A life of restrictions and sacrifices : is it possible?

[mg_2204]

Hello!

Just out of curiosity... do you think it's possible to live a life of (food) restrictions and sacrifices? As diabetics, could you honestly always stay away from the foods you're not supposed to have and/or be reasonable about those? In other words, and to use an old French Canadian saying, could you be more Catholic than the Pope?

Me? Pfft, I just can't.

Marie
:)

[DeusXM]

You probably can....for instance, i could quite easily keep courgette out of my diet!

Still, I can't see how people with diabetes have to have a restricted diet - as long you inject enough insulin, you can eat whatever you like. I know I do.

Bottom line is, life's far too short to waste it worrying about what you put in your mouth.

[Lorna]

I can't either! Beauty of modern medicine is that you don't need to as long as you adjuct your insulin etc around it.

[Teresa]

i certainly couldnt... but im sure some people could... those with loads more self control and will power than me!!

[mg_2204]

... in my case, self control and will power fail me once in a while. Lately I've been really good *shines halo* but I can't picture myself being that reasonable all the time and until I'm a 100. No way. ;)

Marie
:)

[HeatherP]

For me, I have to have a little bit to keep me "on the wagon". When I was first diagnosed, and the doc started listing all the stuff I could never eat again, all I wanted was the stuff on that list. I was obsessed! Once I started to realize that I COULD eat those things from time to time as long as I don't overdo it, I no longer think about it, and have the willpower to avoid them most of the time.

[Linda57]

To answer your question Marie,
no I will never completely be able to control my eating, I have struggled with it all my life, yoyo dieting etc.

This is the biggest challenge of my life so far, at the moment I am failing, but I will never stop trying.

Love always,

[Gina]

Originally posted by DeusXM

Bottom line is, life's far too short to waste it worrying about what you put in your mouth. [/B]


lol i wont say a word on that one lol

[DeusXM]

Ooops.

And the award for the dirtiest mind goes to... :-

[Gina]

honestly though i used to eat what i wanted while i was on the p ump i mean anything and everything ....all i would do was pump it up...but the bad th ing with that is the weight gaining...i gained alot of weight on the pump diet lol

[rzrbks]

I think the thing to do is "Let Go" once in a while. With the key concept being "Once in a While.

I do not keep All the good things out of my diet but mix and match--moods, feelings + comfort food-- so that things don't get out of hand. But then I have the luxury of Insulin.

I'm not sure I would ever want to try this "Fun Game" on just diet alone. I really feel for those of you who are having to do it with diet. I do really think about you folks often. Like the 7 hours I spent traveling to meetings Weds. and Thurs.--thought about how hard that must be for you people.

The trade-off is that if you're on insulin and keeping B/G under control it is Extremely Easy to start packing on the pounds--and I don't mean UK money.


For those of you having to do it with just diet--My Hats Off To You


(BTW, notice how I carefully avoided getting involved with Gina and Deus's filthy repartee:whistling )

[Gary]

If it were possible to live on a restricted diet without "falling off the wagon" once in a while, please explain how.

[rzrbks]

Gary

If it were possible to live on a restricted diet without "falling off the wagon" once in a while, please explain how.

Be tough. Be a Man. John Wayne Could do it. Ahnold could do it.


LmAO

[snakeye]

Feeeelinngggsss ohhhhh ohhh ohhh feeelingggsss......

[DeusXM]

(BTW, notice how I carefully avoided getting involved with Gina and Deus's filthy repartee )

*waves hand around like small child* But sir, she started it!

[Belinda]

I am on a 30 day diet and what I've lost is 15 days! Just a saying I saw on a t-shirt at my workout this morning!

Willpower is the key! somedays I am better than others But NOT with the Easter candy!!!LOL

[mg_2204]

... I usually lose quickly on a diet. Yep! I lose my sense of humour. ;)

[Harold]

A life of restrictions and sacrifices : is it possible?

For some yes. Any discipline takes time to develope and the want to. This is where saying learning everthing you can about nutrition will help you to occasionally enjoy what they tell you have to stay away from. However life wiil throw you some curves and upset everything. What we are learning about food constantly changes and over time or own bodies change and process foods differently. So do we have any hope of being perfect? No, but staying on top of it and adapting seems to be our best chance. At least untill a cure comes along.


:topic: Gina I see your recovery is coming along nicely.:D

[DeusXM]

However, I think the real question is less 'is it possible' than 'is is necessary?' I think you can quite happily live with diabetes without having to restrict yourself.

[Mick]

When I was diagnosed back in 1965, not only was it considered possible, but totally necessary--we had no choice back then. Without meters, and with only Regular and NPH insulins, you never adjusted your own insulin dose, and could not decide what to eat and shoot for it anyway, bacause you had to inject far ahead of eating times. It was rigid, inflexible and extremely difficult, especially for a little kid like me, but the choice--which doctors drew in frightening detail in the way of threats--was to just eat what you wanted and die young, with limbs amputated, blind, and in kidney failure--remember--this was in the days before laser treatments for retinopathy, before kidney dialysis. I took the threats really seriously, and lived for many many years like some kind of hindu holy man, eating little, keeping track of everything, and maintaining virtually perfect control.

When I finally, in my late 20s, lightened up, i forgot what a heavy burden diabetes was--that was a big mistake. I gained weight, and in my late 40s had a serious heart attack. That caused me to go back to my roots and then some. In addition to getting back to my old, super-controlled diabetic diet, I also had to add to it an even more restricted heart disease diet. I find that it's generally not that difficult to control it all--I count both carbs and fat grams. I stop the fat at 15 grams per day. I try and limit my carb intake by putting a cap on the number of units of bolus insulin I'll allow myself each day--usually no more than about 10 units per day, which will allow me to eat about 150 grams of carbs. That totals, (with my protein intake) about 900 calories per day--it seems a lot like near-starvation, but it's generally just fine, and I'm a very active person. I do take vacations several times per year--a weekend when I eat whatever I wish and shoot whatever I need, or an evening when I just load it all on. I find my eyes are generally much bigger than my stomach, my stomach being so small from my limited diet.

Yes, Iron self-control is possible, and it is, in many ways, it's own reward--being able to do it makes me feel strong, powerful, in control of my life. I like that feeling.

Michael
Type 1 since 1965

[lumplump]

Discipline I'm not a master of. But one thing I do know is that if you are chasing your sugars with higher doses of insulin you will, repeat will, gain weight.


Insulin tells your cells to use insulin to produce the energy
to live. That includes telling your fat cells to store it as fat if you don't exersize.

[lumplump]

"Insulin tells your cells to use glucose to produce the energy"

[zookeeper671]

I read an article a while ago in a diabetes magazine that stated that there's greater benefit for a Type 2 to use insulin rather than diet alone. It mentioned how it allowed a Type 2 to live a more forgiving lifestyle concerning food, eating, etc., and also would give the pancreas a bit of a rest.

Since I'm not Type 2, I don't know how one would feel about this. Just thought it was interesting.

Angie

[snakeye]

Mick that hart attack must have been a powerfull emotional motivatior. I guess we as human beings need that kind of leverage at some point.

But how to do it without an external trigger has always been my ultimate question. It's psychic; self motivation hardly work because you know youre doing it by yourself.

No need to say you post rare but it's always powerfull.

[mg_2204]

Angie, interesting question...

I don't know how I would feel about taking insulin. I did for a short while, when I was pregnant, and the experience has left me with unpleasant memories.

Marie
:)