Diabetic Community, Coming Attractions, Berries and Porky Goodness!

Eat To Your Meter

As many of you may know, my own personal story started at about 352 lbs. with a dead certainty that I was diabetic and needed to change my way of life, in order to survive. I began reading everything I could about managing blood sugars and “curing” my diabetes. This pursuit led me down a quite low-carb path, eventually losing near 150 lbs within about a year. I also finally visited a doctor, whom I told I was diabetic. I just knew it and, wanted him to be prepared for it. Blood tests were run. It turns out … NOT diabetic!

Even then, I didn’t believe the doctor. I looked at him, cold and dead centered, “Are you sure? I have to be diabetic! I was losing my vision, I had strange blood flow, I peed all the time. Did you do it right?!” It’s not so much that I WANTED to be diabetic, it’s just that I was THAT certain that I was diabetic and felt that my lifestyle changes had obscured the signs of my illness. The doctor had to work at it, but … he assured me that I was not diabetic and that if I continued my new found way of life, it’s unlikely I ever would be. Whew!

Somewhere during this year long period, I grew to gain a great respect for what diabetics face and how to manage it. For all tends and purposes, I had been managing my own diabetes for about a year.

Years later, through a random string of events, my path crossed with a sincere and wonderful woman named Jane. Jane is a member of a new online community of like-minded diabetics. I had stumbled upon their site and found a few threads where I’d been mentioned … in a very positive light. Love it!!

Days later, Jane sent me a photo of an induction friendly pork enchiladas that she’d made, inspired by my own recipes. Our chatter turned towards EatToYourMeter.org (now defunct), where she is a proud member. What a coincidence! She invited me to join in the fun! I, in turn, offered to help shed a little light on their wonderful community.

Jane wrote up a little welcome message for any of my readers. There are some great people and wonderful recipes over there. I love their recipe tool. I want one!

* ahem * Without further adieu …

Jane … take it away!

I’ve been given a great opportunity by DJ Foodie to introduce our forum, EatToYourMeter.org. So, what is Eat to Your Meter? What does it mean? It’s about understanding that you can take control of your diabetes by controlling your diet, and I mean any type of diabetes, T1, T2, pre diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance. It’s knowing that changes to your diet will improve your blood glucose readings and reduce the effect of your diabetic symptoms. If you are newly diagnosed changing your diet means that you might not get complications and that you can slow down the progression of this disease.

But changing your diet doesn’t mean you have to feel hungry or deprived, just look at the amazing, delicious recipes on DJ Foodie’s website! Many of us on the forum reduce or even completely cut out processed carbohydrates from our diet, but everyone is different and that is why we say Eat to Your Meter. The essential tool is the blood glucose meter, if you don’t have one, buy one. Really! Everyone reacts differently to foods; something that is ok for one person can send someone else’s blood glucose sky high. Testing 2 hours after eating you should expect to have a reading of less than 8 mmol/l (140 mg/dl) if it’s higher than that, then next time you choose to eat that food, reduce the portion and test again. You’ll find more details in our Welcome Notes.

I’m sure every diabetic knows not to eat sugar, cakes, and baked foods, but many of us have found that bread is a food that does not work for us. It’s amazing how much life revolves around bread! Toast for breakfast and sandwiches/wraps/pittas for lunch, so it takes some creative thinking and some preparation to make sure you have food available during the day, and preparation is the key to the changes that are needed. But the effort is SO worth it. I personally have brought my blood glucose readings down significantly and have managed to reduce my meds by half. As a consequence I have lost 40lbs in weight – I’ve still got about 20lbs to go but I feel so much better than I did 6 months ago, like ’10 years younger’ better. EatToYourMeter.org is a friendly community of diabetics, ranging from the newly diagnosed to very experienced and we are committed to helping and supporting each other and sharing information, support, news, recipes and ideas to help manage and control our diabetes, and the forum is the heart of our community. It’s a place to chat, share ideas, successes and supporting each others through our failures (we all have them). We’d love to have you join and share your stories, ideas and recipes too.

Jane Fradd
EatToYourMeter.org

Coming Attractions

Slow Cooker Chili Colorado

BBQ Pork Patty Sliders with One-Minute Cheddar Buns

Ricotta Gnocchi

Ok … on to today’s recipes!

