Dealing with gestational diabetes and food rationing

I don’t write about health on this blog much because I am really not a health nut.  I do not exercise a lot and I was about 10 to 15 lbs overweight before I got pregnant.  This is definitely something I have to change because I just got diagnosed with gestational diabetes.  This is a condition that is completely controllable, but I will have to make an effort to manage it.

For those who are unfamiliar with this condition, gestational diabetes is caused by the placenta’s  hormones blocking the mom’s insulin function.  According to the American Diabetes Association some pregnant women need 3 times as much insulin as normal to control blood sugar.  In my case I also had some risk factors of having this condition such as being slightly overweight, being Asian, having a family history of diabetes,  and being over 25 years old while pregnant.  These risk factors made me twice more likely to get gestational diabetes.   The worst negative effect of this type of diabetes is that the baby might be getting too much blood sugar and end up being really fat.  This may cause the delivery to be very difficult, and that is why my doctor ordered another ultrasound for us in a few weeks to check on the size of the baby.  If the baby is too big then I would need to be induced early or have a C-section.  The good news is that with a good diet the baby can be completely normal and the diabetes should go away after delivery.  Also, I am not really feeling any ill effects from this problem.

Right now I have been referred to a dietician at the hospital, and I will be receiving my blood glucose meter soon and I will have to prick my fingers to test my blood sugar 4 to 8 times a day.   I have also been sent a good set of study materials on how to plan my meals and count my carbohydrate intake.  I am also told to keep a log of my food intake with my blood glucose values.  It is really like keeping a written down budget of how much food I can eat, and I think the organization is helpful.

I really see this complication as a blessing in disguise because I am being disciplined to eat smaller portions with low carbohydrates and low fat.  I usually do not eat a lot of sugary foods, but I do eat very large portions for my size and I eat a lot of carbs.  In the long run this new diet plan will be really good for me because I know how bad long term uncontrolled diabetes could be.  One of my grandmothers went blind because of the  disease and her brother lost his legs.  Women who get gestational diabetes are much more likely to get Type 2 diabetes in the future unless it is controlled so I need to work on prevention right now.   Controlling my intake of food is going to be more challenging than controlling how much money I spend because I really love to eat, but I know that having a long term disease like diabetes can be very costly.  I have already started to eat smaller portions and it is not that horrible.  Hopefully this experience will get me more into cooking healthy meals because I would need to know what exactly is in my food.

My mom keeps on telling me that a healthy life is really more important than a wealthy life, and I think that is true because if you have a ton of money but cannot enjoy it due to bad health then it is really not worth anything.   I think I could really improve my health a lot if I just stick to my diet plan like I stick to my savings plan and I think I could do it because moderation and impulse control are the two most important factors in both.

Share This

Related Posts