Anyone else out there able to achieve "decent" numbers/results with good old fashioned moderation when managing their diabetes? It seems like there are many extreme "fad" diets and exercise programs that are geared toward diabetes .... I have always simply managed my Type 1 Diabetes with moderation when eating and exercising, that's it, not a big secret. I'd probably eat and exercise the same way with or without diabetes to tell you the truth.
I would be interested in hearing from others that are doing the same thing.
Funny that you say that. After I gave birth to my second child, my endo at the time said that the diet I was on (for gestational diabetes) is actually a good diet in general, with or without diabetes. However, it seems that some people’s bodies can handle a more rough touch and still survive without much lasting damage. I don’t think I fall into that category though… I’ve always kind of known that I’m one of those people who can’t tolerate physical extremes. I guess that goes with a low pain threshold too.
Danny , even prior to diagnosis ( 1983 ) and maybe that’s why is was quite easy for me to accept the " diabetes healthy meal plan and the exercise program " as gospel, I continued what I was " used to " with the exception of NOT having liqueurs on Friday eve’s …this became soon a NO big deal . I stopped smoking well before diagnosis . I never followed a fad diet…probably saved myself a bundle , ha, ha .Call it Moderation or ?
“Moderation in all things, including moderation.” is an ancient ethical doctrine attributed usually to Aristotle. Though you’d be hard pressed to find a quote from him.
I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work as well for people with Type 2 as with Type 1. (Let’s please not go there again.) It’s a philosophy many people follow with and without diabetes. It will work for the shoemaker and it will work for the Duke.
Yes, I’d say so, Danny. I’ve been able to stay a vegetarian by eliminating pasta and rice, and I eat about 100 carbs a day, which is less than I ate before diagnosis, but not super low. I cook and enjoy trying different recipes and ethnic foods. I don’t exercise per se (never have, and not likely to change that anytime soon at age 61!), but I don’t own a car so I walk a lot just in my daily activities. (And I’m retired except for teaching online so I have the time to do this). I haven’t eaten sugar for 16 years due to an eating disorder, so that was one thing I didn’t have to deal with when I was diagnosed with diabetes. My last A1C was 6.3. So, yes, I’d say I’m moderate and have “decent” A1Cs, though I know many are lower. It’s the balance I’ve chosen and it works for me; if something changes I’ll rethink things then!
Because, Terry, if all you have to work with are diet and exercise and you are moderate about them, you don’t get good control. It would be like only taking a “moderate” amount of insulin rather than what you need.
Incidentally, Aristotle is misunderstood. He felt that a virtuous person knew when to apply courage and when to apply discretion; he didn’t advocate that we should never go to one extreme or the other. A person who is habitually rash is not virtuous; but a person who steps forward in a life-or-death situation and is heroic is virtuous. In a non life or death situation the person may just be impetuous.
I think my diet is pretty moderate. I’d probably eat a bit differently if I didn’t have D, but I’d probably end up skipping more meals and maybe eating more per meal. At least I vaguely remember doing things like that before my diagnosis.
My exercise program, now, ranges from moderate to the extreme end, but I do try to do some type of exercise 5 to 6 days a week. That’s mostly because I just enjoy working out. The fact that it helps me control my diabetes just gives me a little extra motivation to get to the gym on days when it might be a bit tougher to get off the couch. I’d probably skip a few more days a month if I didn’t have D but I don’t know that my program would differ all that much.
I’ve never used any kind of “fad diet”… just common sense and moderation It seems to be that a majority of the “fads” are fueled by T2’s who are desperate to avoid any kind of medication… I don’t have a choice in the medication department, so I’d rather not deny myself the foods I enjoy.
I think the biggest change I made to my exercise program is going to the gym more. It’s climate controlled and populated by people most of the time. The first helps on days when the weather is extreme. The second gives me more of a sense of security wen it comes to hypos thann being out on the road or the only person at the track.
Let’s propose a counterfactual thought experiment. If you could have postponed insulin dependence by daily or near-daily exercise and a low-carb diet, would you have done so, or gone right to insulin?
But Frances, ‘moderate’ is not an absolute concept. There is no objective measure of a ‘moderate amount of insulin’. It can only mean the amount of insulin that you need - no more, no less. Of course,the trick is finding that amount.
Dr. Bernstein’s “law of small numbers” is on point here. A moderate diet and moderate exercise and moderation in other things will help you find the right amount - the moderate amount - of insulin to use to avoid taking a lot to correct a high or too little because you fear a low. This is in contrast to the view of some who think if one uses insulin one can ingest anything as long as they take enough insulin to ‘cover it.’
Incidentally the quote also counsel moderation in moderation. But, as I said, you won’t find a direct quote from Aristotle to that effect.
At the time, yes. In hindsight, no. In the abstract, no.
At the time I was exercising daily and eating low carb and was desperate to avoid using insulin because it would signify failure and it would be painful and burdensome.
In hindsight I see that I was wrong about insulin and postponing it also postponed better control. I’ve maintained my daily exercise routine. Perhaps that’s a benefit of postponement. Hmmm.
In the abstract, if diet and exercise merely postpone the inevitable and the inevitable isn’t harmful, why bother postponing?
This is a good question, Frances, and illustrates how knowing that you can better your health without taking medication may create a different sort of situation psychologically thinking. I suppose it depends on how much you hate taking medication. Would a type 1 take having type 2 because there is the possibility of avoiding medication altogether? I’d say yes based on some responses I’ve seen. There are some people who absolutely hate medical interference in their lives, my father is one of them. He actually has that “white coat” phenomenon which causes his blood pressure to be higher when he’s at the doctor’s office. If he does not have an urgent reason to be at the doctor’s, he stays away.
If it were me, I’d say I’d try to avoid insulin, but if doing so made my life hell, i.e. I had tremendous trouble with adhering to a lifestyle which had become Spartan in order to keep my BG under control, then I’d succumb and take it so I wouldn’t go out of my mind. Life is too short.
I think I find that a little bit offensive in more ways than one…
Our “medications” are not as harmless as Insulin, where at the most, you get fat for abusing carbohydrates.
The race is not a race to avoid medications, it is a race to prolong the function of our pancreas. Medications, especially cocktails of medications, with time, are hugely expensive… not to mention, that eventually one needs other medications to deal with the complications of the diabetes medications we were taking to being with. There is no need to make Diabetes more expensive than it needs to be.
Yes, I am desperate. I am desperate to keep my health, without having to have someone give me 3 extra pills (that could cause me liver damage, heart damage, high cholesterol, etc), and 10 extra other pills to cover the side effects. That would never happen with your precious insulin. If I can lead a semi-normal life with what you consider a “fad diet,” and what people just LOVE attacking on these forums, by touting the benefits of “moderation” and why are people so focused on “fad,” than by hell, I am going to do the “fad” diet. In 30 years, I know I am going to have my legs, thanks to my “fad” diet… And I can’t say the same for those others who are so busy making threads about how the rest of us are so wrong for not exercising “moderation,” or how we’re merely desperate Type 2’s.
Moderation is the best way to describe it. I don’t do a super low carb diet, but I do try to watch portion size and try to make healthier choices. My numbers are pretty good. I could be a lot better about the exercise. Moderation opens up your options. I don’t feel deprived of anything. Except for french fries. I’ve so been jonesing for some french fries. I just can’t bring myself to do it.
It seems to be that a majority of the “fads” are fueled by T2’s who are desperate to avoid any kind of medication… I don’t have a choice in the medication department, so I’d rather not deny myself the foods I enjoy.