Carbs?! Psssht!! It's about BALANCE!!!

Thursday 5/13 - To carb or not to carb. Today let’s blog about what we eat. And perhaps what we don’t eat. Some believe a low carb diet is important in diabetes management, while others believe carbs are fine as long as they are counted and bolused for. Which side of the fence do you fall on? What kind of things do you eat for meals and snacks? What foods do you deem bolus-worthy? What other foodie wisdom would you like to share? 


Ironically, before I was diagnosed with T1 diabetes, I ate a pretty healthy diet.  My family has a dense history of T2 diabetes, and I was trying to avoid that.  And since God has a sense of humor, I got diagnosed with T1, instead.  I enjoyed a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, seafood, and whole grains--kind of a leaning towards a Mediterranean diet. 

The 2nd day after my diagnosis, I went to visit a CDE and a nutritionist.  The nutritionist set up some calorie and carb guidelines for me.  My "plan" (and I use this term loosely right now) was 1500 calories, 150 g carbs, and 50 g fat per day.  And I kept a purple binder with a pen/highlighter and logged what I ate everyday for several months.  Mostly, I was keeping it to know how I'm supposed to be eating, but I was also trying to lose my diagnosis-10.  It was really hard to meet each individual guideline, not just calories.  However, this binder was still during my MDI & Lantus days, so losing weight was extremely hard.  I was able to somewhat train my appetite to these guidelines a little bit (but now I can't handle milk chocolate because it's too sweet & rich for me, BAH!), so I somewhat still stick to this plan but it's just not written down.

But what about now and today?  Well, ever since Trey and I got married I have discovered something:  I LOVE to cook!  I love the smell of olive oil heating up on a skillet with minced garlic.  My mind can wander and be productive at the same time.  It's soothing.  I especially love making things from scratch as much as possible.  My homemade lasagna takes 2 hours just preparation time.  I have started making homemade pizza with fresh dough and homemade sauce and each sample has been delicious.  And my specialty is homemade Sloppy Joe's, oh yeah, with cheese!  But with all these homemade specialties, I at least try to have a balanced plate with veggies and protein.

So, am I low carb, no carb, or "hey, whatever!" carb?  I typically don't think strictly carbs (at least diet-wise, diabetes wise is all about carbs), I try to think about balance and try to get all the steps in the food pyramid.

So for any meal that I consume, I try to have at least 1 serving of whole grain carbs, 1 serving of fresh fruit/vegetable, 1 serving of a good, lean protein, and 1 serving of dairy.  And if I have fats or cook with oils, it's either olive oil or nuts like peanuts and almonds. 

But this is not my diet day-to-day!  I give myself at least one meal a week where I eat something extremely bad for me and forces me to worry about my diabetes.  In fact, this weekend we have a couple date with some friends to go to a local pizza place and try out a new local beer (can you tell I like to support local stuff?).  And I give myself one fast-food meal a week for the other 4 days that I pack my lunch.  I actually read somewhere that having one really big meal a week kind of ramps up your metabolism by giving your digestive system a marathon, but that could just be my justification for my weekly pizza and beer. 

So, there's my rough guideline system for daily food consumption.  Food should be enjoyable as well as nutritional, at least that's what I try to achieve!