Progress – Mar 28 – Apr 6, 2011

I came back from India and started my diet from Monday, Mar 28. I knew I needed to get this going.

I started off with a semi vegan diet. I cut off all sugar; I use very little oil in my cooking, and the only non-vegan item I am consuming at present is 2% milk for my coffee. I don’t eat once I am full, and eat at regular intervals. I would like to make clear that at no point have I starved myself and have eaten well all the time. It has been a conscious effort to be aware of what I am eating.

I tweaked a few things once I determined which items spiked up my sugar levels. This is given the current situation I am in where my body is very sensitive to certain kinds of food, some of which is fine at times when the sugar is under control.

I avoided the following -

* Baked soy chips and potato chips

* Rye bread which normally causes no issues (only rye and

pumpernickel bread work well)

* Rice, even though normally I only eat basmati rice (which is

not a very starchy rice)

* Potatoes, carrots, beets

* Grapes, water melon, pineapple

It really helps when you avoid the above initially, when you are getting bad sugar readings.

Instead, I ate – chick peas, kidney beans, moong and all kinds of pulses; fruits such as clementine, apple, pear, plum; old fashioned oatmeal; lots of vegetables; cooked cracked wheat instead of rice; chapatis made of whole wheat flour; and pasta cooked al dente. I added one Glucerna per day to the list, during the time between 4 pm and dinner, which I usually eat at 7.30 – 8 pm. Glucerna keeps, you sugar levels in check and is fantastic.

I have included my sugar readings below, one taken in the AM (fasting) and the other taken prior to dinner (which is 2 hours after a snack at work) around 7 pm. It will show you the resulting impact this change in the food I am eating has had on my sugar readings.

Fasting Sugar Trend - Mar 8 to Apr 6, 2011

Prior to Dinner Sugar Trend - Mar 8 to Apr 6, 2011

So now you can see the effect of just changing what you eat and being aware of what you eat. I know it works, some time it takes a little longer but this time has started working on me pretty early.

Average Sugar Readings

Time Period	Weight (lbs)	Fasting Sugar	Prior to Dinner Sugar
03/08/11 – 03/27/11	324	217.2	246.8
03/28/11 – 04/06/11	320	190.2	168.3

I will be writing separately about the diet that I am following, which is unlike several diets I have followed in the past, which in terms of results has helped me the most over time.

Until then

Sri

Time to Take Action

Why is it so difficult at times for the human mind to take control? Why is it that at times one needs a jolt and only then one springs into action? Well, anyway, that’s been the case with me for a good part of my life, when it comes to my health.

I did one good thing for my health when I was in India this time. I got a comprehensive health check up done at a hospital close by. The results weren’t pretty. In focus were my diabetes and cholesterol results. A good hearing from the doctor followed, who was almost suggesting that I may want to start administering insulin if things don’t improve with some changed prescriptions. I refuse to believe that.

My weight was 324 lbs. My diabetes readings were as follows: Fasting sugar 206, and after breakfast sugar at 252 (2 hours after breakfast); HPLC or 3 month average was 10.

My cholesterol readings were as follows: Total 235, HDL 47, LDL 157, Triglycerides 179…..you get the gist.

During this time period and around 2 weeks prior to my India trip I was getting sugar readings regularly in the 350 range and was greater than 250 most of the times. Fasting was always over 220. I started keeping tab of my sugar readings since the first week of March.

I know why I started this site, and what my goals are. I want to be diabetes free and medicine free mainly through diet and exercise. These results indicate that I have basically been BS’ing myself. And that would render this site a joke, a mockery of myself. Which I am not about to let happen and not why I am here. What I haven’t done is execute and take the proper steps to ensure that I follow the right path to reach my goal.

From the time I have come back from India at the end of March, I have started following a diet which is a semi vegan diet in that the only diary product I have is milk with my coffee, very little consumption of oil, and no sugar whatsoever. I am off to a good start.

Although I am happy that I have started going in the right direction, it need not have come to this level. I was 276 lbs after recovering from my surgery, and even though these pounds were lost due to the emergency surgery for my diverticulitis, I should have pounced on the opportunity and taken it down from there. Instead, it came back to 324 lbs,

I am going to do my level best to keep updating my progress here with details as to how I am achieving it, what helped me and what didn’t so that it benefits me like a progress report, and anyone else out there who may be struggling to cope as I have been. Until next time.

Sri