Monday, December 2, 2013

No More Chili For Me And Other Thoughts On Food

I need to get back on track and eat MORE FAT!

Last weekend I made a batch of my favorite chili.  It is a "low carb" chili but it probably has around 16 grams of carbs in a cupful or so.  I really didn't know that until yesterday when I spent time inputing my recipe into Nutritiondata.com.   I knew that it was a carbier dish for me but I didn't know that it had that many carbs!  Every once in a while I allow myself the pleasure of making up a pot.   I only use 1/2 can of black beans in a whole pot of chili.

My husband doesn't eat chili so I am the only one eating the pot and of course it only lasts several days in the fridge.  I try to only have one serving of it per day.  Still, every day this week my blood sugar got a little bit higher.   A few nights ago I had a small second helping because I was really hungry and because I love it so much!   I did make sure I got the fat in by adding some cheese and sour cream to the bowl.  After eating the chili and the small second helping my after meal blood sugar was 155 two hours later.  It was still 130 at bedtime!  Not good!

My morning blood sugar was creeping up each day as well as I continued to eat one bowl or so each day.  I knew that I was out of ketosis which isn't good because my body was becoming a sugar burner again and I was seeing my old diabetic blood sugar issues that I have not seen in a year.  All the time as it was going up day by day I was questioning what the heck was going on with my blood sugar!

I now realize that I can't justify ever making this particular chili with even a small portion of black beans anymore.  Even the canned tomatoes are a problem for my blood sugar.  I have to remove this chili from my food plan in the future.  I say this with a heavy heart!  

Today, I'm getting back on track eating more fat, and smaller portions of meat and vegetables until my blood sugar normalizes again.  I am already seeing progress.  The chili is gone, and sadly, out of my life.  I may try my old version again that had no beans and 6 grams of carbs but I won't try that for a while.

Just like anyone else, I seem to have the ability to fool myself into thinking that I can eat some of my favorite foods without consequence!  It may not be the donut that ruins your day!  It may just be the "healthy" food that you think just couldn't possibly be the problem but it is!

It may be the one piece of "healthy whole grain" bread that you eat every day because you have been told that you need just a bit of fiber, or the apple a day that "keeps the doctor away".   It may be the tomato meat sauce on the spaghetti squash that you think is low carb but for some "unknown" reason your blood sugar goes up way high every time you eat it?  Is it the stevia with the  maltodextrin that was listed on the label that you didn't read?  How about the low carb protein shake with a bit of fruit to sweeten it up.  For some it is the "full fat" greek yogurt at 7 grams of carbs per serving but you are really eating a serving an a half instead.

What is it for you?  Do you secretly know it but refuse to accept it?   Do you need to eliminate your "healthy" favorite dish as I now have to do with my favorite chili?    Denial is "sweet" like candy is but it isn't good for a diabetic!   What do you need to do?


1 comment:

  1. Sandy, have you tried the Eden Organic Soy Black Beans? They have 8 carbs and 7 fiber in 1/2 cup. I use them (type 2) w/o big BG rise, so does my type 1 son. I don't usually eat soy products, but have chili so seldom that I make an exception here. I buy them from Amazon.com or from netrition.com.

    http://www.amazon.com/Eden-Organic-Black-Beans-15-Ounce/dp/B000GZS9Q6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386634210&sr=8-1&keywords=eden+organic+soy+black+beans

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