Meal Management 1/2: Back Story

I have a formula. I haven't determined whether it will or won't work because I have trouble sticking to it. But I'll share it with you nonetheless.

But first, backstory. I think I am addicted to carbs, which is unfortunate for a diabetic. I don't feel full til I've had my fill of bread or pasta. Veges just don't do it for me. And I love fruit, but it leaves my stomach rumbling and me craving more dessert until I get some cookies or cake in me. Ok, so it's not this bad all the time, but often it is. It makes diabetes management very hard.

I could blame lots of things besides myself, even though I'm ultimately the responsible one. I blame my switch from regular to Humalog most of the time. I was a candidate for a pump when I was 14, and switched to Multiple Daily Injections (MDI) at that point (do they even call it that anymore?). Here I am, eight years later, and I am still taking multiple injections because my a1C's haven't come down far enough to actually enter pump education (not to mention I sitll can't afford the copay for a pump. Outrageous!). My logic: when I switched to MDI, my doctor told me I could essentially eat whatever I wanted. Wow! Whatever I wanted, and just take a shot with it! Awesome! I think I ate anywhere from 100-200 grams of carbs a day after that, and a lot of it I didn't take insulin for (oops).

My mom is the same way. She and I are about the same weight, although she is taller than me and carries her weight at her hips (I dangerously carry mine around my stomach, which I ironically inherited from my great aunt who I am named after). But we both enjoy eating, and we both feel fuller when we have had a good carbo-filled meal.

But it's so dangerous anymore. Recently, my Doctor put me on Symlin (an Amylin supplement; Amylin is a hormone made in the liver that tells the brain when the stomach is full and also helps control post-meal spikes, something I was and do have problems with). The hardest part is remembering to take it. It does affect your stomach until your body is used to it, and so you have to start taking it gradually, anytime you eat 30 or more grams of carbohydrates. If you stop taking it, you have to start again at the smallest dose and work back up again or you get really sick (I found this out the hard way). I also stuffed myself silly before I felt the least bit full (another sign of Amylin deficiency).

Moral of the story is, because of these factors, I had (and still have) very, very poor meal planning abilities. Top that off with living on a college campus for 3 years (eating the limited salad bar with light ranch as the only "healthy" dressing option gets old fast), and you have a recipie for disaster.

Living on my own has helped tremendously. It is so difficult though. It's easy to buy frozen dinners and shove them in the freezer (my biggest temptation is to buy several Totinos pizza's that only cost 1.25 each and eat the whole pizza in one sitting - about 60 grams of carbohydrates and more calories than I even want to mention). But, as a former proponent of "I don't cook," I've begun to enjoy the hobby. As I am working 40 hour weeks this summer (a new concept to me!) I find that coming home and cooking a meal destresses me after a long day (dispite the fact that during southwest Missouri's way-hotter-than-normal June my roommate refused to turn on the a/c!).

I have come up with a game plan for meal planning. As I've rambled on about myself enough for one day, I'll share it with you tomorrow.

S