by Marilyn Helton
NEW YEAR -- NEW COMMITMENT
Greetings and welcome to the New Year! It's January and the pressure's on to get rid of those unwanted holiday pounds; and, if you're newly diagnosed, to learn how to eat differently. I've always advocated good nutrition as the medicine of the future, and this is your time, my friends; only you can make the choice!
Since we're in the middle of winter and still in the cocooning mode, this is a good time to review some of the outstanding books (and cookbooks) which have landed on the review shelf. Two things come to mind when I mention the word cocooning: Cooking and reading. There's no reason we can't do both, so let's get busy!
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Not ready for heavy reading? Start with a little humor -- with a very serious undertone. Find both in Stephen Furst's CONFESSIONS OF A COUCH POTATO (Or, If I'm So Skinny, Why Do I Still Feel Like FLOUNDER?).
If you're not familiar with Stephen Furst, think Animal House, St. Elsewhere, or Babylon 5, some of his better-known cinematic projects. Furst has spent his life "living large," overweight as a child, tipping the adult scales at over 320 pounds, an obese person with diabetes. Stephen was 17 when his father died of diabetes complications at age 47.
Furst focuses on his food addictions, and the struggle he's had to overcome them. He's found his way to good health, losing 150 pounds and keeping it off for the last six years! He's very proud of the recipes he's developed to achieve this, including a complete Thanksgiving menu with made?over versions of the traditional favorites.
This book is a wonderful gift idea for a newly diagnosed friend or relative. It will make you laugh, and it may even make you cry; but if you've ever been there yourself, you will understand Furst's struggle with food addictions. It is a success story, sprinkled with the recipes he developed so he could stay within his diabetic meal plan, while still being able to eat healthier versions of his favorite foods.
Published in 2002 by the American Diabetes Association, CONFESSIONS OF A COUCH POTATO by Stephen Furst is a real winner! Two thumbs up from this reviewer!
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We are FINALLY beginning to see more "ethnic" cookbooks for diabetics. COCINANDO PARA LATINOS CON DIABETES (Diabetic Cooking for Latinos), by Olga V. Fust, MS, RD, CDE, (c)2002 by the American Diabetes Association, is one of the most recently published cookbooks in this category. DIABETIC COOKING FOR LATINOS is bi-lingual, written in both English and Spanish, and is representative of the culinary cultures of Mexico, the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Central and South America.
Each recipe has a complete nutritional analysis, including dietary exchanges, and tips for reducing fat, sodium, and calories can be found in the Introduction. You'll read about the advantage of counting carbohydrates, and how to gradually retrain your taste buds to appreciate the natural flavor of the foods. On a scale of one to five, this cookbook definitely rates a five.
Ready for another good "find?" If you're looking for great recipes -- and have no time to cook, look no further! LIGHT & EASY DIABETES CUISINE, by Betty Marks, will serve you well. Introductory remarks and nutritional analyses by one of my favorite authors, Hope S. Warshaw, MMSc, RD, CDE, are included in the opening pages of this cookbook.
According to Warshaw, "The most common complaint I hear is that the diabetes meal plan lacks interest. The lists of allowed foods appear limited, and the methods of preparing these foods result in tasteless, unimaginative meals. Just glancing at some of the recipes in LIGHT & EASY DIABETES CUISINE disproves this notion. Betty Marks incorporates many unique ingredients and utilizes a wide variety of quick cooking methods to provide new ideas for creative meal planning, often the most difficult part of diabetes management."
Ms. Marks speaks from experience as an insulin-dependent diabetic for 26 years. She's maintained a lifestyle that includes work, travel, theater, reading, dancing and sports, as well as making delicious meals for friends and family. What a testament to what CAN be done despite diabetes!
I like the larger print format and limited ingredient lists in this cookbook. We get all the essential nutritional elements in the analysis (including the sodium and cholesterol), as well as the exchanges. The majority of recipes can be prepared and served in under 30 minutes, a bonus for the working mom.
