People are notoriously creatures of habit and culture, and the older we get the more we tend to plant ourselves in routines and habits that rarely vary. There is a certain amount of security and comfort in this. Doing as we have always done and living as we have always lived seems safe. It has worked for us thus far—why change?
But when it comes to runaway blood sugar, your lifestyle and routines clearly haven’t worked very well for you thus far, since you are reading this book. “When it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” but when it is totally broken down and you are on the verge of self-destruction it’s time to make some serious changes. And this will involve thinking outside the box, doing new things, eating new foods, and adopting new habits and patterns.
Be willing to be different! Do things in a way you haven’t before. Do things that others don’t, for the sake of your health. Here are a few simple examples to get you started, but don’t stop with these.
The hamburger. Let’s start with this most American of all foods. The burger itself is no problem for diabetics. No carbs worth mentioning. The ketchup will add a few, but you can go a bit light with it and be fine. The cheese and lettuce—again no problem. No, the only problem with the hamburger is that fat and sassy bun. That’s where you are going to get most of your carbs, and that is what will produce those depressingly high numbers on your blood-sugar monitor. American traditions tell us exactly how a hamburger bun should look and what texture it should have. But here’s a news flash: the hamburger bun’s attributes weren’t given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai! We can do all sorts of things to improve the hamburger, blood-sugar-wise.
For example, you can eat a hamburger on a low-carb waffle (see chapter 19). Yes, it will seem outlandish at first, but you will find that it’s actually pretty good. Or you can buy the round flat buns at the store that have about 8 net grams of carbs each and probably still keep your blood sugar in bounds. Or you can make all sorts of other substitutions. The point is, you will not be arrested by the hamburger police for saying no to that round plump bun saturated with blood-sugar-raising carbs!
Strawberry shortcake is something that most Americans are accustomed to eating with strawberries piled inside those cute, spongy cakes that are hollowed out in the center. It hurts our sensibilities to eat strawberries on a square of bread or on something that isn’t yellow and spongy.
But who says you can’t enjoy strawberries and whipped cream on some other type of bread—especially some form that won’t send your blood sugar through the roof? Most low-carb muffin mixes (as in chapter 16) baked in a small square pan can make a great-tasting “shortcake” that can be divided into quarters. No, they don’t look so cute, but when they are drenched with mashed juicy strawberries and topped with whipped cream, they do the job wonderfully.
You can use low-carb waffles (see chapter 19) to make your own version of the Egg McMuffin. Two of the low-carb waffles will have around 6 grams of carbs. The two halves of an English muffin, however, will have around 27 grams of carbs. The savings here are tremendous and are well worth eating a little “outside the box.”
Bringing your own snacks with you is another “out of the box” behavior. But it works great for filler purposes. For example, when people go to Starbucks or other coffee places they often like to have a little snack with their coffee. But nearly all snacks sold at coffeehouses are little more than loads of sugar combined with lots of starch—a diabetic’s nightmare.
Of course you can just have the coffee, but sometimes I bring my own snack to go with my sugar-free, half-and-half French vanilla latte. My snack of choice is usually a handful of peanuts and a small, sugar-free chocolate candy (Russell Stover coconut, to be precise). Yes, it may well be that a few people have seen me pull the peanuts out of my pocket and wondered what I was doing. But who cares? If I want to enjoy my coffee with a low-carb snack, I’ll pay the price of looking a bit odd to one or two people who sit nearby. I sometimes bring a low-carb snack with me into McDonald’s as well, when I want a hamburger and need to replace the typical accompanying fries. Of course I could always get a salad, but sometimes I prefer my own substitution. When I am wearing a sport jacket with pockets I sometimes bring low-carb muffins into restaurants. (Women have it easier, and with a large purse can smuggle in entire dinners!)
What we are saying here is pretty simple, but it needs to be said. People with blood-sugar problems cannot live and eat and do things the way others live and eat and do. It is nowhere written in stone that you must complete the latter portion of your life in the same fashion as you did the former portion. Indeed, once you begin to take your blood sugar seriously, there is no way you can possibly do that. It is time to think outside the box.