Lessons learned to late

[barbietre]

My son had a hernia operation recently and his pre op tests came back with elevated blood sugar. His doc attributed it to stress about the procedure and said they would watch it. Fast forward 2 months..now he had strange "welts" on his body. So they now suspect beginning of diabetes.
Now all along when I saw the amount of soda and junk he consumed I warned him about the long term effects. He is also a smart man ( 36 years old so no kid) and also "knows" about high fructose corn syruo, but yet he still drank the crap.
So now he said to me, well I know sugar is bad for me, but I can not eat like you do, I will not give up bread and pasta ever. I did not want to scare him, but said, well start out slow and just eat brown breads and so on. He said I will never do Atkins, and I said that is fine, neither will I because I do Protein Power which is very different. But he has it in his head I do.

I want to send him a few articles and maybe even the PP books I have, but I do not want to push him. I also want to see what his doctor does say after the tests, but in my heart I know they will say the same crap most of the others do. For instance an Aunt has low blood sugar and they are pushing her to eat more sugars ( and her sis is always pushing candy on her.. I want to scream).:angry:
Oh and by the way his wife who is in her last few weeks of pregnacy is a very bad eater, eats VERY LITTLE protein when not pregnant, and after her last baby did WW, but buys into the low fat crap.

So where do we go from here? My son also has gained alot of weight in his middle and he sees we have lost our middles, but he will not see the light even after over 3 years of us eating this way.

[cmcole]

Unfortunately, it's like an addict - they need to see the problem/need themselves, and will not listen to others until someone hits them over the head with a health problem. Regardless of how wrong a doctor may be, they would sooner listen to the wrong answer from a "professional" than the right answer from someone who knows and loves them.

I have at least two people in my family that way, and my son is probably on the way (as is his girlfriend, who seems to shun good proteins in favour of carbs, on a regular basis).

Now, my hubby has been sent to a diabetic counsellor, who, while giving him some semblance of good advice, is dead wrong in other areas, to my thinking. He even said something along the lines of "you've been saying that to me for a while, but I didn't listen".

What difference has it made? A little. He is a snack-aholic, and chooses high sugar or carb ones (and a diet pop) - poor combination (he's back to buying bars again, after possibly a week of stopping). Of course, filling up on exclusively fruit isn't good, either.

He cooks good meals - protein and good veggies, and then will also cook fries, potatoes or some "starch" because for some reason they said he had to have starch at every meal. Now, that would work (maybe), if he exercised protion control.

I'm not about to lecture him. He's exercising, which, at least, they stressed. But, I am concerned, as you are about your son. I know it has worked for me (and, yes, I started with Atkins, because it was all I knew). He has seen me for all this time, but he has the same mind-set as your son (with the added "I'm lactose intolerant" concern), so "giving up" isn't part of his vocabulary.

[gitfiddle]

Barbietre, I know of no way to get through to another person except by example. My son's ten years younger than you and I'm watching him go down the same path with food, plus he smokes. I share my food beliefs with people when they ask, they've watched me lose weight, but most don't want to live low-carb. I get frustrated when those I love the most don't see things the way I would like them to. If I get stressed out about it, it's enough to rock my own boat. I need to take care of my own eating in order to make a difference to them. I wish you the strength you need to carry on!

I agree with you, CM, about the addict behavior. I'm that way myself, so it's no surprise to me that I have relatives with food problems! :rolleyes: If I become "the fixer" and try to cure them all, I'm only sidestepping my own issues.

Oddly enough, it's my boss who frustrates me the most. He's a skinny little guy who runs miles a week, eats constantly, and preaches low-fat and whole grains. He brought some margerine in today that had no trans-fat and was telling everyone they should try it. One woman made a remark about "eating plastic butter" and I almost hugged her.

[cmcole]

So many people "buy" into the low fat thing, to the exclusion of the rest of the label.

So many reduced fat items have added sugar just to make it taste like more than cardboard.

[gitfiddle]

I know, it drives me crazy. I really believe in Protein Power. I'm starting to re-read the PP book because I need an attitude adjustment. I'm going to post a sign in my kitchen that says "It's the insulin, stupid!" to keep me from getting hung up on losing weight, which makes me rebellious, etc., etc. I'm better if I just focus on that.

[~april~]

