For as long as I can remember it was always jammed into my brain that we as "CFers" needed to have a high fat and high calorie diet. I was told to eat whatever I wanted and that I should eat a certain amount of calories a day to just maintain my weight...and thats not counting the make up eating I had to do if god for bid I got sick and lost 10 pounds!
It was SUCH a chore as a kid/teenager with the weight and eating battle. They always tried to push supplements on me (this was the DR before the DR I have now) Scandishake to be exact. I swear that stuff was going to be the end of me...I hated it! I bet you never in your life met a kid who was as creative as I was on how to get rid of a shake quickly before your parents or anyone else saw you dispose of it. The funniest part about all those years of arguing over me drinking my shakes or not is that when they finally left me alone about it all, I put the weight on by myself.
Then 2 years ago I was diagnosed with the CFRD and because I still need to keep my weight up I should continue the high fat and high calorie food and that I could continue to eat whatever I wanted and that if I needed insulin I would just cover myself with a shot.
Now that I have met all you wonderful bloggers I have become kind of confused on everything I thought I knew on having CF and eating because I know most of you eat a lot if not all of your food organic and don't eat a lot of crap and I wonder how you still keep your weight on.
I don't know I have just been really trying to get into a healthier way of thinking plus I know my blood sugars would be better if my diet was different. I am just not sure how to start so any advice would be great.
I feel silly even writing this but I know you all could help! :)
About Me
- Jen
- Hi! My name is Jen, I am a 30 year old who has Cystic Fibrosis. I originally started this blog to keep track of my time on the double lung transplant list. Well after 2 LONG years and a lot of bumps in the road I finally received my transplant on December 2nd, 2010. Now I write about life post-tx and all that goes along with it! :)
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3 comments:
Jen, I remember when I started getting CFRD (pre-tx) and the CF clinic's nutritionist told me to just keep eating whatever I wanted and to cover it with Prandin (an oral med to help cover sugars). Something about this just struck me as not right.
Why should ANYONE eat WHATEVER they want??? I thought, so I could eat jelly beans and french fries all day and just cover it with an insulin shot, med, pump, etc???
Post-tx, my sugars were high from the Pred. With my diet and exercise tho, I need minimal insulin (even with the Pred.)now!
I did lots of reading about how diabetics should watch their diet and what foods are better for sugar control, etc. And the more I read, I realized, actually, this is how everyone should eat! Lots of veggies, fruit, nuts, beans, and then limit the sat. fats, complex carbs, and processed foods.
Pre-tx I cut out Coke, now only have 1 or 2 a month as a treat.. instead of part of my regular diet.
I cut candy waaay down.
Carbs like pot. chips, snack mix, pretzels, (things with white flour) are usually high in sugar and carbs and make your sugars go way up and then crash. These foods usually need lots of insulin coverage, so the less you eat of these things, usually the less insulin you need.
I exercised as much as I could! Which you are doing awesome at!! Good for you for having them set up things in your room and taking walks while you're in the joint!!
I basically ate as many fresh, non-processed (which processed usually includes most things at a fast food place) food as possible.
Believe me, I still eat things that aren't the best for me, but it's OCCASIONAL, instead of daily. Life is too short not to indulge here and there!
I weighed about 123 (I'm 5'4") when I had my tx. So it's STILL possible to eat healthy and be a healthy weight AND have CF! :)
Lemme know if you are interested, there's a couple books that I like for 'diabetic' diets, the ONLY thing I didn't listen to as much in these books was the 'low salt' recommendations.
Hope this helps... I felt tons better when I started being more conscious of what I ate.. I felt better about myself too.. Like I had more control of my life..
Sorry so long, but I am passionate about food .. esp. food that's good for you :)
ps -I posted this a while back.. they're good tips!
http://oceandesert.blogspot.com/2009/01/5-tips-to-control-blood-sugar-without.html
Love and Hugs Jen!!!
Jen,
I used to eat anything I wanted. Junk food, sugar, fat, basically crap!
My family went to Italy in 2006. Over there, they eat fresh, wholesome foods!! Our family completely changed the way we eat when we returned. I can hardly eat junk food anymore (except when I'm on high doses of prednisone). My body doesn't want it!
The thing about it is.. years ago, CFers weren't expected to live that long, so it really didn't matter the crap we put in our body. Now, with transplant success and everything else, we are living a lot longer. With that comes risk of cancer, heart disease, and of course diabetes. I don't believe doctors should be telling their CF patients to eat anything they want anymore. My transplant doctors certainly don't. He hates seeing his transplant patients eat fast food. He actually threw away one of his patient's hamburger and fries when he walked in and caught her eating it.. haha!
I'm small. I'll probably never be over 105 lbs again and I'm 5' 4 1/2". My doctors are fine with that as long as I'm feeling good, exercising, and have an appetite. I don't think that CFers should have to be in the same weight category as non-CFers. If they are.. great, but some of us can never achieve that!
I have a friend who got gestational diabetes. She and I have always been at the same weight, even though she doesn't have CF. She said she followed the doctor's orders on what and how to eat, and she's never eaten so much in her life. Complex carbs, a lot of protein especially in the morning, and healthy snacks throughout the day help control the sugar and also give you energy.
I would focus on healthy eating, exercising, and drinking lots of water. As CFers we need more food than others, but it doesn't mean we have to put junk in our body.
hey jen, i'm cuban and i eat everything i want! i eat rice everyday and i drink iced tea which i'm addicted to. i've had problems with my weight and the cfrd as well. lately i dont know what's happened but in a year i have been able to go from 92 lbs to 105 lbs. i'm only 4'11" and a half! the half is important. lol. so what changed for me was that i just started checking myself tons of times a day and putting insulin and never missing a dose. i'm at a great weight for my height and it took me a while to get here. also i drink about three cans a day of ensure plus in addition to my regular meals. that's helped a ton. i'm not into sweets so i have no problem staying away from candy or ice cream or anything too sweet. it's weird cause last yr. i was on the transplant list and about 3 months later i had to be taken off cause i just started doing so great. i dont know what made the difference. maybe knowing i was on the list made me less stressed out about the future and i was able to focus on my health. hope my babling helped.
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