

Bento, japanese for "boxed lunch", is a great way for anyone to have fun making a healthy, well portioned meal. A great website that got me started is Just Bento, it has great articles to get you started, not to mention a great book!

I'm still new to planning and preparing meals of my own. I get a little overwhelmed. It seems simple... First I figure out what I want to eat for the week, figure out what to buy, when to prepare said food, how to store it, when to pack it. Also keeping track of how many carbs, calories, and serving sizes per meal. Eating the meal seems like the easiest thing. Small, smart choices. One day at a time....

Stay sweet!

Not Too Sweet Thoughts

"I can't have that anymore..."

"How many carbs is in this?"

"How high is my blood sugar?"

"Did I eat too much?"

"I didn't eat enough..."

"I'm going to miss eating this..."

"Should I eat this?"

"Can I have that?"

Becoming diabetic has changed how I look at food; what to eat, how much to eat, when to eat, what to substitute, and what to get rid of. Candy has become like a poison to me. Chips, bread, sugar, it's all just something I have to limit my intake on, or not eat at all.

On a positive note, there are a lot of sugar free and gluten free foods. Perfect for diabetics!

My diet, so far, consists of having 4 servings of carbs (about 15g Total Carbs) with each meal. I found most things I used to eat, like for example sandwiches, would take about 2-3 of those servings! So I've been reading labels more and figuring things out as I go along.

It will get easier with time, but for now I'm taking things one day at a time...

Stay sweet, but not too sweet!

Not Too Sweet Beginnings

Within a few days, my life has turned into a world of pokings, prescriptions, and perseverance... My name is Lara, and I am a diabetic.
Welcome to Not Too Sweet, my new blog about me and my personal journey with diabetes.
This all started a week ago, when I was having some feminine issues, I went to my gynecologist and was telling her my symptoms; itching, burning, maybe I have a UTI? Then I mentioned that I was going to the bathroom often, drinking a lot of water, maybe having dry mouth? We did some tests and they found sugar in my urine! *hint: sugar in urine is very bad!* So they did some blood work and they would call me the next day.
The next day comes around, and oh boy, I have really high blood sugar levels! I needed to see someone NOW... Off to the emergency room I went. I missed work, got poked a ton, and had a sleepover at the hospital. The next day was basically a lot of waiting, and pokings, I finally learn that I'm diabetic, (no duh), and get sent home with new prescriptions.
[Skip if you understand how diabetes works] Diabetes happens because either; the pancreas isn't creating insulin which takes glucose, your body's source of energy, and deposits the extra glucose into organs or converts into fat cells; or your body's cells and organs aren't responding to insulin and won't take in the glucose, also known as insulin resistant.
Basically Diabetes is too much, or too little, glucose in your blood stream. Both are bad. People like me and millions of others are having to test our blood sugar levels, take prescriptions, and sometimes have to go without eating because our levels are too high...
So welcome to the sweet, but Not Too Sweet blog!
Feel free to comment and tell us about your diabetic stories!