I am slowly learning to accept my condition. While it is quite a hassle to change my food intake schedule, I try to find and focus on the positive points in this whole exercise of monitoring my blood sugar. Although I’m told to only take and record down my blood sugar readings twice a week, I’m doing it for more days just so I can experiment with eating different foods. This helps me find out what foods and at what amounts are ok. It is still tough when people snack on potato chips and eat desserts in front of me, but I can resist the temptation quite well.

Just so you know how strict my food intake schedule is:

9am — Breakfast * (2 servings carbohydrates)
12pm — Lunch * (5 servings carbohydrates)
3-4pm — Tea (1 serving carbohydrates)
7.30pm — Dinner * (5 servings carbohydrates)
10pm — Supper ** (1 serving carbohydrates)

* signifies to take my blood sugar reading before and after the meal
** signifies to take my blood sugar reading after my meal or before I sleep

Of course I do take proteins, fruit and vegetables during lunch and dinner, but carbohydrates are what I have to watch most. Carbohydrates cause sugar spikes in a shorter period of time as compared to proteins. In the booklet I’m given, the carbohydrates food list includes bread, cereals, starchy vegetables, legumes, milk and fruit.

It’s necessary for me to stick to these timings for food intake as I don’t want to have huge sugar spikes at any moment. So, I have to space out my meals and make sure I don’t eat more than what I should during each meal.

My hubby and I were quite surprised to learn about the servings of different foods required per meal. For example, two matchbox sized pieces of meat is enough to meet the protein requirement per meal. Six servings of protein is the maximum requirement needed in a day. One serving of lean meat is about 30g. We looked at each other and imagined the amount of steak we eat each time. He can eat 200g of steak at one go. That’s already slightly more than the required amount needed in a day. In other words, we have been overeating for a meal or a day.

You may be wondering if I feel full after lunch or dinner since the amount of food eaten during each meal seems to be very little. The answer is yes. I do feel hungry faster, but that’s where tea and supper come in to fill the gaps.

[Cross posted entry on REAL ME]