"Hey, Carbohydrates...Kiss My Ass!"

A few days after my initial appointment with my PCP, I finally met with my diabetic food counselor.  She was very nice, non-judgmental and knowledgeable.  She weighed me ( I had already dropped 10 pounds since my diagnosis, so that was a welcome surprise), did vitals on me and took my blood sugar reading.  High 100's.  Again, much better than 510, so there was definite progress being made.  I had been vigilant taking walks as much as possible, taking Metformin as prescribed and trying to lessen my sugar intake as much as I knew how.

She went on to explain that the most important thing to remember when it came to food intake was to read labels.  READ, READ, READ.  Make it a conscious habit.  Boy, this made a lot of sense to me.  I never read food labels, I just shoved food down my throat.  Reading labels would force me to see the reality in what I was putting into my body.  Would force me into realizing how much fat and sugar, how many calories, I was actually subjecting my body into digesting.  It would be a complete eye-opener, and would probably make me feel even more guilt and remorse over the self-inflicted damage I had caused over the years.  But, I believed these feelings would only be temporary and eventually the feelings of health and vitality would take their place.  One would only hope, that is.

The next point she drove home was that the main factor to look at on the labels was CARBOHYDRATES.  NOT SUGAR.  Sugar grams were actually factored in to the carbohydrate grams on food labels.  I didn't know this.  This concept was totally alien to me.  I always thought the cause of Diabetes was eating too much sugar.  In fact, it is actually your body's resistance to the insulin response of being able to break down carbohydrates.  Carbohydrates cannot be broken down as energy, so they are dumped and stored as extra sugar in the blood.  In a nutshell.  There's much more to it than that, of course, but I'm not that technical.  Anyways, after hearing this, I kind of breathed a sigh of relief.  If carbohydrates are the only thing I really needed to focus on food-wise, not having to be a math whiz and do all types of calculations and measuring, I felt it was pretty doable.  She gave me a huge 3-ring binder that gave me all types of information on food choices, mental and physical health resources, and a blood-sugar log, that I continue to use to this day.  She told me to check my blood sugar three times a day, gave me a meal plan to try, with a daily carbohydrate maximum of between 60-140 g, wished me well, and sent me on my way.

I went home, opened the refrigerator and the cabinets and read every label I could find.  Holy crap.  No wonder I'm diabetic.  This was crazy!  According to my calculations, I ate, at the very least, 60 g of carbohydrates in ONE SITTING!  EVERY DAY!  Ugh.  This might be harder than I thought.  But, "I gotta do this," I thought to myself.  "I have no choice".

The next morning, I started to prepare my usual breakfast.  A banana and a bowl of shredded wheat with skim milk.   Then it occurred to me...wait a minute, I better check the carb content of these foods before I chow down.  First, the banana.  Since a banana does not have a food label I figured I better look it up in my resource book, and maybe recheck on Google.  One medium banana=27 g of carbs.  Really?  Then, I checked the skim milk.  Surely that can't be bad.  1 cup=15 g carbs.  Wow.   Finally, I checked the shredded wheat.   Uh oh.  38.4 g of carbs per serving.  Per serving???  I think I ate three servings in one big bowl!  I stood there looking at the food in front of me and decided to throw caution to the wind, try eating one serving of the shredded wheat with one cup of milk and forgo the banana.  Check my blood sugar in two hours, and see what happens.

Two miserable, slow hours went by.  Then, I went upstairs to confront my inevitable fate.  Two hours after a meal when you are first diagnosed with Type-2 Diabetes per ADA standards is under 180 mg/dl.  This is with an A1c of under 7%.  Any reading over 180 mg/dl, you have to "take action", whatever that means.  The ultimate goal is under 140 mg/dl two hours after a meal per AACE guidelines.  This is once you get your disease under better control with an A1c of under 6.5%.   I was nowhere near any of these numbers.  In fact, these numbers seemed like a complete fantasy and pipe dream to me.  The counselor, however, told me to start using the ADA standard for readings, then work my way to the AACE standard.

The last Wheat-Based Carb I Have Ever Eaten

189 mg/dl.

WHHHHAAAATTTT????!!!!!

That's it, I'm gonna die.  Literally have a coronary right here in my bedroom.  So, I have to take action? What action do I have to take for crying out loud?  Jesus, take the wheel.

In a panic, I called the diabetic counselor and tearfully told her my situation.  She calmly told me to drink some water, take a short walk, and take another reading in an hour.  If it's still high, call my doctor.  She then asked me what I had to eat for breakfast, and I reluctantly told her.  I remember her response as clear as day, "Yeah, shredded wheat is highly concentrated in carbohydrates.  In fact, most wheat products are."  I thanked her, hung up the phone, drank some water, took a walk around my condo complex, and after an hour, rechecked my blood sugar.  176 mg/dl.  PHEW!  I breathed a sigh of relief.

Her words, however, haunted me as I went through the rest of the day.  I did a lot of research and reading the rest of that day, in my resource book and online, especially TED Talks on YouTube.  Finally, I came to some glaring conclusions.  Do I REALLY need to eat wheat?  No, I don't.  I could live without it.  There are a lot of carbohydrates in processed foods too, like my favorite, granola bars.  Do I REALLY need to eat processed, sugary, carbohydrate-laden foods?  No, I don't.  I could live without it.  Could I live on fruit, vegetables, fish, lean meat and protein sources like eggs and peanut butter?  Yes, I could do that.  Could I try to use lower-fat versions of cheese and condiments?  Sure, I could do that.  On top of all that, could I also incorporate daily walking exercise?  Maybe do a little weight-lifting?  Could I commit to 7 days a week?  No excuses?   I definitely could do that.

So, I did.

And the weight started to fall off...

And my energy increased...

And I started to get the feeling back in my toes...

And I wasn't thirsty anymore or had constant dry-mouth...

And my vision came back clearer than ever...

And my blood sugar numbers started to gradually and steadily go down...

My body was beginning to heal.  I could see it happening right before my eyes.  I had analytical proof, in black and white.  It wasn't too late, after all!  Eventually, my mind and my heart began to come along for the ride on the healing train, as well.  CHOO-CHOO!  All aboard the healing train!  My depression began to lift, a little.  My anxiety began to soften, just a little.  But, enough to help me sleep better at night.  Enough to keep me from crying in the bathroom.  Just enough.

I might be on to something here...

Until next week...stay safe and well! 😀

Be a butterfly...🦋