This almost sounds like a confession in a social support group, where I should start with “Hello, my name is Erik and I’m a diabetic”. But it’s not, it’s just my life experience with Type 2 diabetes and how my diet and exercise have helped me curve the disease and transform my life back to a normal one.

The truth is that the diabetes control diet is important in all types of diabetes and has to be followed regardless of the medical treatment. In my case, it has helped me keep diabetes under control and give up on drugs altogether, with my doctor’s permission, of course. If you want this diet to be efficient, you will have to work it with your nutritionist because it has to be differentiated by sex, age, sedentary life style, alimentary preferences and other possible associated diseases as obesity, hypertension and so on. I also felt comfortable going to my local community Pharamcist for valuable free advice, who has in the past always given me many suggestions and support, to ask the questions I had about gluclose blood monitoring and exercise ideas.

Diabetes Diet

In my case, I am a male Type 2 diabetic, in my late 30s. I was considered morbidly obese, for quite a few years until 2006, when I lost the 214 lbs and instantly turned around the years of damage I did over the years. Since gaining half that weight back, I am of course aware and concerned about my Type2 Diabetes and I like to use this guide of of general recommendations for my diabetes diet, which I follow strictly if I want to feel like a normal person:

Calories: The overweight diabetics will follow a low-calorie diabetes diet plan, which means I have to eat fewer calories that a normal weight person.
Glucoses: they must be of 50 – 55% of the total caloric amount, that means in my case about 300 grams per day. Also, I am not allowed to consume simple glucoses with rapid absorption or over processed products like sugar and derivates.
Proteins: they must count 12 – 15% of the total calories amount. So if you weight 200 pounds you will be eating about 70 grams of proteins a day.
Fats: 30 % of the calorie amount. In my case this means 140 grams a day.
Salt: Less than 5 grams a day.

As a diabetic, my diet for diabetes must consist of frequent and small meals, at least 5-6 a day and I have to eat at fixed hours, and have my dinner at least 2 hours before going to bed.

Also, I have a table that reminds me of the things I am allowed to eat. I’m hoping this might come in handy for any diabetic out there that is looking for a working diabetes diet.

Tomatoes, pepper, mushrooms, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, onions, garlic, leeks, eggplants, celery, beet
Melons, lemons, raspberries and any other berries, cherries, nuts and seed and other similar fruits
Meat and fish and all derivates
Milk and all derivates
Eggs
Non-alcoholic drinks that are made without sugar

Some aliments in my diabetes diet I can consume only after I weight them like: white bread, graham bread, potatoes, beans and rice.

And of course, a have a big no-no diabetes diet list that includes: sugar, honey, biscuits, cookies made with sugar, candy, chocolate and any other sweets, dried plums, marmalade and all other dried fruits or seeds that contain sugar or other made foods with sugar…

As an adult who is now again considered overweight, and who is now doing a lot of exercises, at least for one hour a day, I can actually eat various stuff, and I proud to present you one of my daily meal plans:

Mornings: milk and coffee (250 grams), bread (60 grams) with cow’s cheese (100 grams) and peppers.
Snack: bread (40 grams) with butter (20 grams) and non-fat ham (100 grams) and fruits (100 grams)
Lunch: Clear vegetables’ soup with bread croutons (about 100 grams of bread), meatballs with mashed potatoes (150 grams), lettuces, and bread (60 grams)
Snack again: Cow’s cheese (50 grams) with tomatoes and bread (40 grams), fruits (100 grams)
Dinner: Assorted salad and bread (40 grams), rice pudding with meat
Before bed: One glass of milk with bread (40 grams)

This plan works well in my case, but it has 1850 – 1900 calories in total. People that are following a diabetes diet must take into consideration their calorie intake and if they are more overweighed or have other associated affections. For those who are underweighted, they must go over the 2000 calorie limit a day.

