Amy

Amy

As a diabetic (Type 1 or 2) we are all aware of the time and effort it takes in order to get our blood glucose levels right. I was originally diagnosed in 1997 at the age of 12. Growing up with the disease I was always told your insulin rules the food you eat – no more does that happen, it is the other way round, my food controls my insulin.

Years passed and the doctor would always talk about your hb1ac (long term 3 month blood glucose control). I would weights train and run, week in week out but I would continue to struggle for years to make the right food choices and therefore my blood glucose (BG) control wasn’t as good as it should have been.

As a type 1 insulin dependent diabetic your hb1ac is done every 3 months. In October 2009 and for real this time, my GP sat me down and said “Look Amy, I know being a diabetic isn’t easy but if we don’t do something about this, you could be looking at serious long term complications if you’re not careful.” Every doctor uses these scare tactics, but at the age of 24 I think it was being said for a good reason.

My New Year’s resolution was to get my hb1ac down to under 10% and to compete in a figure fitness competition in October 2010. After talking with Michelle about the fact that we should be eating whole foods that are nutritionally dense, I decided to go ahead with one of her plans. Within 2 days of starting my new eating plan I stopped have BG spikes of 25 + mmol post meal. Now on a daily basis my BG sits between 4 – 15 mmol with eating the correct foods.

Even better my hb1ac is down from 12.8% (October 2009) to 9.9 %( April 2010). My GP called me into his office last week and praised my hard work as we haven’t see a hb1ac that low in the last 8 years and is extremely happy that things are back on track . Other benefits I have seen over the last 3 months, my insulin requirement have halved from a 100u daily to 40-50u daily and my body fat percentage is down from 34.9% (January 2010) to 27.1% (April 2010), my diabetes and body only continues to thank me for it.

I can’t praise and thank Michelle enough for what she has done for my health through her eating plans; she has taught me that eating healthy low GI foods and balanced meals that are tasty can prevent hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia. Heads up to any diabetics, Michelle’s plans are broken down into the all component’s including your carbohydrate content (carbohydrate counting) to allow you to adjust your insulin requirements appropriately.

The way we eat is a lifestyle choice and food should be our friend not our enemy as a diabetic.

Many thanks,
Amy Dimitriou