How often do you feel isolated or lonely?
Who do you most love being around?
How much effort do you make to nurture these relationships?
How often do you see the people with whom you really want to engage?
If your social life is lacking, nurture your network of family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues.
This can be as simple as a warm smile and a few caring words, a thoughtful deed, or a random act of kindness.
Be encouraging and express gratitude.
Random acts of kindness may be even more gratifying for the person giving than those receiving.
Consider ways that you can add joy to the lives of those around you.
Share food that you have grown, gathered, or prepared.
Offer to lend a hand to a neighbor or colleague.
Let others know how much you appreciate, admire, or value them.
Tell them how they inspire you, bring you joy, or make you feel loved or cared for.
Plan a get-together with friends or family at least once a week.
Life is so busy; if you don’t schedule time for the people who matter to you, days can slip by without any connection.
Do something active if possible, a walk in the park, a game of horseshoes, or dancing.
If a meal is involved, take the opportunity to share delicious, healthy food or pick a restaurant that serves healthy fare.
Establish and maintain a friendship with a family member or a friend that involves a daily visit, even by phone.
Select someone with whom you feel safe sharing almost anything and who offers an equal exchange of energy.
Take up a new hobby or rediscover an old one.
Join a group that provides social stimulation, such as a book club, or adds exercise to the mix, such as a walking group.
If you’re a senior, take advantage of your local community’s senior center.
Become a volunteer.
Get involved with literacy programs, animal shelters, soup kitchens, thrift stores, outreach for the homeless, or a foster grandparent program.
Offer to help family, friends, or neighbors.
Shovel a driveway, water a garden, or invite a lonely neighbor over for tea or coffee.
If you enjoy being around young children, offer to babysit once a week, chasing around little ones brings joy and exercise!
W hen Diane was asked why she wanted to defeat diabetes, she replied, “Because I want to keep my toes, my legs, my eyes, and my kidneys. I want to be able to hike and bike and swim. I don’t want to hold anyone else back. I didn’t realize I had a choice, but I do now. I choose health.”
When she was asked if it was hard to do, she said, “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I was hooked on foods I didn’t know were addictive. It was also, by far, the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life. Imagine trading in a death sentence, not just any death sentence … a slow, painful death sentence, for life, and not just any life … the energetic, adventurous, joyful sort of life. I miss nothing; I cherish everything that has brought me to this place.”
Kick Diabetes Essentials: The Diet and Lifestyle Guide
Chapter
Menu Planning
When Diane committed to a whole-foods, plant-based diet, she was worried about feeling hungry all the time. She wondered if she would have the willpower to stick with a program that would help her lose the necessary weight. Should she begin with a modified fast or a very low-calorie diet? Would she be able to hold true to such a plan? Would she have enough energy to teach school when she was depriving herself of food? Should she just follow a low-calorie diet and forget about fasting? It was all a little overwhelming.
Ultimately, Diane opted for a one-week modified fast, followed by a 1,600-calorie-per-day diet until her goal weight was reached.
Her original goal was 140 pounds (63.5 kg) because she couldn’t imagine ever getting below that weight.
She reached her goal in five months (a loss of 28 pounds/12.7 kg) and decided to keep doing what she was doing.
Within a year, she was down to 125 pounds (56.7 kg), 2 pounds (1 kg) less than she was the day she got married.
She felt as though she had successfully scaled a mountain.
She pictured herself, arms outstretched, at the top of a mountain with the most breathtaking views.
Just thinking about it made her want to be there.
So she joined a local hiking club and became a devoted member and an inspiration to the entire group.
DECISIONS, DECISIONS
Y our first order of business is to establish a plan of action.
This means deciding if you are willing to do a modified fast to jump-start your recovery.
It’s a highly recommended step, as this type of fast can hasten the reversal of diabetes by helping to reduce inflammation, oxidative stress, lipotoxicity, and glucotoxicity.
There are a number of ways to accomplish this task, and your ultimate choice will depend on which feels right for you and your current lifestyle.
If you are on any medications for diabetes or other conditions, you will need to work closely with your physician or health-care provider to manage those medications.
Many people will either have to reduce or stop medications all together, especially diabetes, blood pressure, and lipid-lowering drugs.
Following a modified fast, your focus needs to shift to developing healthful eating patterns that you will stick with for the rest of your life.
This matters even more than calories, but it is still important to produce a caloric deficit if weight loss is needed.
The low-calorie, moderate-calorie, and maintenance diets are provided as a guide.
They need not be rigidly adhered to, and you will have to play around with them to see what works for you.
A tall, large-boned person will need more calories than a small person, so adjust the diet accordingly.
If you can, practice time-restricted feeding so that you are not eating after dinner until breakfast and your body has at least twelve to fourteen hours without food in a twenty-four-hour period.
KICK DIABETES MODIFIED FASTING MENUS
I f you recall, there are three types of modified fasts: time-restricted feeding, intermittent fasting, and periodic fasting (see pages 61 , 62 ). Regardless of which method suits you best, your total caloric intake will be between 600 and 1,000 calories per day, depending on your frame size, height, age, gender, and activity level. If you are small-framed, short, older, and female, you will lean toward the lower end of the range (600, 700 calories per day); if you are of average build, middle-aged, and moderately active, aim for the middle of the range (800 calories per day); if you are large-framed, tall, young, and active, aim for the upper end of the range (900, 1,000 calories).
Time-restricted feeding can be done at any caloric level and appears helpful whether you are on a modified fast, low-calorie diet, or maintenance program.
Generally, with a modified fast, the time restriction on eating would increase.
For example, on a 1,600-calorie weight-loss diet, you might fast for twelve to fourteen hours, while on a modified fast you might fast for sixteen to eighteen hours and eat only two meals a day.
In this case, you could stop eating at 6:00 p.m., have your first meal of the day at 11:00 a.m., and then have your second meal at 5:00 p.m.
Intermittent fasting is an option that requires a very low-calorie intake for one to three days a week (or on alternate days). For example, you might eat 1,600 calories a day for six days of the week, and on one day of the week you would do a juice fast. This would be a 6:1 intermittent fast.
The third option is periodic fasting or modified fasting during which you might eat 1,600 calories for twenty-five days of the month and 800 calories for five days of the month. You could continue this for three cycles or until your weight goals are achieved, or you could simply do it once or twice and move to a low-calorie weight-loss diet.
There are three menus provided for the modified fasts (see table 10.1 , page 16 ). Recipes are provided for all menus in the recipe section (