type 1 diabetic | Gluco Perfect®

by Lauren Bongiorno

Over the past three years, my relationship with food has significantly improved. I am no longer afraid of carbs, I no longer binge eat at night, I no longer live to eat, but rather eat to live, and I no longer use food to feed my emotions. And the best part – my blood sugars have never been better.

I always struggled with what the “right diet” to manage my diabetes was until I adapted the “bio individuality” approach. This approach means that there is no one right diet that works for everyone and we all must move towards what makes us feel nutritionally supported, energized, and in control of our blood sugar numbers.

That being said, I do believe that regardless of whether you decide to eat high fat, high carb, animal products, or not, the bulk of all of our diets should be whole, unprocessed foods.

Through trial and error I’ve learned what works for my body. I do not eat meat or dairy and I eat a high carb, low fat diet. Last week I tracked everything I ate for one day and wanted to share it with you today!

Lauren’s Food Diary

7:15 am: I woke up with a fasted blood sugar of 100. Perfect start to the day! Before breakfast I drank 1 warm cup of water with lemon to kick start digestion and hydrate the body.

8:00 am: Breakfast time! Today I was in the mood for some Blueberry Pancakes. I blended up 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup egg whites, ½ tsp baking soda, 1 tsp vanilla extract, ½ mashed banana.
After that I folded 1/2 cup blueberries into the batter before cooking them on a heated skillet. This is a totally guilt free recipe.

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10:15 am: My body works best when I eat small meals every 2-3 hours. Today my mid-morning snack was 1 pink lady apple + 4 celery stalks.

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1:00 pm: After one hour of cardio and weight training I ate a post workout lunch that had a balance of healthy carbs and protein. This included 1 green smoothie (1 banana, 1 cup almond milk, 1 scoop Vega Protein Powder, 2 cups spinach, and ice) + 2 slices of Ezekiel bread with hummus and arugula.

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4:00 pm: By 4pm my energy levels are still up but I start craving sugar. Instead of feeding the sugar craving I drank 2 large cups of water followed by carrot sticks dipped in guacamole. It did the trick!

6:30 pm: For dinner I met my family at a café. I try my best to not use eating out as an excuse to “fall off the wagon”. I looked up the menu ahead of time and was thankful for the healthful choices! I ordered a plate with avocado toast, 1 cup of vegan three bean chili, and massaged kale with smoked salmon.

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Total carbs for the day: 206
Total insulin: 24 units

Eating healthy does not have to mean restriction. It’s all about intuitively finding what works for your body and making decisions based off that to feel empowered.

What is one step you can take today to move towards intuitive eating? Did anything surprise you about my food diary? If you have any questions or comments please click the “Leave a reply” link at the top of this post. Thanks.

Lauren Bongiorno is a Type 1 Diabetic, Diabetic holistic health coach, qualified yoga instructor, and motivational speaker. Lauren has lived with Type 1 Diabetes since 2000 and has proven that no matter what your challenge in life is, taking control of it starts from the inside out with a healthy mind and body. With a background in holistic health, personal training, division 1 collegiate soccer, and yoga, Lauren is the Brand Ambassador for Gluco Perfect. You can connect with Lauren on her website at laurenbongiorno.com and follow her Instagram and Facebook pages for daily inspiration.

by Lauren Bongiorno

Lauren Bongiorno Stretching After Injury

Over the summer while working out in my yard, I heard a popping noise in my left knee. I instantly started crying from the pain and when I tried to straighten my leg out but couldn’t, I knew I had a serious injury on my hands.

After a visit to both the emergency room and an orthopedic doctor, I learned that I sprained my right lateral collateral ligament pretty badly. I was told that I needed physical therapy twice a week for the next 3 months and needed to drastically modify my workouts so I wouldn’t further injure my knee.

If you’ve ever been injured, you know how frustrating it can be. As a result of the injury there are a lot of limitations and a lot of precautions that more often than not interfere with your daily routine. Once the doctor told me of my injury, however, my first thoughts were not about what I couldn’t do, but rather what I still could do.

In the weeks recovering form my injury, instead of running outside for cardio, which has high impact on your knees, I rode my bike and used the elliptical at the gym. Instead of my intense power yoga sessions, I focused more on slow deep stretches and meditation. And instead of leg days that usually consisted of lots of jumping and heavy squats and lunges, I focused on building my upper body strength with exercises like pull ups, pushups, shoulder presses and tricep dips.

Even though I could not work out as hard as I normally would have, I knew it was so important to stay active to keep my blood sugar levels from spiking and to keep my stress levels low. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t running 10 miles a day or squatting with heavy weights. All that mattered was that I was moving my body and staying active, using what I had to do what I could because every little bit makes a difference.

I truly believe that injuries, just like diabetes and all of life’s other challenges should be approached the same way:

With acceptance
You may not be able to control what happens to you but you can control how you react. Once you can accept the challenge that has presented itself, you can begin focusing on seeing the positive in a situation and cultivating strength to help you get through it.
With patience
When a new challenge presents itself there may be frustrating times, but the important thing is to be patient. To know that the moments of struggle are not permanent, and they will pass.
With perseverance
Above all, we must believe that challenges are not meant to be roadblocks, but only bumps in the road. No matter how many bad days you have, or moments of self doubt and sadness, or no matter how many times you get knocked down, the important thing is that you get right back up and keep fighting to be the healthiest and happiest you.

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