DIABETES - CARB CONTROL – GLYCEMIC INDEX

Not JUST low glycemic index foods will control blood sugars, but they DO play a large role in it.  It is also the AMOUNT of food you consume in one meal setting and the other combination of foods you eat with it (such as fats and proteins).

For best blood sugar control:

1. Eat foods that have a low GI (less than 55) - google up "Glycemic Index" for a complete list.
2. Eat foods that are higher in fiber
3. Always eat a healthy protein with your meals/snacks (nothing fried or highly marbled)
4. LIMIT the amount of fat you consume with your meal and make it plant fats (i.e. olive oil & avocado)
5. Men: limit Total Carbohydrate intake to 60-75gms/meal (4-5 carb choices)                            Women: limit Total Carbohydrate intake to 45-60 gms/meal (3-4 carb choices)

Carbohydrate Choices & Serving Sizes

 When there is not a nutrition label available, use the food lists below to help you.

Each portion below is one carbohydrate choice (which is also 15 grams of carbohydrate)

Grains, Breads,  & Cereals	Milk  & Yogurt	Fruits	Starchy Vegetables	Sweets & Snack Foods
*1 oz bread product    (e.g. 1 slice bread,    ¼ large bagel, 6”    tortilla) • 1/3 cup cooked     pasta or rice • 1 cup soup • 3/4 oz cold cereal* • 1/2 cup cooked     cereal • 3 cups popcorn	* 1 cup milk       (preferably skim) • 3/4 to 1 cup (6 to 8    oz) plain yogurt or    greek yogurt	*1 baseball size     fresh fruit • 1/2 cup canned      fruit in own juice • 1 cup melon • 1/2 cup fruit juice • 2 Tbsp dried fruit • 1 cup raspberries • 1 1/4 cup      strawberries • 3/4 cup      blackberries,      blueberries	*1/2 cup potatoes,    peas, or corn • 1/2 cup cooked     beans/legumes     (e.g. garbanzo,     kidney or black     beans)	*3/4 oz snack food (e.g. pretzels, chips, 4 to 6 crackers) • 1 oz sweet snack     (e.g., 2 small       sandwich       cookies, 5       vanilla wafers) • 1 Tbsp sugar or       honey • 1/2 cup ice cream

*Serving sizes vary between 1/2 cup to 1 1/2 cup. Check the product’s nutrition label.

Examples to figure out how many carbs you would consume if you at the following:

1)    ½ cup macaroni & cheese + ½ cup strawberries = 30 grams carbs (or 2 carb servings)

2)    1 cup macaroni & cheese = 30 grams carbs (or 2 carb servings)

3)    1 cup macaroni & cheese + ½ cup corn + baseball size apple = 60 grams carbs (or 4 carb servings)

How to read a food label

• Find the Serving Size.
• Find the Total Carbohydrate in one serving. (Sugars are included in this number, so you do not need to count them separately.)
• Compare the serving size listed to your portion.
• Calculate the amount of carbohydrate in your portion.
• You can count grams of carbohydrate or carbohydrate choices.

KEY POINTS to consider and follow:

 * Food is now “medicine” to me.  What I eat directly affects how high or how low my blood sugars go.

* It is extremely important that I eat protein with EVERY meal and EVERY snack because protein helps pull my blood sugars back down.

* I MUST eat within 2 hours of getting up in order to get my blood sugars in balance for the day.   I also need to eat every 4-6 hours throughout the day(3 meals/day), with a small bedtime snack (which helps in promoting normal range blood sugars when I wake up in the morning).

Daily Workout

I talk to numerous people who use many excuses for not making exercise a top priority in their weekly schedule.  Many say they "chase kids all day, isn't it enough?"  Others say they just don't have time or the energy.   I ran across something that pretty much sums up those who prefer to lean on excuses and not legit "reasons" for not exercising:

"The Doctor told me, I should start an exercise program.  Not wanting to harm this old body, I devised the following:
Monday
Beat around the bush
Jump to conclusions
Climb the walls
Wade through the morning paper

Tuesday
Drag my heels
Push my luck
Make mountains out of mole hills
Hit the nail on the head

Wednesday
Bend over backwards
Jump on the Band Wagon
Run around in circles

Thursday
Advise the President on how to run the country
Toot my own horn
Pull out all the stops
Add fuel to the fire

Friday
Open a can of worms
Put my foot in my mouth
Start the ball rolling
Go over the edge

Saturday
Pick up all the pieces!!!

Sunday
Kneel in prayer
Bow my head in thanksgiving
Uplift my hands in praise
Hug someone and encourage them.

Whew!  What a workout!
It's enough to tire one out for a long time!"

Exercise: motivates success, releases a natural "anti-depressant" produced in the brain, increases energy, decreases risks of numerous diseases, and builds up immunity amongst many many other benefits!  
If you're the type that says, "I'll start tomorrow."    When IS tomorrow?  Why not NOW??  VERY few people have a legit reason for not exercising...  more than likely, it's not you.  Now get moving!

