My friend, Jen T. over at
Many Blessings, Busy Life requested some information on how I manage my diabetes and pregnancy. It has taken me far too long to get to it. But here it is.
My Story
When I was diagnosed with diabetes, at a very young age, I was caught quite off guard. I knew I was at risk because of my family history. However, I was well below the average age of the typical person who develops diabetes. I exercised faithfully. I ate well. I maintained a healthy weight. My doctor and I agreed I was one of the healthiest people we knew. But here it was.
Being diagnosed so much earlier, was both a blessing and a curse. The longer one has diabetes, the more likely you are to develop side effects. However, on the positive side, because I was diagnosed early, I had a lot of opportunity to control the outcome.
I learned everything I could about the disease and decided, if you have to have something, this was a good thing to have. Unlike many chronic illnesses, diseases and disorders, we can have a lot of control over diabetes. Exercise and diet have a huge impact on the rise and fall of high levels of blood glucose that can cause the harmful effects of diabetes. I like knowing that I can do something.
My studying really paid off. Except during pregnancy, when I am insulin dependent, I have been able to completely control my blood sugar drug free for more than six years. And it really isn't very difficult. Nor do I ever feel I have been deprived of something.
What is that you say? You aren't diabetic. Well before you stop reading, let me share what I learned in my training classes. If all Americans stuck to a diabetic diet we would see much less obesity and sickness. That's right. A diabetic lifestyle is good for everyone and it is your best prevention for developing the disease to begin with.
I am going to focus mostly on pregnancy and blood glucose control because Jen is looking to control her weight and keep baby a healthy size for a safer delivery. However, once again, there is very little difference in what is healthy for expecting mamas and the rest of us.
Exercise, An Important Role
I would like to talk just briefly about exercise because while it plays a vital role, it really is quite a simple thing to understand. We all need to get up and get moving. But it doesn't need to be a big ordeal. It doesn't need to be complicated. We don't even need to put on exercise clothes. While I have been an avid exerciser for most of my life, in conjunction with diabetes I found a simple 10 minute walk following each meal was all it took to reduce my blood sugar to safe levels and therefor reduce the amount of medication and injections needed. I can not over stress this enough. Just get up from the table and take a ten minute stroll. Or if you prefer, pop in a video. Pull out the old weights and do a few curls. Or hop on a bike, stationary or the good old fashioned kind. Or the tread mill. Put in a CD and dance with the kids for 3 or 4 songs. The weather is no good? No room for exercise equipment? Walk up and the down the stairs for ten minutes. The impact just ten minutes of moving has on your blood glucose and energy levels is phenomenal. If I can fit three ten minute sessions in my day, anyone can, so you have no excuse not to do it. And you will be shocked at the difference it makes. Commit to it for just one week and then email me and tell me how much better you feel. If you are going for blood glucose control it is important that this follow your three meals.
Keys to a Good Diet
An important key to keeping blood glucose in check is protein. This was initially very hard for me not being someone who regularly ate meat.
Another key (to prevent
hypoglycemia and to make sure baby is getting enough nutrition) is eating every three hours throughout the day (and often during the night, too.) I don't typically eat so often or so much during the day so I literally have to set a timer to go off every three hours to remind me to eat. The large increase in calories means big gains at the scale (about 60 pounds a pregnancy) which is tough and frustrating because I know I will have to work it back off. However, I have had 3 successful pregnancies and deliveries since I was diagnosed with diabetes so I will gladly do it all. Most people would not need to stick to the every three hours but you will likely find you feel better if you do.
One more important key is to know how to count carbohydrate servings and balancing your meals accordingly. Each carb serving is made up of 15 carbohydrates. Each meal and snack should contain 2 carbohydrate servings for a total of 30 carbs. For example, an apple is 15 carbs or 1 carb serving. A slice of whole grain bread is 15 carbs or one carb serving. Add some peanut butter and you have a great breakfast with 30 carbs and some protein.
