Small Changes

I know that I didn’t gain the weight overnight. It took me multiple years to get here. I live with ADHD, Type 2 Diabetes, Hypothyroidism, Depression, Anxiety,and High Blood Pressure. I’ve already had a stroke and at some point, a heart attack. I’m only 53.

I want to regain what I lost: my health. I know that there are some things that I will not be able to get rid of by getting healthy. Some things I will have to live with the rest of my life. However, I can get healthy. I can change my lifestyle. It will be slow. It will come with small changes.

For the first time in a long time, I’ve woken up to blood glucose levels in the 270s. This is the second day in a row that I’ve had that number. For the past few months it has been in the 340 range when I wake up.

I really didn’t change much yesterday. I had two bowls of soup, cheese sticks, and popcorn. And lots of coffee. I tried to stay awake and busy much of the day. The busy part was to keep me from grazing all day. Otherwise I would’ve had way too much to eat. I would’ve eaten all day and my numbers this morning would’ve reflected that.

My weight is at 265 right now. I started this journey at less weight.

I eat out of boredom. I am also an emotional eater. If I’m upset, I will eat. I will also eat past the feeling of fullness.

A few years ago, I did a diet through my insurance. It worked really well. I don’t think I lost as much weight as I could’ve, but I did lower my blood glucose. In fact, when I had to go to the hospital because my doctor overdosed me on steroids (I had a yeast infection and they stated it was a rash and put me on steroids, and then when I went back because there was no change, they gave me a shot of steroids on top of the steroids I had already taken), the nurses accused me of starving myself because my blood glucose had dropped so much, so they forced me to eat. At that time, I had weaned myself off of diet sodas and ate much smaller portions. I also took my time eating and ate smaller meals throughout the day. I also ate what I wanted.

The whole idea behind the diet was to eat slowly and allow our brain to realize that we were full. You didn’t shovel food in. You took a bite and chewed slowly. You ate what you were wanting first. The entire diet was based on psychology rather than physiology. As an emotional eater, it was what I needed to be successful.

What I plan to do is to make some small changes. I want to start with eating purposely. Slow bites. Chew. Take my time. When my body signals that it is hungry, I’m going to drink some water to see if it is truly hungry or thirsty. The point was to not wait until you were starving to eat. You needed to determine when your body really needed to break that first fast. Usually, I needed fluids in the morning. I still do. I drink water and coffee, and I’m good until around 11 a.m. before I need to eat. I can eat a few almonds to hold me over until I can eat my lunch, and then it is a matter of taking my time to eat my lunch. Unfortunately, during the work day, I only get 15 minutes or less to eat.

I’m starting off this week with the changes. I hope that I will be able to see the results.