Beauty- Part 3 – Biblical Beauty Secrets

Well, as most of you know by now how much of a “frady cat” I am of “synthetic” or “un-natural” things going into or onto my body.    “Health” is my motivator – not physical appearance.    So in my reading, something caught my attention… in Esther 2:8-12, Esther began her beauty treatments and special food.  What?  Beauty treatments?  Actually, there are several references as to beauty treatments & food in the bible!   And there was no “synthetics” back then – so I my attention was hooked!!

Here’s a few beauty treatment foods that are mentioned in the bible – along with information we have found on them today:

Almonds-(Jerimiah 1:10-11) helps in weight control & metabolic syndromes.  Use raw, with brown skins still on them.  The skins contain more than 20 antioxidants & contains a natural source of Vitamin E – which is a wonderful food for fighting aging and wrinkles!   

Flax – (Exodus 9:31, Joshua 2:6) – the omega-3 fatty acids helps the body regulate leptin, which helps you to lose weight and burn fat more efficiently.  It’s a huge source of Lignan which helps the liver metabolize and excrete inflammation-triggering fat and toxins.  It has 6 times amount of fiber of oats. (Dose: 1-2 TB/day)

Fish – wild caught only – contain omega-3 fatty acids that do same as listed under “flax” above but also it helps in fighting depression and contributes to soft healthy skin.   Flax oil is known to combat dandruff.  American Heart Association recommends at least 2 servings /week.

Cinnamon – was used as the Holy Annointing Oil for the tabernacle.  It regulates blood sugar, improves cholesterol, and helps the body return to a natural weight. Saliva can decrease potency of cinnamon so supplements are good. (Dose: ¼ to ½ tsp/day)

Cloves -(2 Kings 20:13) – play a role in regulating blood sugar, lowering cholesterol, reduce weight, and promote lean body mass.

Figs – (Micah 4:4) – promotes normal weight, protects bone density and cardiovascular system.

Vinegar – taking 2 TBS before a meal prevents blood sugar spikes, weight loss if done twice/day.  The main ingredient is acetic acid – which is the “mother” factor in raw vinegars.  It also kills the  fungus that promotes dandruff.

Bread – breads in biblical times were not processed or enriched…which means NO white bread!  A bread that’s as close to biblical bread is the Ezekial brand bread. 

Tea – is NOT mentioned in the bible; however, they traded a lot in the East and they had trade routes as far away as Africa & India, so it is very possible they consumed tea. Green tea is very well known for it’s ability of boosting metabolism, burning fat, and its high antioxidant –wrinkle fighting properties. 

Honey – (Gen 43:11, Exodus 3:17, Proverbs 16:24) this was valuable in biblical days.  Women applied it to their skin, along with oils, as part of their bathing ritual.  The darker the honey, the richer it’s mineral content.  (Go for locally made raw honey for the maximum benefits!)

Olive Oil – (Exodus 30) – was a staple in biblical times of a woman’s beauty regimen.  It was used to keep the skin soft & supple – and it doesn’t clog pores like most expensive creams do today!  When a pore is clogged, it promotes wrinkles! The Extra Virgin Olive Oil contains more antioxidant & phytonutrients than the other varieties.  It was also used to tame frizzy fly-away hair. 

Dead Sea Mineral Mud Masks – it has the highest concentration of  minerals such as calcium, potassium, bromide, and magnesium.  The Dead Sea was mentioned 3 times in the bible.

Frankincense & Myrrh – (Ester 2:12) – “Before a girl’s turn came to go into King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments proscribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh…”  These oils are known to soften the skin and prevent wrinkles. 

Aloe Vera (Psalm 45:8, Numbers 24:5-7) – renowned for helping skin to heal and increases collagen production (fights wrinkles). It’s also known to hold moisture in.

BEAUTY – What Is Between YOUR Ears???

Our mind, body, & spirit play a HUGE role in the affects on our emotions, attitude, and daily choices.  This is a big hurdle that I’m constantly seeing & fighting against in helping people with weight loss.   To be quite frank, weight loss is all in the mind…it’s what lies between the ears.   It DOES have a quick domino affect on our spirit & body.

The spirit and soul are held captive by our physical choices…and beauty is a physical manifestation of the spirit & soul.  So let me break it down even further…  how we “feel” about ourselves when we look in the mirror will reflect our spirit & soul.   Sometimes we just don’t know how to get out of the self-inflicted never-ending circle of emotional eating due to basing our beauty on how we “feel.”  If you are not happy with what you see in the mirror, then you must ask yourself, “Have I been making the right healthy physical choices?”    Think about that!  Then listen to me again… "The spirit and soul are held captive by our physical choices…beauty is a physical manifestation of the spirit and soul.”  

“The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness…” Matthew 6:22-23

Jesus used “eyes” as a metaphor for our spiritual lives; eyes are the door that affects our whole inner being.   Our choices on types of food, drinks, and the choice to be physically active is just the first step to feeling better about yourself – then your spirit & body will follow suit!

Food for Thought: 

1)   Have you asked God to show you where you have made unwise choices in life?

2)  Believe that others see the outward radiance of your inner life.  YOU have so much to offer… let your light shine for others to see! 

