Once I started reading, I found it so refreshing to find a magazine about women who were working to be strong instead of emaciated. Also, I had to admit, the so-called “clean” recipes looked delicious. And I was SO excited about the concept of eating every three hours.
Within a few weeks I’d read my way through all of Tosca Reno’s books, my favorite being Your Best Body Now: Look and Feel Fabulous at Any Age the Eat-Clean Way which is written for women of a certain age, like me. Really, the concept is nothing new or unique. Eating whole, unprocessed food, six times a day so your blood sugar stays stable – I had heard it before, but never in a way that I could see myself doing. It is written as if Tosca and I (see? We’re even on a first name basis! Well, not really…she has no idea who I am…) are sitting around drinking coffee. In other words, it reads like advice from a friend.
So now I eat good food, and I eat it often. I like that. Do I occasionally have a chocolate chip cookie? An elderflower martini? Hell yes! But the key word is “occasionally.” I really don’t miss them much. But when I do want them, I find if I don’t allow myself just a little, a petulant six-year-old starts stamping her feet inside my body and she makes me misbehave later on out of spite. But with the right food in my—here’s that word again—diet, I seem to be able to keep her under control. Besides, she likes the sassier clothes I’m able to wear now.
Counting Calories
The second key to my success has been that I started counting calories. I know what you’re saying: Will this broad stop being such a dang killjoy? Some people don’t need to count calories, but I’ve come to find that I do. It’s the only way to make sure the inner six-year-old doesn’t gain control.
I have always hated the idea, being a right-brain-allergic-to-numbers-creative-type, and if I had to look each thing up in a book and write it down, I would never do it. But technology makes it all very simple and even kind of fun. I use myfitnesspal through an app on my phone and on the net. There is a massive database of items with the calories already calculated and it does reporting for you. It takes all the work out of the process.
Article comments
1 - Dr. Joseph S. Maresca
The one sure way to rid yourself of pre-Diabetes is to make substitutions. You need to
have more salads instead of carbs. Substitute soda with water, herbal teas, decaf coffee
etc. Utilize stevia which can be bought in any health food store for about 7 cents per packet
or less. Have more fruits/veggies. Substitute tuna fish and veggie burgers for fatty meats.
These are some of the things to do in order to get the pancreas functioning well again.
Lastly, you need to see an endocrinologist instead of a regular primary care physician.
The endocrinologist does a lot of things that the primary care physician doesn't do as
thoroughly. The endocrinologist takes more sensitive blood screenings, examines the
lower extremities for signs of diabetic manifestations like a pinkish hue color of the
skin. In addition, the skin may not have a ruddy complexion. Instead, the skin color
may be whitish like a ghost. Wounds don't heal quickly. That's another diabetic manifestation.
Patients get red eye sometimes.
2 - Molly Pease
Yay, Annie! I have watched you and cheered for your success. Thank you for doing it selflessly and sharing your trials with all of us. You are a rockstar!
3 - Ann Cardinal
I hear you, Dr. Maresca. Luckily it seems to be a bullet I've dodged with the weight I've lost already, but I've been making the changes you suggest anyway.
And Molly, thank you! It is the cheering of friends like you that make change possible!
4 - Robin Ann Barron
I love your blog, Ann. It is SO resonant and inspiring. I started walking, then running, in July after NOT running for at least 25 years. I run almost exclusively on gravel, not hard roads. I have new shoes that are VERY comfortable. The dog needs to run off his two-year-old energy. I need to exercise now that I've started baking seriously and almost professionally. And I feel great. I do exercise diligently every day. I'm not paying much attention to diet yet, although I do find that i'm less hungry and I eat better food. Thanks for writing!
5 - Ann Cardinal
Thanks for reading, Robin! Yes, baking and running go together nicely, ask Gesine Bullock-Prado! And most of the experts (including Tosca, my idol) agree, you don't need to count calories if you're eating the right things.
6 - Dr. Joseph S. Maresca
The endocrinologist is the physician of choice because he/she can explain how the various organs cooperate like the liver, pancreas and kidneys. The A1C is the gold standard for the blood chemistry. People with a normal A1C level are more likely to have smaller amounts of weight to lose, if any weight at all. An exercise program is important, as well as 8 or more hours of sleep a night. People who sleep more-eat less.
7 - Ann Cardinal
Oh Dr. Maresca, the sleep issue is SO true. I was exhausted all the time when I had apnea. Now I recognize I need the 8 hours every night. Sleep is my drug of choice! :)
8 - Dr. Joseph S. Maresca
Time spent sleeping is time not eating!
9 - Jodi Paloni
Dear Ann, Thanks for sharing your personal health process with such rollicking prose! I usually get about halfway through an article on health because I get bogged down with boredom. Now I'm headed out for the walk that was going to take before I read this which was right after I ate a bowl of ice cream instead of taking the walk. And so happy to hear that I have permission to sleep more!!! Here's to twenty more! Jodi
10 - Ann Cardinal
Yay! thanks so much, Jodi! Enjoy your walk!
11 - Dr Joseph S Maresca
Diabetes is a nasty condition which kills. The government should concentrate its attention on eliminating child diabetes.