Here’s the list of (some of) my types:
1. Obliger.
2. Abstainer.
3. Type 1.5 Diabetic. (Probable.)
I’ve discussed #1 a number of times, most recently in A Flash of Insight. . .
I’ve come to the realization that #2 is also in my profile by observing what happens when I get all ginned up (not with gin, you understand) and cut some bad habit completely out of my life. As long as I don’t make any exceptions I find it fairly easy to stick to the path; but once I allow myself to stray it’s as if a fragile dam has burst and I have no resources left. I would like to think that I’m a moderator, someone who can eat just one chocolate-chip cookie, but I’m not. Might as well face facts.
Number 3 on the list provides a great outward motivation, a la #1, to completely cut out sweets, a la #2. I would never, ever institute this draconian rule in my life if I didn’t have something spurring me on. It wouldn’t be enough for me to say, “I know sugar isn’t healthy; I want to be healthy; I will cut out sugar.” My obligerness would cause me to cave in to temptation, and once I’d done so my abstainer nature would kick in and I’d just go whole hog. Back in August, for example, Gideon made these amazing lemon bars for the chorale picnic, and you wouldn’t believe how many of them I ate. That overindulgence alone was probably enough for earn me the 6.1 A1C blood-sugar reading I got a few weeks later. (6.5 is considered full-blown diabetes.)
Type 1.5 diabetes is a fairly new discovery, the idea that some people can have what is basically an adult-onset gradually-worsening type of Type 1 diabetes, so that the pancreas eventually stops producing any insulin at all. My suspicions that this might be my problem started back in February when my fasting insulin levels were checked after my disastrous post-holiday A1C level of 6.3. If I were a normal Type 2 pre-diabetic, my insulin levels should have been fairly high, as my pancreas would have been pumping out that hormone to counteract the typical insulin resistance that goes with the disease. But my insulin levels were very low, almost off the bottom of the chart, at 2.6 whatever-they-ares. The doctor’s office didn’t seem concerned, though, so I wasn’t either at first, but the more I thought about it the more curious I became. After doing a fair amount of research I can say that this is probably what I have. If I can keep my poor little pancreas as unstressed as possible then I may be able to extend its life for awhile. I will almost certainly have to go on supplemental insulin at some point, but I want to stave that day off for as long as possible. Further testing will give me a definite diagnosis, and I will be consulting with my (new) doctor soon. Whatever the tests show, though, my numbers are certainly not normal, and the best thing I can do for my health is to stay off the sweets.
Which is not to say that I’m going to become a Sugar Nazi, a subgroup of the species Food Crank. Just because I’ve decided not to eat sweets, such as candy or desserts, that doesn’t mean I have to cut out every molecule of sugar from my diet. (It’s a different matter for people who have actual food allergies, especially severe ones; they have to be FC’s.) And I can still really enjoy making desserts and watching other people enjoy them. (Aren’t I just a saint?) This whole subject of diet and health is a fascinating one; I’ve referenced a book and a movie about the sugar issue. If you haven’t read those posts I’d encourage you to do so. As we progress through the holidays I’ll be writing about all the delicious things I make . . . and don’t eat!