nightmare in nutrition educator land

[Guest guest]

I had my second visit with the health educator at my clinic.

Twenty-one hours later, I still feel exhausted and disheartened. I

couldn't even manage the energy to exercise today.

 

I got the results of the second fasting blood sugar test (needed to

confirm the diagnosis of diabetes. It was 185 (down from 199, probably

because I increased my exercise between the two tests.) So that's a

confirmation of diabetes and the instructor told me I must never again

eat beans, I must never again eat rice (even brown rice) because they

have too many carbs. She told me she wanted me to eat ground beef five

times a day - nasty wet ground beef at that because she wants me to

cook it and then wash it in a colander under hot water. I physically

shuddered when she told me that and cried out for her to stop talking

because I was going to be sick from thinking about wet beef every day

for all my meals.

 

She also put me on the scale and even though I was wearing the exact

same outfit that I had on last time she weighed me, the scale said I'd

only lost 1.5 pounds in the last month. My home scale says I've lost

eight pounds in the same time period. I don't know what to believe.

All this effort for 1.5 pounds in four weeks? Goodbye motivation.

*sigh*

 

Needless to say, I am going to be ignoring her advice about eating

soggy beef all day. I can't believe that she thinks beans and rice are

awful for diabetics when even the Mayo Clinic advises diabetics to go

vegetarian!

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diabetes/AN00845

 

She went through my food logs and pretty much told me that everything

I was eating was wrong and I have to stop eating it. Other than the

wet beef, she never told me what I *should* be eating. I finally told

her (honestly) that I couldn't commit to any particular food without

my husband there because he is the one who sets the budget and decides

what we can and cannot afford at the grocery.

 

She agreed to another meeting in two weeks where she and I will meet

first and then we will all three (she, my husband, and me) meet

together afterward.

 

Now here's the one bright spot in my day. I came out of her office and

told my husband what happened and he is angry with her and eager for

the chance to set her straight. He even asked me to print out the Mayo

Clinic articles about vegetarianism and diabetes and a few other

medical journal articles I have on the same topic (such as this one:

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/78/3/610S) so that he can be

fully informed about the facts before he confronts her.

 

My non-vegetarian husband is going to bat for me and my vegetarian

eating, bless his little carnivore heart!

 

I also see the diabetes specialist in about two weeks. She's

apparently just going to do a urine test and that's it. I'm going to

ask her about getting home testing equipment because it's ridiculous

that I'm supposed to get my blood sugar under control with diet and

exercise but I never know what my blood sugar actually is!

 

In the meantime, I'm trying to stay calm and trying to re-discover the

motivation I've had for so long that all went out the window today (I

even have a new workout DVD and am not getting excited about trying it

out like I usually am with a new DVD.)

 

And I'm making millet, garbanzos and cauliflower for dinner tomorrow,

carbs be darned!

 

Sparrow -- frustrated, discouraged, but still here