Well, even with moderation in mind, I have been doing some diet overhauling lately. Not in terms of a resolution, per se, but really just in search of some stellar blood sugars. A worthy pursuit to start off the year. Anyway, one easy way to quickly and markedly lower my blood sugar numbers is for me to get rid of anything difficult to carb count, or anything that I tend to "guesstimate" on. The more exact I can count my carbs, the easier I can predict the insulin I need to cover the meal and my blood sugar response afterwards. In my particular diet, the big change that this meant was to really limit the amount that I go out to eat. Ok, no big deal. A good excuse to try out some new recipes at home. And really who am I kidding? Sans going all the way to Ann Arbor, there aren't a lot of restaurants around here that really excite me. This also means that things like french fries and pizza are pretty much out. These two foods are really an achille's heel to me. Because of their fat content, I always have to give more insulin than that amount of carb would normally call for. But how much more? And how to deliver it? All at once? (Doing this runs the risk of going low an hour after eating, as the fat slows down digestion yet the insulin is already working in your blood stream.) A square wave bolus, where my pump delivers the *hopefully* right amount of insulin over a specified time? But how long does it really take to fully digest that pizza? Or I could do a dual wave bolus, where part of the insulin is given right away while the other part is given over a time frame. But that just leads to more questions for me: How do I break up the insulin amounts? Do I choose 70% now and 30% over a few hours? Or vice versa? Over three hours? Over 6 hours? And then there is the last method, the one I have had the closest amount of success with, where you give yourself the actual insulin dose for the carbs consumed, all at once, and then increase your basal rate to accomodate the fat content - so, let's say, a temporary basal rate of 135% for 6 hours. Honestly, just writing all this down makes my brain hurt. I never was much of a math guru. Afterwards is usually still a crapshoot, too, taking meter readings for the next 6 hours trying to see if you got it right - which, more often then not, I then spend making corrections one way or the other. So you see, it's complicated. Can you really blame me for saying goodbye to pizza?
Now I know there are those of you out there that COULD NOT LIVE without pizza. It seems like it's everyone's favorite food. Easy, cheap, cheesy, comforting goodness. But me? I've always liked pizza, don't get me wrong. But I just don't seem to fawn over it like some of my girlfriends do. I don't really argue the merits of this crust over that, or this pizza house compared to the other local joint. But really, if I was only ever a fair weather fan to begin with, and I only ever ate pizza at the urging of a group of friends anyway, and then to have to deal with all of the blood sugar repercussions on top of that? Just not worth it, in my opinion.
So I gave it up.
And of course, that's when the craving set in. The weirdest, oddest craving for a food item I have hitherto not cared one iota about. Literally, the idea that I couldn't have it meant that everytime a pizza hut commercial came on TV, I was drooling like Pavlov's dog. (And yes! Pizza Hut, of all places. Of all the chain pizza houses, I especially despise Pizza Hut! Yet, here they have me firmly in their grasp.) I want ooey, gooey, cheese falling off the end, grease pooling on the top pizza. What has come over me???!!!!
I lasted about 4 weeks before caving to psychology. At first I thought, how about a good pizza stand in? Something enough "pizza-like" to get this itch out of my system? I went for the Lean Cuisine pepperoni pizza. It definitely doesn't qualify as "real", but it tastes pizza-ish, and while it's not grand on the carb scale (about 56 grams in one personal size), it definitely beats all the guess work of the real thing.
Guess what?
It didn't cut it. No where near. So, all I obtained out of this whole excercise was 56 grams of carb in one sitting plus a still unabated need for cheesy-tomato-grease.
Of course, as fate would have it, the very next day on one of my numerous Ann Arbor trips, I found myself at a Costco. And this is where I reveal just how low my taste in pizza is, because of all the good pizza out there, I really love the Costco food court's pizza. Ridiculous. Embarrassing. Yeah, I know. And I caved. I got a gigantic, steaming, bigger than the grease-stained paper plate peice of goodness. I fought with the mental math. And I scarfed that sucker down within 10 minutes.
