Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion Sporting ASKickers "FITNESS" TEAM! - All Physical Activity & Sports

Lower diabetes risk IS a GREAT reason to walk as much as the disease allows! Wonder if that's why my blood sugar is not behaving now that I've exchanged hiking for swimming.

Good job walking Sue!

hi erica,

its not really "walking" but exercise that is the key. and the more aerobic, the better. thus swimming should be even better!

as for your blood sugar. we (you AND i) have to really cut back on the sugar and complex carbs (except for beans, beans are good for blood sugar, if your GI tract can handle them. my GI tract seems unhappy WITHOUT them! i eat some form of beans every day, otherwise i'd be constipated all the time. fortunately i love them. my stepfather is Sicilian and beans are a big part of the Sicilian diet, so he taught us to love beans.

some bean ideas:

pasta fagioli (minus the pasta)

white bean salad (i used cannellini beans, EVOO, italian herbs, black olives, sun dried tomatoes)

lima beans

lentil soup

hummus (dip carrots into it instead of crackers)

baked beans, but full of sugar (so i eat just a 1/4 cup at a time)


fish, chicken, turkey, nuts (nuts are great for our lipids that get messed up when we're insulin resistant), veggies, veggies, veggies, fruit in moderation. that's the bulk of my diet.

when i want something sweet, i eat coconut milk ice cream with berries, a piece of fruit, a square of chocolate, or have a ginger candy (but just one).

if i really want complex carbs, i'll have 1 serving in a day: a half slice of toast with nut butter and a little jam or honey. or a half cup of rice. but i'm really careful with the complex carbs too.

but back to exercise..............

no walking today, SI cranky again. too much walking last night too soon? so icing it now and hoping it heals up a bit soon. sunday is supposed to be cooler (80 degrees) and want to go to an arts and crafts festival. hoping my SI cooperates! stupid SI!

Sue, because of you I've been icing my bendy parts when I hurt and it helps SOOOO much!

Thanks for the diet ideas. I'm in a period of major bad attitude about it right now. But I did eat pecan crackers, cheese, and cherries for lunch.

And... something healthy for breakfast I don't remember.

I admit that I have chocolate riding around in my purse, but I limit myself to one square or piece instead of the whole bar.

Today I noodled for 45 minutes with my sisters, niece, and greatniece. After that - house cleaning, math, laundry.

Go TEAM!

i understand the bad attitude about the diet. i rebel every day (in attitude)!

i do find that if i can find just a few things i adore that are good for me, that's how i can survive.

another secret i have, i love tea. all kinds of tea. while i have to watch not to have too much caffeine, i love herbal, green, white, oolong, decaf, flavored, etc. so i splurge on really good tea and if its a flavored tea, often that can take care of my cravings.

my new favorite: teaforte teas. some stores around here sell it. but the flavors are limited. however they also mail order. i really like coconut (flavor and aroma). bought the coconut collection: the chocolate coconut and chai coconut were divine. and the chocolate one really takes care of my chocolate craving. i'm eyeing their dolce vita collection of "dessert teas". more of the same idea. this will be my next tea purchase.

another favorite: teaism. its an asian tea house in washington d.c. they also have a tea shop next door. and i can mail-order as well. my two favorites: jasmine dragon pearls for green and formosa for oolong. they're my green and oolong staples.

unless you're a coffee drinker........

anyway, a good cup of tea can help my food cravings.

and i start the day with my ginger herbal tea. that too helps my food cravings.

i also love things like shrimp, salmon sausage. to me they have a sweet sort of taste to them. that can satisfy me as well.

but sometimes i think i'm better in knowledge than execution. i know all of this and yet last winter and again this winter got up to almost 150 lbs which is a lot for me.

i know what i gotta do, just gotta do it.

unlike you, i can't have a bar of chocolate on my person or it is gone. i must bring a square of chocolate. i have no self control.

and the winter for some reason is the worst. maybe why i started having problems when i moved from VA to NY. winter is a lot longer now than it was down there.

one thing that did make it easier is that i've had to watch what i eat since i can remember, just that i have to get stricter and stricter every year. its easier to make small changes little by little. i can understand how hard it can be if its an all of a sudden thing. but habits do form over time.....

still, i do adore food!

I'm allergic to tea, but I do like the ginger and mint teas. Things like that. But really, there's a trade off between weight and what I'm supposed to eat. The "diabetic diet" makes me gain weight, while just eating nutritious foods and occasional sweets makes me lose weight. I've always been a healthy weight - well from 34-38 I got tubby from progesterone. But other than that I'm healthy. So, my new motto is this. BE AS GOOD AS I CAN WITHOUT BEING PERFECT!

i'm curious? what do you mean by "diabetic diet"?

what the diabetes assoc says: low fat, high carb?

or rather a low carb diet?

my experience has been that if i cut out the carbs and sugars, and i'm seriously good about it, that's how i lose. restricting calories too of course.

and like you, i'm not perfect, but i do try to be as good as i can be. because when i'm not, i feel comatose after a meal. and i hate that.

so if i eat low carb, low sugar, i just feel a lot better. and i like feeling better

but we're all a bit different and i'm sure you're finding your way. :hugs:

thanks for talking about this with me. it gives me more motivation

though i do have a craving for kettle corn. good thing there's none in the vicinity!

My instructions were 30-40 grams of carbs at meals 3x daily, and 15 grams for snacks also 3X daily.

But my niece has gestational diabetes again and her doc says 15 grams 6X daily and a high fat snack midway through the night.

So…. I dunno. The first day of my bad attitude I had three cookies for dinner with a hot dog and some salads. But now I've just had one Toblerone bar over 4 days with all other healthy foods.

Just in the last few days I've inched down 3lbs… so I think my readjusted attitude is working. Moderation, which I hate, seems to be possible even with the worst attitude!

Today's run 8.05 miles, 1 hour 22 minutes. I wanted to run further, but it was getting to hot so I called it good. Then I came home and my dog was dying. I took him to the vet. He is an old dog, vet said there is nothing they can do.

I'm so sorry Steve. It's so awful to lose a faithful friend.

Holey cloudburst Batman!
I hope and pray that there is enough water coming from the sky to douse all the fires in Colorado!

Today I cleaned house for 2.5 hours, rode my trike 3 miles, and swam 1/2 mile.

Ding dong the flare is gone!