1.REMAIN CALM! If I can do it…so can you!

The best way to avoid going down the rabbit hole is to understand that diabetes, and being overweight, really are not a personal failing. Being overweight, having metabolic syndrome, prediabetes or full blown diabetes all have the same cause at thier root. And it’s NOT high blood sugar. It’s insulin resistance.

Dr. Jason Fung a Toronto based nephrologist says that diabetes and obesity are caused by too much insulin without purpose. As he puts it, “the sugar bowl is full.” You can connect to his youtube channel here.

I learned about Dr. Fung by watching Dr. Brian Mowll‘s DIABETES SUMMIT 2015. Dr. Mowll is a “functional medicine practitioner” and certified diabetes coach. He mirrors Dr. Fung’s information and recommends a dietary and supplementary approach.

“Being overweight, having metabolic syndrome, prediabetes or full blown diabetes all have the same cause at thier root.”

2. HAVE A SALAD!

Don’t laugh, you’ll feel immediately better psychologically. It’s the beginning of taking control. As much as I tried to convince myself that I was eating healthy, I wasn’t. In all seriousness, DIET is major. The trick is finding the right diet for you and to “navigate the maze” of the contradictory and confusing nutritional information. The diet that worked for me was low carb, high fat. Basically “paleo-atkins-ish” (my completely made up word).

Dr. Joan Borysenko’s Plant Plus Diet Solution was extremely helpful to me. In her book she says to eat a pound of vegetables a day and avoid flours and baked goods including the gluten-free kind. Gluten free products in general are higher in carbs that non gluten free foods.

The Diet Doctor sums it up simply:

“The basics:

• Eat: Meat, fish, eggs, vegetables growing above ground and natural fats (like butter).
• Avoid: Sugar and starchy foods (like bread, pasta, rice, beans and potatoes).
• Eat when you’re hungry until you are satisfied. It’s that simple.”

His site is a great resource for healthy weight loss and reversing diabetes.

3. THE OTHER STRATEGIES

This is a blog or two in itself, so here’s just a couple of things:

I joined a gym. I quickly found out that simply joining isn’t enough, apparently you also have to go and use the odd looking peices of machinery (my least favorite strategy).

I started keeping track of what I was eating every day. I downloaded the app My Fitness Pal. The main focus of the app is calorie counting, but it does track carbs, protein, fat, fiber and sugars. This has been an invaluable tool throughout my entire journey, and will be for yours, too!

In my next post I will outline more strategies that helped me, but I also want to hear from you. What have you tried? What worked? What didn’t?