Fitness Diet & Diabetes
I’ve started to follow a new food plan that’s a lot like a diet a fitness competitors diet. As a type 1 diabetic I’m facing challenges every day that a healthy person doens’t even have to think about. Sometimes it’s really tirening when I have to worry and count my insulin amounts around the clock, but when the blood sugar levels stay steady it’s worth all the effort.
Some reasons that affect my blood glucose level are for example high intensity exercise (martial arts), un-regular work (freelancer musician) and late working hours (playing gigs in the middle of the night). I was wearing the insulin pump earlier but it didn’t work for me because I had to take it off sometimes many times a day due to exercise or performing. What followed from that was that my blood glucose levels went crazy since I didn’t have enough insulin in my body.
I’ve gone back to insulin pens now and they are working better. I’ve still had some issues with i.e. bloated stomach, exhaustion, craving carbs and sugar, hands and legs cramping, tensed neck, and blood glucose levels still going up and down. I started to find solution to these problems through food. I figured that if I eat the same things every day, at the same time, my body will get used to that rhythm and portions. The carbohydrates should be ”good carbs” and the amount reasonable.
So I decided to buy a diet and exercise plan through a Finnish personal training company. It wasn’t tailor-made for me but rather a general program ment for anyone. In this diet the daily calories are 1890kcal on the days you exercise and 1650kcal on rest days. The amounts seem a bit low especially for a person my size (175cm, 72kg, actively exercising). So sometimes I have raised the amount sa tiny bit. But still I have to say even when we’re talking about being around 2000kcal, I haven’t been hungry on one single day.
Also my bg levels calmed down immediately. I’m really surprised since I’ve always eaten really healthy and really made effort with my diet.
In this new diet there’s no snacks at all but the day is built like this:
- Breakfast (carbs+protein)
- Lunch (carbs+protein+vegetables)
- Dinner (carbs+protein+vegetables)
- After training (supplement/protein+carbs)
- Supper (protein+vegetables)
- Evening meal (carbs+protein+vegetables)
So it’s the same pattern on almost every meal, and always proper food with loads of vegetables. You’re also using a lot of olive oil. The sources for protein and carbs and defined carelly so you can’t just eat any carbs or proteins. Earlier I was eating more snacks between meals and especially on afternoons I would get such cravings for sweets. I did bake small treats quite often although they all were healthy without any wheat, refined sugar etc. But still that kind of pattern wasn’t really working for me.
I think that this kind of diet could really work for me on the long run. To be honest with you it is a little bit boring to eat like this and also means I have to eat a lot of broccoli (which I hate), but at the end if it keeps my bg levels steady it’s worth the ”suffer”. It’s hard to explain to a healthy person what it feels like when your bg levels are going up and down. The differences doesn’t even have to be that big, when it starts to affect you, your brain and how you function. Constant rollercoaster makes a diabetic like a car that doesn’t have enough petrol or the driver can’t change the gear properly. It exhausts you and you can only function about half of all your capacity.
So I will be excited to continue my diet and fingers crossed it’ll keep going as well as it has :D I will keep you posted on my journey to discover the ”holy grail” of diabetes – the perfect blood glucose level!
Lotta xxx
