13:54:06 Tue, 29 Jul 2003misc.health.diabetes
BJ at BJ <
sweetness@swbell.net>writes:
Quote
>Sometimes its hard to keep it under control because I tend to
>have
>strong cravings for sweets.
Step One: Grow-up -- become an adult - learn self control!
In a pinch - find something low sugar/carbohydrate
>Also, whats the best thing to do when those strong cravings
>for sweets
>happen?
See step one - you obviously have a carb/sugar addiction.
Carb addictions lessen with time if you can stay off the carbs! Some
people who go on low-carb diets claim that the addiction and the hunger
subsides in as little as a few days, but I can't vouch for that myself,
not having gone to those extremes myself.
If you can't cut them out altogether, try delaying tactics, and
rationing, instead.
For example, when you get the craving, look at the time and don't allow
yourself a sweet for at least one hour. Or, don't allow yourself any
until your glucose reading is below say 6 (108).
Or, measure your glucose before a meal, eat the meal, and wait two hours
to measure your glucose level again: don't eat any sweets in that two
hours or it will mess up your reading.
Then there's always this trick: buy the sweets. When you get the
craving, take one out of the packet, unwrap it, sniff it, put it on the
table, point at it and laugh at it scornfully and maybe even swear at
it. Then throw it away. Don't eat any.
Possibly try to squash the craving a bit by eating something else: some
chicken, some ham and cheese, some macadamia nuts: some protein/fat
rather than a carb-based substance. Take a BG reading first to make sure
you don't actually need the carbs.
Note that as your BG readings go lower, you may well feel that you are
going 'low' when your levels are still well up compared with a
non-diabetic: your body will become accustomed to the lower levels in a
couple of weeks, but in the meantime, to avoid unpleasant symptoms (I
used to get migraines and adrenaline-based irritability, for example)
you may have to lower your levels gradually, a step at a time.
Cravings can sometimes be weakened by having a very small quantity of
carbs - one or two grams only (28grams=1oz): one sweet only, or, better,
a piece of fruit: a *few* grapes or blueberries or strawberries, or
something similar.
Measure your BG before and after, every time, to see what a failure of
will does to your glucose levels. That will certainly help your
motivation.
Possibly, you will just have to gradually reduce the quantity and the
frequency. A gradual reduction over the course of a few months can work,
even if it is a bit slow and beset with setbacks. Whenever you think
about the sweets, think about the symptoms, the damage to your body,
they are causing. Associate them with the concept of 'poison'.
--
Martin Thompson
martin@tucana.demon.co.uk
London, UK Home Page:
www.tucana.demon.co.uk
Web Shop:
buy.at/tucana
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"Everything I do and say with anyone makes a difference." Gita Bellin
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