Diabetes and New Diet

Early 2023 when I was pregnant with my third baby, I was diagnosed with early onset of type 2 diabetes. It came to me as a shock because prior to planning for a third, I was feeling healthy. I was doing a lot of physical activities and I went to an exercise class at least once a week and I was eating moderately "healthy". 

Diabetes is inherited in our family, my grandma had it, my dad  had it and in many ways I knew that one day I probably will get it too, but just not at 36. 

Diabetes to me was an eye opener, a wake up call to some of unhealthy eating habits that I was never aware of. I had learnt so much through diabetes and I am thankful to God for it. It allowed me to give a name to my constant hunger and excessive tiredness. It explained my constant brain fog and lack of energy. I am writing this one year after my diagnosis and I've never looked back and missed my old lifestyle. Diabetes had allowed me to appreciate the simple and yet complex flavour of vegetables and legumes. In fact, strangely enough, eating more vegetables and legumes allowed my body to lessen the need to eat meat. Whereas in the past I would say that meat is an essential and main part of a meal and the rest are just side dishes in smaller quantities, nowadays I'm happy to have just a bowl of stewed beans for lunch. 

In fact, diabetes allowed my body to adjust to what it naturally needs. In the past, I would look for sugar, fat, fried, excessive carbs whenever I feel peckish, today I know that those things actually won't satisfy the hunger but makes me crave more unhealthy food and feel sluggish. I have now learnt that adding protein and vegetables will satisfy me for longer and makes my body feel good after eating it. 

Hopefully, I can share a bit more about diabetes, what helped me and share some great recipes I found that are diabetic friendly in this blog. If you have diabetes or family who has it, what had helped you? I'd love to hear your experience! 

If you'd like to know more about diabetes or read up on some resources, here are some that really helped me, especially during pregnancy: 

Glucose Goddess

Glucose Goddess

Gestational Diabetes Dietitian 

There are a lot of Facebook groups that you can also join. A note on these group, there are so many school of thoughts when it comes to diabetes and how to reverse diabetes. Some would push a keto (low carb, high protein and fat diet) and some would push a more balanced some carbs and high vegetable diet. For me, the key is balance. I've read a couple of books and they all say different things so choose your own adventure, see what works for you but don't demonise any one single thing (e.g. all carbs are bad, avoid all sweets, etc). My take is that everything is allowed but in moderation, it's ok to enjoy sweets once in a while so you're not miserable and ever constantly scared. In fact, I found that the are so many diabetic friendly products out there that I never felt that I missed out on anything. I actually prefer the alternative over the real product because they are less sweet and more filling. 

So, if you've been diagnosed with diabetes, my advice is "don't worry, you've got this! You'll really appreciate this newfound lifestyle!"