When my husband had double vision, plus shooting pain in his feet, plus other symptoms, he FINALLY took his ‘sugar problem’ seriously. (He still says he doesn’t have ‘diabetes’ because he doesn’t have to inject himself with insulin daily – silly man.) The problems were painful enough and scary enough that he FINALLY agreed to essentially give up sugar.
Healthline
This was a really serious thing. Sugar is his favorite thing. He even calls ME “Sugar.”
I decided that, since I really wanted to encourage him to give up the sugar, it was only reasonable that I give up something I really loved – Salt. I even salted already salty things, sprinkling it heavily on everything I ate. I kept a salt shaker by my chair in the living room so I didn’t have to get up when I wanted more…
Food Navigator
We did low-carb dieting, and that helped, but it was dependent on my finding recipes he really liked and that I had the energy to cook after doing ‘whatever’ all day. Plus, we found ourselves celebrating ‘national pickle week’ because we missed so many of our junk foods. It wasn’t a good way to tackle the problem in a serious. steady way. We started Nutrisystem in April. This program is good because it’s low ‘everything’ (sugar, salt, fat, etc.) plus there is portion control – a foreign concept to us since we routinely were apparently eating for 6…
We researched and tested several drinks, in that my husband won’t drink water. We found a great hot drink to replace the ‘coffee-with-2-heaping- sugars’ he routinely drank. (He refuses to use sugar alternatives because they have a bad aftertaste for him.) It’s Alpine Spiced Apple Cider – Sugar-Free Instant Drink Mix. He mixes in some Potassium Citrate, which is good for alleviating Restless Leg problems at night. His cold drink is Arizona Zero Peach Iced Tea. With these two, he is happy.
We’ve each lost about 30 pounds now and several inches. The very best thing is that my husband’s double vision is gone. The shooting pain in his feet is gone. All other more minor systems are gone. Within Nutrisystem guidelines, he is able to eat fruit again, and he really looks forward to his mid morning or mid afternoon snack of fruit and nuts.
When we started trying to do without sugar, his A1C was above 16 – an astronomical number. His blood sugar count blew off the top of the monitor! He routinely had numbers in the 300+s. Now his A1C is below 7. Best of all, his blood sugar number yesterday was 88 !!!!!! (Normal is 100 and below.)
To say that 88 is a beautiful number is the understatement of all time. We have learned that ‘Less is More,’ and are enjoying improved health that encourages us to continue our efforts.
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