Marlene Koch, RD has written an interesting piece for the American Diabetes Wholesale Newsletter that reviews the new dietary guidelines as recommended by the American Heart Association. In her article “New Heart Healthy Guidelines for Sugar“, Marlene describes how the new guidelines closely reflect those set forth by the American Diabetes Association, especially in regards to the reduction of added sugars in the American diet. Added sugars are those high-calorie, low nutrition additives that are found in some of the obvious foods such as soda or pastries, but they also lurk in more overlooked products too, such as reduced fat salad dressing or snack bars.Check out her full article for more information about this important nutrition news.

Marlene Koch has also provided a low-sugar version of a summer time favorite – Sweet Smoky Barbecue Sauce. This tasty recipe does not take long to prepare and will have everyone eager to learn what the secret ingredients are!

©2009 Keeping Diabetes Management Affordable. All Rights Reserved.

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I wouldn’t say that I’m “on a diet”, however, in the past 3-4 months I have gained 7 pounds. OMG! I think – and say! How could I let THAT happen? Well, maybe because I’m human just like you? I like food, I talk about it all day long, and although I know how to control my weight sometimes I just don’t feel like it! So, my decision to not care, not think about my food choices and allow life to overwhelm me, resulted in SEVEN POUNDS! With a little thinking, I realized exactly why this happened. As easy as it has been to add 7, I am just as easily subtracting it! After all, I deserve it and more importantly, I feel so much better without it! The small snacks I was adding to my evening hours have gotten even smaller in size and I am thinking more before I grab something I don’t even want or need to eat. It’s a challenge I always like to win. It makes me feel proud of myself! Simple! Don’t you think?

©2009 Do It Yourself Diabetes with Marci Sloane. All Rights Reserved.

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Sometimes I feel that I am a sales person. Although I was trained to educate my patients about controlling diabetes, I find myself using every possible tactic to sell them good health.
Yesterday, I saw a woman for the second time. She has uncontrolled diabetes and is morbidly obese. She stated at the first visit that she realizes that if her poor eating habits continue it might “kill her”. She is fearful, however, at the same time, like an alcoholic, she just can’t stop.

Sure, I suggested low-calorie, healthy and well-balanced food choices so she could replace the higher-calorie and higher-sugar/fat cookies, ice cream and cake but there was more to it. I had to SELL her good health. I had to convince her to save herself. I had to use every ounce of my psychological skills to motivate her.

From the first visit to her second visit, yesterday, she had made changes. I was happy with her progress. My sales-pitch worked! Now we are focusing more on the 8-11:00 pm “trouble-time.”  I am hopeful. With my continued support and her compliance – we’ll seal the deal!

©2009 Do It Yourself Diabetes with Marci Sloane. All Rights Reserved.

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