Of course, after all that comes the myriad of reasons why I didn't want to eat the pizza in the first place. First, it hit my stomach like a lead weight, that sat there for HOURS. Then, of course, the guilt set in. And of course, this was more than just "you said you weren't going to eat that" kinda guilt. This was true dia-guilt. As in being glued to your dexcom the rest of the afternoon, eyeing the screen and the trend graph marches ever upwards and you panic because you have crushed your commitment to good glucose control. Ok, looking back, I can see I was just being slightly dramatic. I did crash low and then have a rebound high as the pizza worked it's way through my system - but all in all, it wasn't a major high, never even getting over 170, which for pizza, is a flat-out miracle. So the whole experience brought me back exactly to where I started - learning the beauty of moderation. I had the "off limits" food and got that craziness out of my system. And while I won't swear off pizza again, I can't really see myself indulging any time soon - with the clear memory of blood sugar panic combined with the gross feeling of too much grease right in the forefront of my mind.
So that was a very long diatribe on a food I don't care that much about, in theory. Now comes something a little trickier - a food that I do care an awful lot about. A food that I LOVE.
Ice Cream.
I adore it. I can eat it straight out of the carton (in fact, I think it tastes better that way). I can eat it in winter during a snowstorm with negative windchills. I can (and for me, the queen of variety, this is a very big thing) eat it every, single day.
While not as difficult to carb count as pizza is, given almost all nutritional information is listed on the side of the packaging, ice cream has it's own challenges. Such as the fact that even with it's substantial amount of fat, it's a pretty concentrated source of sugar, meaning it raises blood sugar pretty intensely and quickly. And heck, if I'm going to clean up my eating habits, why not clear house entirely?
Now, I'm smart enough to know that there is NO FLIPPIN WAY I am giving up ice cream for good. That is just not happening. But I got to thinking, for the time being, was there a way I could make ice cream a little healthier? A little easier on my carb sensitive system?
Of course, the starting place of this question lands you squarely at, "How bout sorbet?" I like sorbet. But it lacks the richness, the creaminess, and that satisfying mouthfeel of ice cream. And honestly, it still contains quite a bit of sugar - often more than it's ice cream counterpart.
My answer fell into my lap while eating one of my (other) favorite snacks - plain greek yogurt and fruit. Wait a minute here. If I could make my own plain frozen yogurt, it would have less sugar than ice cream, plus be more satisfying than sorbet. Not too mention an added bonus - all the extra protein from the greek yogurt will act to slow down the sugar hitting my bloodstream! Add my own fruit for some fiber, and I see a win-win-win situation!
Now, duh, I know that frozen yogurt places have been doing this for years. But I have no pinkberry type places around me. Mid-michiganders are certainly not the type to pay 4+ dollars for something that could qualify as healthy. A hunt through local grocery stores revealed that no one sold *plain* frozen yogurt. (Flavorings usually equal more sugar, thus negating the whole plan.)
So that is how, in the middle of a snowy afternoon in January, I found myself dragging out the ice cream maker. (Shout out to my absolutely awesome girlfriend who just happened to get me one for my birthday back in August!)
Now, of course, I wanted the absolutely easiest recipe that yielded smooth, but tangy and distinctively yogurt-y flavor. I was not about to stand over a stove cooking eggs yolks for this. I'm just too darn lazy. And let me tell you friends, this was it. Three ingredients, and close to zero effort on my part led to some amazing yogurt that pinkberry would be jealous of. And I can mix in strawberries, peaches, raspberries, whatever and be free of dia-guilt!
I found this recipe on the internet, and I am sad to say, that I accidently closed the window before noting the website name. I feel horrible about that because I like to give credit where credit is due.
Homemade Frozen Yogurt
3 cups whole milk greek yogurt - * a couple of notes here. Yes, you do want full fat. And yes, you do want the thicker greek version to cut down on steps. If you use low fat yogurt, your finished product will have a thinner texture, and texture is a major thing I was going for here. And if you use regular yogurt, you will need to start with 6 cups and strain it in cheesecloth over a bowl to drain the extra liquid off. See? Just use the greek style where that is already done for you.
2/3 cup sugar (you can use up to 3/4, but i found 2/3 to be perfect and still let the flavor of the yogurt to shine.)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Yup. That's it. Most ice cream recipes aren't even this simple. Just combine all three ingredients until well blended and then park it in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Then pour it in your ice cream maker and flip it on. 30 minutes later and voila! Tasty treat. Eat as it is if you like a more soft serve consistency or pack it up into the freezer for a few hours to let it ripen. Then let the creativity of toppings begin!
According to my calculations, this makes a yogurt that has 28 grams of carb in 4 ounces, but with the added bonus of 4 grams of protein. This is an exchange I can live with!
