Well, it’s a New Year and I’m going to try and do better about blogging. Looking back at last year, it was pretty scarce, as in didn’t really happen! Well today’s a new day and it’s a new year. I’ll start again.
This past year I’ve been working to improve my health. I feel like I’m making real progress. It hasn’t been without its ups and downs! Maybe, just maybe, I’m finally on the road to better health. What lead me to this point was a realization that I am more like my mom than I thought. Don’t get me wrong, she was a wonderful woman and I love her very much but we all have ways that we don’t want to be like our parents (Really, really don’t want to know what my sons thoughts are on this!). Oooo, that’s a bunny trail! Back to better health.
See before Mom passed away she was dealing with Type 2 diabetes and all the fun little things that go along with it. I believe she had gestational diabetes when we four children were born, as we all were well over 8 lbs at birth. A diagnosis was not made at that time, at least to my knowledge. I too was gestational diabetic with my second son. In fact, I was insulin dependent. I could not control my sugars with diet alone so I had to give myself insulin shots every day. I was borderline diabetic with my first son. With this knowledge of diabetes, you would think that would change my lifestyle then and there. Well, no. It didn’t. Shall we say I’m stubborn?
So there I am 25 years later, knowing in the back of my head the path I’m heading down and still not having changed my lifestyle. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not obese or inactive. I’m just not taking care of me like I should. Finally, I accept that if I don’t make changes now I’ll be dealing with the same issues my mom had later in life. No thank you.
It was a tough year trying to get myself to stop eating sugar and to eat at home more. It’s too easy to pick up something already prepared whether it’s at the grocery store or in a restaurant. I already prepared meals at home, but preparing more was the better option. By making my own meals, I can better control what I eat. I eat less prepared foods, less additives, less preservatives, less processed ingredients, less chemicals.
I had looked at diabetes diets, but didn’t like all the artificial sweetners. I looked at Paleo but it contains lots of carbs, I looked at eating whole foods (which I do) but it didn’t help control the sugars (see, I had very little control over sugar). I’ve been toying with Keto but a lot of Keto allows artificial sweetners. I believe the best diet is an all natural one. I’ve also come to believe that there is no one right diet for me, except to not eat processed foods. I cook from scratch as much as possible.
I have looked at and tried fasting. That is one thing I think has helped me to turn the corner on sugars and my carbohydrate intake. Fasting is not something to take lightly nor is it something I would recommend to everyone, but it seemed to help me get over the hump and I now intermittent fast regularly.
My diet is more of a low carb, medium protein, high fat diet, taking into consideration that the food is as organic or at least non GMO as I can make it. I’m very aware of what I’m putting in my body and my body has responded. I’ve also lost those extra pounds I’ve been carrying around all these years! I’m just 10 lbs more that I was when I got married and considering that I was 40 lbs more, during baby years, that’s saying something. I’ve lost 20 lbs slowly over that last 8 years working the farm, but these last 10 have been in the last year. More importantly than losing weight, my blood sugars have improved. That’s good for my weight, my heart, my eyes, my feet and the list goes on…
So as part of the new year, I’ve accepted the challenge of Cook 90. https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/cook90-90-meals-recipes-tips-articles-package
The idea is to cook 3 meals a day at home for the next 30 days. I do not follow their recipes exactly. I adapt the challenge to my nutritional needs. And since I fast on occasion, I don’t cook 3 meals a day BUT what I am doing is cooking everything at home. So far, my son is not protesting. I know hubby won’t. He eats everything I cook. God bless him, he used to eat everything I burnt when we were first married and never complained. I’ve gotten better.
Join me on the Cook 90 Challenge. Eating at home will save you money and I bet it will improve your health too.