With diabetic weight loss restrictions, food addictions are about life and death. My addictions to potato chips, soft drinks and mashed potatoes became quite obvious to me when I started counting carbs and paying attention to calories and the like. Binge eating on your favorite sugar laden foods is no longer just a matter of gaining weight and making your exercise program tougher. How do you deal with these food addictions when you find out you have diabetes?
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Would you bite this?
I have managed to put my personal addictions aside through a number of different things. Since my diagnosis, I have lost nearly 15 pounds and have largely eliminated or limited sugar, caffeine, red meat and even most of my beloved starches. I have increased the servings of vegetables, fish and fruit. Soft drinks are limited now to the occasional diet drink and my Southern sweet tea that I love so much is now watered down considerably. (Tip to come later)
So how did I do it? Here are some tips:
Explore new meat options
I love meat. I love steak, pork and meatballs that make me think of my Aunt Kathy’s awesome cooking. They all are bad for me and I had to make some changes.
I made up my mind to try a new meat each day of the week that would be healthy. Since that decision, I have tried swordfish (loved it), tilapia (liked but a bit fishy), tuna (loved it), salmon (love it), lean chicken breast (loved it) and turkey in all forms (mixed reviews as a replacement for the occasional hamburger dish.
Though I am still testing things, this has given me meaty options that will allow me to live longer and get healthy. Why not, right? Try them and you will be shocked at how good they are.
Find the veggies you can love
I wrote extensively about this here… Give it a read.
Allow yourself a bite….and walk away
This is going to be really hard for a long time. I allow myself some steak but I limit it to a bite or two. I allow myself a bag of chips and then split it four to six ways with those around me. Bottom line is that I avoid the binge eating that is a hallmark of food addictions. Diabetic weight loss restrictions are fairly clear but the line does not have to be drawn in permanent ink. Diabetes will be a thing of my past eventually. I am certain of it.
Do the mental homework
Understanding what your food will do to you is a very good way of kicking the food addiction habit. Simply do some research on diabetes and food addiction and the way that foods help or hurt. It is quite motivating.
Get in touch with Jesus
The Lord can help in ways that I can’t explain. Just knowing that He has your back is enough to motivate you to say no. He is by your side at all times and will always be there to encourage you and help you walk away from bad decisions. Prayer is a powerful weapon in this diabetic battle.
Give yourself a break
Beating yourself up mentally will not do a single thing to make you weigh less or stop eating. When you make a bad decision with food, step back and take an observer’s attitude. Take note of what happened and recommit to not do it again. You have unlimited chances to keep on trying. Don’t be so hard on yourself.
