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.
Mexican spiced chicken with homemade guacamole and Daniel’s favorite salad.
8 comments
Comments feed for this article
January 10, 2007 at 8:43 am
Kevin
Sounds like a useful experience.
I’ve heard about this Dr. Bernstein, but haven’t read his book. Perhaps I will, now.
And what’s in “Dan’s favorite salad?”
January 10, 2007 at 9:13 am
Scott K. Johnson
Those blood sugars are amazing.
It’s hard to argue results, that’s for sure.
Thank you very much for sharing this experience with us, it is very informative and helpful.
Even for those that don’t commit to the the diet & program, I recommend his book. You’ll learn lots from it either way.
January 10, 2007 at 11:02 am
insearchofbalance
I’ll admit I’m getting a little tired of Daniel’s favorite salad. We’re out of dressing, though, which gives me a reprieve for this evening.
Daniel’s Favorite Salad:
Baby spinach leaves
Blueberries, to equal 1/4 cup per person
Blue cheese
Green onions
Dressing made from olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, chives, and salt, thrown into the blender.
I’d also reccommend reading the book. I learned a lot from it, and even before I decided to try his diet, I was glad I read it. A few of the WTF moments of diabetes were clearly explained.
🙂
January 11, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Scott
Thanks for the post … I have wondered about Dr. Bernstein’s recommendations, but never knew anyone who actually tried it. It seems logical, I’m just not convinced I could deal without any carbs, but if stability is introduced, that might be sufficient evidence to consider it.
Please, please, please keep up updated on your progress with it!!
January 16, 2007 at 8:26 am
whitishrabbit
I like the food photos, actually. Even though one of them made me hungry, it’s interesting to see the dishes prepared.
July 26, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Diet Forum
That salad looks great.. Daniel has good taste!
October 16, 2009 at 9:34 am
Sandie
I also have a Dr. Bernstein blog outlining my experiences!
http://www.sandiekins.blogspot.com/
October 6, 2011 at 11:42 am
jewels
i didn’t know we are allowed to have blue cheese? I admit when I first started out I was confused as to why the were not allowing any dairy-milk ( they do allow 1 tsp of light cream cheese and also thin slices but now I feel different after loosing 6 pounds in a week I walked in at 145 and have just lost 6 pounds and my gold weight is 100-120. It is a little costly, for the needles ( and I never eat out) but it is definitely worth it. I have figured out how to reach ketosis and it is mostly the water and the portion sizes. I am going to keep going and wish all the best to achieving our goals. Does anyone have any recipes for breakfast since I am alergic to eggs.