3)   If you have “dieted” in the past…have you found that it just doesn’t work?  When diets do not allow the foods God has provided for you, then that should be RED FLAGS!   Don’t “diet”...Instead, just avoid man-made processed foods with high calories & no vitamins/minerals.  Choose God-made foods…after all, He created you so He should know what your body needs, right??

4)  We are to be “good stewards”…of money and of our body.  Are you being a good steward of your body?  Is your only source of physical activity chasing kids or being taxi driver for everyone?  If so, this does NOT count as exercise.

Beauty - Can I Take a U-Turn?!

I woke up about a few months ago and noticed some crazy lines on my face.  ”Ugh, not those!” was my instant reaction.   Since I was 30, I’ve had to cover my pre-mature gray hair,  a couple years ago I had to get bifocals, and now that 40 is right around the corner, the wrinkles around my eyes are NOW wanting to remind me??!    Seriously?!  You don’t have to show me more!  I get the picture!!

Now, I know I’m not the only person out there that has had just a slight feeling of how I felt.  Lets take it a bit further…’beauty.’  Aren’t MOST women afraid of losing their body they had in their 20’s? Yes- you know what I’m talking about…the body you didn’t appreciate at the time and was wishing you had your teenage body back…yeah it’s that body!  We always seem to “want” what we don’t have yet when in reflection, we realized we had it good! 

I think I might break these blogs on “Beauty” down into several different ones. There’s so many areas of it, I just can’t get it all on one – I’m thinking you are on limiting reading times like me.

Women think differently than men…we tend to put ‘beauty’ and ‘appearance’ in one box and call them almost equal.  Women are afraid of losing love: afraid God will reject us if we overvalue our appearance, and we’re afraid others (society) will reject us if we don’t value it enough.   John 15:4,9 says, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me…    As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.”      What this says is Jesus has us!  Unconditionally loves us!  He does NOT give requirements of NO wrinkles, NO gray hair, or NO blemishes before He offers His love.   Nor does he require us to have the perfect clothes or painted nails!   Now who’s love can you always be sure is there – unconditionally there?  Our Savior!!!   It’s not the same love that society has taught you though!  Society sadly puts way too much focus of the appearance on the outside-the name brand clothes you wear, manicures & pedicures, cars you drive, or houses you live in. 

His love flows in us.  And when they flow in us, others see it in our actions and efforts…but most of all in the way we carry ourselves!!   What they see is love of life…and the beauty behind it all is the by-product of our natural efforts when we have Christ as our true love.  Our worry lines will start to go away and our chin no longer drags the floor!  We stop turning to the refrigerator for comfort and stop seeking material things to fill the void.   Our faces will glow with peace and will be so much more alluring than what any cosmetic product can produce. 

I love how one author put it, “Any desire of our hearts – even the desire to be physically beautiful-is an invitation for God to reveal Himself to us.  By bringing this desire to God, we are moving beauty out of the shadows (and out of “society’s beauty) and into the light.  We can trust that God will teach us in this journey to root deeply down into His Love.”

Food for Thought:  

1) Have you ever asked God to reveal to you the true source of beauty?  

2) Do you think that maybe God is using your deep desire for ‘beauty’ to teach you about His constant, unconditionally love and affection He so longs for you to see?

5 Label Reading Steps at a QUICK Glance

There is so much confusion out there with food labels.  Let's just break it down to a "momma has little time level."  
Step 1 - ALWAYS ALWAYS look at the serving size & amount of servings in the container first!  If there are 2 servings in the container, such as the example below, you will need to double everything in the food label because the amounts listed are the "Amounts Per Serving."
Step 2 - To keep your fat intake in check, there's a rule of thumb to follow: For every 100 calories, you need to have 3 or less grams of fat (this keeps your fat intake to 30% or below for you math analyzers out there).   So...  100 calories - <3
                             200 calories - <6
                             300 calories - <9
You just add on 3 more grams of fat every time you add on 100 calories.
Take a look at the label below.  It has 250 calories, so the fat SHOULD BE around 7-8 grams. (200 calories is <6 and 300 calories is <9 so 250 is stuck right in the middle, this is how I got the 7-8grams).  Does this product have 7-8 grams of fat in it???  NO.  It has 12 - WAY MORE than the allowed 7-8 grams)!
So, this product is too high in fat!  AVOID PURCHASING IT!

Step 3 - Go HIGH on fiber, and LOW on sugar!  If there is fruit or milk in the product, these will show up as "sugar" on the food label because they have a natural sugar in them (fructose for fruit and lactose for milk).
Step 4 - Take a look at the ones in light yellow above - Total Fat, Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, & Sodium
Now take a look at the % to the right of them that is in the purple.  The GOAL is to keep these as close to 5% as possible!  The closer to 20%, the higher the risk of heart disease, diabetes, & obesity.
Step 5 - Take a glance at the "Ingredients list" which is usually placed near the food label on a package. If there are words in it that you can't pronounce, it would be wise to leave that package on the shelf!    Avoid disease causing/hormone imbalancing ingredients such as: asparatame, nitrate/nitrite, high fructose corn syrup & colored dyes.

In Tha Muthahood