Many people have no idea what a carb is so let me simplify it. Milk, grains (oatmeal, grits, wheat, pasta, bread, cous cous...) fruit and starchy veggies (winter squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes) dry beans and legumes, sugars (including honey, molasses, syrup) and of course ice cream, sodas, other sweetened drinks (sweet tea, lemonade, energy drinks) desserts and other sweets.
I am allergic to milk so it is not part of my meal plan. However, if you are a milk drinker, you could add it to your meal plan in exchange for another carbohydrate serving. 8 ounces of milk is 15 carbs or 1 carb serving. Learning to read the packages is the way to go so you can plan your meals accordingly.
I rarely consume simple sugars and when I am pregnant it is even rarer. It is just too hard on me and baby. However, there is no reason you can not eat anything you desire, as long as you count the carbs and stick to the carb limit.
Resources
A good set of measuring cups and spoons and an electronic scale will go a long way in helping you to do this.
I like the website
Calorie King to look up carb counts to help plan my meals at home. I find it helpful to plan ahead when we will be dining out. Calorie King has a huge database of restaurant meals.
I also keep the
exchange list for diabetics) in my kitchen. This is also available at
Amazon. It is only a few dollars but a great investment if you are working towards better health.
When I calculate a recipe I write down the carb count and serving size for 30 carbs right on the recipe card or in my cook book so I have it readily available next time. It is quite simple to calculate the carbs in your favorite recipe and you might be surprised at what you come up with. This is an excellent exercise for those home school moms out there.
One cook book I really like is
Fix-it and Forget-it diabetic cookbook. I find I prefer to eat what I like and limit the serving to my carb intake. I truly am never hungry and when I stick to my carb limit I feel fabulous.
Most Americans eat too much food in general and specifically too many carbs for their health sake. I do not in any way advocate a low carb or carb free diet. These are unhealthy and down right dangerous. But the enormous amount of carbs consumed by the average American is killing them. And looking around at the amount of illness caused by poor eating and obesity, I am sure you don't need me to tell you that.
My Meal Plan
To give you an idea of how my meal plan works, here is my simple pregnancy meals.
The biggest change from my regular meal plan is breakfast. As a general rule I typically eat fruit for breakfast. But when I am pregnant my sugar can not handle it. Keep in mind that these are just suggestions from what I like to eat. You can easily mix and match from any meal. The key is to keep to those 30 carbs/6 times a day/every 3 hours or if you aren't pregnant and would prefer you can divide 180 carbs over 3 meals.
Breakfast is typically one of the following:
oatmeal with nuts, a peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread, 2 slices of whole wheat toast with butter, 2 Whole grain waffles with butter, a whole wheat english muffin, half a whole grain bagel with cream cheese, 1/3 cup home made granola (30 carbs worth). If I am not having another source of protein (peanut butter and nuts) I also include an egg white that has been hard boiled or fried. I am allergic to the yolk but it is a good source of fat if you desire to eat it.
For my 9 am snack I typically have 30 carbs of fruit with a spoonful of peanut butter or a handful of nuts for the protein to stabilize my glucose. Alternately, I would have anything from the list above.
At lunch, I am a big fan of tuna salad on two slices of rye bread and will eat it almost every day when I am expecting. I like to have a pile of raw veggies or a nice big salad with this.
My 3 pm snack is usually 30 carbs of fruit with an ounce of cheese or some peanut butter. I love to slice a granny smith apple thin and slice some cheese and use the apple in place of crackers.
At 6 I eat dinner from whatever I prepared for the family with lots of veggies or a nice salad.
At 9 pm I have a tuna sandwich, peanut butter sandwich or 30 carbs of fruit with a big spoon of peanut butter.
Jen, as I said in my email, I am sorry this took so long to get to you. I hope it is helpful to you, yet. I appreciate you spurring me on to do it. This has been on my mind to blog about for a long while but somehow something else always comes up. Wishing you and baby the best for these last few weeks. We can hardly wait to meet your new blessing.
Hugs,
Kat
