Last week I received an ugly surprise when the results came back from my latest blood work. My doctor had written the dreaded words “pre-diabetic” over the section of the report that listed my triglycerides. They were beyond the acceptable limit and I was being called to task. As my 60th birthday approaches, I am taking stock of myself. Like packing for a trip, I am systematically checking off my bodily “to do” list in an attempt to assure I am ready for the next twenty years or so.
I’ve known I was a possible candidate for diabetes for most of my adult life. My Grandma Farner had stage 2 diabetes and so does my dad. Given the amount of weight I’ve managed to gain in the past twenty years and my almost insatiable sweet tooth fed by a love of ice cream and chocolate, there would be no avoiding the problem unless I took some action.
Dieting has been difficult for me. In my mid thirties I was moderately successful with Weight Watchers but in later years I always seemed to be the one person left in the crowd supporting my friends to success while I ended up giving up in frustration.
Last year I heard about a diet on Dr. Phil (of all places) that seemed to make sense. I ordered the book, read the beginning, gave it a half-hearted attempt and put it on the shelf. With my new-found motivation, I decided to take the book out and give the diet a second try.
The premise of this diet is to reset the way I look at food. Instead of looking at eating as a means to feed my empty stomach, I need to be a lot more selective and only eat foods that will nourish my body. All of this involves almost daily trips to the grocery store and more cleaning, cutting, chopping and chewing of vegetables than I ever thought possible in any given day but after one week, I have to admit, I do feel better. I no longer feel hungry between meals. I don’t go on my usual mid-afternoon recon missions through the pantry to decide if I want something sweet or salty – or both. Instead, I feel satisfied with what I eat because I’m nourishing my body.
One of the best features of this plan is that is has a mapped out plan. I have two weeks of complete meals planned out for me. I wiggle around some of the stuff but I like how I’m being shown the variety of choices I have. This makes me feel only moderately restricted. And, aside from feeling more energetic, more alert and just plain better, I’ve also been losing weight; which at this point seems more like a bonus than a goal.
As with all journeys, I’m sure there will be things along the way that I’ve forgotten to check off the list and there will be the unexpected delays and side tracks along the way. But I am at least hopeful that I am beginning to head in the right direction and that is a good thing!