I feel for everyone that posted in this thread. I am one of the sons and daughters you speak of with one difference. I believe in LC. I am a Protein Power person - but believe that any LC plan is better than none. I have read all of the LC books out there (CAD, Sugar Busters, South Beach, Atkins, PP[all of them], Rosedale, Glucose Revolution, OA, Potatoes not Prozac...etc) and I still feel that Protein Power has the most research and medical findings behind it. The PP Lifeplan completely opened my eyes and taught me of the science behind it all. For someone like me, that is money in the bank.
Yet still, I keep failing this WOE. The first time I was successful at it, I lost 65 pounds and felt better than I've ever felt in my life. We are talking emotionally, physically, skin, hair, nails, blemishes, energy, clarity, no more depression...it was simply amazing. My blood work was awesome. My biggest problem was dealing with these people I have in my life who kept telling me I was going to go into kidney failure, and if I just "watched my fat or calories" all would be well. I felt like saying to them.....WOW, I never thought of that!!! Just watch my calories?? Come on - we would all be thin if it was that easy. Overweight people do NOT like to be overweight. For me, it is an addiction to carbs that I just cannot kick.
Fast forward a few years. I've been off and on PP all of this time. Each time falling off and re-gaining plus 5. It is not the WOE you see - it is me. If I could just figure out what was wrong with me, I could kick this addiction. Now I have diabetes and pancreatitis. A bottle of Metformin sits in my drug cabinet, yet I refuse to take it. As someone stated earlier, this fixes the symptoms not the underlying problem. I do not plan to have diabetes for life. I plan to get it under control.
Trying to get into the heads of the people you discussed earlier....I can tell you that they sit where I'm at. They do not like what they have done to their bodies, but at the same time feel as though it's impossible. Sooo much weight to lose, so many medical issues. It feels overwhemlming. To be honest, if I did not have a PP success in my past to keep me believing that this WOE works.....I would feel completely helpless and give in to my diseases. They will kill me if I don't do something pretty fast. My doctor has reiterated this to me several times.
I have finally decided that looking at this for the rest of my life scares me. So....I'm changing my view on this. I know from experience once you get past the beginning (withdrawals, mood swings, crying, cravings, feeling completely deprived) things change drastically. I just need to get to that point. What I'm going to do is tell myself that I will do this for a month. One month out of my life is really not that much. I'm looking at it like bootcamp. I can re-evaluate at that time. I know for a fact it will not seem impossible at THAT time - it just does right now.
Tell your sons and daughters to try it for a specified period of time. Make sure it's more than 3 weeks however! Let them know that you love them and nothing else has worked. Ask them to do it for you. Tell them that if they do this faithfully for this amount of time and it does not work, you will never bring it up again. It's as simple as that. Once they get that far, they will be a believer and it will be a matter of willpower to stay on it. You will no longer have to make a believer out of them which is the hardest part of all in my opinion. Tell them to get before and after blood tests as well. For me, that was the ultimate.
I wish you all the best of luck. This isn't just a diet, it's not just about losing some weight for vain reasons. This is a way of life that needs to be used as a life saving tool. I know it is for me. This is what is going to save my life in the long run. There has never been any doubt about that.

[gitfiddle]

April, good for you! I have found the challenges on this board help with the day-to-day mechanics of this woe. I've been here longer than I ever lasted on any other regime simply because of the daily contact.

I did lc twenty-five plus years ago and lost almost 100 pounds and I still went back to compulsive eating when I left OA. Knowledge is essential, but it isn't enough for me.

[SherryJ]

WELCOME, April! Sounds like you've learned things the HARD way... I'm sorry, but on the flip side, I'm ESTATIC about your current attitude! YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Be sure to jump in anywhere, any time, and we'll keep you company along the way! :nod:

Sherry

[Gaelen]

Now I have diabetes and pancreatitis. A bottle of Metformin sits in my drug cabinet, yet I refuse to take it. As someone stated earlier, this fixes the symptoms not the underlying problem. I do not plan to have diabetes for life. I plan to get it under control. ...
To be honest, if I did not have a PP success in my past to keep me believing that this WOE works.....I would feel completely helpless and give in to my diseases. They will kill me if I don't do something pretty fast. My doctor has reiterated this to me several times.

Welcome, April.
I have to ask...assuming that your doc prescribed the Metformin, how does s/he feel about a statement like 'I refuse to take it'? Is s/he on board with letting you try to make changes in your diet and lifestyle as the only way to address your pancreatitis and diabetes?

There is a difference between having meds prescribed to address diabetes and just being 'pre-diabetic.' If your sugars are uncontrolled at this point and/or you continue to have difficulty maintaining the discipline it takes to self-regulate your eating and exercise 24/7, then *not* taking the meds is only going to put you at greater risk. Like it or not, after you move from pre-diabetes to actually diagnosed, you DO have to monitor for life. And sometimes, like it or not, diet and exercise are not enough to reverse the years of damage done prior to taking healthier steps.

So--good for you for the positive resolve, but remember that it's critical at this point in your health quest to keep your doc in the loop.

Again, welcome in!

[~april~]

I am recently diagnosed full blown diabetic, although my sugars are not extremely high....yet.

My doctor was very on board with my doing LC to try and control this - but after a few months of trying 90% of the time, it wasn't enough and she prescribed me the medication. I have not taken the medicine due to the side effects that this drug has, and the fact that I have not given 100% to LC yet. If I get to a point where I'm doing all that I can (through diet and exercise) then I will take the pill. I am just afraid of taking it and my body getting used to it - and it being harder to give up later on....Or else, ending up with an extremely low blood sugar due to the metformin / LC eating and exercise.

Maybe it is because I am so newly diagnosed, I still feel as if I can change it? Actually, I know I can change it. She told me that she is pretty sure this is all due to my weight. I've seen it coming...they told me that I was hyperglycemic (high blood sugars, not low) a few years ago, but I didn't take it seriously. I've never exercised regularly before, and that is something that i have recently changed. When I did exercise it was a M-F thing - and now it's every day. I'm giving it a few more months and then going back to get the AC1 (I forget the exact name of the test, but it's a 3 month blood sugar test). I am also self monitoring and learning what reactions I have. I tried the diabetic diet that I got from my nutritionist, but I had horrible readings after eating (1/4 portion carb from things like brown rice & more complex carbs), so I realized quickly that it was not for me. If it is the difference between this diabetic diet and medication, or LC....I'm going with LC!

[Triskeliongirl]

Tell you son to read Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution. The plan is very similar to PP, although a bit more restrictive. Since the book emphasizes diabetic complications more than PP, perhaps it will convince him why it is important for him to eat differently.