“I think that you are going to see a whole batch of books coming out about diabetes and eating like a diabetic…this is going to be the hot thing.”
— Jackie Warner, RxMuscle.com
I read Jackie’s interview and was like, Wow! I’m so far ahead of my time! I’ve been eating like a diabetic since 2008!
If you are a new reader, you may not be aware that I am insulin resistant. What this means is that it takes a lot of starchy foods to spike my insulin levels enough to make me feel full — or it used to. Because I ate so poorly when I was obese, my body wasn’t sensitive enough to insulin to feel full after normal portions. I would crave doughy and greasy things because I thought that was the only way I could feel full — but it was really just that those foods were able to spike my insulin.
My story has an interesting twist because my body reset itself after six months of working out, and everything sailed along for three years. In March 2008 I hit a plateau and attributed it to stress, but by August I knew something was wrong. I remember working out like crazy that summer because I was so hungry all the time — I’d go to the gym and then go with my friend and her black Labs on a hike to burn off everything my body was constantly craving. I was always hungry before I started to lose weight, but once I started to exercise I just wasn’t as hungry. What I didn’t know was that the exercise had kicked everything — hormones, insulin levels — into gear.
I was really lucky and saw a great doctor, who listened to my weight loss history and said, “I think you are insulin resistant and have polycystic ovarian syndrome. If a normal girl worked out the way you’re telling me that you do, she’d be a stick.”
The blood work came back and all of the levels they test for — insulin, obviously, but also follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone and so on — were just a little off. Most doctors, mine told me, would have not gone right for medication, but clearly diet and exercise had done all they were going to do for me on their own. I take 500 mg of glucophage (well, its generic brother, metformin) twice a day.
Glucophage/metformin can be a sensitive medication. I had a friend who’d actually received the same diagnosis as me about a year before I did, and between her advice and reading on the Web, I learned that I would have to eat every few hours to keep my insulin levels stable. If you get too hungry, you feel really sick, and then you overeat and get even sicker. Anything too doughy, starchy, greasy, sugary or fatty makes you sick. Twice I’ve had a migraine and vomiting from eating things the metformin disagreed with (that was the end of my beloved tater tot casserole, with all its cheesey and starchy goodness).
I needed to eat complex carbs, more protein and a lot more veggies. I learned about the glycemic index and how foods low on the GI digest slower and keep you fuller longer. In other words, I was a prediabetic eating like a diabetic. Countless times, I have thought that if we all ate like diabetics, no one would actually become a diabetic.
Diabetes is, to put it mildly, serious stuff. 7.8 percent of the U.S. population, or 23.6 million people, have diabetes. It was the seventh leading cause of death listed on U.S. death certificates in 2006. To me, that statistic is like a slap in the face because I wonder how many cases of diabetes are preventable — according to one study, 90 percent of cases are.
I make no bones about it: My insulin resistance is 100 percent self inflicted. But it’s under control, thanks to diet and exercise and metformin. If you could save yourself the time, money, hassle and, uh, major health complications of diabetes — why wouldn’t you?
Eating like a diabetic is actually less labor intensive than Weight Watchers’ complicated food math. You eat good, whole foods in small quantities every few hours. Take some time and learn what foods are low on the glycemic index — they’re your best bets. In addition to doing wonders for your health, you’ll probably lose some weight along the way.
To learn more about diabetes prevention, check out the American Diabetes Association’s Stop Diabetes campaign.
7 comments
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May 18, 2010 at 11:01 am
Ash
I pretty much ate like a diabetic to lose my 85 lbs., too. However, since January, I’ve been having PCOS symptoms, so I’m going to be having bloodwork done in 2 weeks. If I find out that after losing so much weight and working so hard, it hits me now, I’ll be totally bummed… but at the same time, it will motivate me to stay healthy for the rest of my life to avoid diabetes and other life threatening illnesses.
May 18, 2010 at 11:08 am
Dawn Hutchins
I love this insightful post Ashley. My body is very sensitive to insulin and high glycemic foods. I have to defend weight watchers though. As of now it’s the only way I’ve been able to lose weight. I tried to do it on my own by just eating the right foods but my problem is eating TOO MUCH of the right foods. Weight watchers is a great way for those who need portion control and support. Once I got the point system down it was easier than anything else I’ve done and I have done it all. Low fat, low carb, South Beach, Adkins, clean foods, no processed foods, trying to just cut back and work out more. With the points now I don’t even have to think about it much. It’s a perfect way for me to have a sort of food diary.
May 18, 2010 at 11:25 am
Ashley
To be honest I have never tried Weight Watchers and didn’t really intend it to be a slam — it’s just that what I’ve read about Weight Watchers makes me think I wouldn’t be able to handle the Points system. A former coworker of mine is actually a WW leader and has maintained a 60-pound weight loss since the ’70s, and I have a great deal of respect for her.
May 18, 2010 at 12:13 pm
MelissaNibbles
Great post! I think eating clean, every 3-4 hours is best for our bodies. A little splurge now and then is okay though 😉
Congrats on getting to better health without medications!
May 18, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Anna
I remember reading about the GI in the South Beach Diet book and thinking, “Wow– this makes sense. Why haven’t I heard of this before now?” Eating every three to four hours is also something that really works well for me– I’m a snacker by nature, and eating mini meals 4-5 times a day instead of HUGE meals 3 times a day is definitely something that my body responds well to.
Great post!
May 18, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Angela @ A Healthy Fit
I posted about this article today too! I agree that more people just need to eat right and there would be a whole lot less of diseases and obesity.
My body definitely needs to eat every 3 hours!!
May 21, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Stephanie
A lot of bloggers seem to be writing posts about “eating like a diabetic” and talking about how “diabetes can be treatable” when in fact they are not providing the FULL scope of information.
There are two different types of diabetes. Type 1 and Type 2. Type 2 is basically what you’re talking about here and it is for the most part created by the foods we eat and putting on to much weight that it creates issues with our pancreas. Type 1 is what my boyfriend has, it’s Juvenille diabetes and is NOT associated with eating horrible foods and gaining weight. He was diagnosed when he was 10 and he’s in great shape, not overweight and you’d never even guess. There are levels of severity in this type of diabetes and his is the most severe. His body makes absolutely no insulin what so ever. That means he is constantly pumping insulin into his body mulitiple times a day. We eat very low carb because that spikes his insulin but have to keep sugary treats around this house incase his blood sugar drops dangerously.
I’d hate to see this turn into a dieting fad where people are telling people to “eat like a diabetic” when in reality it’s very very serious and there are lots of factors that come into play here. My boyfriend would give anything to eat normally without having to worry and count numbers and obsess about every little spike or carb content.
The fact of the matter when it comes to eating healthy is to just eat clean healthy fruits and veggies with some grains and legumes. Eat clean to AVOID disease like Type 2 diabetes.
This of course is not a personal dig at you…It’s great that people are talking about it to raise awareness I just don’t think the correct information is getting out there. It also horrifies me to think about diabetics being the new “hot trend”
YIKES