DIABETES FOR DUMMIES - PART 2

This afternoon Mum had her second appointment with the Diabetes Educator (DE) and the topic was "diet analysis and feedback." Mum has kept a diet diary for 2 weeks and the DE examined it and gave feedback on what mum's been eating - keeping in mind she (Mum) has been instructed to lose weight and been given a list of foods she should and shouldnt eat. There is no such thing as intuitive eating when you're managing Type 2 diabetes through diet and lifestyle!!

So the first bit of good news was a 2.9kg loss on the scales (over a 2 week period). Mum's diet is a lot leaner but she still eats cashews and avocado for good fats. Gone are the daily cakes and fatty salami style meats - replaced with lean beef and chicken breasts. She is allowed 3 serves of fruit every day and she has this religiously as she loves fruit.

The examination of her diet got the thumbs up - leaner, still good variety and obviously getting the desired result. Plus she is eating 6 times a day so there is no starvation involved. Add the daily walking (for a longer time now than what she could manage 2 weeks ago) and she was scoring gold stars left right and centre.

She then had a lesson in how to measure blood sugar levels and was provided with the necessary machinery for this and the visit finished with a lesson on the implications and side effects of diabetes with very clear instructions as to why it was SO important to manage the lifestyle factors that impact on it.

I'm so proud of mum for really making the effort to change and not taking this lightly. I know Dad has had a bit of a whinge about some of the "new food" but he's been told to "be quiet" and he has also lost some weight.

As for me, I did a little mini meet with my Metal Monster this morning and to my surprise it was telling me that I'm still in the 65s (albeit only be hair's whisker). That's a nice levelling out if ever there was one. Now to have that drop a little more by Christmas Day would be like icing on my cake :-)

M