In April 2014 I received bad news from my phisycian: "You sugar levels are too high and we need to consider using insulin to control it". My grandparents were diabetic, the brother of my mother was diabetic and my father sisters were diabetic. My father was never diagnosed, but it may be because he never tested for diabetes.
All my life I have been testing for diabetes at least twice a year. In 2009 I was diagnosed with diabetes type 2. I was given a prescription to control my sugar levels and that work fine for the first few years. But I did not change my life style. I kept drinking beer, eating white rice, bread and all sorts of sweets. I really have a sweet tooth!
So, back to April 2014. Reality check, I was going in a path that will certainly shorten my life span and most important my quality of life.
I know that I am very weak when presented with foods and beverages that I enjoy. When I decided to start watching what I ate and drink I was not thinking on losing weight. I was thinking on keeping my blood sugar at a healthy level without any additional medication, and certainly without insuline.
I decided that in order to be successful I had to implement changes that did not feel like diet. Why am saying this? Because when you are in a diet you have a loss weight in sight, and once you get there you will go back to your unhealthy eating habits and gain the weight back, and many times, even more.
What to do then? Start slowly. One change at a time. The first change I did was to monitor my health on a daily basis. Get a good quality scale. In these times is easy to get one that not only measures your weight but also your body fat, and keeps record of your weight. I measure my blood levels daily, and sometimes twice a day. Measure your physical effort. Know your numbers and update them often.
Then I removed beer from my every day. This does not mean that I never have a beer again, just that I wont have as many as I use to have. When I am in a social gathering, instead of beer I have a glass of wine, or a tequila shot. One, not many.
Giving up beer made my sugar levels go down almost immediately. That was a very positive feedback and allow me to make sure that I resist the temptation better. I noticed that eating rice sent my blood sugar levels up, so now I am very careful with rice. In general I won't have it at night, and if I have it, it will be in small amounts.
For my personl metabolism, corn tortillas (two or three) or a slice of whole wheat bread work really well and do not impact my blood sugar levels.
Sometimes instead of giving up you have to give in. I started adding other ingredients to my diet. Apples and grapes were an interesting addition. Instead of a slice of bread with butter and jam, I now have an apple, or a bunch of grapes. The extra fiber in them is a great bonus.
Almonds are almost the perfect snack. They provide good amounts of good fat, make you feel full and have low levels of carbs. Just be careful with the salt, as most commercial brands have a lot of it. Better bought in bulk, without and salt. Eat with the skin as the fiber content is very good for you.
In general I don't like salads, but I discovered "Nopales", wich is spanish for a kind of cactus. They are very tasty and work really well in a salad with tomatoes and chile peppers. Also cucumbers and jicama provide ingredients for very satisfiyng salads.
I do not intend to go vegetarian, but I try not to eat meat as often as I did, and certainly I watch the amount I eat. I try always to complement meat with vegetables and fuit.
I try to eat at regular times, and to never leave the table hungry. If you are hungry you will eat something that you will regret. Better eat more vegetables and fruit and feel satisfied than leave the table hungry and eat sweet or fat snacks later.
Losing weight was a consequence of changing my eating/drinking habits. These days I eat well, exercise well and control my cravings better. Since I am not in a diet, there is no end date to the way I am eating, and I expect that the weight I am losing will never come back. Adding vegetables and fruit to my diet have the additional benefit of making it more varied and interesting.