Phase one: Blood Sugar "Boot camp"
Day one:
- Remove all added sugars from your diet for the next ten days.
Extra credit:
- Take a break from sodas, fruit juices, and alcoholic beverages as well.
Day Two:
- Add one teaspoon of cinnamon a day to you meals.
Extra credit:
- Try using high-antioxidants like cloves and allspice to your foods.
Day Three:
- Eliminate all sugary beverages, including soda, sports and energy drinks, sweetened coffees and teas, and fruit juices (even those made from 100% juice).
- Eliminate alcoholic beverages for the next ten days.
Extra credit:
- Eliminate all products containing High Fructose Corn Syrup.
Day Four:
- Add slices of lemon, orange, mint, lime etc. to your water.
- If removing soda from your diet is too much then: dilute your soda with 1/3 part soda and 2/3 sparkling water and gradually reduce the amount of soda.
- replace your sugary drinks with chilled green and black tea, iced ginger, herbal tea, soy and low-fat milk, iced coffee (with stevia instead of sugar), and fruit spritzer (a mix of 1/4 pomegranate/blueberry juice with 3/4 sparkling water).
- Drink lemonade made with fresh lemons and Stevia to sweeten.
Extra credit:
- Drink 64 ounces of drinking water per day. better yet, check out my post on water consumption for the exact amount of water you need to drink.
Day Five:
- Stop eating "Fast Carbs."
[A good reference for what is and is not a "fast carb", is the Glycemic Index (GI): The higher the GI ranking, the faster the food spikes your blood sugar levels; therefore, you should stick with foods that have a low GI.
A more accurate, yet not as well know reference, is the Glycemic Load (GL). The Glycemic Load is more accurate because it takes more things into consideration, like the amount of fiber for example.
GL = GI/100 x Net Carbs. Net Carbs is the total carbohydrates minus the fiber]
Day Six:
- Eat a protein-rich breakfast with healthy fats.
- Replace your Fast Carb breakfasts with more diabetes-friendly options.
Extra credit:
- Make your own yogurt.
Day Seven:
- Eat protein-rich lunches with plenty of vegetables, without the Fast Carbs.
- Plan a weeks menu of diabetes-conscious lunches.
- Go grocery shopping for the ingredients you need (and go on a full stomach).
Extra credit:
- Get into the habit of making your lunch the night before and after you have already eaten dinner. (This is such a useful habit!)
Day Eight:
- Clear all damaging snacks from your pantry and replace them with better alternatives. (You will probably have to check back for my post for Day Eight for a full understanding of what to do today.)
Day nine:
- Eliminate processed meats; like pepperoni, cold cuts, and commercial sausages.
- Cut back on animal products that aren't grass fed, that have hormones injected into them, and that are genetically modified.
Day ten:
- Eat vegetables several times a day.
- Try Eating three to five servings of vegatables.
- The more vegetables the better! (Within reason of course.)
Extra credit:
- Challenge yourself to discover new ways to include vegetables in all of your meals.