LIGHT AND EASY DIABETES CUISINE brings you over 200 dishes, to tempt your palate and get you in and out of the kitchen FAST! I can't wait to try the Mexican Corn Chowder, Chili Chicken with Hash Brown Potatoes, Teriyaki Beef and Vegetables, Rosemary Pork Chops (served with pan juices), Sauteed Sea Scallops, Orzo & Pignoli (small pasta & pine nuts), the Cranberry Corn Muffins at Thanksgiving, and Peanut (Butter) Custard or Baked Apples Burnette for dessert.
Betty's recipes don't shy away from using moderate amounts of alcohol as a way to intensify and bring out the flavors of complementary recipe ingredients. If cooking with alcohol presents a problem for you, there is a current feature on "Cooking with Alcohol" on my CINNAMON HEARTS website (www.cinnamonhearts.com), which offers substitutions for alcohol as a recipe ingredient.
Rest assured, readers, you definitely CAN eat well, live fast, and manage your diabetes with LIGHT AND EASY DIABETES CUISINE. Two thumbs up for recipe creativity, ease of preparation and taste-full meals!
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OK, the Exercise?Police finally found me!! I knew it had to happen sooner or later, and someone has FINALLY written a do-able book on exercise (I call it the Big E?word!). Make note of this title: THE "I HATE TO EXERCISE" BOOK FOR PEOPLE WITH DIABETES (Or, How to Turn Your Every Day Home Activities Into A Low-Impact Fitness Plan). That "someone" is Charlotte Hayes, MMSc, MS, RD, CDE, a nutrition and fitness consultant in Atlanta, Georgia.
Ms. Hayes understands most of us have a hard time sticking to an exercise plan, and she emphasizes the key to good diabetes self-care is simply staying active by making the most of YOUR daily activities: walking, cleaning the house, gardening -- ANYTHING that keeps you moving! I've noted when I do a couple of hours of housework non-stop, it makes a significant difference in my blood glucose readings.
Author Hayes starts out with what I call the "scary stuff," the complications of diabetes that can follow "sitting your way through life," things like: heart disease, high blood pressure, high blood fat levels, overweight, and obesity, and of course the ultimate prize: type 2 diabetes! Hayes also enumerates the positive effects of exercise: lifting your mood, building muscles (which burn calories even at REST!); reducing stress, anxiety and depression; improving your sex life; giving you MORE energy; and making you feel great, look great and proud of yourself!
This is a great little book for those of us who need a little extra motivation to get up off of our you-know-whatsis and get busy! I love this book because it's filled with lots of good tips and ideas to help you ease your way into a more active lifestyle. And as you all know by now, good nutrition and exercise go hand in hand and MUST work together -- one just won't work without the other!
Pick up a copy of the "I HATE TO EXERCISE" BOOK FOR PEOPLE WITH DIABETES, 2000 by Charlotte Hayes. I give it a hearty endorsement and I plan to implement some of the ideas in Charlotte Hayes's low-impact fitness plan!
That's a wrap for this time around folks; please join me again in April for more reviews and suggestions for your commitment to a healthier you in 2003!
Marilyn Helton, diabetic since 1993, is the publisher of CINNAMON HEARTS: THE ART OF LIVING A WINNING DIABETIC LIFESTYLE, a positive-power E-zine for diabetics and their families. Visit the CINNAMON HEARTS Web site: www.cinnamonhearts.com.
If you or a friend would like to remember the Diabetes Action Network of the National Federation of the Blind in your will, you can do so by employing the following language:
"I give, devise, and bequeath unto the Diabetics Action Network of the National Federation of the Blind, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230, a District of Columbia nonprofit corporation, the sum of $_______________" (or "_______________ percent of my net estate" or "the following stocks and bonds:____________________") to be used for its worthy purposes on behalf of blind persons."