Time to get a little personal.

I’m not a big fan of sharing tons of personal info about myself on my blog. I have to think: who cares? You are here to read a review, not read about me. However, I wanted to give some information with this post so that readers can understand where I’m coming from.

Growing up, I was never a heavy person. I was always pretty average, even thin. All that changed when I was in my 30’s. I started putting on some pounds. I think it was stress, crazy schedule, more stress. Regardless, I trained for a marathon in 2002 and was looking pretty good again, and then I got married. And right away got pregnant. And then when baby 1 was four months old I got pregnant again. That was ten years ago and I’ve been overweight ever since. Like 50 pounds overweight.

Now, here’s the thing: my blood work and medical tests have always been great! Super! And while I am heavy, I exercise a lot. I love to exercise! I like to cook. We eat healthy. I have a fitbit and I know how much I’m doing. Basically I’m a bit stymied why I’m so heavy when I’m out running or doing aerobics and lifting weights and eating healthy.

Then in December I went to my physical, and my blood work no longer looked good. Suddenly my glucose level (usually 70-80) had edged over 100. My triglycerides (which have rarely been past 60) were up over 150. My cholesterol was over 200 for the first time ever. What was happening? So I requested a visit with the dietician at my doctor’s group. I also got two books: THE DIABETES SOLUTION through Blogging for Books and THE ACID REFLUX SOLUTION via Amazon (because I had never heard of acid reflux before I got pregnant and for the past two or three years it’s a daily thing for me).

But first let me tell you what the dietician suggested after reviewing my diet and exercise. Keep exercising. Keep eating, but add more protein at breakfast. Then have a bigger lunch with more protein. Then make dinner 50% veggies, 25% protein, and 25% complex carbs. That’s my daily goal right now. I will let you know how I make out. So far, I got through the holidays without denying myself stuff and did not gain weight. And my whole family is eating more veggies.

So – the books. First let me write about THE ACID REFLUX SOLUTION. (subtitled A Cookbook and Lifestyle Guide for Healing Heartburn Naturally) which I purchased in print form.

This is a great book. The goal of it is to understand why acid reflux is happening and then make some changes so that it is under control. The end goal is to not be reliant on prescription or OTC meds. Now I’ve read A LOT on acid reflux. I thought I knew everything, but I didn’t. I’ve made a few changes to my diet based on what I read and I am so happy to report that my acid reflux is pretty much gone! Amazing! I tend to avoid the foods that cause reflux to begin with but I did a few new things, based on what I read: I added ginger to my diet. I eat a very small piece of ginger after dinner most nights. I also stopped drinking so much with my meal. I’m a huge water drinker and I tend to drink about 12 ounces at dinner and 8 ounces before I go to bed at night. This book suggested I drink 30 minutes before or 45 minutes after dinner and not right before I go to bed as so much water could stretch my stomach. I also cut down on entree portion size (again, to add in more veggies). And we eat dinner earlier so that I can have hours before I go to bed after eating.

There are loads of other suggestions and information in this book and I highly recommend it! It has lots of recipes, too, including some great soups!

THE DIABETES SOLUTION is subtitled:

How to Control Type 2 Diabetes and Reverse Prediabetes Using Simple Diet and Lifestyle Changes–with 100 recipes

I cut and pasted that — lol.

The first thing I have to say is that this book is a major wake up call. By the time I had read part one, I was pretty much freaked out about my health and my body. Reading the section on complications from diabetes scared me half to death, and the big message was “if you are over 100 for fasting glucose, you are PREdiabetic”. I took it as a call to action.

This was a very informative book. There is a section on medications that I did not read as I’m not on any medications. Dr. Rodriguez also has created a point system to help control sugar in the diet and to balance nutrients. I did not try to this yet. And there are many recipes included in the second half of the book, including list of foods that fit in the point system – the “blood sugar budget”. There is a later section on surgeries, which I also didn’t focus on.

I thought this was a great (albeit somewhat scary) read and I would recommend it to those who want to better understand diabetes, prediabetes, and similar conditions and then do something about it. The recipes look tasty and easy to make. I am considering the blood sugar budget (if I do it, I will post my thoughts on it). One of the themes here is that making several small changes can have a very big and positive overall effect.

Thank you, Blogging for Books, for my copy!