<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #888888;"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #888888;">"Over the Christmas holiday period, I felt extremely tired and had parts of my body that were tingling. I also developed a craving for Sprite.  I put all this down to the humidity and weeding!  However, a routine blood test showed that I had adult onset Type 1 Diabetes (insulin dependent) with a blood glucose level of nearly 29 (it should be 4-8).  This was a huge shock especially as we do not have diabetes in our family.  Thankfully I avoided being admitted to </span></p>
<img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-431" title="essential nutrition logo" src="http://northshorechiro.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/essential-nutrition-logo1-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #888888;">hospital as a lovely nurse agreed that I could telephone her for instructions about what to do for the first week.  All was good and I coped well but being a teacher it was very difficult to administer 5-6 insulin injections a day plus blood tests.  Although trying to stay positive it was quite a depressing situation.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #888888;">Five weeks ago I attended the workshop about nutrition at North Shore Chiropractic.  The Paleo diet was discussed and immediately I dismissed it.  How could I eat like this when I needed to eat lollies and a sandwich if I had a hypo?  How could I not eat carbs when I needed them in order to inject myself with insulin?  After the workshop Wayne and Gian persuaded me to give the diet a go and as my husband was really keen to try it, I grudgingly said I’d try for a couple of days.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #888888;">That weekend, we stocked up on vegetables and meat.  All our pasta, potatoes etc went to good homes and I trawled the internet for recipes and advice.  Wayne sent me a link about a Type 1 Diabetic who had had good results from the Paleo diet which was encouraging as it was going against all the advice and information I had received from the Diabetic Clinic and my doctor.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #888888;">On the very first day I had only one injection.  Amazing!  However, I was sure this would have perilous consequences and my blood glucose would rise without the insulin shots.  The second day was the same and blood levels were still stable.  By the end of the week my blood sugar had remained on average at 5.5 with no lows or highs.  I was still on only one insulin injection a day.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #888888;">By the end of the second week, I felt better and was getting comments from my work colleagues about how I didn’t look so “wan”.  I also felt better.  I had more energy and could walk easily up our incredibly steep driveway and to the top of the even steeper road.  In the past I usually had to stop half way up the road to rest!  I was still injecting only once a day with stable blood levels.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #888888;">At the end of the four week challenge I am committed to the Paleo diet.  I have so much more energy and it has brought a real lifestyle change in that I do not have to inject so many times a day. Surprisingly, although I thought I would miss bread, cheese and potatoes which had been the staples of my usual eating habits, I haven’t!    I am also not getting hungry during the day as I used to do. Best of all, I am still on only one injection a day and still have stable blood glucose.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #888888;">I used to have a stash of biscuits at school – only in case I had a hypo of course! – which I have now given to grateful but unenlightened colleagues and any deserving students.  The lollies have gone from my little diabetic kit replaced by a banana or a tangerine.  I have had only two hypos during the challenge and found that fruit works just as well as lollies or a sandwich.  Before the challenge, I regularly had 3-4 hypos a week.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #888888;">We have found new recipes which has made cooking fun and discovered new shops.  Hendersons is a particular favourite.  It might seem odd but I love looking into the fridge and seeing lots of veggies and meat.  It looks so healthy!  I feel quite superior in the supermarket as well when I look at our trolley full of vegetables and meat compared to other people’s which are full of processed food and soft drinks.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #888888;">Unlike my husband I haven’t lost much weight which is disappointing but this isn’t the reason I embarked on the Paleo so I’m not too upset!  I have lost about 4 kg and have maintained this weight loss so I suppose that’s better than nothing!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #888888;">It has also been reasonably easy to keep to the diet when eating out.  Fish (no batter) and vegetables, steak and vegetables etc.  Restaurants are usually ready to adapt their menus slightly so we have managed quite well.  Even being invited to dinner with friends has not proved too much of a problem.  Everyone has been more than willing to tweak their menus too!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #888888;">Overall, I am really pleased I took up this challenge despite my misgivings and conviction that it couldn’t possibly work out for a diabetic.  It’s one of the only times that I am happy to have been proved wrong!"</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #888888;">Linda.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #888888;"><strong><span style="color: #ffffff;">Save your life or save someone elses....come to the next</span> <span style="color: #99cc00;"><a title="Essential Nutrition" href="http://www.eventbrite.co.nz/org/1853676537" target="_blank"><span style="color: #99cc00;">Essential Nutrition Seminar </span></a></span></strong></span></p>
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