Diabetes: More Than Just Sugar Overload?

These changes can certainly be overwhelming. “But you didn’t develop diabetes or prediabetes overnight, and you don’t have to fix it overnight,” says Donna Kay, co-author of The Complete Diabetes Lifestyle. “Small changes you make every day add up to big, important changes over time. The more you can control diabetes, the less control diabetes will have over you.”

As for me, I developed a plan that included exercising more, in addition to eating more low-GI and high-fiber foods and fewer processed foods. I found a farmers’ market where I could load up on fresh veggies and hormone-free grass-fed beef. Each morning for breakfast, I’d have a good, protein-rich breakfast of scrambled eggs and whole-wheat toast with natural peanut butter. Lunch would be my biggest meal. For dinner, I’d stick to just low-fat cottage cheese with some pistachio nuts. And for snacks, I’d eat half a protein bar at midmorning and the rest of it at midafternoon to make sure I hardly ever went more than three hours without eating some protein. (Many experts believe that balancing foods high in starch and sugar with protein can prevent blood sugar from spiking.)

I’d religiously read labels at the supermarket, too, refusing to buy anything with sugar listed in the first half of the ingredients. I’d sprinkle cinnamon on many foods and take cinnamon capsules. And if I wanted dessert, I’d have a no-sugar-added cup of pudding. For special treats I’d enjoy 2 ounces of very dark chocolate (at least 70 percent cocoa) or maybe a glass of dry red wine, both of which are high in healthful antioxidants.

After three months I dropped 20 pounds—and now my blood sugar levels are normal. Even so, my doctor wants to keep an eye on me. I’ve been sobered by what I’ve learned. And I know now that staying healthy is a process, one I’ll have to fine-tune for the rest of my life.