Today, I’ve only got 2 recipes, but that means there are still 5 more to come, this week! Today we’ve got a great strawberry salad, which came from a chat I was having with another reader. I wanted to inspire her with a great big tasty salad with berries. It’s a good one! There’s also a BBQ Pork Bowl, which I’d assembled from some smoked pork that came from another reader.

Hey … WOW! As I read through this blog … it’s … almost … like … I’ve got a little community being built, here. YAY!!!

I love helping people … help people. Let’s keep it up!

Socially Challenged

Finally, I’ve just crossed 1000 “Likes” on my Facebook page. This was done with a lot of help, support and encouragement of others in the low-carb community. Check out my page, “like” it and … see what it’s all about! I share recipes from others, the occasional story, etc. It’s just a fun place to be, supportive and … delicious. I hope to see you all there!

1000 likes and growing!

Warm Chicken Salad with Strawberries, Pecans and Bacon

During a chat I was having with a reader, she was proclaiming her love of fruit and … sadly commented how much she’d been missing it. I responded, “You don’t need to give up fruit! Berries are awesome!” She was also commenting how much she felt like she was starving herself. My first reaction was, “You’re doing it wrong!”

Many people seem focused on the diet mentality, which tends to mean they somehow feel they should starve themselves. There seems to be a deeply instilled sense of tiny taunting portions and a continued restriction of fats. NO no no no no …

I really don’t look at this as a “diet” … by any stretch of the imagination. This way of eating, short of some fine tuning for various different body types, personalities, metabolisms, etc., is (in my humble opinion) simply the best possible way to eat! You don’t need to restrict yourself with 3 leaves of spinach and a scant portion of skinless chicken breast. In my own personal life, I have a set of big stainless steel bowls. It’s not uncommon for me to fill one of the bigger bowls with lettuce, tomatoes, chicken, olive oil, bacon, bacon fat, cooked zucchini, mushrooms, capers, basil, etc. A BIG bowl of warm salad … just brimming with “awesome”.

I reached into my mind and pulled this out for her to wrap her head around. I suggested she take a large salad bowl and make a massive filling salad for 2 … and eat the whole thing herself! I suggested berries, chicken, pecans, and a touch of balsamic vinegar. I really wanted her to feel a sense of relief, that this way of eating no longer requires miniscule portions and a starving mindset. This is a wonderful, full, healthy and endlessly interesting way to eat.

TRY IT! It’s a good ‘un!

[ VIEW RECIPE ]

BBQ-Pork Bowl with Hot Link

A little while back, I posted a recipe for the real deal, low and slow, smoked pulled pork butt. Right around the same time, I’d been to a fantastic food truck in the Seattle area and had a “burrito bowl” (basically a big salad LOADED with Carnitas!).

As I was writing my notes for the pulled pork recipe, it occurred to me that a BBQ Pork Bowl seemed like a totally reasonable proposition. I even commented about it … in the notes!

Within days of posting the original recipe, I got a haircut from Pamela Ann, a reader and follower of my nonsense. She’d just sent me a photo of the pork SHE had made, following my recipe and sent me a picture. When I set up the hair cut appointment, she promised me a plentiful pile of properly pulled pork. Wow, does she know how to get me! Pulled Pork … for me … is one of the very few things on life that can give bacon a run for its money.

Here’s the photo Pam sent me:

After getting my hair cut, I came home with a BIG bag of amazing smoked and pulled pork. I stopped at the store and picked up some cheese, coleslaw mix and a package of hot links. I returned armed with everything I would need for my BBQ Pork Bowl.

The bowl was as tasty as you’d imagine … and then some!

Note: After I saw the photos and showed them to a few friends, there were comments about the appearance being a bit … “R-Rated”. At the time, I was just in a hurry and threw stuff into a bowl. In retrospect, I would’ve split the hot link into two halves (butterfly’d it), then cooked it, and topped the split link with the goodies. More of a BBQ Pork BOAT or a BBQ Pork SPLIT than a bowl, but no less delicious. Next time! Now, get your minds out of the gutter and simply enjoy a tasty dish. I know I did! 🙂