It feels so nice to find somewhere a few diets that will only bring you pleasure. I’m a great fan of fruits, in all their varieties, but sweet fruits could constitute my way of living, that’s how much I love them. And one of my favorite is the melon, because it’s tasty, sweet and relaxing and because it goes perfectly instead of any cookies, and I don’t even feel that I’m depriving myself from some pleasures. Next to all these taste delights I get from melons, I have been quite surprised to find out that this is a really healthy fruit. To make things easier for you, I’ve gathered some information about the various melon diets that can help us maintain our figure, lose extra weight and stay healthy.

The Mellon Diet

The Mellon Diet
They say you must take it for 10 to 20 days. You will be eating mainly melon, but because we don’t want to get digestive malfunctions, we must not go over 4 pounds per day. If you want to vary the diet a bit, you can add rice, fish and other vegetables to your meals.

Melon Nectar
The melon nectar is recommended and recognized as a liquid quite resistant to oxidation. Even if I’m a person that loves melon, I found the nectar to taste a bit odd. Probably because I wasn’t expecting to drink melon, being so accustomed to eating it. You can find it in hypermarkets, but it is very easy to make at home, with a mixer. If you want to include it in the above diet, you can drink 6 or 7 glasses a day.

The Melon Diet For Constipation
Whenever the kids are having digestive problems, I give then yellow melon on an empty stomach. The trick is to eat as much as you can out of it. It will clean the digestive tube, and it will work better if you want some cereals with melon juice right after you eat the melon.

The Melon Diet For Low Appetite
I’ve found that the fact that the melon regulates appetite works both ways. It’s recommended for its vitalizing properties, especially in anemia. This cure says you have to eat 1-2 slices of melon 15 minutes before each meal, and eat them slowly, properly chewed.

The Melon Diet For High Appetite
One pound of melon in the morning and two more at lunch will create that satiety sensation all craving persons dream of. It’s very surprising that this sensation persist for hours after you’ve eaten. I found that even regular meals can’t make me feel so full as the melon does.

Even if this is a sweet fruits that has sugar in it, other components of the yellow melon help people keep a metabolic balance. My doctor explained why I should eat melon all the season, just to prevent such a disease. Diabetics can also eat it, and they should eat it, but in moderate quantities.

Please be sure to come back and leave your thoughts and ideas in a comment.

As many of you know, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is very important to me. But that doesn’t mean it comes easy. Lately, I’ve been stressed out, busy and not paying enough attention to my health. I started to gain the weight back, and as a result, have been extremely depressed, causing me to lose motivation to work out entirely. In my last blog post, I mentioned my recent appearance on Oprah, which was a big wake up call for me. Being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes while competing on The Biggest Loser a few years back has solidified the need to maintain a healthy attitude and lifestyle. That’s why I’m excited to announce that I am the national spokesperson for Health Across America: Pharmacists Partnering in Diabetes Care.

Health Across America Tour

Health Across America is a tour bus that will stop in nearly 60 communities across the U.S. raising awareness about diabetes, providing advice on staying healthy and offering free screenings, including cholesterol, blood pressure, glucose and Hemoglobin A1c tests. The campaign is supported by more than 2,000 Health Mart community pharmacies across the country, and it is co-sponsored two leading companies in diabetes care, Bayer Diabetes Care and Novo Nordisk.

Last Saturday we launched the campaign in San Diego. It was an amazing event. Lisa Gordon, protocol director of the San Diego Mayor’s office was there, along with David Sedrak, Health Mart pharmacist and Tim Canning, president of Health Mart. You can check out some of the photos from the event on the Health Across America Facebook Fan page. At the event, I spoke about the importance of working with your community pharmacists to help manage diabetes. Locally-owned community pharmacists are trusted, affordable and accessible resources and are committed to supporting their community’s health..

I’m heading to the Los Angeles area next - check out the details on tour stops and find out when the tour bus will be in your community. Come by, say hi and get tested. Take it from me, it’s better to face your health apprehensions today so you can live healthy and happy for the rest of your life.

I’ll keep you posted on this very important tour and the great things that will come from Health Across America. Be in touch soon!

Please be sure to come back and leave your thoughts and ideas in a comment.