63,

Thank you. Long answer to your question:

Last year after finding out about diabetes, I reduced my sugar intake to almost none (added sugar I mean). So I'd not put any sugar in my coffee or tea. I found out that fruits/vegetables have plenty of carbs and sugar in them and I might not need any additional sugar (at least to start with). I cut down on potatoes, bread quite a bit (daily 50g of carbs was the limit). no ice creams, chocolate chip cookies, fries, chips. No taco bell, mcdonalds, pizza, or any junk food. No more beer, long island iced teas. Alcohol once a month but that too very small quantity. It was hard for first few weeks.

During that time, I ate about 6 to 7 times a day.

Breakfast - 1 toast (wheat bread not buttered) & 2 egg whites,
10 am snack - apple/banana,
12:00pm - lunch - salad/soup and/half sandwich with wheat bread no mayo, one triangle of cheese. Sometimes traditional indian cooking with pulses/vegetables.
3pm snack - a small fruit or half a cup nuts (not more than 150 calories)
6pm snack - yogurt unsweetened with some green bean etc.
8:30 dinner - salad/vegetables
10pm - glass of 2% milk (if i felt hungry). No more late night visits to taco bell.

Drank plenty of water. No carbonated drinks or sodas - diet or regular.
I also started with eating with eyes closed when in restaurants - the idea was that the food portions are so big you tend to overeat almost every time. In order to resist the temptation, I did not see the amount of food I was eating but listened to my stomach instead. I needed a lot of help from my wife for this initially but eventually I could see the food and still resist the urge to finish the dish. I also stopped finishing my daughter's leftover dinners.

Add daily running and exercise to all the above discipline and the results were very quick. There were no shortcuts. Old fashioned hard work and focus. (I really like the statement from Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace when Liam Neeson says "Your focus determines your reality").

I also kept a log of what I was eating, how much exercise I was doing daily, my blood pressure & blood sugar level, and my weight. There's something very satisfying when you have a scoreboard and you see you are winning the battle.


Now the mantra is everything in moderation. Today, if I want to eat icecream, I can but very small portion. I can eat a piece of chocolate chip cookie as well.

Cat,
Thank you. It is indeed amazing to see the changes. Last February or March I was feeling fatigued/tired all the time. Now, I run 6/7 miles and still go out and do more yard work or spend time with my family and enjoy. I don't think I could have done that last year.
That "clear lungs" stuff - I think Steve already provided the link. I don't think it's FDA approved drug. It's just something was suggested to me by vitamin shoppe guy. He told me that some people got good results. I can't confirm whether that was the only reason for me not to get any AMS.



Abhijit

Last edited by Abhijit; 08/01/14 06:59 AM.