What Gets Me Fired Up With Diabetes - Food Police

For #DBlogWeek I want to share on the first topic: What gets me fired up?

The food police.

I love eating. I am a huge fan of all types of food. I try my best to eat right, to follow what is considered a good diabetic diet. Low carb, low sodium, low saturated fat…these are the standard normal elements of a diabetic meal plan, along with fiber to help reduce BG spikes and reduce the net carbs, protein, healthy fats, and so forth. Do I stick to this? Um…do YOU? Is your diabetes management perfect? Didn’t think so. So if we are all in this together, and if everybody should have their own unique management plan, then why does every diabetic want to tell me what I can or can’t eat?

Type 1 or type 2, diabetes is absolutely a disease that requires personal, individual planning. Diabetes is frequently lumped together as one big problem that is caused by eating crappy. Sure, we all eat horrible things, but that didn’t cause my diabetes. And yes, there are foods that we should absolutely avoid, but occasional indulgence is not going to ruin me. And yet, when I surf through all of the noise and misconceptions about the diabetic lifestyle and diet, I find a distressingly high number of diabetics defining “the diabetic diet” as if we are all on the same meal plan:

• No potatoes
•  No white bread
•  No sugar
•  No artificial sweeteners
• No pasta
• No rice
• No FRUIT (srsly?)
• No wheat
• No GMO
• No fast food
• No sodium
• No fat
• No food…….

Welcome to veggie town...but only if the plants you consume don’t include corn, peas, or other starchy choices. As a food lover I am not going that route. And, even though I eat a good amount of the above list, my A1C is great, my daily BG results are generally good, I’m in great physical shape, and I’m not feeing deprived. What a great balance for me. Why would another diabetic try so hard to define a plan that we should all be following? What works for you may not work for me. Here is what I have come to understand as truly great advice:

• Count your carbs
• Don’t over-indulge
• Don’t deprive yourself
• Eat plenty of the obviously good choices
• Above all, moderation is key.