When Life Throws You A Curve Ball

So, amidst the flurry of my typically chaotic and harried schedule, I got some unwelcome news the other day. I haven’t said much, and I’m still not really that sure whether to because a flurry of advice always follows, most of which doesn’t apply to my particular situation.

But it’s going to filter out because of my Gluten Free Blog. But what the hell. I’m going to be talking about it on Twitter off and on, and people will notice.

Please note up front: I am working with my doctor on this and we’ve mapped out a plan that she and I both think will be the most beneficial.

Here’s the deal: My body has become terribly carbohydrate sensitive and as a result I’m now insulin resistant and a hair over the line into type 2 diabetes. It’s not bad right now and it’s at a point where I can reverse it, I don’t need medication or insulin, but I have to take it seriously.

The result of this is: I’m on a low-carb diet for life. And while eventually the carb count may increase, I’ll probably never be able to have more than 70-100 grams of carb per day. Right now I’m keeping it to between 20-50 grams of carb per day, trying for a middle ground there. And to be honest, barely a week later, I’m already feeling better. I knew starches and sugar made my joints hurt, and now, the constant ache is fading away—just after one week.

One of the hardest parts is eating a little meal (all containing protein) every couple of hours, which I need to for the first couple of months, to get my blood sugar stabilized. I practically have to set a timer and prepare my food in advance so I just don’t blow it off, because if it’s not easy to grab, when I’m in the middle of working, I forget. So each night, before the next day, I spend a good fifteen minutes getting everything ready that I can for my mini-meals. It’s time-consuming but I realize I have to do this.

So what can I have? 

• Meats—as long as they aren’t stuffed with carbs like breading. Poultry. Fish (though I’m cautious because of the mercury content).
• Goat dairy.
• Egg whites—though they’re limited due to a mild intolerance.
• Good fats and oils.
• Nuts and seeds (sans the peanuts I’m not supposed to have). Nut meals, nut butters, nut milks.
• Protein powder.
• Green vegetables (bleh on most of them, I am so not a vegetable eater and of course, I can’t have the garlic, onions and peppers due to my allergies). Tomatoes (thank heavens—my favorite food is still in the works). Small servings of squash and carrots (higher glycemic index but lower glycemic load).
• Very small amounts of low glycemic fruit (apples, apricots, peaches, pears, berries). The sad part is: I love fruit, I’m a fruitaholic, but was eating way too much of it. I can still have *some* fruit but not a great deal. You’re talking to someone who could make a meal off of a huge bowl of peaches…but now it’s 1 peach, or 2 apricots, not 2 cups of them. But at least I can still have some—it’s become my ‘treat’ food.
• I’m using stevia to sweeten my goat yogurt and protein drinks, and adding cinnamon to them because it also helps with insulin resistance. And my supplement list, well…that’s pretty long because of the imbalance my body has gotten into.

But no more gluten free goodies in terms of grains—that’s all gone. I’m boxing up all my GF pasta, mixes, etc., and sending it to my sister who has celiac. Because if it’s out of the house, it won’t remind me of what I can’t have and won’t tempt me to say, “Oh, just this once won’t hurt.”

The GOOD news is that all my exercise has drastically helped my blood pressure and resting pulse rate and I should be off the mild BP medicine that I’m on in a few months—I’m on the lowest dose and should be able to go off of it this summer if I keep up the good work. And my cholesterol is fine, as usual, and so forth.

AND…I know I drop weight on low carb diets. My body just responds to them very well, and I’ve never gone this low carb before or kept this tight of control over the diet. So, combined with my exercise, I should be dropping weight easier (YAY—and I say that because the truth is: I am over my comfort limit. I’ve always been a large woman, I’ll probably always be larger and that is okay. But I’m over the threshold for feeling good about myself and that’s a personal threshold with every person).

Psychologically this was a shocker—I wasn’t expecting the results. I thought I’d cut out the trigger foods enough to pull out of the pre-diabetes. But I didn’t. I’m one hair over the line now. But I have a chance to reverse that—to regain my health if I stick to the diet and keep exercising. Thank gods I don’t need medication right now. I’m grateful for that. I’m also grateful for a doctor who doesn’t use scare tactics on me, who wants to work with me to prevent problems rather than just push pills at the symptoms. I was very angry when I found out, to be honest—angry at myself for letting it slip this far. But with the help of a couple friends and Samwise, I realize this isn’t something I deliberately did. And my doctor told me, “Every body is different—some bodies cannot process these foods while others do better and yours is one of them.” The fact that I’ve been fat since I was a little girl, and that my body is an apple shape tells us I’ve always been carb sensitive.

So I’m giving up the blame game and just going to address the issue.

I decided that since I have always responded to food emotionally, to just shift that focus. Now, when I want a treat, I’ll turn to my makeup and perfume and clothing…when I’m tired, I’ll play a game or go to bed on time (another issue I need to address—not getting enough sleep). No more turning to food for comfort…and that’s going to be a learning experience.

I’ve rambled on enough here, I guess. So the Gluten Free blog will stay that way, but it will also be a low-carb blog on my end of things. The GF recipes you’ll be getting from me won’t be using any grains, though they may involve nut meal and stevia (LOL). But they’ll still be gluten free. ;)

Yasmine