The Dr. Bernstein diet is kind of amazing. I will admit that today it hit me, and I just really, really wanted some sugar. Any kind would have been fine. Crackers, candy, what have you. I used to allow myself a very small (one bite) amount of basically anything I wanted, and I think in time I’ll have to add some of those things back in, as a diet that sucks is the same as a diet that is impractical. But so far, I have followed it absolutely to the letter. And they say that having no refined sugars eventually makes a person lose their desire for them… here’s hoping.

And here’s the mid-week report.

Things I’ve Noticed In 3.5 Days On The Bernstein Diet:

1. My total daily insulin needs have gone from 40 to 28 units.

2. My blood sugars, which used to jump all over the place for no comprehensible reason, don’t really anymore. This is important to me in so many ways, and the anxiety I have about diabetes in general is lessening because of this predicability, and stability. My target BG right now is 150, since I’m on meds for 3 months for Valley Fever that can cause “severe, sudden hypoglycemia” in insulin dependent diabetics (nice!), and these are the readings from my meter from today.

167
169
142
147
153
141
136
144
154
152
144
143

And here, from the day before the diet:

182
122
199
240
120
111
144
281
103
188
132

A pretty big difference in variation, and a huge difference in how confident I am about predicting what’s going on with my BG.

3. Most of the time, I feel satisfied with what I’m eating. I am snacking WAY less, as it’s a lot more effort, and hardly worth it.

4. Even though it’s in the book, mashed turnips taste absolutely nothing like mashed potatoes and are, frankly, pretty frightening. Maybe my recipe sucked, but I think I’ll not be including them in future meals.

And things I don’t like about the diet:

1. It’s covered in the book, but I have hesitations about the amount of saturated fat that he allows. We’re not eating close to what he says is okay, and my biochem mom approved our diet, but still.

2. Sometimes I just want a damn cracker. A lot.

The stability is important enough to me that I think I’ll probably continue with this diet after the week is up. I expect that we will make a few changes, and when we go out, we’ll probably just eat something generally in line with the principals of the diet, rather than adhere 100% of the time.

This has been an incredibly informative and very promising trial. Oh, and did I mention that my fantastic husband is following the diet, too? He has to stop if he gets below 190 pounds, but he’s adamant about wanting to be involved, and has not wavered once. And this is a man who can easily eat a whole thing of chips ahoy.

Below are a few pics of what we ARE allowed to eat. And I promise I’ll lay off the food photos after this 🙂

Spice-crusted pork tenderloin in an herb sauce + Daniel’s favorite salad.
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Mexican spiced chicken with homemade guacamole and Daniel’s favorite salad.
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