Monday, June 29, 2009

A breakfast of sorts

OK, since I'm obviously not doing at all well in controlling my Type 2 diabetes based on the evidence of my last blood tests, I have to make some fairly drastic changes in my lifestyle.

I believe that a low-carb, high-fiber (40-55 grams per day) diet that includes lots of vegetables and some fruit, along with aerobic exercise (rowing, cycling), strength training (free weights), and stretching (yoga) will improve my blood glucose, reduce my A1C, and will reduce my need for medications, and maybe finally reduce my LDL cholesterol. That's been the goal all along. I would also like to win a big lottery jackpot, but if I don't buy tickets, there's not much chance, is there? No.

So I've promised myself (again) to try to fix things. So for either breakfast or lunch the last few days I've been making a ridiculous drink that contains:
  • Inulin, a soluble pre-biotic fiber that does not affect blood sugar
  • Chia seed, very high in fiber, very low in net carbs, and high in omega-3 and -6 fatty acids
  • Glutamine powder, which provides a non-essential amino acid (protein building block), and may be useful in reducing carb cravings (please, please!)
  • Soy isolate protein powder, a low-carb, high-protein product
  • Unsweetened soy milk
  • Psyllium husk for soluble and insoluble fiber
  • Cocoa powder for a bit more fiber, iron, and chocolate flavour.

This makes about 1.5 cups of a thick crunchy brown drinkable mess (which doesn't actually taste too bad) with 13g net carbs (and about 10g fiber), 11g healthy fat, 215 calories (more or less) and 35G protein. Then I drink about 500ml water to wash it all down.

Now, if I don't sabotage myself by consuming high-carb processed crap between (or instead of) regular meals, I should see some results. Right?

2 comments:

jimpurdy1943@yahoo.com said...

You said:
"I believe that a low-carb, high-fiber (40-55 grams per day) diet that includes lots of vegetables and some fruit, along with aerobic exercise (rowing, cycling), strength training (free weights), and stretching (yoga) will improve my blood glucose, reduce my A1C, and will reduce my need for medications, and maybe finally reduce my LDL cholesterol."

I pretty much agree, but I seem to get much more dramatic improvements from diet than from exercise.

In any case, for now I'm working more on diet than on exercise.

Best wishes.

KarenInTo said...

I tend to get a benefit from heavy lifting (kitchen appliances, patio stones, own body weight) when it comes to BG control. I saw my endo today and he spoke NOT ONE WORD about diet or exercise. He was kind enough to give me some rapid-acting insulin, though: he'd like all his diabetes patients on multiple daily injections from the time they are diagnosed...