Originally Posted by
Blackwater
I'm on some meds myself, including Lasix. Sure keeps a fella' busy, and always concerned about where the closest bathroom is. Also, I've been directed to drink 8-10 glasses of water a day. I almost always have a glass of ice water with me or nearby, and just sip it all through the day. Take bottles of chilled water with me to town. It's an aggrevation in a way, but if it's what it takes to keep me on this side of the grass, I consider it a privilege.
As to the eating, I'm kind'a lucky in that I like ALL food. Can't eat biscuits, grits or potatoes - some of my traditional favorites! That's really got my lips pooched out, but again, if that's the price for staying on this side of the grass, and keeping my eyesight, feet, etc., I'll take it. A lot simply has to do with attitude. Once I got over the "pain" of not being able to have some of my favorite foods that pleas me SOOOO much, I got a handle on reality, and just found out after a little consideration that I've been so lucky, really, that lamenting these things too much seemed rather un-honorable on my part. So, I just set about finding ways to stay close to the doc's directions. I avoid beef usually, but allow myself a bit now and then. Cut down on all my meat intake - and THAT was hard too! Always been a "meat and potatoes" kind'a guy, mostly. But I love my veggies, too, though, and I've been experimenting with substituting things like eggplant, squash, zuccini, etc. where I might have used potatoes previously. The taste isn't the same, but well done, it's good, and kind'a interesting to boot.
Being one who's able to resist anything but temptation, I've kind'a had to become more honest with myself than I'd really like to have to be, and more judicious than my nature generally tends to display, but what's life without a challenge, and something to set our shoulders against and push, so we can get stronger? it's actually become a bit of an adventure learning to adapt what I can eat to making up some really enjoyable meals that satisfy without violating my health's requirements now. Like I said, it's all about the attitude. And once in a while, allow yourself some guilty pleasure. One of my docs, and one who's given me a lot of very good advice and offered a lot of insight, told me this. Just be HONEST about how often you do this, though! Whenever you do it, you're really kind'a playing with fire. I've been kind'a shocked, really, at how much difference there really can be in different forms of carbs in veggies. And it really DOES make a difference. And I usually eat a lot of salads, which I'm fortunate to really love. Lettuce, cucumber, tomato, coarsely grated carrots, bell pepper (usually finely diced, more as a spice than it's usually used), broccoli, and some grated cheese is my normal choice, and I never seem to tire of these. Changing dressings helps with this, I think.
Just find what you like, AND what fits into your diet and workday well, and use spices to make it more "interesting" and satisfying, and it's really not that heavy a burden to bear - certainly nothing like what our Lord bore for us! It really IS possible to eat well and still keep within a reasonable diet. Crash diets just don't work because they just simply demand of us more than we can long withstand. Just lay in for the long haul, and you'll get there, kind'a like in the story about the tortoise and the hare.
I learned early after being diagnosed that the endocrine system, of which the pancreas is only one part, is a very complex system, and all the hard and fast "rules" we hear for diabetics just don't quite cut it in actual practice, and my doc gave me the best advice I could ever have received when he told me to use my meter & to let IT tell me what I can eat and what I can't. Just avoid the things that it showed me spike my blood sugar the worst, and keep the stuff that spikes it less as limited as I can. There are actually some good stuff you can eat to avoid eating something else. Dill pickles is one, but I like the sweet gerkins more, of course. Keep mixing up things so you don't get bored with what you eat, and never forget that image of yourself weighing 600 lbs.
You'll make it. Guys like you who've been where you have and done the things you've done aren't pushovers to temptation ... at least not always or consistently! Now get your attitude straight, Fatso, and ENJOY what you CAN have!
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