September 26th marks the 10th anniversary of my diagnosis with Type 2 diabetes. Immediately after my diagnosis, our lives changed drastically. One of the most difficult aspects was how to modify our meals so that I could use diet as part of my health plan. There were simply too many sources out there and too much information to integrate all at once. If I’d had a book like Diabetes Cookbook & Meal Plan for the Newly Diagnosed things would have been vastly easier. You can read more about my personal journey in my blog post over on Hectic-Dad.
This book addresses many of the misconceptions about diabetes and fit well with my attitude about it.
I don’t define myself as a diabetic.
A lot of people are astounded to discover I have diabetes. They think of me as a normal person who leans towards a healthier lifestyle and makes healthy food choices. Most importantly, I’m not my condition. I have diabetes, it’s not the definition of who I am!
Sure, I went through my “Oh, no thank you…I can’t have that because I’m a diabetic” phase. I think everybody who’s newly diagnosed does. It’s one way of trying to build up immunity to the desire to eat everything. Lori Zanini’s book does an excellent job of diminishing the guilt for past choices while not absolving the reader from taking action towards a healthier tomorrow. She is gentle enough to be engaging while stern enough to lay it on the line. Essentially, this book illustrates how you must be an active participant in your own health by making good choices about what you eat without giving up the tastes and textures that you love. In that regard Ms. Zanini hits a home-run!
What’s Inside
The book is broken up into three parts:
- Before You Get Started
- The Meal Plan
- The Recipes
Before You Get Started
The first section deals with many of the misconceptions surrounding diabetes and definitely filled gaps in my knowledge. This is coming from a voracious reader who owns nearly one hundred books and cookbooks aimed at diabetes! To say that I’m well-informed about diabetes is an understatement. Yet just as the condition is very individualized, it’s also true there is always more to learn. This book is a great resource and worth it’s price just for the first section!
The other strength of the first part is it gives a very useful, but not overly complicated, explanation of diabetes nutrition. Too often you hear “diabetes” and think “no carbs”. It’s definitely not that simple…nothing in nutrition ever is. But that’s the sound bite we always hear. Part One of the Diabetes Cookbook & Meal Plan for the Newly Diagnosed attacks this approach head on. Then the author shifts the focus to you, the newly diagnosed individual, and helps you to reframe and rebuild your thought processes. It’s not all about what you cannot eat, but rather about what you can eat.
The Meal Plan
The second section presents four weeks of meals. This is a comprehensive meal plan covering everything you might consider consuming every day over those four weeks. We’re talking meals as well as snacks. And there are loads of substitutions included in case something doesn’t fit your dietary preferences.
When I was first diagnosed with diabetes, I was overwhelmed. I searched for a meal plan that I could follow so I wouldn’t have to create everything from scratch. I found resources, but they were so rigid and I had a hard time following them. As I read through these meal plans I realized I would’ve killed for something like this back in 2008! If someone had handed me this book back then it would’ve taken so much guesswork out of my meal planning.
The section closes with some awesome information on how to go beyond the first four weeks so you don’t get stuck repeating the meal plans verbatim for the rest of eternity.
The Recipes
The last section contains more than one hundred recipes from within the meal plans. These aren’t barebones, subsistence-level recipes. These look awesome. I’ve had the opportunity to prepare a few of the recipes and have to admit that I was totally blow away at the great tastes and textures, not to mention the practicality of preparing these recipes with my Hectic Life. If you’re been reading the blog for a while, you know that Hectic isn’t just a cute marketing slogan around here…it’s really a madhouse. I can truly say that every one of the meals I prepared from these recipes was well received by the entire Hectic Family and was surprisingly easy to make.
Wrap-Up
Diabetes Cookbook & Meal Plan for the Newly Diagnosed was just released and it’s already garnered a coveted spot among my books. I’ve found it to be one of the best resources for new recipe ideas as well as entire meals. I’ve dipped back into the first section a couple of times to refresh myself on some of the information Lori Zanini presents, and I’ve shared my new-found wisdom with anybody who’s willing to listen. The Kindle version of the book is a virtual steal! I would strongly recommend you consider purchasing this book if you know anyone who has diabetes or if you’re ever going to be in the position of cooking for someone with diabetes.
With nearly 10% of the US population falling into the diabetic category, you’re sure to run across someone at your dinner table who has this condition. What better way to make it a great day in the kitchen by being prepared with both delicious and healthy meals for that person in your life!